BQ Aquaris X5 Plus

  • Released 2016, July
    145g, 7.7mm thickness
    Android 6.0.1, up to 7.1.1
    16GB/32GB storage, microSD slot
  • N/A 221,058 hits
  • 38 Become a fan
  • 5.0"
    1080x1920 pixels
  • 16MP
    2160p
  • 2/3GB RAM
    Snapdragon 652
  • 3200mAh
    Li-Po

BQ Aquaris X5 Plus - Specs

Network Technology GSM / HSPA / LTE
2G bands GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2
3G bands HSDPA 900 / 2100
4G bands LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 7(2600), 20(800)
Speed HSPA, LTE
Launch Announced 2016, July
Status Available. Released 2016, July
Body Dimensions 145 x 70 x 7.7 mm (5.71 x 2.76 x 0.30 in)
Weight 145 g (5.11 oz)
SIM Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
Display Type LTPS IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size 5.0 inches, 68.9 cm2 (~67.9% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution 1080 x 1920 pixels, 16:9 ratio (~441 ppi density)
Protection Dinorex glass
Platform OS Android 6.0.1 (Marshmallow), upgradable to 7.1.1 (Nougat)
Chipset Qualcomm MSM8976 Snapdragon 652 (28 nm)
CPU Octa-core (4x1.8 GHz Cortex-A72 & 4x1.4 GHz Cortex-A53)
GPU Adreno 510
Memory Card slot microSD, up to 256 GB
Internal 16GB 2GB RAM, 32GB 3GB RAM
Main Camera Single 16 MP, f/2.0, 1/2.8", 1.12�m, PDAF
Features Dual-LED dual-tone flash, panorama
Video 2160p@30fps
Selfie camera Single 8 MP, f/2.0, 1/4"
Video
Sound Loudspeaker Yes
3.5mm jack Yes
 24-bit/96kHz
Dolby Atmos sound
Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
Comms WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth 4.1, A2DP, LE
GPS Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO
NFC Yes
Radio FM radio
USB microUSB 2.0, USB On-The-Go
Features Sensors Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
Battery   Non-removable Li-Po 3200 mAh battery
Misc Colors Black, White/Rose Gold
Models Aquaris X5 Plus
SAR EU 0.25 W/kg (head)     1.48 W/kg (body)    
Price About 300 EUR

BQ Aquaris X5 Plus - User Reviews

  • The reason why I had to ask about the NFC is the convenience of it and I was only making sure. But now my priorities are changing and I'm looking for a phone under £300/€300 which has a screen of 5.2" & above. And it must be splash resistant.

  • 1. Does it support Android Pay (where available) in the UK & EU? // If you install the app, why wouldn't it? 2. Does it support faster Cat6 4G LTE? // It supports 300 Mbps 3. Whereabouts are the speakers located? // Bottom (speakers are OK, but not brilliant). 4. Does it have NFC toggle option? (my Nokia 6 which has "stock" Android doesn't allow me to add NFC toggle so quite disappointed there) // Yes. 5. Do you think BQ is quite good in terms of updates? (Never heard of them till today when scrolling to Amazon) // It updates to Nougat 7.1.1 and has security updates every 2 months. 6. How's the camera in low-light? // It was "meh" before, but the latest SW updates have improved it a lot. 7. Does it support most if not all of the UK's 4G bands & frequencies? // Yes.

  • This phone has been having rave reviews on Amazon (UK) but there things that I would like to know that re not explicitly explained in their website: 1. Does it support Android Pay (where available) in the UK & EU? 2. Does it support faster Cat6 4G LTE? 3. Whereabouts are the speakers located? 4. Does it have NFC toggle option? (my Nokia 6 which has "stock" Android doesn't allow me to add NFC toggle so quite disappointed there) 5. Do you think BQ is quite good in terms of updates? (Never heard of them till today when scrolling to Amazon) 6. How's the camera in low-light? 7. Does it support most if not all of the UK's 4G bands & frequencies? Appreciate all comments please. Thanks.

  • is it available in india ?

  • i'm very happy with this bq x plus , is fantastic

  • Same here. Updated on the first day of release (2017-03-13) and... it's been working great. The Snapdragon 652 is more powerful that I though it would be, because it can manage the split-screen pretty well (although most non-Google apps aren't ready for split-screen yet). No problems updating, although Bq does recommend users with "adoptable storage" to move all their apps to internal memory and to set the SD memory to "normal" mode, but since I have a quite powerful SD card, I've left it as it is and had no problems (above 60 MB/s read/writes are recommended for "adoptable storage" and I've got 90/80 MB/s). For now no problems, and a very happy customer. I'm happy that I got this phone and not a brand that doesn't update their OS regularly.

  • Yesterday got the 7.1.1 update. Good job BQ.

  • I'm quite impressed with this phone. It has been receiving Android updates VERY regularly (yesterday I got the 2017 January 1st Android security patch, before that it had the November one...). And it's supposed to be receiving Android 7 Nougat this quarter. I guess it's one of the advantages of using a fairly clean Android OS. The performance of the Snapdragon 652 is good, the GPS is quick and precise, the camera is not bad, and what I like best: I integrated a MicroSD 64GB Samsung Pro (90MB/s read, 80 MB/s write) that works as internal memory (adoptable memory) and it works wonderfully. I'm actually quite happy with this phone. Hope it lasts me for a bunch of years.

  • It's operational today !! Http://www.numerama.com/tech/216983-le-gps-europ­een-galileo-entre-en-function-apres-une-longue-a­ttente.html

  • GALILEO is up and running from today!

  • From today Galileo is active and usable.

  • [quote]Galileo absolutely useless right now, this project started in 2008 and not ready yet, in "plans" to finish it in 2020, more likely what you will change your phone before that time ;) So, having Galileo support its just marketing way to say "We made..."[/quote] Galileo will actually start emitting/working on January the 1st of 2017. All satellites won't be there until 2020, but it will locate better than GPS, so I'm happy with that. Also... unless it breaks, I'm planning on keeping this phone for many years (as I have done with my previous phones). No need to change phones every year or two as some do.

  • Galileo absolutely useless right now, this project started in 2008 and not ready yet, in "plans" to finish it in 2020, more likely what you will change your phone before that time ;) So, having Galileo support its just marketing way to say "We made the FIRST phone with Galileo", and who cares what its useless for few next years? )

  • How good is the GPS? I use my phone for navigation a lot but my current phone (galaxy s4) loses its location a lot in built up areas.

  • Nougat and Galileo will be available soon. It's a really nice phone for the price. And an almost untouched Android makes it a great option for having a great user experience and fast Android updates :-)

  • They will

  • GALILEO instead Beidou. Who knows.

  • Review?

  • I hope to see review from gsmarena = )

  • Of course

  • bq is mostly the only hardware seller with an excellent update service. the founder of bq is one of the cyanogenmod developers.

  • Does anyone know if bq aquaris x5 plus will have android updates?

  • Not everyone are looking for big screen. My only doubt for buying this phone was big screen. I preferred 4.7" for easier one hand use and maybe only HD resulution for better battery life.

  • the x5 plus can 4G on both SIM slots. You can Chose which one too use in the settings.

  • the x5 plus can 4G on both SIM slots. You can Chose which one too use in the settings.

  • Where do I get one of these here in the Philippines?

  • Very good specifications, but X5 Ultra with 6.4", or at least 6.0" screen would be much much better. Why so small screens these days BQ? 5" screen size is useless.

  • 4G on both sims or not ?

  • My brother got one of these. The only negative about this phone seems to be audio output via the 3.5mm jack. The pink noise floor is rather high, meaning on quiet passages it's clearly present alongside the music. Which is sad and hilarious at the same time considering BQ promotes this one as a Hi-Fi, hi-res capable device with a dedicated amp. Most people nowadays don't listen to music where this is noticeable (classic/new age), but still. The crappy Moto E2 has much cleaner audio output than this one. Bluetooth(-audio) seems stable as well, works fine in my Mazda 2 and with a BT headset, no (audio) dropouts, no disconnects or crashes so far. Didn't test calling. Camera picture quality is good. There are no setting to control the noise/sharpening post-procession, but the values are balanced, so not many details are lost. No ugly oversharpening artifacts (I'm looking at you, older Sony phones). In low light, the image becomes noisy, but still on par with other good phones, imo. And it shoots RAW alongside jpg (but you lose the auto-night-mode function), so you could post-process them yourself. Battery charges in ~2h at a rate of 1.4A according to GSam battery monitor, which is decent (my redmi note 2 charges at the same speed). Drain depends on your use, so no use to write about that. Idle drain seem to be

  • it charges full in around 1 1/2 to 2 hours

  • For those who want to know, it charges in aprox. 2:15h

  • Interesting! Do you have a reference for the "acceptable charging speed" statement? Or is it your personal experience? I haven't found a decent review yet (be it english or german). Thanks!

  • It's just that I'm rather burnt by the Moto E2 I have atm - it needs about 4h to charge itself with a 2A charger... which is pitiful. I'd rather not have the same stuff with this one. What is the charging time for this phone from, say, 15-100%? Do you know how many mA it can pull from a charger? (I think GSam Battery Monitor shows that when you're charging) One more interesting point about this phone is that according to the official site it can shoot in RAW mode, that could be a killer feature for some, since so few phones actually make use of that feature.

  • Thanks for that link, the photos look rather nice, although there is no "real" night shot, which is a pity. It seems the quality is very good in good light, but starts dipping once the sun sets (just look at the faces of people who are in the shade/on the evening shot in that link). Still, for a smartphone camera it seems to perform rather well.

  • The charging thing is not as simple as "quick charge or not", there are several charging speeds, and while this X5 Plus does not support the fastest quick charging, it charges in an acceptable speed, not slowly.

  • The review is in spanish but there are some sample photos ;)

  • I am currently SO torn between this one and the Mi5... cause the configuration I want costs me 340€ and I can get a 64GB Mi5 for 367€ The Aquaris X5 Plus supports all needed LTE bands (but I'm not really using LTE), but lacks quick charge (confirmed through BQ's tech support) and also does not have OIS. Image quality is also... unknown, even if it's supposed to be good. Does anyone have some links to some full resolution photos taken with it? The MI5 on the other hand lacks the SD card slot and snaps into pieces easily. It also has a glass/metal body, so certain colors are a fingerprint magnet. The SoC is supposed to be 20-40% superior to the BQ one, though. I've also have mixed experience with the MIUI ROMs (Redmi Note 2), mostly with stuff like KDE connect getting kicked out of RAM even after disabling all MIUI optimizations. I did like the UI, though.

  • Hi, The are a serious company, second best selling brand after Samgung in Spain. They have agreements with Canonical (they have two Ubuntu phones and one Ubuntu tablet) and Google (with Android One program). They also produce the eBook readers and smartphones for Fnac. During years I have been using iPhones, and then I moved to Android for the doble sim possibility. I've been trying different high end android phones, and finally I'm owning this X5 Plus, and before I had an X5 and M5 (bq as well). Regarding this X5+, works quite well all around, and honestly, at least in my case, I don't miss anything from some other phones twice as expensive or more, I owned in the past. Really recommended.

  • No it does not support quick charging.

  • Best phone under 300€ really good acourding to the specs sheet

  • Interesting, did not pick up on those differences, thx! Might be I get the BQ after all :) Do you by any chance know whether it supports quick charging as well? I at least cannot find it mentioned anywhere.

  • The honor is a bit bigger and has on-screen buttons that makes the size-to-usable screen ratio a bit worse. It also has a smaller battery and can't record 4k... I think the bq is a better device, and the honor looks better.

  • Very intersting device, I'd like to see a review as well,... would be awesome if you guys could do it! Currently trying to decide whether to buy this one or the Honor 8 when it's available in GER... Body dimensions seem not to be too different and overall the Honor 8 might be the better although more expensive choice.

  • Oh yay, you added it! Thanks. Now if only you would also do a review of it.... pretty please? :D Really interested in this phone, seems to have balanced specs for the price.

  • It also supports bands II and V in WCDMA, not just I and VIII

  • LOL yes!! I never thought my video would become so popular and get more than 1 million views.

  • is a Spanish producer of smartphones, tablets, electronic readers, and 3d printers founded in 2009

  • Dinorex Glass is a chemically strengthened glass like Gorilla Glass.

  • Hi I think except super bezel in other options X5 Plus is really nice phone & that's hasn't shortage (according to specs) ...

  • HI there :) I also like this phone and am thinking of buying. Since you're from Spain can you tell me if this company has a good customer service? The phone is nice but I've never heard of BQ and I want to know if they are a serious company?

  • As long as the phone doesn't overheat when playing il buy it however my eyes is on the sony x if this phone doesn't over heat when playing ill go for this one...

  • For me 5.2 inches is the optimal. Now I use a Z5. Anyway, your name is familiar. You are the one, who have posted a video on YouTube about planets and stars? :D

  • When I'm going to buy a phone, first thing I do is come to Gsmarena.com to look for your reviews. In Spain, all comments about this phone are good. And that's why I would like to read a review of this phone from outside of Spain. To know how really good/bad is this phone. Is it possible? Thanks!

  • Agree that its a great device, but I disagree with the screen size. Many of us dont want enormous phones, for me and many others 5'' is more than enough

  • i think the size is ok, maybe just me, because i have small hands

  • no, it does not... at all... go check your eyes man

  • This seems to be an excellent 5'' budget device. Good processor, good camera, good design, good battery, good price, good specs in general... great job!!

  • Very interesting device. I hope you guys do a reveiw, I am interested to learn what you think.

  • WTF. Why this phone looks like Iphone 5. And what the heck is dinorex glass

  • Interesting design, from the Spanish company. If it would have a slightly bigger display, it would be better.