Huawei Honor 6X Review: A Dependable All-Rounder

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Huawei has wholeheartedly embraced the dual camera formula and is enthusiastically sprinting ahead with it. If the Huawei P9 was about a premium dual camera phone, and the Honor 8 about dragging down about the same experience to the mid-range audience, the Honor 6X is about making one extra shooter available to affordable-phone-buyers, of course, with some acceptable-for-the-price compromises (more on that later).

This successor to Honor 5X, a phone that received polarizing reviews and also the one that we quite liked, brings several improvements to the table. We have had time to test it prior to the India launch, and here we sum up what’s good and what’s not so good about the new Honor 6X.

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Huawei Honor 6X Specifications and Features

Model Huawei Honor 6X
Display 5.5-Inch, Full HD, IPS LCD
Processor 2.1 GHz Octa-Core Kirin 655 Processor
RAM 3GB/ 4GB
Internal Storage 32GB/64GB, expandable up to 64GB
Software Android Marshmallow 6.0
Primary Camera 12MP + 2MP rear camera, f/0.95-f/16 aperture (software)
Secondary Camera 8MP selfie camera
Dimensions and Weight 72.59×150.9×8.19mm and 162 Grams
Battery 3340mAh
Others 4G LTE with VoLTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, USB OTG, 3.5mm audio jack, Hybrid SIM tray
Price 12,999 INR/ 15,999 INR

Design and Build

The design is oddly reminiscent of Honor 5X even when the two phones have more than their fair share of differences. When held in hands, the Honor 6X feels like an evolutionary upgrade to the 5X.

IMG_6865

On the rear, the slightly protruding dual camera capsule is what will first seize your attention. And, yes, there is a metal plate that engulfs it, one that curves to form the side edges as well. The rest of Honor 6 is a savory blend of plastic and glass.

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The contrasting white front of the handset has a wide chin with honor insignia at the bottom and the usual sensors up top. The black borders around the display – that manufacturers use to create an illusion of narrower bezels – often appear repulsive, especially with adjoining whites, but on Honor 6X these borders are very narrow and are thus hardly noticeable.

Also Read: Coolpad Cool 1 Dual Full Review

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The Honor 6X isn’t cut out to feel premium, but it’s elegant nevertheless and the design works for us better than most phones that we have come across in the same budget. The sandblasted metal looks neat, there are no flexes and creaks, and the reasonable weight makes it quite ergonomic to wield.

Display

The full HD display on Honor 6X is quite vibrant. The colors are punchy, a bit oversaturated, and viewing angles are wide. The screen is also legible under direct sun. Auto-brightness works well too. The touch glass doesn’t accumulate much finger grease either which implies a decent oleophobic coating. The EMUI software allows you to switch color profiles and to tune color temperature in line with your individual liking. Most people should be happy with the Honor 6X display.

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The EMUI software allows you to switch color profiles and to tune color temperature in line with your individual liking, which is the way it’s supposed to be. Most people should be happy with the Honor 6X display.

Performance and Software

The Honor 6X can handle day to day tasks with ease, but the chipset clearly struggles with high-end gaming and under heavy loads. Multitasking is handled reasonably well and the Honor 6X doesn’t heat much. All that makes it an adequate performer for basic and moderate users. Heavy users will be better off with phones like Cool 1 Dual in the same budget.

Huawei’s EMUI hasn’t changed much since the last time we endured it. The OS isn’t the best designed one, but then again we will be remiss in criticizing it in an era where most Android skins seem unnecessarily convoluted. Perhaps, an app drawer and redesigned notification shade would have been better.

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At the same time, there is no dearth of customization options in the EMUI. All sorts of features and gestures (including fingerprint gestures) that you would ever need are all there. And the SensurHub can also be used to track your activities like walking, running, etc.

So if you like tinkering with different aspects of your phone, the software has a lot to keep you engaged. Despite our initial resistance, we did get used to living with EMUI pretty quick.

Camera

Budget Honor handsets have always excelled at camera performance. The camera is also the forte of Honor 6X, even in case you aren’t drawn to the dual camera SLR mode. The images look sharp and crisp and the camera performance holds very well even in low lighting.

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The main attraction, SLR mode, works faster than on its primary rival, the Coolpad Cool 1. Making close objects pop by blurring the background is something that we enjoyed on Honor 6X. The HDR mode also helps resolve better details. When lighting is adequate, Honor 6X camera can focus and shoot rather swiftly.

Also Read: Honor 6X Vs Coolpad Cool 1 Dual Camera Shootout: Battle For Budget Snapper Supremacy

The pro-mode is as efficient as on Honor 5C and you can use it to salvage or enhance low light shots if you know what you are doing. Pro-mode also works for videos.

Honor 5X Camera Samples

Miscellaneous

The Honor 6X employs a 3360mAh battery, and the battery can comfortably last for more than a day of fairly heavy usage. In terms of battery backup, the handset will fall a hair short of big battery phones with power-efficient current generation chipsets, but on its own, the battery backup is definitely not a deal breaker. Fast charging is not supported, though.

The fingerprint reader on the rear is reasonably fast and accurate. Loudspeaker audio output is convincing enough, though not outright impressive. Call quality was excellent in our area. 4G VoLTE works fine on both SIM slots.

Verdict

The Honor 5X is a great all-rounder for its expected price of under 13,000 INR. An elegant design, admirable camera quality, reasonable battery backup, and vibrant display constitute its biggest strength. On the downside, this isn’t a phone meant for heavy graphic intensive gaming. So, if you are not into high-end Andriod gaming, the Honor 6X looks like a very dependable phone in its class.

Pros

  • Vibrant display
  • Good battery backup
  • Elegant design
  • Good camera performance

Cons

  • Not suited for high-end gaming
  • Loudspeaker isn’t loud enough
Deepak SinghDeepak Singh
Deepak has more than 8 years of experience in covering technology for several eminent publications in India. He currently leads an enthusiastic team of young writers at Smartprix and tries to uphold the highest quality standards.

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Discuss

2 Comments
User
S Raghavan
Anonymous
6 years ago

Which camera is better, Honor 6x or Moto G5 Plus or Mi A1? I don’t need Bokeh effect or dim light shots and no care about selfie. Only expectation is taking photos in outdoors during tour and indoor with normal living room lighting (40W fluorescent lamp) without grains or noise if see from 22″ PC monitor or 32″ TV

Reply
User
Deepak Rajawat
Anonymous
6 years ago

If that’s the case, I would say go for Moto G5S Plus, which is better in terms of image quality among these three options.

Show Replies (1)
User
S Raghavan
Anonymous
6 years ago

Which camera is better, Honor 6x or Moto G5 Plus or Mi A1? I don’t need Bokeh effect or dim light shots and no care about selfie. Only expectation is taking photos in outdoors during tour and indoor with normal living room lighting (40W fluoresecent lamp) without grains.

Reply