When it comes to cellphones, longer battery is life so they say. That’s one of the exciting features of the recently released Honor X5 Plus here in the Philippines together with the Honor X6a.
Initial overview of Honor X5 Plus
5200mAh long-lasting battery
64GB large expandable storage
50MP clear camera
90Hz smooth-eye comfort display
Display,Design
If you are after design, the Honor X5 Plus has a starlit-inspired design, which makes the phone look unique. The phone is available in two colors, Cyan Lake and Midnight Black. Both color options resemble gemstones twinkling in the night sky.
We were assigned the Cyan Lake colored unit which I found eye-pleasing and cool to look at thanks to its twinkling gemstones effect. Thank goodneses,it also helps the rear does not retain any fingerprint smudges.
The power and volume buttons are on the right side of the device. The power button doubles as a fingerprint sensor.
As per charging, there is a USB-C port on the bottom side, along with the headphone jack, mic, and speaker. The SIM card tray is located on the top left side and can hold two nano SIM cards and a microSD card. Since it’s a hybrid slot, one of the slots can only hold either a SIM or a microSD card.
Honor X5 Plus comes with a 6.56-inch FullView panel, which has Natural Dimming features. With Dynamic Dimming tech, the display of the phone changes according to the light around you. As a result, you get a comfortable viewing experience even at night.
Performance, Productivity
For the software side,Honor X5 Plus runs MagicOS 7.1. It’s Honor’s skin, based on Android 13, and comes with multiple smart features. Meaning, it has a multi-window, app twin, device clone, magazine unlock, one-handed mode among others.
This new model comes with a sole 4GB of RAM, along with 64GB of storage variant so if you’re one of the millions of a general user who goes for only a few lightweight apps, including social media (Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, Twitter) the phone is sufficient and can handle these tasks, but you might notice some lag when opening and switching between apps should you decide to stock in more storage-demanding apps.
MagicOS offers a range of features, including customization. The Yoyo suggestion on the home screen intelligently recommends frequently used apps is nicely considerable.
Now for screenshots which I always find to be a challenge depends on the brand, for Honor X5 Plus, it’s done by tapping the screen twice or capture a partial screenshot by circling with your knuckle. Accessing multi-window by swiping from the edge and pausing works well, and you can change app icons and themes from the settings.
Light gaming is always fun to pass some time but it would be a wbole different scenario should you want to opt for more damanding and heavy gaming on this model.
Cameras, Content Creation
Rear Camera: 50 MP, f/1.8, (wide), PDAF
2 MP, f/2.4, (depth)
Video: 1080@30fps
Front Camera: 5 MP, f/2.2, (wide)
Video: 1080@30fps
Don’t we just love taking pictures, after pictures and selfies?
Most phones take very good outdoor and daytime shots. So the more challenging captures happen in the evening.
For camera, the Honor X5 Plus has PRO, Panorama, HDRPhoto, Time Lapse,
Stickers and High-Res features.
We took lots of snaps during event coverages and daily grind in and out of
the home. Our photo outputs appear natural and eye-pleasing even without filters. Loved the fact most of our indoor and outdoor snaps taken at night, turned out well applying some of its features.
The video is up to 1080p at 30fps. The quality remains satisfactory, with decent detail as its sharpness appear not to be bad.
For color accuracy and dynamic range, the Honor X5 Plus excels.
Battery Life
What is advertised of up to a two-day phone on light to moderate usage is true.
The phone packs a large-sized battery,at 5200mAH. Thankfully you can get up to 17.8 hours of non-stop video playback. However, the phone can charge only at 10W, that it will take quite longer to get from 0% to 100%.
It may take 2.5 hours to fully charge the device from 4% to 100% so don’t drain your phone.
If I am not using my mobile data or hooked up to WIFI, this phone lasted to 2.5 days which deserves an applause! Very happy about it. Wohooo!
Price and Availability
This is noticeably good news for the budget conscious like myself.
The HONOR X5 Plus is priced at PhP 5,490 in the Philippines. You can purchase thru HONOR’s official Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok stores, as well as HONOR concept stores and authorized retailers nationwide.
HONOR X5 PLUS in the Philippines
Body: 163.32 x 75.07 x 8.35 mm, 188 g
SIM: Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
Display: 6.56 inches TFT LCD, HD+, 720 x 1612, 90Hz, 20.15:9
Chipset: Mediatek Helio G36 (12 nm)
CPU: Octa-core (4×2.2 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4×1.6 GHz Cortex-A53)
GPU: IMG GE8320
Memory: 64GB/4GB RAM
OS: Android 13, MagicOS 7.1
Rear Camera: 50 MP, f/1.8, (wide), PDAF
2 MP, f/2.4, (depth)
Video: 1080p@30fps
Front Camera: 5 MP, f/2.2, (wide)
Video: 1080p@30fps
Battery: Non-removable Li-Po 5200mAh battery, 10W
USB: USB Type-C 2.0, OTG
Sensors: Fingerprint (side-mounted), accelerometer, proximity, ambient light sensor
3.5mm Headphone Jack: Yes
Colors: Cyan Lake, Midnight Black
Price: P5,490
HONOR X5 Plus fits the budget and smartphone needs of users who prefer longer battery life and simple apps and features to go through their daily grind. And this model does not disappoint.