Honor just launched its first phone via live stream, the 5C and it’s coming to the UK next week. We got to unbox the handset early and see what it had to offer.
Like most Honor devices, the brand’s box design is identical across the board (minus the size difference); a nearly unmarked cyan card container with the ‘Honor’ logo twice on the top face.
Lift the lid and the 5C sits pretty, sealed within a clear bag for padding and covered with adhesive protectors on the screen and the back. The phone will be up for grabs in three colours at launch: Space Silver, Sunset Gold and dark grey (the colour of the sample we had). It’s immediately identifiable as one of Honor’s devices and if it weren’t for the smaller 5.2-inch display you could easily mistake it for the Honor 5X, which launched back in February 2016.
Overall its appearance is more rounded than the likes of the 5X and 7, with an aircraft-grade aluminium back and a colour-matched plastic edging (that conceals the phone’s dual antenna design). At 156 grams, its comfortable to wield in one hand, and whilst the top edges of the display are awkward to reach, the Android Marshmallow-based EMUI 4.1 includes a one-handed mode to reduce screen size, alleviating that issue, whilst still ensuring the Full HD IPS LCD is well-suited to media consumption.
Unlike the Chinese model, the 5C headed for the UK lacks a fingerprint sensor, something Honor explained was a cost-saving decision, but with NFC onboard, this is another affordable handset that’s Android Pay-ready.
On the inside lies the company’s new, more efficient Kirin 650 octa-core processor, which uses a 16nm process to deliver better performance with lower power demands, backed up by 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and a hybrid SIM tray which accepts two SIM cards or one SIM and one microSD card for memory expansion up to 128GB.
There’s also a non-removable 3000mAh battery which Honor claims will last through a day of heavy usage or two of light to medium usage, thanks to its Smart Power 3.0 technology. The phone will also charge slightly quicker if you have a 2A power adapter (not included in the box).
Imaging is another big part of the Honor 5C’s list of talents, with an impressively high-resolution 8-megapixel front-facing camera and a 13-megapixel primary camera on the back capable of HDR shooting and some surprisingly good macro photography.
Back to the box and under the phone you’ll find two Honor stickers, a quick start guide and a warranty card as well as the SIM tray removal tool, after which you’ll have to lift up a tab to get at the standard USB to microUSB lead, power adapter and headphones, complete with an inline microphone, which was a nice surprise for such a low-cost handset.
Speaking of the cost the Honor 5C is available for pre-order right now, with UK retail channels including Amazon, eBuyer, Expansys and vMall – Huawei and Honor’s own European online store. The handset is available in all three colourways for £149.99 a piece with availability kicking off from next week and availability on Three’s PAYG and Pay Monthly tariffs from August.
Read next: Honor 5C in a nutshell: UK price, release date and specs
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