Huawei Honor 6X Review: Is Donning a Dual Camera Setup Enough to Compete?

Huawei has finally launched its much awaited Honor 6X in India at a starting price of Rs 12,999. While we have seen some stand out launches from the company last year, Huawei Honor 6X also live upto the expectations and is going to be here for a long time.

Huawei will always remeber 2016 for the success of its flagship device Honor 8 while its mid budget smartphone Honor 5X also saw some success in an already crowded segment. It was not easy to compete with Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 and Lenovo K5 Note, let alone standing out.

However, it seems like history is repeating itself as Honor 5X’s successor the Huawei Honor 6X will lock horns with Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 4 and Lenovo’s K6 Note, in the mid budget smartphone segment.

Huawei Honor 6X has been launched in two variants, a 3GB/32GB model priced at Rs 12,999 and a 4GB/64GB model priced at Rs 15,999. Considering the fact that Honor 5X was a solid and dependable smartphone which delivered decent all-round performance, we expected Huawei Honor 6X to be nothing short of a Lycan in mid-budget category.

Let’s see what the self proclaimed SWAG phone has to offer and compete with the formidable kings of the industry.

Specifications

• 5.5-inch (1080×1920 pixels) full-HD IPS display with 2.5D curved glass protection.
• Octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 655 octa-core (4 cores at 2.1GHz + 4 cores at 1.7GHz) chipset coupled with Mali-T830MP2 GPU
• 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM or 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM, expandable via microSD card
• Dual 12MP + 2MP rear camera with phase detection, autofocus, LED flash and 8MP front shooter.
• Android 6.0 Marshmallow with EMUI v4.1 on top
• 3340 mAh battery
• 4G with VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS with A-GPS, Compass and Fingerprint scanner.

Display and Design

Honor 6X feels quite sturdy and the curved metal back with rounded corners makes everyday usage quite easy. Its seamless design forces us to think whether Huawei Honor 6X is really a budget handset or a premium smartphone. The rear side has a nicely fitted dual-lens rear camera setup which adds to the style quotient with a smartly fitted  fingerprint scanner.

The 5.5-inch (1080×1920 pixels) full-HD IPS display with 2.5D curved glass protection gives best in class viewing angles and everything looks crisp and sharp on Huawei Honor 6X. Those who like play a lot of games on their smartphones will be blown away with its mind blowing graphics and brightness levels in direct sunlight.

Processor and Software

Huawei home-made, Octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 655 octa-core (4 cores at 2.1GHz + 4 cores at 1.7GHz) chipset coupled with Mali-T830MP2 GPU backed by 3GB/32GB and 4GB/64GB variants, is capable of reducing shuttering speed and sluggishness to the minimum and ample amount of RAM will let you use around 20 apps simultaneously, taking Huawei Honor 6X at par with its competition.

Honor 6X will also support heavy games like Asphalt 8, Mortal Kombat and Real Racing 3 without the smartphone getting heated up and without any frame drops, which is indeed a plus point because smartphones in this category are prone to heating problems.

Huawei Honor 6X runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with EMUI v4.1 on top, providing a lot of stock applications and by a lot we mean ‘A Lot’. I personally don’t like a UI stuffed with these many apps rather I like to have what I want in my smartphone. However, the device comes with 14 preloaded local languages (Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Urdu, Gujarati, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Maithili and Nepali) and an emergency SOS button.

Camera

The USP of Huawei Honor 6X is the Camera and that is how Huawei is marketing its new offering. Honor 8 really impressed us with its dual camera setup at the back but considering Flagship tag, that is what it should have done. However, Honor 6X is the first mid budget smartphone to come with a dual camera unit having 12MP + 2MP rear camera with phase detection, autofocus, LED flash at and 8MP front shooter. The 2MP additional sensor at the back, uses in-depth information of the picture and to create blurred background effect. A DSLR with a price tag of a smartphone. Well Done Huawei!!

The front 8MP camera is also expected to produce some of the most detailed and natural looking selfies, in outdoor conditions.

Battery

Huawei Honor 6X comes with a 3340 mAh battery battery which is lower than its direct competition Redmi Note 4, on paper. However, you will be making a mistake by getting to conclusion with on-paper specs. Honor 6X comes with 16nm CPU and power saving technology for excellent power management and the smartphone could easily last for a day and a half.

Huawei has rubbished the claims that you need a bigger battery to make your phone last more.

Disadvantage

• Hybrid Dual-SIM slot for microSD card.
• 8 MP front shooter’s low light and indoor capabilities, despite beauty modes.
• No fast charging
• Its alright to promote your own processor but a Snapdragon would have made Honor 6X a clear winner.

Final Verdict

Huawei Honor 6X offers the best in class features for camera centric and multimedia users but if performance is your first choice and a little less of camera capabilities will do for you, Redmi Note 4 is the smartphone for you.

However, being the first smartphone to flaunt a dual camera setup in budgeted category, having at par performance capabilities, Huawei Honor 6X will definitely have its own fan base.

Note: Huawei Honor 6X’s 3GB variant will be sold exclusively on Amazon and the first flash will take place on 2nd February 2017 at 2 pm bearing three color options, Grey Silver and Gold.

Launch offers on Amazon include up to 14GB of free data on select Airtel recharges and 10 percent cashback on SBI credit cards.

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25 January 2017
Rohan Jaitly