When you think of Huawei, you think of quick, cheap cookie cutter phones to release to carriers so they can apply their own branding. Huawei had something different in mind when introducing the Ideos X5, though: they wanted to be as big, as fast, and as good as any of the bigger manufacturers on the market today.
I looked at the phone on the CES show floor today and I had absolutely nothing bad to say about it. It was thin, light, sleek, and felt good in the hands. The screen looked great – not the best I’ve seen, but good enough. And most importantly, it was fast with absolutely no customization or layers on top of Android 2.2. The device also records 720p HD video recording and can snap still photos up to 5 megapixels.
It was so snappy that I had to ask which processor was inside – all they could say is that it was Qualcomm, though. It definitely felt like a 1GHz current-gen version, but I can’t say for certain that’s the case considering LG’s Optimus One keeping up with the big boys in terms of speed even though they aren’t using the beefiest of processors.
Still, Huawei’s done a very good thing here. They told us to expect this thing in January, but that’s only for Europe. I asked them about plans to bring it to other regions, and they said they have yet to make a decision. What’ll be really interesting to find out is how much this thing costs: Huawei is known to be the wallet-conscious manufacturer, but this phone feels like it deserves anywhere from $400-$500 without a contract. Check the quick video of it out above.