Huawei Honor 4X — review, reviews of Huawei Honor 4 X |

This is not the first time we have to admit that thanks to Chinese manufacturers, the mass consumer can get functions and capabilities that were previously unavailable to them. Judge for yourself, just a few years ago a metal body, a large and high-quality screen, a fingerprint scanner, normal camera modules, high performance and a wide range of communications were the prerogative of exclusively expensive flagship devices. Now this entire set can be found not only in the mid-price range, but even in the budget segment of the market, which is definitely encouraging.

Thanks to our partner, online store TOMTOP

, we will try once again to check this axiom using the example of a smartphone Honor
6
X
, aka Huawei GR5 2020 for different markets.
With an estimated price of less than $200

, the device offers a 5.5-inch Full HD IPS display, an 8-core HiSilicon Kirin 655 processor and even a dual main camera. Tempting, isn’t it?

Specification

Delivery and configuration

The Honor 6X smartphone comes in a turquoise cardboard box. Its design is as ascetic as possible, and the information content is presented only in the form of a couple of logos and a few lines in Chinese.

Inside we found a quite familiar set of accessories: a charger, a USB cable, a paper clip and user documentation.

Appearance, arrangement of elements

By modern standards, the appearance of Honor 6X is quite standard: a non-separable all-in-one with a fairly thin profile, rounded corners and streamlined sides. Nevertheless, it looks nice and does not look cheap. And in general terms, there is a sense of continuity with previous models from Huawei. The front side is covered with tempered 2.5D glass, along the contour of which there is a edging made of plastic, painted white. Judging by the photos online, if not handled carefully, the paint will peel off easily. Most of the backrest is made of smooth aluminum sheet, which pleasantly cools the palm. But the upper and lower ends are already made of plastic, and they stand out a little from the metal background in color and texture, and on the sides you can see not the most neat joints. By the way, the smartphone is available for sale in three color options: dark gray, light silver and gold. In the first case the front end is black, and in the others it is white.

As for a 5.5-inch device, we have average weight and dimensions: 151 × 76 × 8.2 mm and 166 g. If you have a large palm and long fingers, then you can comfortably use the smartphone even with one hand, including due to the familiar location of the controls. Otherwise, we hold it with one hand and operate with the other. But it is worth considering that through the sloping and smooth sides the case feels somewhat slippery, but it is not easily soiled.

In Honor 6X, the display takes up about 72% of the available space on the front panel. The frames around it are not record-breaking, but quite pleasant: 4 mm on the side, 16.5 mm on the bottom and 13 mm on the top. Above the screen there is a speaker, a set of sensors, a camera and an event indicator, and below it there is only the Honor logo, since the system keys are on the screen.

The physical elements are located quite familiar to modern Android smartphones. The power button and volume rocker are on the right side. They are without notches, but are well defined, have a short, rather tight stroke and pleasant tactile feedback. On the left side there is space for a tray for two Nano-SIMs, one of which can be replaced with a microSD memory card. At the bottom there are two grilles (for a microphone and a speaker), and between them there is a micro-USB port. Unfortunately, the USB Type-C port is still a rare guest in available models. On top you can find a 3.5mm audio port and an additional microphone.

At the top of the back of the Honor 6X there is a slightly protruding camera block with a flash, and below there is a fingerprint sensor, a brand logo and technical information.

The fingerprint scanner is located in a recess and is easily detected by touch. It is not annoying when working; on the contrary, it is characterized by speed and accuracy.

In addition to unlocking and locking the device, you can use it to receive a call, control photo and video shooting, turn off the alarm, open the notification panel and scroll through the gallery (all activated in the settings).

The build quality and structural rigidity are at a decent level: there is no play or creaking, and the glass is slightly pressed only with noticeable pressure.

Display

The Honor 6X smartphone is equipped with a 5.5-inch IPS touchscreen display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080. The output is a pixel density of 401 PPI. The matrix is ​​covered with protective glass with rounded edges (the brand of which the manufacturer does not disclose) and without an oleophobic coating, which is fraught with the rapid accumulation of traces of use and deterioration in finger sliding. Fortunately, the situation is slightly saved by the factory protective film with a simple oleophobic layer. There is no air gap between the display and glass.

When working with the screen, there is absolutely no lack of detail. The picture pleases with pleasant colors combined with a high level of contrast and maximum viewing angles. Even with large deviations from the normal, no distortion is observed. Thanks to the high level of maximum brightness and good anti-glare properties, the device can be used without problems not only indoors, but even outdoors on a sunny summer day. The minimum level is quite comfortable for complete darkness. The light sensor copes well with its direct responsibilities.

In the screen settings, it is possible to adjust the color temperature according to user preferences, and you can also enable eye protection (reducing UV radiation).

The touch pad easily handles up to 10 simultaneous clicks. Unfortunately, there are no advanced gesture controls, as well as double-tap unlocking.

Audio subsystem

Despite the fact that the device has only one speaker, it is quite loud (you are unlikely to miss a call) and offers decent sound quality. The sound range is represented by good mids and highs, and there is even a hint of lows. This is quite enough for games and videos, you can even listen to music. The location on the bottom end is the best.

The sound in the headphones was checked using our standard gaming HyperX Cloud
(impedance 60 Ohm) and in-ear Vivanco HS 200 WT (impedance 16 Ohm). In both cases, the smartphone sounds quite standard for such solutions and there is a small volume reserve. For playback, you use your own player with a pleasant and laconic design. In the settings you can only turn on or off the virtual system “SWS”. Subjectively, it makes the sound a little louder, and the sound itself becomes a little more spacious, with deeper lows and detailed highs. Radio lovers will be pleased with the presence of a built-in radio module, but only for listening to FM stations, without the ability to record broadcasts.

Camera

The main camera of the smartphone is based on a 12-megapixel Sony IMX386 matrix with an increased pixel size (1.25 microns) and is equipped with an f/2.2 aperture lens. There is fast phase detection autofocus and a single-color flash, but image stabilization is not provided. Nearby there is an additional 2-megapixel module with wide-angle optics. Unlike the same Huawei P9

, the second camera here is not monochrome, but is used solely to simulate depth of field thanks to the wide aperture range: from f/0.95 to f/16.

The resulting images are very good, especially considering the price of the device. They offer excellent detail with moderate noise reduction, vibrant colors and correct white balance. Even in twilight or in a city at night, it is quite possible to get decent shots. As for bokeh, everything is quite good, especially when shooting portraits, but the result is not always the same — the software component still needs some work. It is possible to change the focus point and the degree of blur on the finished photo. Until recently, only devices in the upper price range shone with this opportunity.

The camera can record video in 1080p resolution at 30 fps. The quality of the footage is quite good — detail and sound are at a normal level (video bitrate up to 17 Mbit/s, and audio up to 196 Kbit/s).

The 8 MP front module lacks autofocus, but has a fast (f/2.2) and wide-angle (77°) lens. Everything is quite good — correct white balance and good detail. For selfies and video calling, its capabilities should be sufficient. Traditionally, there are retouching modes and a smile detection function. The video is also recorded in 1080p.

The camera application is proprietary. It has a very simple and user-friendly interface. There are two operating modes – “Auto” and “Pro”. The user has access to many settings (metering parameters, shutter speed, WB, photosensitivity, and so on) and shooting modes. Everything works very efficiently.

Examples of photography

Example
ы
boke

Video examples

Example of daytime shooting from a smartphone
Honor
6
X

in 1080p resolution at 30 FPS

User Interface

Honor 6X runs on the latest Android 7.0 Nougat OS, which is complemented by an updated proprietary EMUI 5.0 shell. Subjectively, the new design and new icons definitely look nice. Traditionally, there are wide personalization options, including design themes and the ability to arrange virtual buttons in your own way. By default, the lock screen changes pictures every time the device wakes up, and when you swipe up from the bottom, the control panel opens, where you can customize the wallpaper and also get quick access to a number of applications. The notification panel is divided into two parts: notifications and quick settings. But you can enable the Smart Select feature, which will immediately open the settings in the absence of notifications. By the way, if in previous versions of EMUI all programs were located exclusively on desktops, as in other Chinese analogues, then here it is now possible to include a separate application menu. It’s nice that the number of the latter is represented by a minimal set, and they are all useful. Let’s briefly go through some of them.

Perhaps the most interesting and functional is the “Phone Manager”. With its help, you can optimize the system, energy consumption, limit the launch of applications, scan for viruses, manage traffic, and the like.

Those who play sports or are simply active people will like the “Health” application, which recognizes different types of exercise (running, walking, cycling, treadmill and even swimming). It allows you to count calories, set goals and keep a workout history. There is the ability to interact with various fitness trackers and other smart devices.

HiBoard is an app drawer that includes a quick search bar, some suggestions based on your frequently used programs, and news based on Flipboard.

The settings menu is made in light colors. Access to almost all parameters is open: communication capabilities, appearance, screen settings, sound effects, etc. Gesture support is limited to one flip of the display down to mute the sound (ringer, alarm, timer). Another interesting thing to note is the virtual control button, which provides quick access to favorite functions anywhere on the screen. There is the possibility of one-handed control — “Mini window” and “Moving the keyboard”.

Overall, the new shell not only looks good, but also offers extensive functionality with decent performance and smooth animation.

Productivity and communication capabilities

Inside the Honor 6X there is a 16nm 64-bit 8-core HiSilicon Kirin 655 SoC processor of our own production. It combines two clusters of four Cortex-A53 cores with frequencies of 2.1 GHz and 1.7 GHz, respectively. The graphics are handled by a dual-core GPU Mali-T830 MP2 (600 MHz). Depending on the modification, the amount of RAM and ROM can be 3/4 and 32/64 GB, respectively. We visited the younger version, in which, after turning on, the user is left with 1.6 GB of free RAM and about 21 GB of permanent memory. You can expand the internal storage using microSD memory cards, but since the tray is hybrid, you will have to sacrifice one Nano-SIM slot. This platform supports OTG mode, which allows you to connect an external USB drive or peripheral devices.

Judging by the tests, the performance of this chip is between the solutions of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 and Qualcomm Snapdragon 625. The smartphone is quite fast and is perfect for comfortable work with the browser, viewing and listening to various types of content, communicating in instant messengers and performing other simple everyday tasks. tasks. But with games, not everything is so smooth. For example, Asphalt: Xtreme is quite playable at high graphics settings, but there are occasional stutters. WoT Blitz has problems with optimization for the Huawei processor, since at medium and high graphics settings you can see both under 40 FPS and drops to an unpleasant 10 FPS. At low settings we get about 35-55 FPS, but visual twitching is still observed. In Injustice 2, the picture slows down and responsiveness suffers. During long gaming battles, the body of the device warms up noticeably, but no discomfort is observed.

Honor 6X supports modern mobile networks 2G GSM, 3G WCDMA and 4G LTE Cat.4. Support for two SIM cards is implemented on the basis of one radio module. Everything is functioning properly. The speaker and microphones perform well. The vibration alert is average in strength.

Communication capabilities are quite rich and are represented by the following modules: NFC, Bluetooth 4.1 and Wi-Fi. True, they saved a little on the latter, since it only supports 802.11b/g/n protocols and is capable of operating at a single frequency of 2.4 GHz.

Searching for Wi-Fi hotspots and connecting to them is fast, and the established connection is highly stable.

The navigation module is characterized by support for GPS (A-GPS), BeiDou and GLONASS systems. Cold start takes about 20 seconds.

Autonomous operation

The device has a built-in 3340 mAh battery, which is quite a good indicator by modern standards. A full battery charge lasts for one and a half to two days of uninterrupted operation under an average load (several hours of display operation, calls, SMS, music, a little Internet), and if you turn on energy-saving technologies, even more.

As a result of watching HD video (MPEG-4 / AVC, MKV container, 4 Mbit/s stream), the device was discharged in 10 hours 33 minutes. A gaming simulation using Asphalt: Xtreme drained its battery in 3 hours and 52 minutes.

The estimated battery life according to PCMark was 8 hours and 52 minutes, while GFXBench gave a result of 308 minutes. In all cases (except for the gaming one), the display brightness was 50%, and the Wi-Fi and GPS modules were activated.

The battery charging time from the included power supply (5 V, 2 A) reaches 2.5 hours. There is no fast charging.

Results

Honor
6
X
is a nice and modern mid-budget smartphone with a price tag of less than $200

. It looks and feels great, thanks to its thin body, metal construction and excellent build quality. The device offers everything a modern user needs: an efficient fingerprint scanner, a large and high-quality display, normal sound, good camera modules, beautiful, up-to-date and very functional software, which is also constantly updated. The device also pleases with its high performance, wide communication capabilities and long battery life.

This model has no critical flaws. Of course, you can recall the lack of an oleophobic screen coating and not the best performance in modern heavy games, but, you must admit, many users will not even notice this.

The main thing is that Honor 6X is a fairly balanced and affordable smartphone that will certainly delight its owner for many years.

Advantages:

• nice design;
• high-quality materials of construction;
• good ergonomics;
• high quality workmanship;
• efficient fingerprint scanner;
• high-quality 5.5-inch IPS screen;
• good camera modules;
• good performance of the hardware platform;
• support for two SIM cards in Dual SIM Dual Standby mode;
• USB OTG specification support;
• NFC availability;
• beautiful and functional EMUI 5.0 shell;
• good level of autonomy;
• affordable price.

Features:

• hybrid SIM card slot;
• gaming performance is lower than direct competitors.

Disadvantages:

• lack of oleophobic screen coating.

Author:

Viktor Efimenko

We express our gratitude to the online store
TOMTOP


for the smartphone provided for testing.

We also suggest reading:
Review and testing of the Honor 6 smartphone

Review and testing of the Huawei P9 smartphone

Review and testing of the LeEco Le 2 (X520) smartphone: for budget-conscious geeks

published 18-09-2020

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