As a Chinese phone convert, I applaud Huawei for exposing just how much the UK is getting ripped off by the mainstream brands. Now if other China-based companies like Xiaomi, Meizu etc would officially launch here we would see a much more competitive UK mobile market. I'm confident it will eventually happen. Heat added.

Great. ​Do you want a cookie?

With regard to the £600 iPhone remark. It depends on your situation. I have iOS and Android devices in my home. There's no doubt that iOS is the best mobile OS overall in terms of generalisation, which means speed of updates, outclasses all other platforms and app support, which again outclasses all other platforms.

The reason I politely take umbridge with your comment is that I embrace all mobile platforms. So you have to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of all platforms. I'll go through them below:

iOS:

Strengths;
Optimisation - Apple Control the hardware and software. Only has to run on a tiny amount of devices
Security - Despite the FBI 3rd party hack, Apple are a closed system, security is high on this platform
Updates: Best update system on any platform

Weaknesses:
Optimisation: Apple can use this to cripple older devices - forcing user in to decision whether to upgrade their device or not
Functionality: This significantly below Android, complete lack of customisation options, also some Apps such as YouTube are deliberately crippled it appears on iOS due to the interests of other parties - Google.

Android:
Strengths: Absolute customisation and access to file system, open source. Access to a massive amount of apps, up there with iOS in that respect

Weaknesses: Massive and I mean massive differences in the quality of experience depending on the device, easily crippled by bloatware, at times can be the best mobile OS and conversely the worst. Jack of all trades, master of some. Massive variation in quality of apps, complete lack of control of app experience, especially on tablets, where it can be absolutely dire. Crippling lag on many devices depending on numerous factors.

Windows Phone:
Strengths: Unique user interface and extremely minimal and therefore functional. Can be and usually is the fastest mobile OS. Microsoft came up with a great idea.

Weaknesses: Where do we begin? Lumia branding has effectively killed the platform, lack of apps means lack of users which is a vicious circle meaning lack of apps. No users no apps simple as that. Hardware in comparison to other platforms is weak, it has an excellent efficient styling. Microsoft killed the platform. Windows Mobile is unofficially dead. Windows Mobile now needs an iPhone style rebranding to continue. This could be in the form of Windows Surface Phone. Microsoft has an brand in Surface. Take it back to basics, take the phone to the brand and just make a limited amount of yearly updated devices vis a vis the Apple model. This platform might have a chance then, it needs apps though, you can argue it has the basics and therefore enough, this is incorrect, this platform has failed now and needs rebranding and apps quick quick quick Microsoft! Of course they have little control over that and have proved this.

That's gives you an idea of the platforms that are worth mentioning and their respective pros and cons. It's off the top of my head and my experience with the platforms.

The notion that Chinese phones are showing up the big boys is really faux, it's obvious that they will compete in the high end arena eventually but they simply do not currently. What you can get for £150 and more from them is excellent. This does not in any way obfuscate the validity of high end phones such as iPhone 6S and Galaxy S7, they are in a league of their own. I suggest you research the respective differences to see that this is true. It's true for many people a phone of this price will more than suffice. To say that there's no reason to get an iPhone or S7 at £600 is absolute nonsense, eventually as the quality of features catch up with high end products then this will change, for now it's simply not true.

This, without a shadow of a doubt!

I really want a decent dual SIM phone but I'm always getting bored with tech and deciding to sell and buy something else.
Samsung's generally sell within a couple of days of listing on gumtree.
I am pretty sure I would be stuck with this phone if I get bored.

is the front camera on this any good? hoping for a front camera like the LG G3 or Samsung S5. Can anyone compare?

Honor are now Beta testing 5X Marshmallow (limited spaces available) - I've posted the deets here:

http://www.modaco.com/forums/topic/377094-marshmallow-beta-test-for-honor-5x/

P

Since this is still on the £150 offer I've took the plunge and gone for one for my other half. I'm guessing this'll be a good performance bump from the Moto G 1G LTE but read mixed things about this particular Qualcomm SoC.

I'd say there's better bang for the buck out there if you bring meizu, xioami and whatnot into the equation but its frustrating a lot of them have dropped decent DACs, microSD support and little things here and there. That and there's the whole shipping wait.

I got an Honor 6 Plus on contract with Three last year. It was a decent phone, much improved with the upgrade to Marshmallow. But a lot of things in EMUI (Huawei's skin on Android) are quite frustrating. Also, they restrict certain aspects of Android (e.g. Smart Lock is restricted from the stock Android version).

Of course, that's a different phone to this. But my main concern is how easy it is to get support for the phone if you have any problems. I've had two very contrasting experiences. The power button stopped working (a common fault on the Honor 6 Plus apparently), and Huawei despatched a replacement and took the faulty unit away.

Conversely, I recently shattered the glass on the front of the screen (to be fair, I've dropped it many many times, and this final time I didn't have it in a case). I don't have insurance with 3, and I wanted to see if it was worth getting it fixed myself rather than claiming on contents insurance. Huawei list some Carphone Warehouse branches as service centres. I took it to the Oxford Street branch and they had no idea what the phone was and couldn't find it or parts for it on their system. Called Huawei and they suggested calling SBE, who quoted £80-100 for a completely new screen. Their google page is filled with bad reviews. There's no way to book a repair online, so you would just be sending it in blindly and hoping for the best. Took it to a few independent places, and the general response I got was that they're not interested if it's not an iPhone or Samsung device.

I'm glad Huawei are weighing into the market here, but I guess I'd just recommend thinking about what you'll be wanting in terms of support.

This or Ulefone Power?

on oppomart you get the same price for the 32gb version

I'm still using a 18 month old oneplus one and was gonna hold out for another 6 months till the LG G5 comes down to the £300 mark, or should I get this?

if you want to buy a Chinese phone that is not Honor, without the hassle of dealing with an overseas seller or the import tax issues. Look at Laptops Direct!
They sell a number of phones, while more expensive than importing one yourself, you have the protection of UK consumer rights.

Yes Honor aka Hi Honor aka Huawei.

Some Google results:
http://www.cnet.com/news/huawei-reboots-its-image-with-new-honor-brand/

And their own site for the UK
http://www.hihonor.com/uk/
footer = "COPYRIGHT ©HUAWEI HONOR 1998-2016. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED."

How you feeling fishmaster? Thanks for the treatise. :stuck_out_tongue: BTW obfuscate means to purposely make or render something unclear. I think you maybe meant obviate. Stay well big guy.

Bought the prime ultra should have got this instead the camera for ultra is useless

Is this honors mid spec phone? if so, when will its replacement for the honor 7 be released?

​Yeah, all models are dual SIM.

Still at £149!

Is this dual SIM ... I picked up the dual SIM version from amazon at £149 in a lightning deal - great phone

Yeah can't say I'm a fan of iTunes myself.

As a Chinese phone convert, I applaud Huawei for exposing just how much the UK is getting ripped off by the mainstream brands. Now if other China-based companies like Xiaomi, Meizu etc would officially launch here we would see a much more competitive UK mobile market. I'm confident it will eventually happen. Heat added.

Let's be honest though, that trick was inspired by Apple. It's 2016 and iTunes still runs like a dog dragging its **** along the carpet on Windows. I've actually seen it perform faster under Hackintosh or OSX VMware for Windows than natively on Windows itself.

Do also take into account the price difference, with the 5x pretty much being priced around £150-160 these days and the Nexus 5x generally being significantly more.
The better comparison would be the Moto g 2gb version and the 5x.

Huawei should be ok as they sell officially to the UK market, though I expect probably a few software updates, one major one.

With regard to the £600 iPhone remark. It depends on your situation. I have iOS and Android devices in my home. There's no doubt that iOS is the best mobile OS overall in terms of generalisation, which means speed of updates, outclasses all other platforms and app support, which again outclasses all other platforms.

The reason I politely take umbridge with your comment is that I embrace all mobile platforms. So you have to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of all platforms. I'll go through them below:

iOS:

Strengths;
Optimisation - Apple Control the hardware and software. Only has to run on a tiny amount of devices
Security - Despite the FBI 3rd party hack, Apple are a closed system, security is high on this platform
Updates: Best update system on any platform

Weaknesses:
Optimisation: Apple can use this to cripple older devices - forcing user in to decision whether to upgrade their device or not
Functionality: This significantly below Android, complete lack of customisation options, also some Apps such as YouTube are deliberately crippled it appears on iOS due to the interests of other parties - Google.

Android:
Strengths: Absolute customisation and access to file system, open source. Access to a massive amount of apps, up there with iOS in that respect

Weaknesses: Massive and I mean massive differences in the quality of experience depending on the device, easily crippled by bloatware, at times can be the best mobile OS and conversely the worst. Jack of all trades, master of some. Massive variation in quality of apps, complete lack of control of app experience, especially on tablets, where it can be absolutely dire. Crippling lag on many devices depending on numerous factors.

Windows Phone:
Strengths: Unique user interface and extremely minimal and therefore functional. Can be and usually is the fastest mobile OS. Microsoft came up with a great idea.

Weaknesses: Where do we begin? Lumia branding has effectively killed the platform, lack of apps means lack of users which is a vicious circle meaning lack of apps. No users no apps simple as that. Hardware in comparison to other platforms is weak, it has an excellent efficient styling. Microsoft killed the platform. Windows Mobile is unofficially dead. Windows Mobile now needs an iPhone style rebranding to continue. This could be in the form of Windows Surface Phone. Microsoft has an brand in Surface. Take it back to basics, take the phone to the brand and just make a limited amount of yearly updated devices vis a vis the Apple model. This platform might have a chance then, it needs apps though, you can argue it has the basics and therefore enough, this is incorrect, this platform has failed now and needs rebranding and apps quick quick quick Microsoft! Of course they have little control over that and have proved this.

That's gives you an idea of the platforms that are worth mentioning and their respective pros and cons. It's off the top of my head and my experience with the platforms.

The notion that Chinese phones are showing up the big boys is really faux, it's obvious that they will compete in the high end arena eventually but they simply do not currently. What you can get for £150 and more from them is excellent. This does not in any way obfuscate the validity of high end phones such as iPhone 6S and Galaxy S7, they are in a league of their own. I suggest you research the respective differences to see that this is true. It's true for many people a phone of this price will more than suffice. To say that there's no reason to get an iPhone or S7 at £600 is absolute nonsense, eventually as the quality of features catch up with high end products then this will change, for now it's simply not true.

I currently use a smart ultra 6 which I'm happy with, but the wife is looking to get a new handset, which is better this or the su6? Opinions appreciated thanks

Apple supply timely updates because they've only ever made about 10 models ( (without counting) ) of iPhone. It's extremely easy for Apple to control updates. With Android, Google has no control, as there's massive variations in quality and specifiaction of hardware and screen sizes on Android. The reason Android is a crappy buggy mess is because of this lack of control over the OS. Google only has control of stock Android. At least with my S6 I've seen one security update since I put Marshmallow on it. I'd like to see at least monthly updates.

Good phone - I have it - fingerprint señsor is great - though occasionally it takes a couple of seconds.

Some people complain about the emu skin - and suggests to install nova launcher - i find it fine. Though I came from a Windos 10 phone - so the Honor is far far better than my windows 10 phone nokia 1520

I saw the pic and thought this deal was for a cheap Boiler!

S3 was 4G if you owned the i9305 model

Yeah sure support... The only make I know does support is Apple all others just use useless marketing...
When you buy apple products its nicely polished product and software plus support. When you buy android phone these day and it doesn't matter which manufacturer all they come with not finished buggy firmware.. Then you buy this flagship android phone and wait till support helps you... After half a year you might have some new bugfixes but not all... Then they will dump support for that phone and release a new phone so you buy again.... So why on earth to bother spending £400+, when you can buy same huawei or china branded phone with same bugs on it!
People don't realize that we all are now beta testers... Everything you buy these days is not a finished product, manufacturer uses marketing to get interest, then sell, once got money then thinks how to finish it off... Best example windows 8 and 10!

comparison here

http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=7247&idPhone2=7590

better screen, processor and gpu, sd card slot (can take 128gb, moto g is 32gb), dual sim AND micro sd slot, battery

yes water resistance isnt there, depends how much of a clutz you may be? :wink:

after care support is good from what i can tell. they are very active on social networks, hold open betas on OS updates which you can be a part of. They've just updated their honor 7 to MM, 6 is en route. I don't think the 5x will be far off.

This or a HTC one m8?

even third gen waterproof version only problem i cant think of with this phone is after care support?

this or moto g?

Taiwan is where it's at. Not China. :wink:

Yes it is. It's the S3 that wasnt

I ordered the 32GB Nexus 5X yesterday for £184 new on eBay with the 20% off code. Spec wise it appears to be quite a bit better than the honor 5X though:

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/compare/Google-Nexus-5X,honor-5X/phones/9593,9648

The honor has 300mah more battery, a bigger screen and FM radio, but is lacking USB-C (and usb 3), wireless ac, NFC, 4K video recording, android 6 (not sure if it's being updated soon?).

Worth a consideration before buying.

I have had my Huawei Y300 for 3 years now and it is still running fine, yes it might lag some times because of its measly 512mb ram. But at only £50 3 years back it was great. I need to upgrade and what an amazing time this has come out and is on sale!

Thu 31/3 7:30pm - They are all BACK AT £149.99 on eBuyer again - ie you HAVEN'T missed the opportunity even though the original posting/pricing did expire.

I suppose so. I was actually considering ordering a Note 3 Pro if I didn't like this Honor 5x when it was delivered yesterday but I like the Huawei so far so I think I might just stick with it for a while (if my OH doesn't get her own way and steal it from me in the meantime).

They're garbage. A terrible, terrible company.

Let's start with the fact that they knowingly included malware in one of their firmware updates last year and only patched it back out again when people noticed and complained.

And I don't mean bloatware either. I mean actual malware. Ads were even appearing inside banking apps and the malware was engineered specifically so that it wouldn't be noticed by AV apps or malware bytes.

This seemed to have done well.

So, have eBuyer improved on honouring returns & warranties, which they seemed to have plenty of issues in the past.

Have to say I've never had to return anything or claim under warranty with them so far.

Very slow phone I used for fews days, installed 5 or 6 apps which started taking lot of time to load, don't understand why people are so crazy about this phone, looks like every thing cheap hete will get heat on hukd

I've read on other deals, especially ones for the Honor 7, that there are notification problems. For example, when the screen is off notifications from messenger/WhatsApp don't come through immediately. Has anyone else had these sorts of problems with the 5x and/or Honor 7?

Thanks in advance.

​What's wrong with Elephone?

Until they do a "Nexus 5P", ie a decent size phone (5") with front facing speakers and a more like Google Android software i will be staying away from these!

I wouldn't think so, they should do what Huawei have been doing, they can start off small and sell via Amazon officially or via warehouse somewhere in europe and grow from there.
Xiaomi has a good history and I believe there are plenty of people who want to buy their products but put off by importing it from China.

I think there is still a chance they might enter the European market officially.

The should being out a higher spec handset to rival the likes of apple and sumsang

Sat 26/3 11:25am and the prices are back up to £189.99 each.
Other official UK resellers at:
http://www.hihonor.com/uk/products/mobile-phones/honor5x/

Showing £189.99 now.

​I bought an Elephone once (P8000), never again!

​Oi.

No don't do that, believe me. Elephone are awful and should be avoided at all cost.

Warehouse deal.

£133 how did you get it for that price, I thought it was £169?

Got my wife Honor 7 for 175 for Xmas. A very very good quality phone, especially for the money.

eBuyer uses Yodel as their main courier, they use Parcel Force for deliveries before 12 noon. Yodel is a company to be avoided.

4 days ago in the thread where it was 720 degrees at £169.99 I said

"If you are not desperate I would wait, it will probably be available for £150 again soon."

How are Huawei at providing official support and updates? I don't like using custom roms if I can avoid it.

The main problem with Chinese (and to a degree, Korean) phone manufacturers at the moment is that they seem to focus heavily on rolling out new devices every few months rather than support the devices they've already sold.

Obviously Chinese phones generally tend to be cheap though. With the Korean ones, it's far less excusable, especially in the case of Samsung.

Like the Honor 7, excellent budget phone.

Just wish that when I had my Honor 7 I'd realised that you pretty much have to obsess over the XDA threads to find updates for the software.

OTA updater is useless in EMUI. Found that out with my current Mate 8. Stock software was 4 months old and said no update was available, now I'm on the latest with March security patch to boot. They're very quick with updates when it doesn't concern android version changes.

The big difference is that the S4 wasn't 4G.

This is an extremely difficult market to break into and local competition is fierce. It could happen though with a lot more people, especially in the 40 group, opting for Sim only contracts these days.

I've just ordered this off Amazon. It came out at £133 and should be delivered on Easter Day. I've put up with elephone's crap for long enough but I didn't want to go back to using a smaller handset than 5.5".

Looks nicer than the £100 smart ultra 6, not sure its 50% better unless you must have dual sim.

I'm using a 4 year old Samsung s4 and have no idea about good phones these days. Would this be a big upgrade to what I already have?

​yeah it's a close call

4x user here for almost a year. Still going strong and nothing better for cheaper

this or iphone 5s

At the original price there are better options, however for under £150 you get a lot of phone for the money, but lack of NFC might take a little of the shine off

I wouldn't say the Honor 6 was better than the 5X, it may have 3GB of RAM but most phones don't utilise the additional 1GB anyway, plus it's a fair bit older than the 5X so will have older tech inside.

When is the marshmallow upgrade due?

I already know this, I'm with 3 and EE.

Watch out for that version having limited UK 4G coverage though ie published spec is missing the universal Band 20 / 800MHz that all 4 networks use:
"4G Network LTE 1800/2100/2600MHz"

Have been running one of these for the last 4 weeks or so, cracking phone, no issues with performance at all. I quite like the Emui system, but I do run the google now launcher
I can see me running this for at least a couple of years, it does everything I want in a phone:

Great battery life
Dual sim
Micro SD (i've got a 128gb installed)
5.5" FHD nice screen
Premium build quality
Good camera
Marshmallow upgrade due soon

I have put on a tempered glass screen protector on it (it does come fitted with one from the factory), 99p from ebay
Also very please with a couple of cases arrived from Ebay, one full cover, the other with a cutout window that works with the smart cover function (turns on/off display etc)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322016411598 £1.79 del.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151903776823 £3.19 del.

They are all 616, it's an error in the spec.

Is this a US phone? As I thought the european versions are supplied with a 616 cpu not 615

Did you get clobbered for any import taxes?

Thanks, heat and ordered to replace my z3 compact.....love the phone but I'm getting a bit squinty these days so need a bigger screen

This or ulephone power

This or the Xiaomi Note 3?

I would probably just go for the ultra smart 6 instore...I think it was £99 when I looked last week in the vodafone shop. Same specs basically apart from the finger print reader and the body. Oh and it looks like thew camera is better.

What, like Samsung and Apple also (allegedly) did? :smile: I do think Xiaomi will be here in the not too distant future (perhaps significantly, they launched the new Mi5 at a European Tech Event). They can't really get much bigger than they already are in their home country (they are absolutely huge) and why would you poach Hugo Barra if you hadn't got plans to take on other markets?

​No gorilla glass, but a review on YouTube showed the screen to be no less tough

Just bought this on amazon 2 days ago for £169.99 (yet to be delivered), do amazon offer a match price policy??

Sounds like more of a blue Peter badge person..

I have a Google Nexus 4. Would this be much or an upgrade?

Cheers for the link - I have the Honor 7 and was after a case like this so tracked one down for the 7 instead.

A great case for this phone is this one http://r.ebay.com/28mV9k

It took about two weeks to come - but makes phone look fantastic - in fact it does not look like a case because of the snug fit - it actually looks like the phone itself. Good grip on back of case too - which the honor5x does not have.

great phone. fast, powerful, good battery life. only issues after 1 month of use are the screen scratches very easily and the camera is OK, but not quite as good as the rest of the phone. i

That's a lot of phone for £150 - heated!

Ulephone P is £38.00 cheaper though tbf

Lots of alternative Chinese import options, but you can't knock the spec and UK warranty at this price. Custom ROMs already out and CyanogenMod well on the way.

nice one Paul. heat added

Just watched a few reviews,
I'm impressed.
Heat added