We go hands-on (again) with Huawei’s Honor 4X!

The first half of 2015 is shaping up to be a stellar one for people looking for bang-for-the-buck devices. There’s so many devices out right now that brings excellent value for money that wasn’t available last year. Meizu’s M1 Note started the ball rolling, while ASUS’ imminent release of the Zenfone 2 has the local tech scene abuzz with excitement for the next few weeks. Today, we’ll be taking a look at another smartphone that has the potential to be another strong bang for the buck contender: Huawei’s Honor 4X. Unveiled last December in Beijing and priced at Php 8990, the 4X compliment’s Huawei’s Honor 4C in the mid-range bracket.

Huawei Honor 4X

• 1.2GHz Kirin 620 octa-core 64-bit A53 CPU
• 2GB of RAM
• 5.5-inch HD IPS display, 1280 x 720 resolution
• 8GB of storage, expandable via microSD
• 13-megapixel rear camera
• 5-megapixel rear camera
• Dual-SIM
• 3G, LTE
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS
• 3000mAh battery
• Android 4.4 KitKat with Emotion UI 3.0

Initial Impressions, Part Two: Really good specs on paper, but the price is a big concern

We were quite impressed by the Honor 4X when we first saw it in China a few months ago, and that feeling hasn’t gone away since we started spending more time with the device. While the 4X is made primarily out of plastic (a necessity for this price range) it doesn’t feel cheap or poorly built. While it’s quite chunky at 8.7mm, it’s stil thinner than most phones in its price category.

The phone sports a textured back, and utilizes a textured back case that works as the phone’s shell. The power button and the volume rocker are both located on the right side, while the 3.5mm jack is on top.

The USB port is on the bottom, along with the speaker grille. Just like the 4C, the 4X has Lollipop-style capacitive keys on the bottom of the device despite of being powered by Android 4.4 KitKat.

Once you open the shell up, you’re greeted by the dual-SIM slots as well as a microSD card slot, and the fixed, 3000mAh battery. The Honor 4X is just one of the few international smartphones that we’ve seen with a fixed, non-removable battery a trend that’s not particularly welcome since it makes it difficult (and costly) to repair phones once their batteries get damaged.

 

As far as performance goes, the Honor 4X’s Kirin 620 processor (which is the same one used on the 4C) is a decent performer, registering good numbers on AnTuTu. We’ve made a short video on the 4X’s performance as it relates to the device using two games: Real Racing 3 and Asphalt 8 as gaming benchmarks. Check it out below:

Huawei’s pricing the Honor 4X at Php 8990 for the 2GB RAM, 8GB version of the phone. While this pricing scheme was good enough last year, the entry of Meizu’s M1 Note (and the imminent release of ASUS’ Zenfone 2 SKUs) may put the squeeze on the 4X, price-wise.

We’ll be taking the Honor 4X out for a couple of other tests to see if it’s really worth the price Huawei is asking for.