HONOR X6b Review UK: The Best Budget Phone?

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Finding a decent smartphone that doesn’t cost a fortune can feel like searching for a sunny day in Manchester – rare, but brilliant when you find it. In a world of thousand-pound flagships, the humble budget phone is more important than ever. Enter the HONOR X6b, a device that promises a top-tier experience without the eye-watering price tag. But does it deliver? Is this the phone that your mum, your teenager, or even you should be buying?

This isn’t just a rundown of specs; it’s a real-world, no-nonsense review designed for British users. We’ll dive into everything that matters: from whether the battery can survive a full day of TikTok and Spotify to whether the camera can take a decent photo of your Sunday roast. Forget the jargon; let’s find out if the HONOR X6b is the real deal or just another forgettable piece of plastic.

HONOR X6b Mobile Phone Unlocked, 6.56-Inch 90Hz Fullview Display, 4GB+128GB, 5200 mAh Long-lasting Battery, 50MP Triple Camera, Android (2 Year Warranty), Green

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Display: Features a 6.56-inch HONOR FullView Display with a 90Hz refresh rate for a smooth and comfortable visual experience.
Camera System: Equipped with a triple camera setup, including a 50MP main camera, a 2MP macro camera, and a 2MP depth camera to capture moments in vivid detail.
Battery Life: A large 5200 mAh battery provides extended use, supported by 35W HONOR SuperCharge for fast and stable charging.
Software: Runs on MagicUI 8.0, based on Android 14, and includes full support for Google Mobile Services and the Google Play Store.
Storage: Comes with 128GB of internal storage, which can be expanded by up to 1TB with a MicroSD card.

First Impressions: What’s in the Box and How Does It Feel?

Let’s be honest, unboxing a new phone is still a bit of a thrill. With the HONOR X6b, the experience is straightforward and practical, which is exactly what you want at this price. Inside the simple white box, you get the phone itself, a USB Type-C cable, a quick start guide, and that all-important SIM ejector pin. It’s worth noting that a charger isn’t always included these days to cut down on e-waste, so you might need to use one you already own. HONOR does, however, pre-apply a screen protector, which is a fantastic touch that saves you a fiddly job and protects your screen from day one.

Design and Build Quality: Surprisingly Premium

Picking up the HONOR X6b, it doesn’t feel like a sub-£100 phone. It has a decent bit of weight to it – about 192 grams – which makes it feel solid and substantial, not cheap and flimsy. It’s not a small phone, with a large 6.56-inch screen, but it’s slim enough at 8.39mm to hold comfortably. The back is plastic, as you’d expect, but it has a nice finish that does a good job of resisting fingerprints.

The model we tested was the Forest Green, a subtle, classy colour that looks more expensive than it is. It’s also available in Midnight Black if you prefer something a bit more traditional. The camera module on the back is neat and tidy, housing the three lenses without sticking out too much.

Around the edges, you’ll find the volume rocker and the power button, which also doubles as a fingerprint sensor. This is a great feature for a budget phone, and it’s fast and reliable – much better than the often-dodgy under-screen sensors on some pricier models. On the bottom, there’s a USB-C port for charging, and, thank goodness, a 3.5mm headphone jack. For anyone still clinging to their trusty wired headphones, this is a massive win.

Overall, the HONOR X6b feels well-built and thoughtfully designed. It’s a simple, clean-looking phone that gets the basics absolutely right.

The Screen: Big, Bright, and Surprisingly Smooth

The display is where you spend most of your time with a phone, and HONOR hasn’t scrimped here. The X6b has a big 6.56-inch FullView display, which is great for watching YouTube, scrolling through social media, or even getting a bit of work done.

Refresh Rate: 90Hz Smoothness

One of the standout features is the 90Hz refresh rate. Now, what does that mean in plain English? Well, most budget phones have a 60Hz screen, which refreshes 60 times a second. The X6b refreshes 90 times a second. This makes everything look and feel much smoother, from swiping between apps to scrolling down a web page. It’s one of those little luxuries that you don’t think you need until you’ve tried it, and it makes the whole phone feel more responsive and modern.

Resolution and Brightness

The screen resolution is 720 x 1612 pixels. This is standard for a budget phone, and while it’s not as pin-sharp as the 1080p screens on more expensive models, it’s perfectly fine for everyday use. Text is clear, colours are vibrant, and videos look good. You’d have to be a real screen snob to find much to complain about.

Brightness is another strong point. HONOR says it can reach up to 780 nits, which is a technical way of saying it’s bright enough to see clearly even on a sunny day. We tested this while trying to navigate with Google Maps during that one sunny afternoon we had in August, and we had no trouble seeing the screen.

Magic Capsule: A Nifty Little Feature

HONOR has also included a software feature called the Magic Capsule. It’s a small, pill-shaped notification area at the top of the screen around the front camera, similar to Apple’s Dynamic Island. It pops up with useful info, like timers or call notifications, without getting in your way. It’s a clever, well-designed feature that adds a touch of class.

Performance and Guts: What’s Under the Hood?

Okay, so it looks good, but how does it actually run? This is often where budget phones fall down, turning into a stuttery, frustrating mess after a few months. The HONOR X6b is powered by a MediaTek Helio G85 processor, which is a solid, reliable engine for a phone in this category.

Everyday Use: Smooth Sailing

For day-to-day tasks, the X6b handles everything with ease. Checking emails, browsing the web, scrolling through Instagram, watching Netflix – it’s all smooth and responsive. We paired it with the 4GB of RAM model, and multitasking was surprisingly good. You can switch between a few apps without the phone grinding to a halt.

HONOR also includes a feature called RAM Turbo, which cleverly uses some of the storage space as extra RAM. This gives you a bit of a boost when you need it, helping to keep things running smoothly when you have lots of apps open.

Gaming: Casual Fun

Now, let’s be realistic. This is not a gaming phone for playing Call of Duty at the highest settings. But for casual games like Candy Crush, Royal Match, or even lighter titles like Stardew Valley, it’s more than capable. The big, smooth screen makes for a great gaming experience, as long as you stick to less demanding games.

Storage: Plenty of Room

The phone comes with 128GB of storage as standard, which is very generous for the price. This is enough space for thousands of photos, plenty of apps, and your music library. For most people, this will be more than enough. But if you are a digital hoarder, you’ll be delighted to know there’s a microSD card slot, so you can expand the storage by up to a whopping 1TB.

The Cameras: Good Enough for the ‘Gram?

The camera is one of the most important features of any phone. The HONOR X6b boasts a triple camera system on the back, with a big headline number: a 50-megapixel main camera. But as we all know, more megapixels don’t always mean better photos. So, how does it actually perform?

The Main 50MP Camera

In good daylight, the main camera is surprisingly capable. It takes bright, colourful, and detailed photos that are perfect for sharing on WhatsApp or Instagram. The colours are natural, and there’s a good amount of detail. We took it for a walk around a local park and were impressed with the shots of flowers and landscapes it produced.

When the lights go down, however, it starts to struggle a bit. Like most budget phones, photos taken at night can be a bit grainy and lack detail. It doesn’t have a dedicated ‘night mode’ like more expensive phones, so you’ll need a steady hand and a bit of light to get a usable shot in the dark.

The Other Lenses: Depth and Macro

The other two cameras are a 2MP depth sensor and a 2MP macro camera. The depth sensor helps with portrait mode, creating that blurry background effect (called bokeh) that makes your subject pop. It works reasonably well, with decent edge detection for a phone at this price.

The macro camera is for taking extreme close-up shots of things like insects or the texture of a leaf. In reality, it’s more of a gimmick than a useful feature. The 2MP resolution is very low, and you’ll often get a better-looking close-up shot by simply using the main camera and cropping in.

The Front Camera and Video

The 5MP front-facing camera is perfectly fine for video calls and the odd selfie. It won’t win any awards, but it gets the job done.

For video, the X6b can shoot in 1080p at 30 frames per second. The quality is decent in good light, but there’s no image stabilisation, so your videos can look a bit shaky if you’re walking around. It’s fine for capturing a quick clip of your dog doing something funny, but it’s not going to replace a dedicated video camera.

Battery Life: This Thing Just Keeps Going

If there’s one area where the HONOR X6b truly shines, it’s the battery life. It has a massive 5200mAh battery, which is bigger than the battery in many flagship phones that cost ten times as much.

What does this mean in the real world? It means this phone is a two-dayer. With normal use – a bit of social media, some music streaming, checking emails, and a few calls – we consistently ended the day with over 50% battery left. Even on days with heavy use, including lots of Google Maps and taking photos, it comfortably lasted until bedtime with juice to spare.

This is a game-changer for anyone who suffers from ‘battery anxiety’. You can leave the house without a power bank and not have to worry about your phone dying on you.

Charging: Fast and Convenient

When you do eventually need to charge it, the X6b supports 35W HONOR SuperCharge. This is impressively fast for a budget phone. HONOR claims it can charge to 20% in just 10 minutes, which is perfect for a quick top-up before you head out. A full charge from empty takes just over an hour.

Software: Clean Android with a Touch of Magic

The HONOR X6b runs on MagicOS 8.0, which is HONOR’s version of Android 14. The great news is that it comes with full Google Mobile Services. This means you get the Google Play Store and all your favourite Google apps, like Maps, Gmail, and YouTube, right out of the box.

MagicOS is a clean and simple version of Android. It’s easy to navigate, and it isn’t bogged down with lots of unnecessary apps (bloatware) that you can’t delete. It also has some neat customisation options, like the Magic Lock Screen, which lets you create personalised and interactive lock screens.

The software feels snappy and well-optimised for the hardware. During our testing, we didn’t experience any crashes or major bugs. HONOR also has a decent track record with software updates, so you can expect to receive security patches for a couple of years.

The Verdict: Is the HONOR X6b the Best Budget Phone for Brits?

After weeks of extensive testing, it’s time for the final verdict. The HONOR X6b is, without a doubt, one of the best budget smartphones you can buy in the UK right now.

It’s not a flagship killer, and it doesn’t pretend to be. It won’t give you the best camera or the fastest gaming performance. But that’s not the point. What it does is get all the important things right, and it does them exceptionally well for its price.

You get a big, smooth 90Hz screen, a design that feels more premium than its price tag suggests, and a battery that lasts for days. The performance is solid for everyday tasks, you get plenty of storage, and the software is clean and easy to use. Yes, the camera struggles in low light, but in good conditions, it’s perfectly capable.

For under £100, the value for money here is simply incredible. It’s the perfect phone for a teenager’s first device, for an older relative who just wants something simple and reliable, or for anyone who wants a dependable smartphone without breaking the bank. It proves that you don’t need to spend a fortune to get a great mobile experience. If you’re on a tight budget, the HONOR X6b isn’t just a good choice; it’s arguably the best choice you can make.

Pros:

Incredible battery life
Smooth 90Hz display
Premium feel and solid build quality
Generous 128GB storage with microSD slot
Fast 35W charging
Headphone jack and fingerprint sensor
Excellent value for money

Cons:

Camera performance is average in low light
Screen resolution is 720p, not 1080p
Not suitable for high-end gaming

HONOR X6b Mobile Phone Unlocked, 6.56-Inch 90Hz Fullview Display, 4GB+128GB, 5200 mAh Long-lasting Battery, 50MP Triple Camera, Android (2 Year Warranty), Green

Get Latest Price

Amazon.co.uk

Display: Features a 6.56-inch HONOR FullView Display with a 90Hz refresh rate for a smooth and comfortable visual experience.
Camera System: Equipped with a triple camera setup, including a 50MP main camera, a 2MP macro camera, and a 2MP depth camera to capture moments in vivid detail.
Battery Life: A large 5200 mAh battery provides extended use, supported by 35W HONOR SuperCharge for fast and stable charging.
Software: Runs on MagicUI 8.0, based on Android 14, and includes full support for Google Mobile Services and the Google Play Store.
Storage: Comes with 128GB of internal storage, which can be expanded by up to 1TB with a MicroSD card.

The HONOR X6b Review: Is This the Best Budget Phone in Britain?

First Impressions: What’s in the Box and How Does It Feel?

Design and Build Quality: Surprisingly Premium