The Huawei Honor 5X is about to take the U.S. market by storm with some seemingly impressive hardware specifications and an overall cost-effective build.

While some have no choice but to wait for the smartphone, some were lucky enough to get their hands on it. On a positive note, they shared what they found out about the device and pitched in what they thought about it.

Operating System

First off, the Honor 5X runs on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop with the smartphone maker's Emotion UI 3.1, which brings a lot of extra features to the table. But those "extra" features come at a cost.

"The main caveat is the software, which has much in common with the version of Huawei's dubious iOS-style EMUI seen on the Mate 8, but runs atop Android Lollipop instead of the newer Marshmallow. It's visually a little brighter and more appealing, but you're still dealing with a heavy Android skin that removes the app drawer and rips off iOS at every opportunity - from the camera app to the folders and the notification shade," Sam Byford of The Verge says.

Display And Dimensions

It's equipped with a 5.5-inch IPS LCD display with a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution (401 ppi). For the dimensions, it measures at 5.9 x 3 x 0.3 inches and weighs 0.34 pounds.

Design

The Honor 5X looks like it was carefully crafted, sporting a premium look that can potentially turn heads.

"The 5X looks and feels impressive from the moment you pick it up. Its appearance takes cues from the enormously successful Nexus 6P and the Huawei Mate 8, with a diamond-polished, ceramic-coated aluminum alloy housing and polished, beveled edges," Eric Herrmann of AndroidPIT remarks.

Performance

Next up, it's powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 615 with an octa-core offering made up of a quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 and a quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53 along with 2 GB worth of RAM and an Adreno 405 GPU. The setup, however, doesn't seem to be as capable as others hoped.

"Unfortunately, the performance of the Honor 5X is a bit wanting. I suspect that Cortex A53s alone aren't quite enough to get the amount of performance needed to make Android run perfectly smooth, as while in some cases the phone was perfectly smooth in some transitions like opening and closing app folders I saw noticeable frame drops and similar issues," Joshua Ho of AnandTech writes.

Storage

As for the internal storage, it has a respectable 16 GB capacity, but rest assured, as it also has microSD support of up to 128 GB.

Camera

The Honor 5X is fitted with a 13 MP f/2.0 rear-facing camera with dual-LED flash and a 5 MP f/2.4 front shooter. The smartphone can also capture 1080p videos at 30 fps. The two snappers are reportedly better than anticipated.

"Unexpectedly, I was really impressed with the cameras. Pictures I took in indoor lighting with the front and back cameras were surprisingly sharp," Sascha Segan of PCMag Asia says.

Battery

With a 3,000 mAh battery pack, it can pretty much last throughout the day. The only downside here is that it's not removable, but that shouldn't pose much of a problem – to some, at least.

Other Features

What's notable about the Honor 5X is that it's crammed with a lot of features, including a fingerprint scanner and dual SIM support. It doesn't have a USB 3.0 port, though, but that's not exactly a deal breaker.

"Indeed, the Mate 8's Marshmallow is as distant from Stock as the Honor 5X's Lollipop, and it lacks a couple of useful things this has, like fingerprint and screen-off gestures. Those of you looking for a traditional Android experience should look elsewhere, but those looking for a surprising feature set on a budget will definitely get something out of the 5X," Mario Tomás Serrafero of XDA-Developers notes.

Pricing And Availability

The Honor 5X is scheduled to roll out on Jan. 31, 2016 with a price tag of $199. Interested buyers can go ahead and preorder the smartphone to get it as soon as it goes official via Amazon, Newegg and HiHinor. It's available in white, black and gold.

Android Central is also holding a contest and giving away a few units until Jan. 25.

Bottom Line

Considering the price, hardware specifications and features, the Huawei Honor 5X is a device that can hold its own in the tough smartphone market. A handset with a good battery life plus a fingerprint scanner at an affordable price is definitely something worth looking into.

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