LIVE FROM CES 2017, LAS VEGAS: Honor – the youth-oriented Huawei smartphone brand targeting so-called ‘digital natives’ – unveiled its 6X device, claiming high-end specs (including a dual-lens camera) with a mid-range starting price of $249.99.

Honor president George Zhao was confident the successor to the 5X (unveiled at last year’s CES) will outsell its predecessor’s 11 million global unit shipments.

Zhao talked up the 12MP and 2MP dual rear camera on the new 6X, believed to be the first smartphone “in its price range” to sport two cameras on the rear.

He also touted its “double battery life” that offers 2.15 days of normal use and 1.54 days of heavy use (beating the iPhone 6S Plus). The company’s boss claimed that after 18 months of use the battery will still perform at more than 80 per cent of its original capacity, compared to an industry typical average of 50-60 per cent.

The device is powered by parent company Huawei’s Kirin 655 processor and the 5.5-inch screen phone comes in two versions: a 3GB RAM/32GB ROM edition for $249.99 (€249) and 4GB RAM/64GB ROM for $299.99 (€299).

The 6X will go on sale tomorrow (January 4) in Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, India, Malaysia, Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, UAE, UK and US. It will be available in gold, silver and grey.

Honor has seen its footprint grow to cover 74 countries and regions in the three years since its launch, with sales revenue topping $6 billion. It shipped 40 million units in 2015. Previous flagships include the Honor 6 Plus and Honor 8.

Journalists reviewing the new 6X at the event suggested the more expensive Honor 8 takes better quality photos, but the 6X could be better for filters because it can simulate aperture in its wide aperture mode, which is designed to make a subject stand out.

Opinion was that the 6X’s dual camera is not as good as the Honor 8’s, but it’s less expensive (the 8 started at $400).