The Honor X5b Plus positions itself as a dominant contender in South Africa’s entry-level smartphone bracket. Starting at a highly affordable cash price baseline of roughly ZAR 1,700 to ZAR 2,500 (depending on the retail outlet and standard versus promotional pricing), it targets first-time smartphone buyers, students, or anyone seeking a reliable backup device that maximizes battery stamina and camera performance on a strict budget.
While the ZAR 2,500 threshold represents the general ceiling for this budget champion, individual storefront totals will fluctuate depending on limited-time supermarket specials, regional trade-ins, or your specific location in South Africa.
Honor has secured massive nationwide distribution for the X5b Plus, ensuring you can locate it easily across major online storefronts, large retail chains, and neighborhood value outlets:
Digital Platforms & Tech Outlets: Takealot, Hi Online, Cellucity, and 4U.
Major Retail & Department Counters: Makro, Game, HiFi Corp, and Foschini.
Everyday Value & Apparel Outlets: PEP, Ackermans, and Mr Price.
Mobile Network Providers (Contracts & Upgrades): MTN and Chatz Connect.
For a highly accessible price point under R2,500, buyers usually expect bare-minimum components. Honor disrupts this expectation by packaging the X5b Plus with a robust set of everyday hardware specifications:
Heavy-Hitting 50MP AI Main Camera: The standalone highlight of this phone is its 50MP ultra-clear primary camera module ($f/1.8$ aperture). It utilizes Honor’s localized AI processing to deliver bright, detailed daytime shots, clear family portraits, and dedicated high-resolution capture modes rarely seen at this pricing level.
Massive 5,200mAh Battery Stamina: To confidently carry you through extended South African load-shedding schedules or long commutes, it packs an ultra-dense 5,200mAh battery cell. Combined with an energy-efficient processor, it easily delivers up to two full days of ordinary mixed usage on a single charge.
Fluid 90Hz Smooth Display: The front face features a large 6.56-inch display. Unlike typical entry-level screens that refresh at a rigid 60Hz, this panel supports a fluid 90Hz refresh rate, making system navigation, menu scrolling, and social media feeds look considerably smoother.
Reliable Performance & 128GB Storage: Driven by an octa-core MediaTek Helio G36 processor paired with 4GB of RAM, the device breezes through essential messaging, digital banking apps, and video streaming. It also features a generous 128GB of internal storage, which can be expanded via a microSD slot so you don’t run out of room for photos.
Modern MagicOS 8.0 Software: The device ships with Honor’s custom MagicOS 8.0 user interface, built directly on top of Android 14. This provides a clean, modern software layout with up-to-date security features and smooth background app management.
Shopping Tip: Because the Honor X5b Plus is a top-tier choice for the sub-R2,500 cash tier, it is a frequent headliner for store-specific value specials. Keep a close eye on the weekly print or digital leaflets from value retailers like PEP and Ackermans, as they regularly discount the handset or bundle it with complimentary promotional SIM cards, airtime vouchers, or localized network data bonuses.
| Brand | Honor |
| Model | Honor X5b Plus |
| Announced | 22 October, 2024 |
| Released | 22 October, 2024 |
| Status | Available |
| Price | ZAR 2,500 |
| Type Design Type called form factor refers to a mobile phone's size, shape, and style as well as the layout and position of major components of phone. There are three major form factors seen in mobile phones => bar phones, folding phones and sliding phones. | Bar |
| Dimensions | 163.9 x 75.8 x 8.7 mm (6.45 x 2.98 x 0.34 in) |
| Weight | 194 g (6.84 oz) |
| Colors | Ocean Blue, Starry Purple, Midnight Black |
| 2G Network | |
| 3G Network | |
| 4G Network | |
| 5G Network | |
| SIM SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) is a small card that contains mobile network subscriber's account information. This allows the phone using the card to attach to a mobile network. The SIM card is most commonly associated with GSM and UMTS mobile networks. Moving a SIM card from one phone to another allows a subscriber to switch mobile phones without having to contact their mobile network carrier. SIM cards can also be used by a phone to store limited amounts of data, such as phone numbers and text messages. | Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) |
| Display Type Display Technology => A number of display technologies and types used in mobile phones => TFT (Thin Film Transistor), IPS (In-Place Switching), OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode), AMOLED (Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode), Super AMOLED (an even advanced version of AMOLED), Resistive Touchscreen (Resistive touchscreens contain two layer of conductive material with a very small gap between them which acts as a resistance), Capacitive Touchsceen (Capacitive touchscreen technology consists of a layer of glass coated with a transparent conductor) | TFT LCD, 90Hz, 530 nits (HBM) |
| Size | 6.56 inches, 103.4 cm2 (~83.2% screen-to-body ratio) |
| Resolution | 720 x 1612 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~269 ppi density) |
| Audio Playback | |
| Video Playback | |
| FM Radio | Unspecified |
| Ring Tones | |
| Loudspeaker |
| Main Camera Camera is able to capture photographs and usually videos, The most important characteristics of a camera are the resolution (measured in megapixels), lens focus type (fixed or automatic), higher megapixel cameras are known to capture higher quality photos, but not always a good measurement of the photos quality. |
50 MP, f/1.8, (wide) Auxiliary lens |
| Video | 1080p@30fps |
| Selfie Camera | 5 MP, f/2.2, (wide) |
| Video | 1080p@30fps |
| Operating System OS => Every computer system run on a base software called Operating System (OS). Operating System controls all basic operations of the computer (such as smartphone, PDAs, tablet computers and other handheld devices). The Operating System allows the user to install and run third party applications (apps), apps are used to add new functionality to the device. | Android 14 |
| User Interface UI or user interface of a device is the look and feel of the on-screen menu system. How it works, its color scheme, how it responds to button presses, all of these things are part of the user interface. | Magic OS 8 |
| Chipset Chipset is a group of integrated circuits designed to perform one or a more dedicated functions, often with real time computing constraints, Popular smartphones are equipped with more advanced embedded chipsets that can do many different tasks depending on their programming. | Mediatek Helio G36 (12 nm) |
| CPU CPU (Central Processing Unit) mostly known as processors, CPU processes instructions in order to carry out certain functions that make your device operate properly. Processors are often described as the brain of computers, smartphones and tablets, Smartphones and tablets rely on processors to carry out their every task, Processors are an incredibly important factor in selecting any type of computing device, including your smartphone. | Octa-core (4x2.2 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4x1.6 GHz Cortex-A53) |
| GPU GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is a single-chip processor designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display, This includes things such as lighting effects, object transformations, and 3D motion. | PowerVR GE8320 |
| RAM (Memory) RAM (Random Access Memory) is a type of computer memory that can be accessed randomly, any byte of memory can be accessed without touching the preceding bytes that allows information to be stored and accessed quickly from random locations. RAM is the most common type of memory found in computer systems, smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices. | 4GB |
| Internal Storage Internal Storage is a data storage space (flash memory) mostly used in smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices where operating system, apps, music, photos, videos, files and other user data Is stored. | 128GB |
| Card Slot Memory Card Slot is a special slot for inserting a memory card. Memory cards allow you to expand the phone's built-in memory, A memory card (sometimes called a flash memory card or a storage card) is a small storage medium used to store data such as text, pictures, audio, and video, for use on small, portable or remote computing devices such as mobile phones, mp3 players, digital cameras. | microSDXC |
| Sensors Sensors are electronic components that detects and responds to some type of input from the physical environment. The specific input could be light, heat, motion, moisture, pressure and location, The output is generally a signal that is converted to use in computing systems, a location sensor, such as a GPS receiver is able to detect current location of your electronic device. | Fingerprint (side-mounted), accelerometer, proximity |
| Bluetooth Bluetooth is a wireless communications technology for exchanging data between mobile phones, headsets, computers and other network devices over short distances without wires, Bluetooth technology was primarily designed to support simple wireless networking of personal consumer devices. | 5.1, A2DP, LE, aptX HD |
| Wi-fi Wi-Fi is a popular wireless networking technology using radio waves to provide high-speed network connections that allows devices to communicate without cords or cables, Wi-Fi is increasingly becoming the preferred mode of internet connectivity all over the world. | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct |
| Wi-fi Hotspot | |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, OTG |
| Positioning GPS The Global Positioning System is a satellite-based radio navigation system, GPS permits users to determine their position, velocity and the time 24 hours a day, in all weather, anywhere in the world, In order to locate your position, your device or GPS receiver must have a clear view of the sky. | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS |
| NFC NFC (Near field communication) is a set of standards for smartphones and similar devices to establish peer-to-peer radio communications with each other by touching them together or bringing them into proximity, usually no more than a few inches. |
| Battery Type Battery Type => Cell phones run on various kinds of batteries depending on the manufacturer, phone size or shape and features. There are basically four types of cell phone batteries => Lithium Polymer, Lithium Ion, Nickel Metal Hydride and Nickel Cadmium. | Li-Po 5200 mAh, non-removable |
| Charging Wireless Charging (Inductive Charging) uses an electromagnetic field to transfer energy between two objects. This is usually done with a charging station. Energy is sent through an inductive coupling to an electrical device, which can then use that energy to charge batteries or run the device. | 10W wired |
The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only.