Better budget phone than the Honor 5x?

[Hendrickson]

Is there a better budget phone out there than the Honor 5x right now or in the near future (next month or two)? I've been using a barrowed Honor 5x for a few days, and it's not bad, but I have a fear of commitment. Plus I'm not wild about the UI.

2 things. I don't want a used phone, and I need it to work on T-Mobile's bands. I would love to give the Redmi Note 3 Pro a try, but it really doesn't support the bands I need. T-Mobile bands are 2 (1900), 4 (1700), and 12 (700a).

I really don't care about all the extra fluff like fingerprint readers, 8k screens, 17 cameras for super zoom, or rocket thrusters. All I really need is OK performance, a good screen, and an OK camera.

 

[bassoprofundo]

How budget is "budget" for you? Over the last few months, I've picked up 3 (what I would consider) budget phones for my kids. A BLU R1 HD ($60), a Moto G4 ($115), and a Nextbit Robin ($145). The Robin is head and shoulders above the other two in the specs department, but all 3 are completely usable on a day-to-day basis. I carried each for a week myself (just because I'm weird like that), and while I miss the better cameras on flagships, I could carry any of them in a pinch if my phone bit it today. It looks like both the Moto and the Nextibit meet your band support needs, and all 3 meet the rest.

 

[biostud]

Lumia 950

 

[bassoprofundo]

Lumia 950

Oh man... Don't set up him up for that kind of heartache. I was a huge WP fan and used nearly every Windows Phone out there back to the original 7 series launch devices. I still miss the interface... Reality has forced me to begrudgingly move on, though. Microsoft has moved on too.

If you do only the very basics (email, SMS, calling), a WM phone will do them with aplomb and with a superior UI to boot. Cortana is outstanding superior in some ways to the alternatives in terms of natural interaction (Google has mostly caught up there though). I highly recommend that you don't go down this road at this point, though. It's miserable using it and wishing for what might have been if people weren't so dang stubborn about switching platforms.

 

[Hendrickson]

I loved WP back when it had the promise of 'its only a matter of time' until the app store caught up, and the missing parts of the OS were added. I was using my old lumia 635 the other day, and forgot how much better WP really is than Android or IOS in so many ways. I'm not going back to WP though, unless they really start to devote some serious resources to getting the app store caught up. Which sounds like it will never happen.

Budget I guess is less than $250. The Honor 5X can be had for like 170 right now, but I'd go a few bucks more if there was something with the honor 5x specs only with a Snapdragon 650 or something like that.

The Nextbit Robin looks interesting. Not sure about the styling, but the specs aren't bad, and with a stock android rom, it might be pretty good.

 

[bassoprofundo]

I loved WP back when it had the promise of 'its only a matter of time' until the app store caught up, and the missing parts of the OS were added. I was using my old lumia 635 the other day, and forgot how much better WP really is than Android or IOS in so many ways. I'm not going back to WP though, unless they really start to devote some serious resources to getting the app store caught up. Which sounds like it will never happen.

Budget I guess is less than $250. The Honor 5X can be had for like 170 right now, but I'd go a few bucks more if there was something with the honor 5x specs only with a Snapdragon 650 or something like that.

The Nextbit Robin looks interesting. Not sure about the styling, but the specs aren't bad, and with a stock android rom, it might be pretty good.

I think the Robin is your best bet in that price range if you're valuing the most specs for the buck. I'm not a fan of the launcher, but the devices are very nice, and the stock ROM strays very little from stock Android. Add Nova Launcher, and you've got a phone that's going to last you for some time (and doesn't have the Huawei software experience... ugh).

 

[Kneedragger]

Do you need one with removable storage? I believe the Nextbit Robin doesnt allow storage expansion..

 

[NAC]

I'll also vote for the Nextbit Robin. I just got one a few days ago and I'm very happy. They are still available for 150 or 160 from Amazon. After a lot of research, it seems to me you have to spend a lot more to get a noticeably better phone. Some comments:

• I like the fingerprint reader location and speed.
• 32 gigs is fine for me - I've been living with 16. But I can see how it would be limiting. Photos and apps will be stored to the cloud automatically, but not videos or music. I assume that it because of some worries about copyright. The cloud would be much more useful if it covered videos and music.
• As someone else wrote - you probably want Nova Launcher, or you are stuck with widgets on a screen you pinch to view. But other than than, it is quite stock Android.
• I haven't timed it, but it charges really fast. And it barely drains the battery when not in use. So battery life will be more than adequate for my use. But I'm not an all day all the time user/gamer.

 

[Raduque]

G4 Plus. It has a fingerprint scanner and better camera than the smaller G4.

 

[preslove]

Wait a little bit and get the 6X, instead. You need more than 2 gigs of ram for android not to suck: http://www.anandtech.com/show/10979/hands-on-with-the-huawei-honor-6x

 

[Hendrickson]

I'm not sure if the extra $90 is worth it for the 6x over the 5x. Supposedly better build quality, better SoC, better camera. Looks interesting, so I'll wait for a few reviews.

 

[bassoprofundo]

Wait a little bit and get the 6X, instead. You need more than 2 gigs of ram for android not to suck: http://www.anandtech.com/show/10979/hands-on-with-the-huawei-honor-6x

The Robin has 3gb RAM. With the Huawei, you still have their software with which to contend. AC's early review calls out the software specifically as a problem as well as a touchscreen issue they saw on both their sample devices. Same story over and over with them so far...

I love their clean hardware design, but man, they have to give us better software. I've been one-click away from picking up both the Honor 5x and 8, but the software just kills it for me. If I'm going to deal with some non-standard bloat, I'll stick with a Samsung and get all the extra goodies that come along with them (albeit at an extra goodies kind of price )

 

[Hendrickson]

I've been using the Honor 5x for about a week now. I'd heard many horrible things about the software, but it's honestly not a problem. It's EMUI 4.0 that I've been using, and I don't hate it. And I'm coming from stock Android.

I've also had 0 problems with touch issues. You can tell the build quality is not at the same level as some flagships, but it isn't bad.

 

[preslove]

The Robin has 3gb RAM. With the Huawei, you still have their software with which to contend. AC's early review calls out the software specifically as a problem as well as a touchscreen issue they saw on both their sample devices. Same story over and over with them so far...

I love their clean hardware design, but man, they have to give us better software. I've been one-click away from picking up both the Honor 5x and 8, but the software just kills it for me. If I'm going to deal with some non-standard bloat, I'll stick with a Samsung and get all the extra goodies that come along with them (albeit at an extra goodies kind of price )

I have an honor 8. The EMUI sucks, sure, but I put the the google launcher on it and it's fine, now.

 

[mxnerd]

Got a like new honor 5x from Craigslist for $120, pretty look pretty & very responsive. Replaced Huawei home launcher with Nova and the UI problem is solved.

I would said I'm impressed.

 

[dark zero]

And how about the Leeco Le S3?
http://www.lemall.com/us/phone/leeco_le_s3/index.html