While Snapdragon 617 octa-core chip initially powered mid-range smartphones in the market, like the HTC One A9 (well, it even powers the Moto G4 Plus which costs about $224), this particular chip is now being found inside entry level handsets. Huawei’s Honor division just released a new smartphone in the market, the Honor 5A and guess what, the full network version of this handset will be powered by the octa-core Snapdragon 617 chipset clocked at 1.5GHz. But there will be other versions as well, like China Mobile and dual netcom variants which use the octa-core Huawei’s Kirin 620 chipset clocked at 1.2GHz.
Like its previous generation models, the Honor 5A is targeted at the young generation, coming in a plastic body and metal frame, and in different colors. The phone measures 154.3 x 77.1 x 8.45 and weighs 168 grams. As for the display, the device comes with a 5.5-inch screen with 720p resolution. The contrast ratio is 1000:1, with 178-degree wide viewing angles and pixel level adjustment for better screen viewability under sunlight. Further, the screen also comes with Aluminum-Silicon tempered glass, which provides protection to the display under it.
Although the processors are different for the variants, rest of the specs remain the same. So, the Honor 5A comes with 2GB of RAM on board, along with 16GB of expandable storage. At the back, the phone features a 13MP camera with 5P lens, 28mm wide angle shooting and 7cm macro. While up front, you get an 8MP front facing shooter with 4P lens, f/2.0 aperture, and blue glass filters to reduce flare. The battery capacity is also pretty decent, of 3100mAh capacity with power saving 3.0 feature that should help provide up to a day’s battery life.
The phone boasts of hardware level security which protects the device from illegal access, filters suspicious URLs and has a special anti-theft feature as well. As for the pricing, the Honor 5A is priced aggressively. The China Mobile variant starts at just 699 Yuan ($106), while the full network variant and the dual netcom variant retails for 799 Yuan ($121).
You can currently register for the first sale of the Honor 5A on June 17 at JD.com and Huawei’s own online store in China.
