Oppo shipped 50 million mobile devices last year
Earlier this week, Oppo announced that it sold just over 50 million mobile devices in 2015. This puts the company inside the top ten list of mobile brands in the industry by marketshare.
This is the first time Oppo has sold over 50 million handsets in a single year. The company experienced a whopping 67% year-on-year growth, which is an accomplishment worth being proud of. The company said that most of its success came from the Chinese market, which surged this past year.
Oppo is working extremely hard to bring its devices to more countries and increase awareness of the brand. This is one of Oppo’s big goals for the 2016 year. Looking ahead, Oppo would love to keep its momentum moving and improve the brand’s marketshare in India, which will be another major focus for the year to come. For more details, check the press release down below.
OPPO Tops 50 Million Units in 2015, Grows 67% Year on Year
Shenzhen, Jan. 26, 2016 – OPPO sold 50 million units in 2015, representing a year-on-year growth of 67 percent. Propelled by this success, OPPO has broken into the top ten smartphone brands worldwide, ranking eighth in global market share, according to a recent report by TrendForce.
OPPO soared in 2015 on its “simple, focused” strategy, which prioritized product quality and user experience above all. Meanwhile, a host of innovative signature technologies, such as the VOOC Flash Charge quick-charging solution and a versatile, feature-packed camera platform, won the favor of consumers around the world.
2015 saw the release of a wide range of new OPPO products, including the R7 series, the Mirror 5 and the Neo 7. The products of the R7 series, featuring VOOC Flash Charge and an outstanding photography experience, made OPPO a commanding force in the mid-range and upper mid-range market segments.
Taking China as an example, OPPO accounted for 27.9 percent of the country’s offline sales in the RMB2000-2999 ($300-$450 USD) segment last year, according to independent market research firm SINO MR, positioning OPPO as the most popular choice in this price range in the offline market. This performance was fueled in part by a successful campaign promoting the VOOC Flash Charge quick-charging solution, which, with the help of the slogan “Charge for five minutes, talk for two hours”, has virtually become a household name in China.
Meanwhile, in Vietnam, riding on the success of the R7 series, as well as the attractively priced Mirror 5 and Neo 7, OPPO ranked number two nationally in offline smartphone market share, with 21.9 percent, according to November 2015 data from independent market research firm GfK.
Strategic brand partnerships have also been a contributor to OPPO’s rise in 2015, and are continuing to have a huge impact on the company’s global brand awareness. Among the most high-profile of these is OPPO’s ongoing three-year partnership with FC Barcelona, which has afforded opportunities to connect with the fans and followers of one of the most popular football clubs in the world. Meanwhile, a recently announced partnership with the International Cricket Council (ICC) is set to open up a host of exciting opportunities in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and a range of OPPO’s other cricket-loving markets.
OPPO has also leveraged cross-industry promotions to boost its image. In Australia, OPPO cooperated with the fashion world for Melbourne and Sydney fashion weeks, successfully positioning itself as a vendor of trendy, stylish devices in the mid- and upper-mid range.
2015 also saw big expansions in OPPO’s global markets. While strengthening core markets in China and Southeast Asia, OPPO also opened up business in Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and Sri Lanka. In hotly contested India, the company invested heavily in a domestic main office. As of December 2015, OPPO had established 11,000 sales outlets across India and entered into cooperation with Foxconn India to assemble phones domestically.
In 2016, OPPO will keep the momentum going, with a goal of 60-percent growth in non-Chinese markets. India will be a chief focus for the company this year, with a planned sales increase of 300 percent by the end of the year.
2016 will also see OPPO strengthen its well-deserved brand image as a provider of superb camera experiences, while at the same time putting an increased emphasis on bringing OPPO phones to a wider range of users, by providing devices that bring phenomenal quality-to-price ratios. The photography-centric F1, the first product in the new F series, is an early step in this direction.
With the F1 set to launch in India on January 28, OPPO is already ramping up to bring its innovative smartphones to even more users this year, and to make 2016 a new high point.
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Japan may relax its drone rules to protect crops
Japan is leery about the threat drones possess after one deposited radioactive material on the home of its Prime Minister. That doesn’t mean that the country doesn’t recognize their potential as well, which is why it’s currently mulling a relaxation of its tight rules. According to the Yomiuri Shimbum / Japan News, officials are planning “special drone zones,” that’ll enable UAVs to be flown around island regions and mountains. Initially, the technology will be tested to see if it can serve a practical purpose away from densely-populated urban regions.
For instance, researchers will see if drones can be used to chase away animals that are attacking farm crops. In addition, the country will examine if the craft are an effective method to convey emergency medical supplies to remote areas. The paper cites Okutama, which was cut off by heavy snow two years ago, as an example where flying cargo drones could prove useful. Finally, the tech is expected to prove useful when monitoring remote islands that are uninhabited by humans, but stuffed full of rare wildlife and plants. Maybe the country can retrofit its new anti-drone drone to snatch up poachers looking to cause environmental havoc.
Source: Yomiuri Shimbun / Japan News
‘Dangerous Golf’ is a crazy game from the creators of ‘Burnout’
The co-founders of Criterion Games, Fiona Sperry and Alex Ward, left the EA-owned property last year to start their own company. We now know that venture as Three Fields Entertainment, which today is introducing its first game ever: Dangerous Golf. As the name suggests, it isn’t your average take on a sports title, with a story that lets you create chaos on over 100 holes across four different locations — all insane in their own right.
Aside from being able to take a swing inside a medieval castle, you can also smash some inferno-looking balls at a gas station and set it on fire; the more you wreak havoc, the better it is for your destructive powers. Unfortunately, you’ll have to contain your excitement a bit, since Dangerous Golf won’t launch until May on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Store and Steam.
Source: Three Fields Entertainment
Singapore’s artificial natural paradise
Singapore is one of the most densely-populated states on earth. It’s also growing. Through reclamation its landmass has grown by an estimated 24 percent since 1960, with 5 percent (37 square kilometers or 14 square miles) added in the past 15 years alone. This artificial growth is fueled by materials from its own hills, the sea bed and imports from other countries. Along with creating new areas for residence, the reclamation has allowed Singapore to create large public spaces and entertainment complexes, including the Gardens by the Bay, a lush parkland created under the remit to turn Singapore from a “Garden City” into “A City in a Garden.”
Nothing about the 130-acre park is as it seems. As the land it was built on wasn’t there in decades past, everything was created from scratch. This is landscaping on an epic scale, with every plant, every tree and each spec of dirt planned. It’s punctuated by giant “Supertrees,” vertical gardens that mimic real trees on a grand scale. The supertrees stand up to 50 meters (164 feet) tall, housing plants, solar panels, and collecting rainwater. Some also act as exhaust pipes for an underground biomass powerplant, which runs on natural waste from the park.
The Big Picture is a recurring feature highlighting beautiful images that tell big stories. We explore topics as large as our planet, or as small as a single life, as affected by or seen through the lens of technology.
Nanowire discovery may lead to better, cheaper solar cells
Scientists have figured out a standardized way to make nanowires out of perovskite, a material that could one day make solar energy cheap and ubiquitous. Just a few years ago, cells made from the relatively inexpensive substances had a solar efficiency rating of just 3.8 percent. Fast-forward to 2015, and they can now convert 21 percent of light hitting them to electricity, drawing the attention of scientists and solar panel manufacturers alike. Using nanowires instead of nanoparticles further increases efficiency, because the wires act as “direct conductive highways” to transmit current more efficiently. So far, though, an easy way to build them has eluded researchers.
However, a team from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in France have found a standardized way to “grow” the wires that’s relatively easy and cheap. “We need nanowires that [resemble] each other like identical twins,” according to grad student Endre Horváth, adding that they need billions identical copies to make effective solar cells. To do it, they used so called nanofluidics, in which fluids are manipulated by microcircuits on a nanometer scale. Using a new technique, they first created “nano-grooves” on a silicon base to guide the tiny streams. That resulted in the parallel formation of tens of thousands of perovskite crystal “wires” (see the two videos, below)
EPFL called the technique “a great leap forward in nanowire technology.” If it can be scaled up, it could lead to perovskite nanowire wafers that are ideal for efficient solar cells. The material would also improve optoelectronic devices like lasers and LEDs.
Source: EPFL
LG posts strong smartphone numbers for 2015 in financial report
LG released their fourth quarter and 2015 full year financial results today showing the LG Mobile Communications Company portion of the manufacturing conglomerate had a solid year. According to LG, the company shipped a total of 59.7 million smartphones in 2015, which was a slight increase from 59.1 million units shipped in 2014. LG specifically noted that sales in North America had improved to help with the results for the division.
For the fourth quarter of 2015, LG shipped 15.3 million smartphones, leading to sales of KRW 3.78 trillion ($3.26 billion USD). That was a 12 percent increase in sales compared to the previous quarter. In a world where the smartphone market has been softening, the fourth quarter results were unchanged when compared to the same quarter in 2014, so that is effectively a win for the company. LG says they anticipate 2016 will be even tougher thanks to competitor devices and price pressures. To combat this, LG plans to introduce two flagship smartphones during 2016.
LG also reported that their home entertainment division had a solid fourth quarter in 2015 with revenues increasing 11 percent compared to the third quarter. LG says this growth was due to improved sales of OLED and UHD televisions. Despite the upward trend within the year, revenues of KRW 4.74 trillion ($4.09 billion USD) were down compared to 2014 as the global TV market softens and LG was buffeted by unfavorable foreign currency exchange rates. LG says they do anticipate a favorable market in 2016 for their OLED TVs and new Super 4K Ultra HD televisions. The company also says they will have their first ever Super Bowl commercial this year.
Overall, LG’s fourth quarter operating profit in 2015 was 27 percent higher than in 2014 thanks in large part to the home appliances division, although home entertainment was a solid contributor as well. Despite the improved profits, sales revenue was down 4.7 percent across all businesses compared to 2014’s fourth quarter. Likewise, full year revenues were down for 2015 compared to 2014 as was operating income.
source: LG
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HTC’s latest Hot Deals lets you save up to 30%, but today only
HTC is no stranger to holding sales on its online site. However, they typically go quick, and the sale today is no exception. For HTC’s first Hot Deals of the new year, it is letting you save on any device across its online store. The more you spend, the more you’ll save, up to 30%.
Here’s how it works:
- Save 30% when you spend $650
- Save 20% when you spend $500
- Save 15% when you spend $150
In other words, if you spring for a One M9, you’ll get $195 knocked off of the $650 retail price. Or being that the recently released One A9 goes for $500, that’ll drop down to $400. We also can’t forget that HTC manufactured last year’s Nexus 9 tablet, so that’s available on the site as well.
These sales go quick, so better get on it if you’ve been eyeing an HTC device. You have only through today, 11:59 p.m. PT to benefit from it.
Source: HTC
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Google I/O 2016: our early predictions for Google’s big event
Google’s annual developer conference is one of the most exclusive must-attend events on the Android calendar. I was lucky enough to go last year and got to meet Sundar Pichai and Larry Page for the effort. Rubbing shoulders with CEOs, engineers, developers and enthusiasts aside, though, what else can you expect from Google I/O 2016?
Google I/O 2016 dates and location
Back on January 12, freshly minted Google CEO Sundar Pichai tweeted the dates and location for Google I/O 2016: May 18-20 at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. For those unfamiliar with the location, it’s a long way away from any hotels and doesn’t exactly feature great public transport options, sparking widespread speculation that it might have been chosen to provide Google the opportunity to show off its self-driving cars…
Google I/O 2016 app
The official Google I/O 2016 app isn’t in Google Play yet, but each year the old app gets replaced with the new one, so when the new one goes live you can grab it via the button below. The Google I/O app includes livestreams for the keynote and major sessions, schedules, maps, reminders and some fun stuff.
What to expect from Google I/O 2016
Android N
This one is a given, because Google announced a while back that annual developer previews of the next major Android release will be presented at each year’s I/O conference. 2016 will be no different, with the Android N developer preview making its first appearance. The preview will receive regular updates for the remainder of the year before being released in its final form at Nexus time in late September or early October.
As far as what Android N will deliver at I/O, it’s a little early to say. There’s still time for the dark theme and advanced power menu options to appear in Marshmallow and features like Force Touch are unlikely to make it to stock Android this quickly.
Google may try to make Doze functional even when the device is in motion, a new messaging app is already in store, multi-window mode should be finished by then and there will be even more user-facing controls and refinements added to Android N. The move to OpenJDK from Java APIs will also get some airplay but I wouldn’t expect any major visual changes.
See also: Android 6.0 Marshmallow features
Self-driving cars
Google announced at Google I/O 2015 that the first self-driving cars would be released on the streets of Mountain View in 2016. So what better time to demo what they’re capable of than at Google I/O 2016? It may be a little far-fetched to expect Google to arrange transport for thousands of I/O attendees via its tiny autonomous vehicles, but the event will definitely give everyone the chance to take a ride in one.
The Google division in charge of self-driving cars formerly known as Google[x] – and now simply known as X – has just received a new CEO who is, incidentally, a former Ford and Hyundai exec. We can expect to see John Krafcik take the stage with all the latest on Google’s autonomous vehicles and their expected commercial release in 2020.
Android Wear
A massive shake up of Android Wear is long overdue. The mobile platform came out early, moved sluggishly, and has now been surpassed by both Apple’s wearable platform and even Samsung’s Tizen OS. With multiple OEMs grumbling last year that if Google didn’t start pushing the wearable platform more aggressively they would consider developing their own, it’s now crunch time for Android Wear. I can’t tell you what will be announced, but I sure hope something significant is.
Project Ara
I was at the ATAP session last year and witnessed a fully functional Project Ara prototype get assembled on stage in seconds. The camera module was left out until the device had booted up, then it was inserted, runtime detected and working within seconds. Pretty impressive stuff. With the official trial of Project Ara being delayed until 2016 you know there will be some stage time dedicated to it.
See also: Lenovo launching Project Tango phone
Android Auto
Yet again we’re expecting Android Auto to be front and center at I/O 2016. Android Auto is really starting to enter the mainstream and the first sub-$20,000 vehicle was just announced last week: the Hyundai Elantra. 2016 may well be the year that Android Auto stops being something only geeks talk about and starts being something everyone talks about.
Project Aura
Project Aura is Google Glass 2.0. At least it would be if the original Glass had ever gone anywhere other than the Explorer Edition. Aura is supposedly the Consumer Edition. There’s also the enterprise-only Glass that recently showed up in FCC documents which show a slightly revised design with a hinge and larger prism, but what final form Project Aura will take and when it will be available is anyone’s guess.
Virtual reality
Following Google’s creation of a new virtual reality division called, creatively enough, Virtual Reality, you can expect VR to take a more central role at I/O this year. It’s unlikely there will be any products to discuss or any keynote announcements but there might be some hints and sneak peeks of what the newly formed team is working on. Keep an eye out for more on 360 video, YouTube quality, Cardboard partnerships and Expeditions.
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Chrome OS
I actually don’t think there will be any major Chrome OS announcement at I/O 2016 unless they are related to the arrival of Material Design. Despite the recent rumor that Chrome OS would be folded into Android, Google officially denied the claim. Furthermore, Google’s SVP of Android, Chrome OS and Chromecast, Hiroshi Lockheimer, has assured everyone that there will be a range of new Chromebooks in 2016, but we probably won’t see them until Nexus time.
There’s also sure to be more on Nest, GoogleOn and smart home integration, Project Fi, the Internet of Things generally and project Brillo specifically, and maybe even something about a commercial application for Project Soli’s radar sensor for wearables.
What do you expect to see at Google I/O 2016? Will you be there?
Oculus Rift is the most popular VR platform among game developers
When it comes to choosing a games console the decision is typically made based on what your friends play and which console has the titles you like the most. With VR it’s a little different. No one is playing anything right now and there aren’t many titles around either. Instead, the wise future investor should look at which platform most developers are supporting. In this case, it’s Oculus Rift by a fair margin, but the word “supporting” here probably isn’t such a good word to use as “planning to support”.
A new report from the 2016 Game Developers Conference (GDC) shows that of all the virtual reality options around, developers are most willing to get behind Facebook’s Oculus Rift. The only problem is that support is one thing, activity is another. Despite being the most popular VR platform of all, less than one in five game devs is actually working on a game for the platform.
The GDC report surveyed 2,000 attendees at its annual conference and 77% of them had tried Rift. A further 46% had tired Google Cardboard and 36% Samsung Gear VR. Given Oculus Rift’s existence in various Developer Editions for years now, this spike in familiarity is understandable, as is Google’s ultra-affordable VR solution.
But for all that experience with VR, only 16% of the surveyed developers are actually working on a VR game at present. That figure is up from just 7% last year, but it’s still a long way from where the industry needs to be if the first major consumer VR headsets are going to arrive with a quality assortment of games available to play on them. Of the developers currently working on a VR game, Oculus Rift was more popular than both of its nearest competitors combined (the Samsung Gear VR and Google Cardboard, which were tied for second place).
Despite 75% of game devs agreeing that VR is here to stay, more than two-thirds of them are either not developing for VR right now or don’t plan to in the near future. Of course, once the first consumer-level VR headsets hit the market this year and developers get a better sense of their popularity, VR games with blossom, but until then it might be slim pickings when looking for something good to play.
As one GDC attendee commented: “I think the immediate future will be a bit rocky. There might be a lull in the interest in VR/AR, but once developers find out what experiences are best for this technology – and when technology improves and becomes more affordable and accessible – I believe it will be adopted on a much wider scale.”
OUR REACTIONS TO VR:
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For anyone expecting VR to burst onto the scene in a massive way this year, you might want to lower your expectations. Even if the hardware is ready now, it will take time to produce a quality canon of VR games across all platforms, especially for the less popular ones, just as it did with console games and Android. In a more positive part of the survey results, when asked how long they thought it would take for VR to be in 10% of households, two-fifths of developers think it will happen by 2020 and 86% said by 2030.
Have you tried VR yet? How long do you think it will take to go “mainstream”?
honor 5X review
There may have not been a lot of high-profile Android device releases at this year’s CES, but that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t anything for consumers to get excited about. In particular, the latest smartphone offering from honor joins the ever growing list of smartphones that fall in the “premium but affordable” category, and continues to push the boundaries for what is expected from a device with a sub-$200 price tag.
The great news here is that with the honor 5X seeing an official release in the US, users don’t have to worry about compatibility with US network carriers, or any costs that are otherwise associated with importing these devices. What else does the latest budget-friendly offering from honor bring to the table? We find out, in this comprehensive honor 5X review!
Design
As mentioned, the honor 5X blurs the lines when it comes to what we generally expect from a device at this price point, and that starts with its design and build quality, with the phone featuring a metal unibody construction. The brushed metal build allows for a premium look and feel that you will be hard-pressed to find with other budget-friendly smartphones, but it has to be mentioned that the metal does make the phone quite slippery. Unfortunately, the metal is not of the highest grade either, making the body prone to scratches, and something you will have to be cautious about when handling it.
While even the sides are made of metal, the top and bottom of the phone is made from plastic, but honor has done a great job of making that something that is not particularly noticeable just by looking at it. The power button and volume rocker are on the right side, and offer a good amount of tactile feedback. The buttons also feature a grippy, textured pattern that makes for a pleasant experience when using them. The headphone jack and the microUSB port are at up top and at the bottom respectively, with the latter flanked by two grills, even though only one of them houses the speaker.
The honor 5X weighs 158 grams and is 8.2 mm thick, and with its 5.5-inch display, the handling experience is very manageable. All said and done, it is certainly very impressive that honor has managed to bring something that is quickly becoming the high-end standard, a metal build, to a device that falls in the budget category, and goes above and beyond what its price point might suggest.
Display
The honor 5X comes with a 5.5-inch IPS LCD display with a 1920 x 1080 resolution, resulting in a pixel density of 401 ppi. The display is actually quite impressive as well, and features vibrant colors that aren’t too over saturated, and with the whites being neither too warm, nor too cool. At this resolution, text is sharp and clear, and brightness is of no concern either, and allows for comfortable outdoor visibility.
However, of note is the fact that the backlight shines through in darker areas more so than what is seen with other LCD panels out there, and the black bezel around the display can also be a bit of an eyesore, especially if you opt for the white version of the device. That said, these are the only areas where the screen falls short, and the overall viewing experience on this display is otherwise really good.
Performance
Under the hood, the honor 5X comes with an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor, clocked at 1.5 GHz, and backed by the Adreno 405 GPU and 2 GB of RAM. There is a 3 GB of RAM version of the device available as well though, for those looking to get a little more out of the multi-tasking capabilities of the device. This has been the processing package of choice for most smartphones that fall in this premium but affordable category, and while the performance understandably doesn’t match up to current generation flagships, it has usually been good for the most part.
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However, that isn’t entirely the case when it comes to the honor 5X, with things seeming a little more sluggish that what we’ve seen before. Animations will be choppy occasionally, and applications do take an extra second to open. There is also a bit of a delay when pressing keys on the keyboard, and the phone even freezes for a second or two while typing. You may also see app refreshes when switching between then via the Recent Apps screen, which is why spending a little extra to get the 3 GB RAM version may make sense for some users. Granted, the performance isn’t vastly different when compared to other smartphones powered by the Snapdragon 615, and these extra stutters can be attributed to the lack of polish of Huawei’s EMUI software package as well.
Hardware
16 GB is the only internal storage option available here, but you do get expandable storage via microSD card by up to 128 GB, to help alleviate any storage concerns. The device also comes with a standard suite of connectivity options, along with dual SIM capabilities, as well as 4G LTE compatibility on the AT&T and T-Mobile networks, which is something that cannot often be said about smartphones from Chinese OEMs, and is another big positive of the honor 5X.
Another useful addition in hardware that is not usually found with other similarly priced smartphones is a fingerprint scanner, placed on the back of the phone. The rear placement of the fingerprint reader definitely grows on you, and makes unlocking the device very easy, and without the need for any unnecessary hand gymnastics. The scanner also unlocks the device directly, without you having to press the power button first, and the reader is very fast and reliable. To see a fingerprint scanner on a budget-friendly device is an impressive fact by itself, and even more so when considering its high quality.
The scanner does more than just unlock the device as well, and offers some additional functionality in the form of gesture controls. Swiping up launches the Recent Apps screen, a tap takes you back to any previous screen, and a tap and hold functions as a home button. Swiping down opens the notification drop down, and you can even use the scanner to answer calls, silence alarms, and take photos. With it being fast and very reliable, and packed with a slew of useful gesture controls, it has to be said that the honor 5X features one of the best fingerprint scanner implementations in the market right now.
Despite the appearance of a dual speaker setup, only the grill at the bottom right houses a speaker, and with this placement, is very easy to cover up when watching videos or playing games in the landscape orientation. The sound quality of the speaker is not particularly good either, with audio sounding muffled and almost distorted, even at lower volumes.
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The honor 5X comes with a 3,000 mAh non-removable battery, and allows for surprisingly impressive battery life. Even on a day which involved a lot of gaming and taking pictures, the device managed close to 6 hours of screen-on time. You may not be getting any fast charging capabilities here, but with the battery life being as good as it is, its absence is not going to be felt either.
See also: Best cheap Android phones (January 2016)
Camera
The honor 5X comes with a 13 MP rear shooter, with a f/2.0 aperture, and a dual tone LED flash, along with a 5 MP front-facing unit. There is no optical image stabilization to be had however, and overall, the quality is actually more of the same when compared to other smartphones that fall in this price range.
In optimal conditions, such as outdoors, the camera performs to the best of its ability and shots do look nice. Without any post processing or sharpening going on, pictures tend to have a lot of softness to them, but despite the seeming lack of sharpness, the images are still clear. The color temperature seems to be more towards the warm side, and colors appear to lack that punch of vibrancy as well. Areas of photos will also be overexposed the majority of the time, but all said and done, you can certainly get some pleasant looking shots from this camera when in good lighting situations.
HDR is available to help brighten up the shadows, and it does a great job for the most part. Sometimes, HDR tends to create an entirely brighter image however, resulting in a poorer looking picture instead. As lighting conditions deteriorate, the camera will try to compensate for the lack of light by increasing the shutter speed, but with no OIS to be found, very steady hands will be required to avoid blurry photos.
The camera can also shoot video in 1080p, but the lack of OIS once again means that videos will be pretty shaky, and over exposing is an issue here as well. It also tries to correct the exposure very rapidly with harsh adjustments, that can be very distracting. Video recording does come with a few extra modes though, including slow motion capture, and object tracking, which lets you select a particular object to focus on, after which the camera will track and focus on that object only, no matter where you move.
The front-facing 5 MP camera also takes some decent shots, albeit with some extra noise. Indoor shots end up being less sharp and with a great amount of noise as well. The overall camera experience definitely has a lot of room for improvement, but is actually par for the course when compared to its similarly priced competition.
Software
On the software side of things, the honor 5X is running Huawei’s EMUI 3.1 out of the box, based on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. You won’t see a lot of Material Design elements in this user interface, and as is the case with most software packages from Chinese OEMs, there is no app drawer to be found, leaving users dependent on folders to stay organized.
The software package is of course, very different from stock Android, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The notification drop down is very well organized, and split into two parts, with one housing all the notifications, and a swipe left required to bring up the quick toggles. Not only does this allow for a lot more notifications to be shown at once, but there is a lot more information here as well, including the exact time for received notifications. Customizations are seen in the form of themes, transition animations, and home screen grid, and you also get some fun features like shake to re-align icons and auto-align.
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This particular software experience may not be for everybody, but if you do give it a chance, there are a lot of extra and fun features to be had. Huawei has also stated that the honor 5X will receive timely software updates, including an official OTA update for EMUI 4.0 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, as well as monthly security updates. In fact, the security updates for January are already available for the device, even before its release, and it does look like Huawei is going to stick to their word in this regard.
Specifications
| Honor 5X | |
|---|---|
| Display | 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 resolution, 401ppi TP & LCD full lamination |
| Operating system | Android 5.1 Lollipop Huawei EMUI 3.1 |
| Processor | Octa-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 |
| Memory | 2GB of RAM |
| Internal Storage | 16GB, expandable up to 128GB via microSD |
| Dual SIM | Yes |
| Cameras | 13MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, SmartImage 3.0 image processor, 28mm wide angle lens with flash 5MP front camera with f/2.4 aperture, 22mm wide angle |
| Mobile Connectivity | GSM 850, WCDMA Bands 1, 2, 4, 5, LTE Bands 2, 4, 5, 12, 17 |
| Connectivity | WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, 2.4QG Bluetooth 4.1 microUSB 2.0 GPS, AGPS, Glonass |
| Sensors | Fingerprint sensor, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, Digital compass |
| Battery | 3000mAh, non-removable |
| Dimensions | 151.3 x 76.3 x 8.15mm 158g |
| Colors | Dark Grey, Daybreak Silver, Sunset Gold |
Gallery
Pricing and final thoughts
The honor 5X is currently up for pre-order from Amazon and NewEgg, with the device set to be shipped on January 31. The device is priced at just $199.99, with the available color options including grey, silver, and gold.
So there you have it for this in-depth look at the honor 5X! Priced at just $200, the honor 5X is definitely a great buy, and is one of the only phone at this price point to offer both a premium metal build and a fingerprint scanner, aspects that are usually found with devices priced at more than double what the honor 5X costs. These two things alone make the phone a great bargain, but add to the mix a great display experience and a feature packed software package, and it is difficult to not recommend the honor 5X. Granted, the device isn’t flawless, with its mediocre camera and speaker, and somewhat sluggish performance, but its very affordable price tag more than makes up for any issues the phone may have.
AIVAnet 
