The design of a smartphone is as important as any other aspect of smartphones these days since they have become such a large part of our lives and we spent an ample amount of time with them on a daily basis. However, there are several important characteristics to take into consideration when designing a smartphone and in most cases, smartphone designs often fall short of what is expected at a particular price range or from a brand. The Honor 5X does the exact opposite, let us find out how.
The first thing you notice about a smartphone is the colour, basic shape and aesthetics. The Honor 5X is a smartphone that has a rectangular basic shape with rounded corners just like almost every other smartphone out there but the aesthetics is something they’ve really worked on. The designers have spent an ample amount of time in perfecting the curved back. A curved back essentially improves the handling of a smartphone but if done incorrectly, it is as good as any other rectangular slab. The angle of inclination is just right on the Honor 5X and that makes the phone easily rest in the palm of your hands. The curved back gives you the impression that the phone is thinner than the already thin waistline of 8.2 mm. That is the probably the sweet spot when it comes to thickness. Any smartphone that is too thin has very bad handling and so does any smartphone with a thick waistline.
There is a chamfered bezel that runs all around the back that creates a break to the curve and allows it to connect to the flat sides. I personally like the flat side finish since smartphones with curved sides have lesser grip and tend to slip out of your hand in many cases. It still feels natural while being able to provide that additional grip. The grip has also been increased further thanks to the soft touch brushed finish at the back which reduces slippage even when your hands are sweaty or wet. Fingerprints too aren’t really that visible on the back especially on the lighter silver and gold variants.
Then comes to the materials used, the back is largely made up of a metal panel that has a beautiful luxurious look and feel thanks to the brushed metal finish. The top and bottom have two plastic portions in order to facilitate better wireless and cellular reception. Rather than just having regular pieces of plastic and disrupting the design flow, the Honor 5X makes use of a nice dotted pattern with a leather like finish that complements the metal portion well. This too gives added grip and improves the handling.
The sides of the phone have a mirror finish bezel that really creates a contrast between the front and the back. At the front, you have a nice and large glass display as well. The volume key and power key at the right have a nice grooved finish that improves the feedback and makes it easier to locate them without even looking.
The fingerprint sensor too is recessed into the casing and has chamfered inner edges as well. The camera unit has quite minimal protrusion and the concentric circles around the lens element draws the attention of the viewers eyes towards the center. There is also quite a lot of symmetry going on in the design which can be seen especially at the bottom with the two grilles on either side of the microUSB port.
Another aspect that we all consider when we talk about design are the colours. The Honor 5X comes in three different colour variants. The Gold looks quite premium and has a classy look. The silver variant looks the most elegant probably out of the three while the Black looks very urban and subtle. Needless to say, there is a different colour variant to meet the needs of a wide variety of customers.
Overall, the kind of thought and time invested by Honor in each and every tiny aspect of the 5X’s design really translates into a premium feel that you would get only in most flagship devices. The good thing for users is that the Honor 5X is available at an attractive price of Rs 12,999 which is only the fraction of money that you would have to spend on a flagship product. So if a premium design is what you are looking for in a mid-ranger, then look no further.
