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You might not know the name, but it’s one of the best mid-range phones out there, thanks in large part to its very stylish design and amazing battery life. A very accomplished effort.
Smartphone Bq Review
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The world of budget phones is changing. It’s not companies like Sony and Samsung that are picking up the gauntlet of the Moto G budget warriors – it’s the networks.
Vodafone offers alarmingly affordable phones in the form of the Smart Prime 6 and Smart Ultra 6, and EE has a decent crack at its Harrier phones. But O2 takes a different tack with the BQ Aquaris X5.
The handset isn’t O2-branded – BQ is a relatively small Spanish manufacturer of phones and other devices – but you get very solid mid-range specs and good endurance for just £9.99 on a £19.50-a-month contract.
And right now you won’t find it anywhere else, at least in the UK. SIM-free buyers should still check out the Moto G, but the Aquaris’ better battery life makes it a cracking budget choice.
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Most budget phones are made of plastic, and so are most mid-range phones. The BQ Aquaris X5 is one of the few extremes that isn’t – not entirely, anyway.
The back of the phone is plastic, but the sides are a nice anodized aluminum. It also has a very iPhone-like finish: not too shiny.
Of course, your fingers end up wearing the soft rear plastic more than the metal, but the BQ Aquaris X5 is a nice-feeling phone among mid-range phones. I’ve been using it alongside the Vodafone Smart 6 Ultra for a while, and it makes the phone feel cheap and look a bit cheesy.
A big plus here is that the back plastic of the BQ Aquaris X5 does not bend, although this plate is, as usual, a thin plastic film. Everything looks like it’s packed in there nice and tight.
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There are also no obvious hardware compromises. You get a microSD card slot, and from the shape of the phone you’d never guess there’s a pretty impressive 2900mAh battery. It’s much thinner than the Moto G, for example, at 7.9mm.
Considering the BQ Aquaris X5 comes from a brand most people have never heard of, I think its design is pretty impressive.
For the detail-obsessed among you, the BQ Aquaris X5 has metal trays for the memory card and nano SIM slots, neat little software buttons and a white LED notification light on the front.
It looks a little thicker, less flashy OnePlus X. That’s meant as a compliment, by the way. The buttons are also nicely placed, with the power button sitting where the thumb normally rests.
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With 16GB of storage and touch like LED flashes for both the front and rear cameras, the BQ Aquaris X5 is among the most feature-packed phones in this price range. However, you don’t get some of the flashier stuff found in top phones.
For example, there is no fingerprint reader. There’s also no USB-C or IR blaster, although the latter is pretty rare in all phones, regardless of price.
Having had the BQ Aquaris X5 for a while now, it’s pretty obvious why O2 is gone for it. It is a nice phone whose feel is among the best for the price.
A slightly disappointing thing is that the screen cover is not Gorilla Glass, but something a little more prone to bending under finger pressure, Dragontrail. I can cause some distortion on the screen without trying too hard.
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Motorola manages to fit Gorilla Glass into the Moto G, but it’s not here. However, the screen is still quite scratch resistant.
Andrew is a freelance journalist and has written and edited for some of the UK’s top technology and lifestyle publications, including TrustedReviews, Stuff, T3, Lifehacker and others.Bright+. BQ, a Spanish manufacturer, launches the Aquaris X5 Plus, a medium-sized device with a fingerprint sensor, dual SIM capabilities and a (very) bright 5-inch FHD display. In our review, we will find out how well the smartphone fares in the modern market.
Andreas Kilian, ✓ Tanja Hinum (translated by Maria Vittoria Occhipinti), published 2016-12-20 🇩🇪 🇪🇸 … 🇮🇹 🇨🇳 🇷🇺
If you are looking for a mid-range smartphone, you are in luck: market giants, such as Samsung, Sony and Huawei, and countless smaller manufacturers produce attractive devices for this market. The relatively young Spanish manufacturer, BQ, now offers the Aquaris X5 Plus: 5-inch FHD screen, fingerprint sensor and Snapdragon-652-SoC. The buyer can choose between 16 GB internal memory and 2 GB RAM (299.90 Euro / ~$312) or 32 GB internal memory and 3 GB RAM (40 Euro / ~$42 more). Our test model had the earlier, smaller capacity. The device is available in black and white.
Bq Aquarius E5 Ubuntu Edition
Direct competition (price up to 300 Euro / ~$312) includes models such as Sony Xperia XA, ZTE Axon 7 Mini and Huawei P9 lite. We include more expensive phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) and Gigaset ME, because their prices have recently been reduced and potential buyers of this segment may be interested in them as well.
5.00 inch 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixels 441 ppi, Multi-touch – 5 capacitive touch points, IPS, Dinorex-glass, Anti-fingerprint, Quantum Color +, 620 nits, NTSC 84%, Glossy: Yes
1 USB 2.0, Audio connections: 3.5 mm audio jack, Card reader: MicroSD up to 256 GB, 1 Fingerprint reader, NFC, Light sensor, Sensors: Hall sensor, eCompass, Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, UKW radio, Wi-Fi Direct, Miracast
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (a/b/g/n = Wi-Fi4/ac = Wi-Fi5/), Bluetooth 4.2, 2G GSM (850/900/1, 800/1, 900), 3G HSPA+ (850/900/1,900/2,100), 4G (LTE) FDD (800/1,800/2,100/2,600), SAR (main): 0.253 W/kg (10 g), SAR (body): 1,480 W/kg (10G), Dual SIM, LTE, GPS
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Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.
The test model measures 145 x 70 x 7.7 mm (~5.7 x 2.8 x 0.3 inches) and weighs 145 grams (~5.1 oz), which is typical for a 5-inch device. The touchscreen is protected by strong Dinorex glass, but we may soon notice scratches on it. The back of the device is a little rough and although it does not feel as good as a glass or aluminum back, this surface allows the user to get a better grip on the phone. The metal edge of the Aquaris X5 Plus provides a high level of strength, preventing users from bending the device. However, when we pressed the screen, we could see visible deformations of the display.
The build quality is acceptable. The transition between the touch screen and the border should be smoothed to improve the feel of the device.
The device has two side tabs: the left side has two nano SIM card slots and the right side has a microSD card slot. The battery cannot be removed.
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ZTE Axon 7 Mini Huawei P9 Lite BQ Aquaris X5 Plus Gigaset ME Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 Sony Xperia XA DIN A6 ❌
Our test model has 16 GB of internal storage and approximately 10.5 GB is free for the user. If you want more storage space, you can install a microSD card. The card can be formatted as internal or external memory. We appreciate that BQ has given the user the freedom of choice.
The device comes with a micro USB port that supports USB OTG. It also offers Miracast, Wi-Fi Direct and NFC. The 3.5 mm audio jack and RGB message LED are also integrated.
Aquarius is distributed with standard Android 6.0.1. In the settings, the user can configure the message LED or the equalizer. In addition, it is possible to switch between the current and the previously opened app by pressing the right navigation button twice. We like the frequency of updates: during the month of November we received an updated security patch and the manufacturer is planning an upgrade to Android 7.
Bq Aquaris X2
We like that the phone comes with no unnecessary apps pre-installed: the default Google Apps app and the BQ Plus app are on the device. The BQ Plus app contains information on how to extend the warranty.
BQ Aquaris X5 Plus supports dual SIM dual standby. One SIM slot can use LTE network while the other must use 2G or 3G network. It is possible to change which SIM card uses which network without restarting the phone. The reception in the town was quite good.
The test model can connect to WLAN networks with the frequency 2.4 or 5 GHz. The device performs excellently with 348 MB/s (receiving) and 258 MB/s (transmitting). Only a few devices are faster than Google’s high-end model, the Pixel XL. The WLAN range is acceptable.
Outdoors and indoors, the Aquaris X5 Plus locks the user’s location quickly and with an accuracy of up to 3