The Proton X50 has just made its public launching today with an enticing price that is sure to make you think twice about getting its competitors, especially the reigning crossover king, the Honda HR-V.

With prices starting from RM 79,200 without SST, the X50 really sounds like a bargain. Even more impressive is the Flagship variant which has a full suite of ADAS including AEB with pedestrian detection and intelligent cruise control for a little over RM 100,000.

But if you’re planning on getting the X50, we’d suggest going for either the Premium or the Flagship and skip the Standard and Executive variants.

For one, the Standard variant is lacking in safety features. Only 4 airbags? It may have gotten a 5-star rating on ASEAN NCAP but you do feel less protected with a shortage of a couple of airbags.

As for the X50 Executive, at a price of RM 84,800, it is priced very closely to the base-spec X70 Standard. Bigger space for just a little over RM 5,000 more? Sounds a bit like a no-brainer to some.

Of course, some might argue that the X50 Executive comes with 6 airbags and leather seats but we think that the X50 Premium is the better equipped one with more added gizmos.

For one, you're getting a 360-degree camera instead of just a lone reverse camera in the Premium for added assurance.

Meanwhile, the Flagship definitely has all the smart tech that even rivals premium brands given the price. It even has a self-parking feature, which is the first of its kind for this segment in Malaysia. It also has an impressive-sounding performance.

But we'd like to think that the X50 Premium is already pretty well equipped if you think the Flagship is a bit too much for you. Even without the black-painted roof, the X50 still looks sporty in the Premium variant as shown below.

Granted, we have yet to drive the X50 Premium which uses a different engine (1.5-litre MPI) compared to the Flagship variant (1.5-litre TGDI) we reviewed at the media drive event in Sepang.

Performance-wise, the X50 Premium loses out to the X50 Flagship on paper. So, this is just based on the equipment offered. A more extensive review will come soon.

In the end, we still think the X50 offers huge value for money. Being a Proton is pretty much beside the point with this SUV. No wonder there’s growing hype for it.

If you are considering one, you can find out how much is the minimum salary to get a loan right here.