The Honor 6X debuted at the Consumer Electronic Show 2017 and the attractively-priced smartphone is looking to entice the budget conscious buyer who wants a feature-rich and robust device.
The Honor 6X is the successor of the Honor 5X smartphone which was launched in 2016. We compare the specs and features of the two handsets to help you decide if it is worth the upgrade.
Design
Both smartphones have the same ergonomic design. Like the Honor 5X, the successor Honor 6X also has a metal body, which is made from aluminum. However, the latest version of the smartphone is slightly heavier than its previous iteration as the Honor 6X weighs 5.71oz while the Honor 5X weighs 5.57oz.
The Honor 6X is 8.2mm thick, compared to the predecessor's 8.15mm. The slight increase in the handset's thickness, however, should not bother consumers.
Display
Both the Honor 6X and Honor 5X have the same screen size and resolution — a 5.5-inch full HD display with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels.
Processor
One of the major upgrades for the Honor 6X was the processor. The Honor 6X houses an octa-core Kirin 655 processor (quad-core 2.1 GHz + quad-core 1.7 GHz), while the Honor 5X houses a Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor (quad-core 1.5GHz + quad-core 1.2GHz).
RAM And Storage
The RAM and the internal storage also sees an upgrade with the arrival of the Honor 6X. The new Huawei smartphone has 3 GB of RAM compared to the Honor 5X's 2 GB.
The onboard storage capacity also sees an improvement. The Honor 6X will be available in 32 GB, whereas the Honor 5X comes in a 16 GB storage option.
Camera
Huawei has enhanced the primary camera of the Honor 6X. The Honor 5X sports a 13-megapixel primary camera, whereas the Honor 6X has a dual-camera setup which combines a 12-megapixel and 2-megapixel rear-facing snapper.
Huawei has also upgraded the secondary camera of the Honor 6X to 8-megapixels from the 5-megapixels found on the Honor 5X. The Honor 6X supports dual-LED flash.
Operating System
Both the Honor 6X and Honor 5X run on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow operating system. At the time of launch, the Honor 5X came preloaded with Android 5.0 Lollipop and was later upgraded to Marshmallow. This follows the logic that the Honor 6X will also get updated to the latest Android 7.0 Nougat OS in the coming months.
Since the Honor 6X is the newer offering from Huawei, a strong possibility exists that the company will push out Android N first to this handset and not the older-gen Honor 5X.
Another difference between the two handsets is that the Honor 6X uses the latest Emotion 4.1 UI whereas the Honor 5X has Emotion 4.0 UI.
Emotion UI 4.1 brings powerful, convenient and intuitive controls such as the split-screen feature, pop-up call, and more.
Battery
The Honor 6X has a bigger 3,400 mAh battery when compared to the 5X's 3,000 mAh one.
"The Honor 6X's 3340mAh high-density battery is a step ahead of the game with an increased battery capacity of 11 percent. It delivers 2.15 days of usage and 1.5 days of heavy usage on a full charge," said Huawei.
The Honor 5X, on the other hand, is capable of one day of heavy usage on a single charge or 1.5 days if deployed moderately.
Price
The Honor 6X version has a steeper price point of $249.99 compared to the Honor 5X's $199.99 price tag. The Honor 6X is currently available for purchase on Amazon. The handset will officially go on sale in the United States from Jan. 15 and preorders opened up on Jan. 4.
The Honor 6X will be available in three hues of gold, gray, and silver, similar to the Honor 5X.
Like most next-gen smartphones, the Honor 6X is an improvement on its previous iteration. While the display and design sensibilities may not have changed drastically, the Honor 6X boasts a better processor and improved storage and memory capacities.
If you are a fan of the Honor brand and eyeing a better camera or better battery life, then you can upgrade from your Honor 5X to the Honor 6X despite the steeper price tag.
