[alert type=alert-blue]Technical details[/alert]
Price £149.99
OS Android 4.4 KitKat
Processor HiSilicon Kirin 620
Screen 5.5-inches
Resolution 720p
Memory 2GB RAM
Storage 8 GB
MicroSD compatible? Yes, up to 32GB
Camera 13MP rear and 5MP front
Video 1080p
Connectivity 4G
Dimensions 152.9 x 77.2 x 8.7mm
Weight 165g
Battery 3,000mAh
[alert type=alert-blue]Introduction[/alert]
Honor is the sub-brand of Chinese phone and infrastructure manufacturing giant Huawei, which most people here have never heard of either. The ‘Honor’ range was launched in late 2014 and aims to provide user-friendly and affordable devices to a young audience.
So if you’re after a premium-looking smartphone for a third of the iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S6’s price, then the Honor 4X is a decent shout.
You get a pretty large device with a 5.5-inch screen, 720p resolution and decent performance. It feels more well-built than its £149.99 price tag would otherwise suggest. In fact, we think the 4X is more well-built than the non-leather LG G4.
[alert type=alert-blue]Design[/alert]
The front of the phone sports a typical design familiar on many Android phones nowadays. It’s all black with the speakers and camera on top. We’d recommend picking the version with a white plastic back. The contrast between black and white helps the phone stand out and it actually feels more well-built than the non-leather LG G4.
Volume and power buttons have been placed on the side. Those of you with small hands may find it difficult to reach these as the phone is quite chunky. And despite its huge size and 165g weight, the Honor 4X feels very lightweight.
[alert type=alert-blue]Camera[/alert]
A host of filters, manual settings and focus mode, which lets you set the focal point of a photo after it’s been taken, can help you get some sharp and vibrant shots from the 13MP rear camera. The 8MP camera was also decent at taking selfies. Video is a different story, however, and the phone noticeably struggled to quickly adjust from light to dark settings in our tests.
[alert type=alert-blue]Screen[/alert]
Despite only having a 720p screen that isn’t full-HD; images, text, photographs and videos popped out with plenty of colour and decent quality. At 5.5-inches, there’s plenty of room for everything you want to view.
[alert type=alert-blue]Performance and software[/alert]
The Honor 4X comes equipped with a Kirin 620 processor. It’s not the most advanced processor on the market, but it did a decent job of running games like Hearthstone, Do Not Commute and Crossy Road with no noticeable struggle. However, we did notice some hiccups with more processor intense games like Real Racing 3, however.
That cheap headline price tag gets you a feature that neither the super expensive Samsung Galaxy S6 or iPhone 6 have – a microSD slot, which can expand the Honor 4X’s 8GB internal storage capacity to a maximum of 32GB with a microSD card that costs a few quid.
The Honor 4X uses Huawei’s Emotion 3.0. Whilst the on-screen icons and colours were attractive, some might not like the childish skin given to some app icons. Thankfully you can choose from a selection of themes should you dislike the stock one.
We would have preferred an app draw that holds any unwanted apps. The absence of this means that you’re either stuck with loads of folders or stray apps cluttering up your home screen.
Another welcome feature would have been haptic feedback. Haptic feedback provides a response, such as a vibration, every time you press a button. Without haptic feedback, we were sometimes left wondering a button had actually worked on the Honor 4X.
Battery life is decent through moderate usage and it lasted us the entire day before going dry. A very neat addition is the Ultra Battery Mode, which can be switched on when battery life is anywhere below 15 per cent. This feature helps prolong the Honor 4X’s battery life by barring access to many apps and only allowing the use of important functions, including Dialler, Messaging and Contacts.
[alert type=alert-blue]Conclusion[/alert]
Here’s an affordable phone that offers many features at a great price. The build quality even feels better than the LG G4. Huawei isn’t yet a big name over in the West, but phones like the 4X are helping it head in that direction.
For more on Huawei, visit What Mobile’s dedicated Huawei page.
