Honor Doubles Down on Millennial Market

By Yujie Xue and Kyle Davi
BU News Service

Chinese telecommunications company Huawei’s subsidiary brand, Honor, launched its new smartphone today at CES 2017 — the Honor 6X, the next iteration of an affordable phone aimed at a younger market.

At a packed press conference on Tuesday at Mandalay Bay, President of Honor George Zhao said the company was determined to produce “fast, robust, and affordable” smartphones. Here’s how the latest offering stacks up.

Design

Honor’s new 6X adopted a curve-inspired design that Zhao said is easy to hold.

The phone has a metallic body and is made in 2.5D curved glass with a smooth finish. “We want our users to feel like they’re touching a baby’s skin when holding the phone,” said Zhao. Honor 6X has three color options — silver, gray and gold — for users to choose from.

Dual Camera Lens

“Double or nothing” was the motto of Tuesday’s launch event. The Honor 6X features a dual-lens rear camera (12 megapixel and 2 megapixel) and an 8 megapixel front camera. “Two cameras is not enough for good photos. What’s more important is the software processing algorithm,” said Zhao. Zhao showed the audience a feature that imitates wide aperture, creating images with the subject in focus with the background, enabled by the the dual lenses. The phone also has a “refocus” feature  that enables users to adjust a photo’s focus point post-capture.

Accessories

Honor also introduced a new smartphone accessory: a tripod selfie stick. 

Reporter Yujie Xue, 23, demonstrates the new, two-in-one tripod self stick from Honor Global at CES in Las Vegas, Nev., on January 3, 2017.

Software and Storage

The Honor 6X comes in  3GB or 4GB RAM and 32GB or 64GB ROM options.  The phone can also be expanded via a microSD card. It will ship with Android 6.0 Marshmallow, but an update will be coming soon. 

Screen Display

The Honor 6X’s screen has a 5.5 inch full HD display. The phone also auto-adjusts contrast and brightness according to the light and an eye comfort mode to reduce fatigue.  

Honor Global, a Chinese phone manufacturer, unveiled their new smartphone, the Honor 6X, at CES in Las Vegas, Nev., on January 3, 2017.

Wi-Fi Bridge

Zhao also introduced Honor 6X’s portable WLAN Hotspot feature that enables users to share their Wi-Fi with up to four devices.

Double Battery Life

The new phone features a 3340mAh high-density battery. The Honor 6X adopted a 16nm chipset and power saving technology that allows for 11.5 hours of video watching, 70 hours of music playback and 8 hours of gaming on a full charge.

Price

With a dual-camera feature and double battery life, the price of is very affordable for what it gives you: the 3GB RAM and 32GB ROM option is $249.99, while the 4GB RAM and 64 GB ROM option is $299.99.

President of Honor, George Zhao, announced that the Honor 6X will be priced starting at $249 in the United States during the product’s launch at CES in Las Vegas, Nev., on January 3, 2017.