Honor X5 Plus Smartphone Review – Honor X5 Plus was launched on August 2023 as the latest budget offering from Honor. The smartphone was first launched in South Africa and Honor has confirmed its plans to ship the new smartphone globally in the coming days. Honor also provided an updated and modern design to the smartphone to make it more appealing to this generation of users.
Honor promises this smartphone has everything you need in a budget device, that is except 5G. The absence of 5G may not sit well with all users but keep in mind that this is a budget smartphone, so we have to look at it from that perspective. The inclusion of 5G would have increased the cost unnecessarily.
So, we understand Honor’s decision to not go for 5G. They designed the smartphone to provide a balanced all-around experience to newer budget users. So, let’s begin with a detailed review of the Honor X5 Plus smartphone and see if this smartphone is worth purchasing.
Table of Contents
Honor X5 Plus Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The Honor X5 Plus has a 6.56-inch TFT display with HD+ resolution and a 90Hz high refresh rate.
- The SoC inside the smartphone is the Mediatek Helio G36 chipset that has a clock speed of 4×2.2GHz.
- The smartphone comes with Android 13 with a MagicUI 7.1 user interface for better customizability.
- The main rear camera of the smartphone has a 50MP triple camera system while the selfie camera has a 5MP sensor.
- The smartphone is powered by a Li-Po 5200 mAh battery with a 10W wired charger support.
Design and Display
The design of the Honor X5 Plus is its main selling point. It features a modern flat design that is very popular among Gen-Z users and it is designed with some elegant color choices, such as Cyan Lake and Midnight Black. Cyan Lake in particular looks good and is certain to impress. The flat design is further augmented by the frosted finish of the rear pane, giving the smartphone a flagship vibe.
All in all, the Honor X5 Plus looks extremely polished and premium. The smartphone is also lightweight at under 190 grams. On the front, you get a 6.56-inch TFT display with HD+ resolution. The lack of FHD+ may upset some users but it is what it is and considering the price tag, it’s acceptable. The display also has a 90Hz high refresh rate, which will make everything that happens on the screen super smooth. The bezels on the screen are also quite narrow, especially for the price tag.
Memory and Internal
The Honor X5 Plus features a Mediatek Helio G36 chipset that has a clock speed of 4×2.2GHz. It has relatively decent performance and it has an octa-core configuration, so there’s nothing to worry about. It can easily run all your daily apps and other things you do on a smartphone, and worth the money you are spending on this device.
As for gaming, you will find the PowerVR GE8320 GPU, which has enough power to run games like PUBG Mobile and CODmat respectable framerates. Also, the chipset is manufactured at a 12nm process node, so it is quite efficient and remains relatively cool. But remember that this is a 4G chipset, so it’s limited to 4G connectivity.
For RAM and storage, the smartphone has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. When it comes to the software, the Honor X5 Plus is running on Android 13 with a MagicUI 7.1 user interface for better customizability. You may have wished if the smartphone launched with Android 14 out of the box but when the smartphone launched, Android 14 wasn’t official yet. So, it is understandable that they couldn’t launch it with that.
Camera
The Honor X5 Plus sports a dual-camera system at the rear. The main rear camera features a 50MP sensor and its pictures are excellent with good enough detail, great dynamic range, and saturated colors. The images look sharp even if you zoom in, thanks to all the details that the senor managed to preserve.
However, the same cannot be said for the selfie camera. It has a 5MP sensor, whose performance is average at best. It only manages to take decent selfies when there’s good lighting in the environment. Now, let’s speak of low-light performance. The main camera is more than decent in low-light situations, thanks to the night mode, but the selfie camera struggles at night.
This is where Honor had to cut some corners. The rear camera is decent but don’t rely too much on the selfie camera. As for video recording, the Honor X5 Plus can shoot at a maximum of 1080p@30FPS from both the rear and selfie cameras. Also, the camera system lacks any form of video stabilization.
Battery and Others
The Honor X5 Plus has a Li-Po 5200 mAh non-removable battery. This is a very high-capacity battery, especially for a smartphone that costs so low. With this large-capacity battery, expect the Honor X5 Plus to provide an excellent backup. It can easily last for 2 days or more with light to moderate usage.
This is partly thanks to the 4nm manufacturing process and the use of energy-efficient components inside the smartphone. However, charging the smartphone could present some problems and that’s because the battery lacks any form of fast charging. It only supports the standard 10W charger, which can take over 3 hours or more to fully charge the smartphone.
However, the charger is included in the box, unlike many manufacturers who choose to remove it from the box. Apart from that, the phone also has Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, GPS, and a USB Type-C port. The smartphone is available for purchase at $99 (Rs 8,200 in India) approx.
Honor X5 Plus Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Honor X5 Plus smartphone.
| Specifications | Honor X5 Plus |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G |
| Announced | August 2023 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.43 x 2.96 x 0.33 inches |
| Weight | 188 g |
| Size | 6.56 inches |
| Display | TFT LCD 90Hz 20:9 ratio ~269 PPI density |
| Protection | No |
| Resolution | 720 x 1612 pixels |
| OS | Android 13, MagicOS 7.1 |
| Chipset | 12nm – Mediatek Helio G36 |
| CPU | Octa-core 4×2.2 GHz Cortex-A53 4×1.6 GHz Cortex-A53 |
| GPU | PowerVR GE8320 |
| Card slot | microSDXC |
| RAM | 4GB |
| Internal | 64GB |
| Camera | 50 MP (wide), PDAF 2 MP (depth) LED flash, HDR, panorama Max – 1080p@30fps |
| Selfie | 5 MP (wide) Max – 1080p@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct |
| Bluetooth | 5.1, A2DP, LE, aptX HD |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS |
| NFC | Yes (market/region dependent) |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | Unspecified |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, OTG |
| Sensors | Side-mounted fingerprint, accelerometer, proximity |
| Battery | Li-Po 5200 mAh 10W wired |
| Colors | Cyan Lake, Midnight Black |
| Expected Price | $99 (Rs 8,200 in India) approx |
Conclusion
The Honor X5 Plus is truly a balanced smartphone that has just enough specs to provide a good user experience in every way. While you can’t call any of the specs particularly groundbreaking, you can’t expect a lot in this price range anyway. It has a great design, a high refresh-rate display, a decent chipset, a set of good cameras, and a high-capacity battery.
What more could you ask for at this price range? The smartphone also lacks 5G connectivity, which we understand can be a dealbreaker for some people. We were honestly surprised by how well-made and balanced this smartphone was. But you know what they say, there’s always another fish in the sea and they are not wrong.
The Xiaomi Redmi 13C is one such smartphone but provides better specs in many areas and is available for a similar or slightly higher price tag depending on where you live. However, the final decision is up to you, so it is better to choose a smartphone based on your requirements and needs.
