Honor has a new pair of smartphones heading to markets. The Honor X5d and a Plus variant have been previously released as the Honor X6d and X6d Plus. We don’t have to worry about the ‘we’ve seen this phone before’ issue, however. The original version was never released in South Africa.
There’s a chance this one will also pass us by. The two phones have turned up in Malaysia so far, with no official communication on where they’ll appear next. Based on the phones’ available specs, it’ll be a pity if they don’t make it to SA.
Knight to X5d
That’ll be for affordability reasons, if nothing else. The base model phone retails for around R1,550, with the Plus upping the cost to just R1,900. Even accounting for markups, neither phone would break the R2,500 barrier. When you look at the specs, it’s easy to see why. Still, they’re Honor phones, and that suggests a little more quality than you’ll otherwise get at this price point.
Both the X5d and the Plus look to use the same chassis. The image above shows both models, and the rear panels (and the dimensions and 186g weight) are identical. Both use the same 6.74in 720 x 1,600 LCD screen, MediaTek Helio G81 chipset, and 4GB of system memory. 15W wired charging and a 5,000mAh(ish) battery are also pretty common.
Differences come in from available storage — the X5d Plus has 128GB to the base model’s 64GB. The Plus also seems to have 4GB of virtual RAM. It’s not clear whether both phones include that feature. The camera setups are a little different, too. Both phones have the same 0.08MP secondary, but the Plus opts for a 50MP main sensor over the X5d’s 13MP effort.
Honor’s X9d has launched in South Africa previously, but its lower-spec versions are a little harder to find. At the projected prices for this lot, however, having these on the market will make many local customers happy.
