Huawei GR5 2017 Review: Acceptable but not exciting

Quick Verdict

The GR5 2017 is a good example of the kind of phone we're seeing with regularity in the mid-range space.

Huawei's been making headlines of late with the exceptional Huawei P10 and Huawei P10 Plus as its premium phone plays, but it's in the more affordable phone space that it has historically made the most actual impact.

The Huawei GR5 2017 (also known as the Honor 6X in some overseas markets) is a fine example of that kind of form. It's not an absolute standout phone against 2017's flagships, but then it's in no way intended to be. What it does show is how quickly even budget to mid-range phones are catching up on the premium crowd, and what this means for phone buyers now and in the very near future.

Huawei GR5 2017: Design

The Huawei GR5 2017's design is almost exactly what you'd expect out of a mid-range phone, and by and large it keeps to the same kinds of ideas you'd see in other, similarly priced handsets such as the Motorola Moto G5 Plus.

Measuring in at 150.9 x 76.2 x 8.2mm with a carrying weight of 162 grams and a 5.5 inch 1080p display, it's a solid but fine phone to hold in the hand. You don't quite get the premium feel of a high mid-range or actual flagship handset, but that comes with the asking price.

Charging is via microUSB with a supplied charger but no sign of Huawei's otherwise excellent fast charging in place. Around the back rests the cameras and an embedded fingerprint sensor underneath, leading to a device that pretty much looks as you'd expect a mid-range phone to look. It's not quite cheap looking in the way that some budget phones are, but its design never strives to be anything other than ordinary.

Huawei GR5 2017: Camera

You can get on board with Android for well under $200 these days, so mid-range phones really need some kind of standout feature. For the GR5 2017, it's undoubtedly that it's one of the lowest cost phones we've seen to sport a dual camera array.

Before you get too excited, this isn't a case of Huawei porting across its Leica lenses from the P10 or Mate 9, but instead a single 12MP sensor and subsidiary 2MP sensor used for adding bokeh style effects to photos. You've got quite a bit less control over use of the dual sensors than you get out of the P series or Mate series phones, but again, that comes with the territory. Huawei's camera app is simple enough to use with swipe gestures for accessing the various baked in functions, including the inevitable "beauty" mode for the selfie obsessed.

The actual camera experience with the Huawei GR5 2017 is exactly what you'd expect out of a mid-range camera phone. It won't beat the best, and if you push it hard you can easily end up with blur, but for everyday use it's entirely suitable, if not all that exciting.

Here are some sample shots taken directly from the GR5 2017:

Huawei GR5 2017: Why you'd want one

• Battery life: The relative size of the GR5 2017 gives Huawei some breathing room to incorporate a larger battery in the handset, and it does so, with a 3340mAh non-removable power pack lurking behind its 5.5 inch display. Combine that with Huawei's own moderate power octa-core Kirin 655 processor and what you get is a recipe for fairly easy all-day battery life. This was also reflected in Geekbench 3's battery test, which placed it well against other low-cost competitors, although not quite top of the tree:
  

  Handset	Geekbench 3 Battery Test Duration	Geekbench 3 Battery Score
  LG X Power	14:50:30	5714
  Huawei Nova Plus	13:21:20	8013
  Huawei GR5 2017	11:33:50	6938
  Motorola Moto G5 Plus	11:15:40	6756
  Samsung Galaxy J2	10:05:20	2689
  Motorola Moto X Force	9:46:50	3914
  Alcatel Pop 4	9:20:30	2490

• Decent mid-range performance: Huawei uses its own inhouse Kirin processors for its handsets, making comparison with the (mostly) Qualcomm-produced Snapdragons found in other mid-range devices an interesting challenge. It pairs up 3GB of RAM with the Kirin 655 for what can only be called mid-range performance. The GR5 2017 doesn't fly, and there were a few instances where it struggled a little if pushed hard, but that's entirely reflected in the asking price for this particular handset. Compare it against its mid-range brethren, and it's a perfectly acceptable option. Here's how it compared using Geekbench 4's CPU test:
  

  Handset	Geekbench 4 CPU Single Core (higher is better)	Geekbench 4 CPU Multi Core (higher is better)
  Moto G5 Plus	842	4180
  Huawei GR5 2017	814	3398
  Oppo R9s	843	3119
  Huawei Nova Plus	843	2985
  Motorola Moto Z Play	799	2648
  Sony Xperia X	1122	2626
  Moto G5	630	2605
  LG X Power	554	1482
  Motorola Moto G Play	522	1334

  The same kind of performance was evident in gaming, where the GR5 2017 could handle most Android games acceptably well, but never in a stunning fashion. Again, that's quite par for the course when it comes to mid-range phones at this price point, and putting it through its benchmark paces reflected this. Here's how the GR5 2017 compared against other mid-range options using 3DMark's Ice Storm Unlimited test:

  Handset	3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Result
  Moto G5 Plus	13753
  Oppo R9s	13691
  Samsung Galaxy A7	13629
  Huawei GR5 2017	11859
  Sony Xperia XA	11173
  Oppo R9	11053
  Motorola Moto G4 Plus	9757
  Oppo A57	9516
  LG X Power	4953
  Motorola Moto G Play	4475
  Samsung Galaxy J2	3469

Huawei GR5 2017: Why you might not want one

• Marshmallow, not Nougat: The GR5 2017 we tested came with Android 6.0 ("Marshmallow") on board. It's not uncommon for lower-cost phones to eschew the latest version of Android, but given we're awaiting Android 8.0 ("O", yet to be named) and given we have seen Nougat on some other budget handsets, it's a noticeable omission.
• No NFC: If you're keen on contactless payments via Android Pay, the GR5 2017 isn't the handset for you, simply because there's no inbuilt NFC. Again, it's not an uncommon omission in lower-cost phones, but it's still a nice feature to have.
• Limited Wi-Fi: The onboard Wi-Fi on the GR5 2017 only supports 2.4Ghz 802.11n, rather than the newer 802.11ac standard. That means it will still work with your existing router, but lacks the flexibility for higher speed 5GHz connections.

Who is it best suited for? What are my alternatives?

The GR5 2017 is a good example of the kind of phone we're seeing with regularity in the mid-range space. It's not especially a bargain at its price point, but it's equally not overpriced for what's on offer. Huawei is bringing out a lot of phones when you look at its output over the last six months, and while the GR5 2017 isn't a hero, it's a solid enough workhorse.

However, it's a workhorse in a field with plenty of competition. The most obvious competitor if you were looking at an outright buy at this price point would be Motorola's Moto G5 Plus, which sells at around the same price and bested the GR5 2017 in most benchmarks. It's not quite as pretty as the GR5 2017, but certainly worth consideration. Equally, there are handsets from makers such as Alcatel, Oppo or ZTE worth pitting against the GR5 2017.

Where can I get it?

The GR5 2017 is available outright for $399, or as a Vodafone contract exclusive in Australia. As you might expect given its price point, plans for the GR5 don't incorporate any kind of handset repayment, so if Vodafone's general plan pricing appeals, it could be a good effectively "free" phone to throw in with a SIM contract.

Huawei GR5 2017 Specifications

Alex Kidman

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Alex Kidman is the tech and telco editor at Finder. He's been a technology writer with experience spanning more than 20 years, writing and editing at Gizmodo, CNET, PC Magazine, Kotaku and many more. Alex has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New England and a serious passion for retro gaming.