Honor 4X review

Design

The Honor 4X does come without a few caveats, though, as we don’t think it feels quite as comfy in the hand as the Moto G. The crosshatch-texture on the rear panel cheapens what’s otherwise a very sturdy and well-made device, and its rounded corners and flat chassis also don’t provide a huge amount of grip.

Display

The 4X is quite also large for a 5.5in device, but that’s partly because it has to make room for its dedicated home, back and recent apps buttons. With a 1,280×720 resolution, the 4X’s pixel density isn’t as high as the Moto G’s, measuring 267ppi as opposed to 294ppi, but text still looks reasonably sharp and we couldn’t see any obvious signs of pixilation when we compared the two handsets side by side.

Instead, the biggest flaw is in poor colour accuracy. Our colour calibrator only measured an sRGB colour gamut coverage score of 79.6%, which is a long way behind the Moto G’s 87.6% coverage, and its strong blues and purples made images appear quite subdued by comparison. This isn’t helped by the screen’s somewhat grainy finish either, which seems to accentuate smeary fingerprints 

This is a shame, as the 4X’s screen is much brighter, measuring a massive 581.06cd/m2. This makes it easier to see in sunlight, but keeping it on maximum brightness for long periods of time will obviously drain the phone’s battery much quicker than keeping it set to Auto. Contrast levels were also good, measuring 1,240:1, providing plenty of detail in our various test images. Black levels were a mediocre 0.46cd/m2, but this is to be expected when the screen’s brightness is so high.

Conclusion

The Honor 4X is a great phone for £145 and its superior battery life, camera and performance certainly makes a convincing argument to tempt you away from Motorola’s Moto G. However, it simply can’t beat Motorola on build and display quality, and the fact that it won’t be getting an upgrade to Android 5.0 Lollipop is a bit of a deal breaker in our books. You’re also stuck with Huawei’s Emotion UI, which ditches the app tray and is generally a lot fussier to use than Motorola’s version of stock Android.