The title race in this mid-price segment got really hot with the arrival of two of the most awaited smartphones of the year. Huawei Honor 7X and Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 have arrived on the market (the Redmi Note 5 is set for global release this month) with a bang! Modern-day smartphone users are darn savvy when choosing their next buy, and we hope this comparison between the two bezel-less budget phones will help you a lot.
Both Huawei and Xiaomi have managed to garner a lot of attention with their previous/flagship models and these models were supposed to be their “coming of age” smartphones. So the enthusiasm of tech lovers is natural and understandable at the same time.
Tip: Huawei also has another ace up its sleeve, the Honor 9 Lite. This is a device that is a class above the Redmi Note 5 and Honor 7X in design, has good selfie camera, performs well, but sacrifices a bit in rear camera. But you have to give it a serious look before making your next budget phone purchase. Read our Honor 9 Lite review here.
Honor 7X vs Redmi Note 5 specs
Here’s a sneak peek at some of the features of these two mid-segment heavyweights.
| Android Phones | Main specs | Other info |
| Honor 7X | HiSilicon Kirin 659 processor 4GB RAM, 32/64GB storage 5.93″ IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen (18:9) 16MP+2MP dual primary camera, 8MP secondary camera Android 7.0 (Nougat), upgradable to Oreo |
3,340 mAh battery MicroSD card support – Yes 3.5mm headphone jack – Yes Rear-mounted fingerprint scanner |
| Redmi Note 5 | Snapdragon 625 processor 3GB/4GB RAM, 32/64GB storage 5.99″ IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen (18:9) 12MP primary camera, 5MP secondary camera Android 7.1.2 (Nougat), upgradable to Oreo |
4,000 mAh battery MicroSD card support – Yes 3.5mm headphone jack – Yes Rear-mounted fingerprint scanner |
Now that the main specs are out of our systems, let us focus on different parameters and how these smartphones fare in those.
Design
Let’s talk about Honor 7X first. A huge step up in design from its predecessor and a single glance at the phone is enough to vouch for that. The metallic body with well-rounded edges and the very trendy thin bezel design give this smartphone a very sophisticated & premium look. The fingerprint sensor at the rear is quite accessible because of its perfect placement (unlike the Galaxy S8, or the new Galaxy A8 Plus). Overall, the Honor 7X is enthralling, to say the least!
Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 5, on the other hand, doesn’t feature a modern design. Not that it looks good, but its style is feels dated now, with plastic head and chin at the back differing a bit in color too. The fingerprint sensor’s location is perfect on the Redmi Note 5, too, while the rest of the design is pretty good. That is noticeably heavier too, makes it less fun to than Honor 7X.
In today’s smartphones, where full-screen displays take up over 80-85% of the front, the read design of the device counts is getting more prominence than ever, and that’s where the Redmi Note 5 disappoints, not helped by its thicker and heavier body compared to the Honor 7X.
Winner: Huawei Honor 7X
Display
The display size and quality of both the Redmi Note 5 and Honor 7X are very similar. Both offer good display, but we found the touch quality of the Redmi Note 5 a tad, just a tad, better. Both are good, but when scrolling on a webpage, the Redmi Note 5’s touch feels a bit quicker than the Honor 7x’s slightly more elastic touch that keeps the webpage moving for a bit longer time than usual.
Not that Redmi Note 5 offers you a perfect touch like you see on, say Honor 8 or Galaxy S8, but we wished Honor 7X’s touch was less elastic. In our time with these two phones, the touch on both devices was good, didn’t disappoint us anytime, responded well and was up to mark, but we would prefer the Redmi Note 5’s software optimization over 7X’s. Corning Gorilla Glass is a common feature in both of these smartphones, making sure that they don’t catch scratches easily or crack when they accidentally fall.
Winner: Xiaomi Redmi Note 5
Hardware
Honor 7X has a Kirin 659 processor as opposed to the Snapdragon 625 processor of the Redmi Note 5. Although both are fast enough, the Krin 659 is a bit faster, purely as a processor. However, when we combine the UI with the kind of processor the devices possess, Redmi Note 5 looks more stable and faster as well. While the Redmi Note 5 comes with 3GB of RAM with 32GB of storage in a base variant, it ups the RAM to 4GB and storage to 64GB in the costlier variant, which matches the price of the Honor 7X, whose base model itself offers 4GB of RAM with 32GB of storage.
Both offer smooth performance that cannot be called exactly snappy but found no complaints using either.
Winner: It’s a draw!
Software
Redmi Note 5 has Android 7.1.2 (Nougat) OS while Honor 7X has Android 7.0 (Nougat), but both phones will get an upgrade to Android Oreo somewhere in Q2 or Q3 2018. The former has the MIUI 9 running on top of Nougat while the latter gets EMUI 5.1 skin on top. The Honor 7X is also receiving the Face Unlock feature (along with AR lens) via an update, which is already live in China.
The Oreo update for Redmi Note 5 is expected in Q3 2018, while that for the Honor 7X should arrive in April 2018, at least full four months before it Xiaomi releases the 8.0 for the former.
Although the EMUI 5.1 skin on Honor 7X, and MIUI 9 skin on Redmi Note 5, come with heavy customizations, we find the MIUI 9 more pleasant and user-friendly than EMUI 5.1. That’s not to say EMUI is bad, far from it actually, as it giving you Face unlock now, besides being a good enough skin even without that feature. Plus, Oreo would arrive on the Honor 7X way before Redmi Note 5, which is another plus point of EMUI.
Winner: It’s a draw!
Camera
Honor 7X has a 16MP+2MP dual primary camera and an 8MP secondary camera. On the other hand, Redmi 5Plus has a primary camera of 12MP and even though a single-lens setup, it promises much better shots than its counterpart, including support of up to 4K video recording. For selfies, you get a 5MP sensor. That’s the specs.
In the real world, we found the single camera on the Redmi Note 5 a tad better than the dual camera on the Honor 7’s back. There isn’t much difference, and Honor 7X offers a great camera, too, but compared side to side, we are liking the pic captures from the Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 5 a bit more than Huawei’s Honor 7X. Funny it is, because last year, Huawei’s Honor 6X used to capture slightly better pictures than the Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 4.
Selfie shots are nice on both of them.
Winner: Xiaomi Redmi Note 5
Battery
Redmi Note 5 comprises a non-removable 4,000 mAh battery while Honor 7X has a non-removable 3,340 mAh battery. Thus, Redmi Note 5 looks to be slightly better placed when it comes to battery life.
the custom software in EMUI 5.1 and MIUI 9 makes sure that battery is saved to the best, but even then it’s obvious that the Redmi Note 5 features a slightly larger battery life than Honor 7X, but the difference isn’t as much as the pure capacity indicates. Which means Honor 7X does well for a 3,340 mAh battery capacity.
Winner: Xiaomi Redmi Note 5
The rest
Honor 7X has dimensions of 156.5 x 75.3 x 7.6 mm. On the other hand, Redmi 5Plus has the dimensions of 158.5 x 75.5 x 8.1 mm, which makes it a little thicker and perhaps clunkier than the Honor 7X.
Both of the Redmi Note 5 and Honor 7X doesn’t offer water-resistance and are equipped with micro USB ports (not Type C), while don’t support fast charging either. Update: It turns out the Redmi Note 5 does support fast charging, but the charger Xiaomi ships in its box isn’t one, so you have to use a separate fast charger for this.
Verdict
Well, the winner is Honor 7X. That’s by a very tiny margin, yes, but here’s why we think so.
The Honor 7X offers a far better design, which should a count a bit more than anything else, while also equalling the Redmi Note 5 on performance. Though, the Redmi Note 5 offers you a better camera and slightly better touch response, more battery life, which matters a lot, too, but feels very clunky, and that’s a major down point of the device.
If you want a well-designed phone that looks modern, is lightweight, while being more than good enough at all other points, go for the Honor 7X. That’s the device we would prefer. But in case design and weight doesn’t matter to you while more prominence is on battery life, then go for the Redmi Note 5, which also offers a slightly better camera.
What do you think?
