Honor 5C review
This new product of Honor comes in the mid-range segment. Launched at Rs 10,999, this smartphone will compete with the most crowded budget segment smartphones in India. Honor 5C will compete with great smartphones like Moto G4 Plus, Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 and Lenovo Zuk Z1. Today we will review Honor 5C and know what are the advantages and disadvantages of the smartphone.
Look and Design
The Honor 5C looks a lot like the Honor 5X. The rear panels of both phones are quite similar, especially the brushed metal finish. There are slight differences in the phone towards the edges and at the bottom where the design and texture is slightly different from the 5X. We think the 5C looks much better than the 5X smartphone. The camera lens and fingerprint sensor are also on the rear like the previous phone.
Apart from this, some other changes have also been made in this phone, the most important of which is the size of the phone. Honor 5C has a smaller screen of 5.2 inches. Being small, the phone is quite easy to hold. The phones are quite different when it comes to weight and thickness. The Honor 5C looks quite sturdy.
The edges of the phone remain under the standard layout. Power and volume buttons are given on the right side while the SIM tray is on the left side. There is a micro-USB port and speaker at the bottom and a 3.5 mm socket at the top. Although the phone has two grills, the one on the right is actually the speaker. Apart from this, the edges of the phone are curved which makes it feel good in the hand but the grip of the phone becomes a bit difficult.
The phone has a 5.2-inch full-HD IPS LCD screen that covers 68.77 of the front. Instead of capacitive touch buttons, on-screen Android buttons have been provided in the phone. Talking about the screen, it is quite bright but not too bright. Along with this, the colors are also quite dull and in general we found the screen less vibrant and muted. Most of the time the screen remains sharp but if you watch videos or spend most of the time in sunlight then you may find the screen a bit dull.
Honor 5C has a fingerprint sensor on the rear which can be used to unlock the phone as well as unlock apps. The fingerprint sensor is always on standby and works well even when the phone is in sleep mode. The fingerprint sensor is accurate but not as good as some of the devices we’ve reviewed recently. To unlock the phone you have to keep your finger on the sensor for some time.
Specifications and Software
The Honor 5C has most of the same mid-range specifications as the 5X but with a few differences. The most special among these is the use of Kirin 650 processor, which is made by Huawei’s subsidiary company Hisilicon. This is the company’s new mid-range processor. The 5C is quite different in terms of processor from the 5X which comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 processor. It is worth noting that 16nm FinFET+ has been used in making this processor which promises better performance. Along with this, this processor also claims to provide better battery life compared to Qualcomm and MediaTek.
The Honor 5C packs 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage (expandable up to 128GB via microSD card) and is powered by a 3000mAh battery. However, at this price you will also get smartphones with 3 GB or more RAM. The 2GB RAM in Honor 5C provides a good memory management system that keeps apps out of RAM so the phone runs without any hassle. However, the phone will handle limited graphics related tasks and works well in most normal conditions.
Honor 5C runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Huawei’s EMUI 4.1 skin on top. The change between the old and new EMUI versions does not make much sense as its familiar look remains intact. Which includes single layer user interface, notification shade and quick setting menu. One of the most special features in this UI is the magazine lock screen, which replaces the lock screen background with a new picture every time. The Phone Manager app is very useful and lets you control system optimization functions, data usage, app locking, and battery consumption.
Android Marshmallow also brings a lot of new features, including better performance, Doze Mode for battery optimization, Now on Tap, and a new app permission system. The OS given in this phone is much better than the OS given in previous Honor devices. But we would still prefer devices that come with MIUI and CyanogenOS due to more customization and controls.
camera
Honor 5C has a 13 megapixel rear and 8 megapixel front camera. Both cameras can record up to 1080 pixels and a single LED flash is provided in the rear camera. Apart from this, there are also HDR, slow-motion video, time lapse video and panorama mode.
The software has some other fun tricks up its sleeve, including Pro Photo and Pro Video modes that let you adjust every setting, light painting, food mode, and omni-focus. The Settings menu includes controls for object tracking, smile capture, self-timer, and resolution. There’s a quick switcher between photos and videos along with front and rear camera switchers, flash and filters.
The camera performance of Honor 5C is better than Honor 5X. Pictures from the 5C come out with good colors and detailing. Photos come out great in well-lit settings and photos taken in low light are also fine. But there is some scattering in the pictures but for a phone of this price the pictures are quite good.
Focus speed has also improved from the previous phone and object tracking is now better and response faster than before. The front camera has also improved. Macro shots are good and the camera produces pictures with good color and detailing. However, unlike other better camera phones available at this price, the Honor 5C’s camera does not offer anything special.
performance
Huawei did not provide its HiSilicon processor in Honor 5X. But as usual, Kirin 650 processor has been given in 5C. The performance of the phone is excellent and the phone works well in almost every kind of situation. However, there are many better performing phones available in other phones of this price. You will not find any special problem in Honor 5C.
Honor 5C got good figures in benchmarking tests. The graphics and video performance of the phone is fine but there is a slight problem while running multiple apps simultaneously and playing heavy games.
Honor 5C has no issues with call quality, network and data connectivity. Despite having a 3000 mAh battery, the battery life is also better than Honor 5X. In our video loop test, we got 11 hours and 11 minutes of battery life from the phone and with normal usage, the battery easily lasts the whole day. Android Doze mode helps a lot in reducing battery consumption and we noticed that despite 4G connectivity, the phone does not drain the battery when not in use.
our decision
The Honor 5C is a slightly better phone than its predecessor. Its more powerful processor and slight improvements in the camera make it better than 5X. The design and look of the phone has also become better than before. There isn’t much to complain about with the phone, especially at this price.
But, 5C cannot be called a great phone. The phone doesn’t have any particularly attractive features and is an average device all around. It would have been better if the price of the phone was a little lower. Customers would prefer to buy some other phones in this price range like Redmi Note 3 and Lenovo Zuk Z1.
