Honor 5X Review: a Premium Budget Smartphone

Huawei has always been a manufacturer of premium and large devices but were mostly targeted to China or similar markets. Aiming to steal Xiaomi's thunder in terms of low prices bundled with the best features, Huawei launched a new Honor model in the US. Launched at the CES 2016 event, Honor 5X is the first smartphone in the Honor line-up to be released for the US market. Other than its fingerprint sensor support, what else should you expect from the dual SIM smartphone? Honor 5X release date and priceThe Honor 5X is set to be officially released in January 31. For those who want to pre-order it, they can do so on platforms such as HiHonor, Amazon and Newegg.Priced at US$199.99, Honor 5X is competing directly with the midrange Moto G (2014) device which is currently the best in that category. As for its specifications, its performance is almost equal to smartphones worth around US$400 with the likes of Moto X Pure Edition.Design and Build QualityThe Honor 5X feels as great as it looks. Its appearance is similar to the Huawei Mate 8 and Nexus 6P which has been quite successful in the Android market. The 5X features a diamond polish, embodied in  an aluminium alloy that is ceramic-coated along with beveled edges.The power and volume keys complement the sides of the 5X device, with its weight standing at 158g which is lighter than you'd expect for a phone its size.Display ScreenThe 5.5-inch Honor 5X full HD display employs the IPS technology. This amplifies the device's screen brightness giving off a sharp and clear viewing experience. With greater resolution than 400 ppi and well-balanced saturation levels, we expect exceptional displays.Honor 5X Outstanding FeaturesFor its budget price, the Honor 5X bundles dual SIM support, fingerprint sensor, as well as microSD support which is a missing feature in most recent flagships.The two SIM card slots include on for a Nano-SIM and another for a micro-SIM. However, of the two SIM cards only one can be selected for LTE operation.The fingerprint sensor is meant to offer lighting performance with unlocking of the device said to only take 0.5 seconds.The SoftwareHonor 5X promises monthly security updates. This means that owners of the Honor 5X can look forward to frequent bug fixes and software optimizations.The number of bloatware on the 5X device is low, which is not common but according to Honor, there are still looking for ways to give users the capacity to have the pre-installed default apps uninstalled form the device.In addition, Honor plans to apply the software according to community feedback and decide whether to   improve or simplify features.Seemingly, Honor plans to welcome the New year with Honor 5X's lightweight software and constant updates, how successful this is going to be is yet to be seen.PerformanceSimilar to Alcatel's One Touch Idol 3 and Motorola's Moto X Play, the Honor 5X is equipped with a Snapdragon 615 processor. As for its actual performance review, we'll have to wait till the device is officially released.Battery CapacityThe Honor 5X embodies a 3000 mAh non-removable battery with a capacity to last you up to 24 hours even with heavy usage. This means you could even go up to 2 days without charging it up with minimal use.Honor 5X also comes with Honor's EMUI software interface which provides a variety of power saving functions that handle resource-intensive apps running in the background.ConclusionThe only downside of the Honor 5X is its Snapdragon 615 processor, but it impresses on other aspects. Its premium features such as its adequate battery life, a unique fingerprint sensor and its promising software updates will be a delight to potential owners especially at its price range.