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The Honor 7X is a good all-round phone for the budget-conscious. It has a large high-resolution display, dual-lens camera, 4GB RAM and 64GB storage.

The phone with an all over black finish (but also available in blue) weighs 170 gm (just under 6oz) and packs a 5.93 inch 18:9 “FullView” edge-to-edge screen providing 2160 x 1080 FHD+ resolution into its 155 x 75mm overall size. The curved edges give it a comfortable feel in one’s hand while the hi-res display is bright enough for most situations except brilliant sunlight. Even though there is a brightness control the auto setting was best for most of the time. Another display setting is Eye Comfort which, when enabled, filters out blue light to help relieve visual fatigue. When On, the colour temperature of the display can be adjusted from Cooler to Warmer.

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The power button is on the right hand side as are the volume controls while the carrier for the two nano SIMs slots into the opposite edge. A special pin was provided which, when inserted into a tiny hole, opens the SIM carrier. If, however, this is mislaid, a small paperclip can be used.

The dual-SIM facility, makes it easy to have two accounts – one for business, say, and the other private. When one makes a call or sends a text there is the option to select which account to use. By the way, a microSD card of up to 256GB can be inserted instead of the second SIM to increase available data storage if one only needs to use one mobile phone account.

The main camera which incorporates 16MP + 2MP dual-lens gives a wide-angle view as compared with a normal camera so gives plenty of scope for cropping the wider image. It employs phase detection auto focus which is claimed to be able to focus in 0.18 seconds. I found the main camera quite effective in photographing a wide range of subjects including documents and a close up of coins but I wasn’t convinced that the auto focus was that fast. The front 8MP camera seems perfectly adequate.

Below the twin-lens rear camera is the fingerprint sensor that could be used as an alternative to using a PIN for security. Enrolment is straightforward by placing the chosen finger on the sensor pad a number of times to ensure that the whole ball of the finger had been covered. In use it is a quick and more convenient way of bringing the phone to life.

Powering the 7X is a 2.36GHz octa-core Kirin 659 processor with 4GB RAM. It runs EMUI 5.1 which is based on Android 7.0. The 3340mAh battery seems adequate to handle the demands placed upon it and able to last out for a day of normal usage and Honor claims that it enables 7X to be on the go for more than 24 hours. However, not wanting to take any chances, I reckon that it is sensible to put it on an overnight change – every night.

In this context it should be noted that charging takes quite a while as there is no fast-charge facility. This is because the 7X is still using the microUSB connector rather than the newer, reversible, Type-C connector which supports fast charging. Alongside the microUSB connector in the base of the phone is the 3.5mm headphone jack.

Overall, the Honor 7X, at  £254, is a phone that is of a comfortable size and appearance and offers very reasonable performance in virtually every area. However, while the lack of fast charging may be no more than a nuisance for the majority of users, the phone’s lack NFC could be a definite turn off for some as it is used for transferring data between adjacent devices and is increasingly being used for contactless payments,