Honor X5ds Launched With a Rear Touchscreen, 6,000mAh Battery and Android 16 Go for About $150

Rear screens on phones are usually a flagship luxury. The Honor X5ds turns that idea upside down by putting a small touchscreen on the back of a budget phone. It has launched in South Africa at ZAR 2,499, roughly $150, for the 4GB+64GB model. Here are the key details and a look at whether the gimmick makes sense.

Honor X5ds Specifications

What Does the Rear Touchscreen Do?

The tiny 2.01-inch panel on the back lets you take one-tap selfies with the better rear camera, which is a smart trick on a phone with only a 5MP front camera. It also shows call alerts and lets you control music playback without turning the phone over. It is a practical feature at this price, as long as the software is smooth and the screen is responsive, which we cannot confirm without testing.

The Rest of the Phone

The main screen is a 6.78-inch LCD with a 720×1576 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate and 600 nits of brightness. The resolution is basic, so text will look less sharp than on Full HD panels. The Unisoc T610 processor is an entry-level chip, suitable for calls, messaging, browsing and light apps, and the 4GB of RAM can be extended with 4GB of virtual memory. Storage starts at 64GB and can be expanded up to 1TB via card.

A 6,000mAh battery should give strong endurance, but 15W wired charging is slow, so expect a long wait to fill it. The phone runs Android 16 Go edition, a lighter version of Android built for low-memory devices, which helps it feel smoother on modest hardware.

Other Practical Details

The phone comes with an IP52 rating, which protects against dust and light drips but not submersion, along with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, a 3.5mm headphone jack and USB Type-C. The headphone jack is a welcome extra for users who still prefer wired earphones.

Is It Coming to India?

There is no information on a wider launch, and we cannot confirm any India price or date. Honor’s presence in India has varied in recent years, so keep an eye on official announcements. The details here come from the South Africa launch. For background, see Honor on Wikipedia and the official Honor site. More budget phone news is under our Honor tag.

Quick Answers

What is special about the X5ds? A 2.01-inch rear touchscreen on a budget phone.

Where did it launch? South Africa, at ZAR 2,499.

How big is the battery? 6,000mAh with 15W wired charging.

Is a Rear Screen Useful or a Gimmick?

It depends on how you use your phone. If you take lots of selfies, the ability to use the rear camera with a tiny preview screen is genuinely helpful, because the 50MP rear camera should capture better detail than the 5MP front camera. Quick glances at calls and music controls are handy, though they will not replace the main display.

The risks are extra cost, extra battery drain and one more part that can break. Since this model is a budget phone, Honor has likely kept the rear panel simple, which is why it uses a low-resolution LCD rather than OLED. That is fine for basic information but will not impress for photo previews, so reviews will show how usable it is.

Buyers should also consider the weak points of this phone: the 720p main display, 15W charging and the entry-level Unisoc chip. If your priorities are gaming or sharp video, a different phone at the same price may serve you better. If you want a simple, long-lasting phone with a fun extra, the X5ds is an interesting experiment.

We will update this article if Honor announces a launch outside South Africa, or if hands-on tests reveal how well the rear screen performs in everyday use.

Source: Gizmochina