There’s a new low-cost smartphone called the 5C out now, but it’s not made by Apple

By Andy Boxall Published August 26, 2016

The iPhone 5C was Apple’s attempt at making a low-cost smartphone for younger people, but now there’s another 5C coming out, and it seems to do a far better job at appealing to young people. It’s made by Honor, the Huawei spin-off brand, and you’ll pay just 150 British pounds for one. That’s half the price of a OnePlus 2, and a third of an iPhone 5C.

Unlike the iPhone 5C, the Honor 5C has a metal aluminum body with a plastic surround to let the antenna shine through. There are two antennas inside the 5C, and the phone automatically switches between them seamlessly to maintain the best connection. There’s dual-SIM card support, but if you only want one SIM, the other slot can be used for a MicroSD card to boost the 16GB of internal memory.

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Honor’s really pushing the processor inside the 5C. It’s a Kirin 650 that runs at 2GHz, but has been built using a 16nm process, which is usually only used on more expensive devices. The benefit is more performance and better battery life. Honor says the 3000mAh battery has a 40 percent decrease in power consumption and a 65 percent increase in performance over phones with a 28nm chip, and that it’s ideally suited for gaming.

The screen measures 5.2-inches and has a 1080p resolution, while there’s a 13-megapixel camera on the rear, and an 8-megapixel selfie cam on the front. It runs Android 6.0 with the latest EMUI 4.1 user interface over the top, just like the Huawei P9, with a revised camera app and additional modes, including a macro mode and ‘light painting.’

If all this sounds familiar, it may be because the phone has been released in China already, but there is a key difference between them — the international Honor 5C doesn’t come with a fingerprint scanner. However, it does have NFC and can use Android Pay. Honor will have the 5C up for pre-order in three colors — silver, grey, and gold — from June 20, at 150 British pounds or 200 euros, with a delivery date around the end of the month. There has been no decision made on a U.S. release, but Honor does sell its bigger brother, the 5X in America.

Former Senior Mobile Writer

Andy has written about mobile technology for almost a decade. From 2G to 5G and smartphone to smartwatch, Andy knows tech.

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