honor 5X Review
posted by John V.
/ Jan 20, 2016, 6:02 AM
Introduction
Fast forward to the present, they have something pretty sweet getting its name from Huawei’s sub-brand. Looking at the honor 5X, it’s hard to fathom that it’s been graced with an outright $200 price, seeing that it comes with a fingerprint sensor and a nice build. Other specs add to its drool worthy stature, but as we know, it takes more than that to be recognized as incredible.
Design
The metal design is appreciable, but there’s a ‘cheapness’ to its feel.
The honor 5X comes with a recessed fingerprint sensor on its back side. It works rather well – it's been fairly responsive and accurate in our testing.
Alcatel OneTouch IDOL 3 (5.5")
Dimensions
6.01 x 2.96 x 0.29 inches
152.7 x 75.14 x 7.4 mm
Weight
4.96 oz (141 g)
Asus ZenFone 2 Laser (US)
Dimensions
6 x 3.04 x 0.43 inches
152.5 x 77.2 x 10.8 mm
Weight
6.00 oz (170 g)
Alcatel OneTouch IDOL 3 (5.5")
Dimensions
6.01 x 2.96 x 0.29 inches
152.7 x 75.14 x 7.4 mm
Weight
4.96 oz (141 g)
Asus ZenFone 2 Laser (US)
Dimensions
6 x 3.04 x 0.43 inches
152.5 x 77.2 x 10.8 mm
Weight
6.00 oz (170 g)
To see the phones in real size or compare them with other models, visit our Visual Phone Size Comparison page
Display
Resolution is great for a phone of this caliber, but colors are still a tad off.
Now, while we like that its peak brightness tops out at 585 nits, ensuring that outdoor visibility is not an issue, as well as its okay viewing angles, the other aspects about the display are just unflattering. Firstly, the panel is noticeably cold, so colors have a bluish tone to them, because of the ~8000K color temperature. It’s not necessarily the most color accurate screen: yellows are heavily influenced by green – while magentas favor a bluish hue.
37 Comments
1. Ghost04
Posts: 496; Member since: May 03, 2014
This phone is better then the reviewer of the phonearena .
posted on Jan 20, 2016, 6:33 AM 25
26. RuneMaster
Posts: 75; Member since: May 31, 2015
Reviewer should be changed.
posted on Jan 20, 2016, 12:41 PM 7
2. deanylev
Posts: 234; Member since: Mar 11, 2014
A 6? Are you f**king kidding? This phone kicks ass for the price. The charging issue is probably a software flaw and you can't take points off for a metal body you jackasses.
posted on Jan 20, 2016, 6:41 AM 19
30. NoToFanboys
Posts: 3231; Member since: Oct 03, 2015
I don't know if they are considering phone prices in their reviews.
They rated it as if it costs as much as a flagship.
posted on Jan 20, 2016, 7:50 PM 5
38. tomn1ce
Posts: 247; Member since: Mar 12, 2012
Pro..."sleek metal design"
Con..."Metal body feels a little cheap & prone to scratching"
make up your mind on the material of the phone, how can it be a pro and con at the same time? I guess he thought he was reviewing a $500+ phone. They need to separate reviews depending on the device they're reviewing. Mid range devices can not be compared with high devices. Don't expect a mid range device to give you performance that you would expect from from a high end device.
posted on Feb 11, 2016, 7:04 AM 2
4. Felix_Gatto
Posts: 942; Member since: Jul 03, 2013
Just look at this: http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/Samsung-Galaxy-Core-Review_id3394/page/4
It got a 8 and they said it have a mostly smooth perfomance LOL! My mom have one and it can't play subway surfers smoothly at 60fps.
posted on Jan 20, 2016, 6:47 AM 3
5. jellmoo
Posts: 2526; Member since: Oct 31, 2011
Five hours and forty five minutes to charge? What kind of charger do they include? a Nine volt battery?
This needs to be retested (new phone and different chargers) because this result is simply not believable.
posted on Jan 20, 2016, 7:12 AM 11
8. skips
Posts: 441; Member since: Oct 04, 2015
Well let's start with the fact that there's no quick-charging support for the phone.
And most other reviews of the 5X also state that the charging times are quite dissapointing and are about 2-3hrs. I think the result times here on PA are ok.
posted on Jan 20, 2016, 8:10 AM 0
14. Arch_Fiend
Posts: 3935; Member since: Oct 03, 2015
LOL 9volt Battery.
posted on Jan 20, 2016, 8:32 AM 6
7. GreekGeek
Posts: 1276; Member since: Mar 22, 2014
John V. definitely can't wait to see the next iPhone release that's why he treats these Android phones as punching bags.
posted on Jan 20, 2016, 7:42 AM 1
13. Arch_Fiend
Posts: 3935; Member since: Oct 03, 2015
The S7 Will Get A Good Score.
posted on Jan 20, 2016, 8:31 AM 1
21. squishypanda8
Posts: 46; Member since: Aug 28, 2015
He's probably gonna give the iPhone 7 like a 9.5 lol. I'm not sure if John V. is the best guy for reviewing budget phones. :P
posted on Jan 20, 2016, 9:50 AM 6
10. ibend
Posts: 6747; Member since: Sep 30, 2014
dear PA, if you decide to give some bad score to some phone, please give recommendation for better smartphone with the same PRICE RANGE and shortly explain why its better...
with that it will make your scoring system more legit, tq (and of course you should recommend phone with better score within same price range)
or just get rid of that scoring system, since its so useless this way
for $200 you get 1080p, FPscanner, 7hour battery life, SD615, fullmetal body, not so bad camera... whats more can you ask for $200? -_-
posted on Jan 20, 2016, 8:18 AM 11
23. jellmoo
Posts: 2526; Member since: Oct 31, 2011
This. Exactly this. Device reviews should have value. They should give readers a good base for potential device purchases. Options at a similar price point would be a great start, and eliminating the arbitrary scoring system would seal the deal.
posted on Jan 20, 2016, 10:30 AM 1
33. zarkonj
Posts: 15; Member since: Sep 30, 2015
Well they can't recommend a better phone in this price range, because the only better Phones are from Samsung and Apple, but their products are way more expensive.
Other similary priced phones are - according to PAs Reviews - same crap.
posted on Jan 21, 2016, 3:54 AM 0
11. Arch_Fiend
Posts: 3935; Member since: Oct 03, 2015
I don't understand you at all PA, you give high priced phones that are good lower scores for being high priced(Mate 8) and now you give what is suppose to be a cheap phone a low score for feeling cheap, you're being way to harsh on a $200 phone and you know it.
posted on Jan 20, 2016, 8:23 AM 5
16. ShadowHammer
Posts: 191; Member since: Mar 13, 2015
Yeah, definitely something weird going on with the charging.
I know some people don't care that much about call quality on their phones, but this just sounds like either a really bad sample from Huawei, or a poor design. It drives me nuts if I can't hear people speaking or voices sound distorted.
Still, for $200, you get a lot of other nice features that you could not get just a couple years ago.
posted on Jan 20, 2016, 8:37 AM 0
20. Planterz
Posts: 2120; Member since: Apr 30, 2012
"Why the low score?" people ask? Did you miss the part about the piss-poor call quality on both ends? This is a phone, remember? Granted, many of us use them as pocket computers or text/message rather than actually making calls on it, but a phone that's barely usable as a phone
As for the charging time, something wonky might be going on. John V said he used the included charger, but doesn't state the amperage. Android Central says it's a 5V/1A charger, but doesn't say how long it takes for 0-100%. Android Police says it takes 2 hours, which isn't blazing fast, but it's a hell of a lot better than 5.75 hours. Maybe AP used a different charger.
posted on Jan 20, 2016, 9:47 AM 0
22. jellmoo
Posts: 2526; Member since: Oct 31, 2011
The lack of review consistency is the big issue. The 5.5 inch Idol 3 got a score of 8.5 and these two devices are very, very comparable. Heck, the OnePlus X got a 7, and it has incredibly poor LTE compatibility in the US.
Is the Honor 5X the best phone ever? Nope. But it *is* a pretty sweet bargain and deserves better than the zero effort review. Any sensible reviewer would balk at the 5 hour 45 minute charge time, and then do some research into it. Every other tech site I frequent would investigate to offer potential buyers as much info as possible. PA just tries to fill in their review template and move on. It's lazy. They can do so much better, and it frustrates me to no end that they refuse to see this as an issue.
posted on Jan 20, 2016, 10:22 AM 1
- Display 5.5" 1080 x 1920 pixels
- Camera 13 MP / 5 MP front
- Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 616, Octa-core, 1500 MHz
- Memory
- Storage 16 GB + microSDXC
- Battery 3000 mAh(26h 3G talk time)
Recent articles
