Huawei E5377: 150Mbps LTE Pocket WiFi

New models of pocket WiFi were introduced to the local market last quarter with both ZTE and Huawei leading the pack with several variants. We’ve been looking for the E5373 last week when a newer one, the E5377 appeared in one of the stores in Market Market.

So we bought the Huawei E5377 instead of the original E5373 we were looking for. Turns out the newer model, while more expensive at Php5,650, did more than what we expected it to be.

Aside from the LTE capability, the WiFi AP supports dual band at 2.4GHz and 5GHz. There’s support for two external antennas as well which can be a life-saver if your area has weaker cellular signal.

Here are some of the features of the Huawei E5377 which impressed us:

1) A multi-line LCD display. The 1.45-inch TFT display shows the status of the device — like connection state, connection type, battery life in percentage, SSID, AP password, data usage and a host of menu for the settings.

2) Built-in Menu. Older models will require you to login via a browser admin panel in order to manage the settings of the pocket WiFi. The E5377 has a built-in menu which allows you to directly manage the device to set some of the more common configurations.

3) Dual-band WiFi AP. You can choose between the usual 2.4GHz WiFi band or switch to the 5GHz band. The dual-band capability allows for less interference, faster wireless speeds, and more channels to choose from.

4) Supports 2D barcode QR-Code. Wireless hook-ups are faster and easier with the built-in barcode or QR code. Just scan the QR code from the LCD display with your smartphone and you instantly get connected to the WiFi AP without asking for the actual password.

5) 6-Hour Battery Life. Aside from allowing up to 10 WiFi devices to connect to the AP, the E5377 can last up to 6 hours on a single full charge. The older models have between 4 to 5 hours so 6 hours on the new one is around 20-30% longer.

So far, this is one of the most capable pocket WiFis we’ve ever used and with a more affordable price tag of Php5,650 it’s certainly a good buy.