Honor is a sub-brand of Huawei, which has long been selling phones outside of China. The manufacturer itself sells part of its products, including the Huawei P9 and Nexus 6P models, but Honor serves a much wider range of smartphones, such as the Honor 8. In addition, the 6X model is sold, the most affordable of which has a dual main camera.
The recently announced Huawei Honor 8 Lite in specifications is somewhere in the middle of the brand's price range. The company claims that the phone’s camera is capable of producing professional-quality images, and its own processor from the Chinese manufacturer Kirin will cope with almost everything it comes across. Are the specifications of the Huawei Honor 8 Lite consistent with these claims? Let's figure it out.
Equipment
Huawei and some other Chinese manufacturers are known for providing a large number of accessories and add-ons. This is true for this model. Included with the phone, the user receives:
- a charger (5 V, 1 A), which, unfortunately, does not support fast charging;
- a headset with a built-in button to receive a call;
- standard USB-A / microUSB cable;
- back cover made of plastic;
- screen protective coating;
- SIM card extractor;
- warranty and user manuals.
Design
As the name implies, Lite is a lightweight modification of Honor 8, which has a lot in common with it. The smartphone case is a plastic frame sandwiched between two panels of 2.5-inch glass. The phone is 7.6 mm thick and weighs 147 g.
The problem with glass surfaces is that this material is more fragile than plastic or metal. In addition, the absence of Gorilla Glass increases the chances of an unfavorable outcome after the first fall of the smartphone. Therefore, users rightly have concerns about the longevity of the phone. And with careless handling, it is highly likely to get scratches on the entire surface of a new and shiny smartphone. Fortunately, Huawei offers a spare plastic back cover that can provide added protection.
The front is a 5.2 ”screen. There is also a 8 MP selfie camera, as well as a metal speaker. The smartphone looks good thanks to the glass back panel, but, unfortunately, fingerprints easily remain on it and it makes the phone too slippery. It even glides along an inclined surface. Black color makes spots very noticeable. Therefore, the phone will often have to be wiped.
A 12 megapixel camera and LED flash are located in the upper left corner of the rear panel. At the bottom there is a MicroUSB port, surrounded on both sides by gratings. Under the right is the speaker, and under the left is the microphone. According to user reviews, they would prefer a different arrangement of the sound source, since during the game the hand covers it when the screen is rotated horizontally. An optional microphone and a 3.5mm headset jack are on top.
Huawei Honor 8 Lite Features Overview
The 5.2 ”screen of the smartphone has FullHD resolution, which provides a pixel density of 424 per inch. Color rendering is neutral, but it is possible to adjust the color temperature. Those who are not enthusiastic about bright colors will like the display. It has good viewing angles, but in direct sunlight, viewing information on the screen is not very easy.
Characteristics of the smartphone Huawei Honor 8 Lite determines the proprietary chipset of the Chinese manufacturer Kirin 655. This is an 8-core CPU with 2 sets of Coertex A53, one of which operates at a frequency of 1.7 GHz, and the other - 2.1 GHz. It includes the integrated Mali-T830 GPU, as well as the i5 coprocessor, which, to save energy, controls the sensor input when the main cores are in standby mode. The smartphone is equipped with 4 GB of RAM, which is more than enough to run all types of applications. It supports the connection of 2 SIM-cards, 4G and VoLTE. Hybrid design requires a choice between 2nd SIM and storage expansion. With 64 GB of internal memory, it is unlikely that more will be needed. But just in case, the device accepts 128 GB microSD cards.
The smartphone supports Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi b / g / n and USB-OTG, but, unfortunately, not Wi-Fi 802.11ac and NFC, which would help it gain a few more points in terms of hardware. The kit includes a phone case, which owners recommend using to prevent scratches on the back.
Camera performance
Judging by the characteristics of the Huawei Honor 8 Lite, photos taken by a smartphone should provide professional results. For this, an image sensor with a pixel size of 1.25 microns serves at 12 MP. There is also a single LED flash (not two-tone, like other smartphones). The phase autofocus method is used.
The camera application is quite simple and easy to use. There are many modes to choose from, including for professional photo and video shooting with the ability to control all shooting parameters. In this case, if the owner knows how to handle the camera, he can immediately make the necessary settings.
In the afternoon, the rear camera of the phone focuses quickly, and the pictures are good. Even if you leave her in automatic mode, she copes with her duties. The colors in the photographs are pretty accurate. In low light, picture quality deteriorates, but is restored after manually adjusting exposure. Macro photography is good, and a fullHD display allows you to see photos in all its glory.
The camera app lacks a special night mode. To compensate for this, it is able to detect low light and sharpen images. Photos taken at night are good, but you can see that they were processed. A special night mode would be more useful than giving the telephone the right to independently solve this problem.
The smartphone can record video with a resolution of fullHD, conduct slow-motion and accelerated shooting, as well as take panoramic pictures.
For selfie lovers, the model is equipped with an 8 MP front camera. Her application has a mode that brightens skin tones. There is no front flash, but a screen can be used instead. The Huawei Honor 8 Lite 32GB Blue selfie camera has sufficient specifications so that photos taken with it can be posted on social networks. The front sensor also allows you to record HD-video.
OS and interface
Characteristics of Huawei Honor 8 Lite 32GB Blue have improved due to the use of the latest version of the operating system. This is nice, as most other smartphones still remain on the Marshmallow platform. An EMUI add-in is installed on top of the operating system. The user interface is quite simple and easy to manage. If you don’t like its appearance, then the owner of the phone has the ability to change the theme, icon set and font.
The debate about whether applications should be in a separate folder or icons on the home screens should be lost with the release of such a model, because EMUI allows you to choose a more preferable option. The phone supports one-handed operation, which can be easily activated by moving your finger on the on-screen buttons. The characteristics of the Huawei Honor 8 Lite make it easy to switch between mobile and Wi-Fi connection, providing the best connection similar to the Wi-Fi Assist function on iOS.
Software
In addition to the user interface, the phone provides a universal HiBoard search bar and supports the ability to make emergency calls. The Huawei HiCloud cloud storage service lets you save contacts, messages, and settings. Some applications are also preinstalled on the smartphone. For example, Health keeps track of the number of steps taken, and HiCare gives instructions on how to use your phone and allows you to order service. The manufacturer also installs third-party programs, including TripAdvisor, Hotoday, Flipboard and Opera Max.
Performance
One of the most unique features of the Huawei Honor 8 Lite 32GB is its processor. While most smartphones use Qualcomm Snapdragon or MediaTek chips, Honor has its own Chinese-made CPU. Octa-core 64-bit Kirin 655 with i5 coprocessor and GPU Mali T830 MP2. Cortex A53 cores provide high energy efficiency smartphone.
The phone copes with general tasks perfectly and is not inferior in performance to the Snapdragon 625. There are no delays. 4 GB of RAM guarantee normal performance, and, according to user reviews, more than 2 GB of them remain free. The memory management is good, and the phone removes applications only when they have been in the background for a very long time.
The multi-window interface works without delay even with resource-intensive programs such as Facebook and YouTube. The animation is flawless, and application loading times are extremely short. The camera turns on quickly, even after a reboot.
The phone is capable of launching Modern Combat 5, Asphalt Xtreme and the like games at the highest image quality settings. But since the processor is optimized to save power, the frame rate decreases from time to time, and the game starts to slow down.
With intensive use, the smartphone does not heat up above 40 ° C.
Test results
As for the benchmarks, in the AnTuTu test the phone scores 54929 points, and in the single-core and multi-core GeekBench tests - 821 and 3361 points, respectively. For comparison, the Moto G5 Plus, equipped with a Snapdragon 625 with a similar architecture, is gaining 63855 points in AnTuTu and 771 and 2976 in Geekbench.
At the same time, gaming tests show not very impressive characteristics. Huawei Honor 8 Lite Black shows 18 fps in GFXBench, and Moto - 23 fps. In Asphalt 8, frame drops occur. The Kirin 655 is good for general tasks, but the GPU fails when it comes to gaming.
Security
The fingerprint sensor is installed on the back, has a matte surface and is not a button similar to the one that Honor 8 has. Therefore, the phone does not support the functionality of the smart button that the lightweight model offers. Nevertheless, the Huawei Honor 8 Lite fingerprint sensor 32 GB features excellent - it is accurate and quickly unlocks the phone.
Battery life
A non-removable 3000 mAh battery with an average screen brightness is able to support the smartphone for one full day. In the HD video test, the battery can last 9 hours 42 minutes. However, phones of a similar price range, such as the Gionee A1 and Redmi Note 4, perform better in terms of battery life.
Another drawback of the model is the lack of fast charging. The attached Huawei Honor 8 Lite memory does not meet modern standards in terms of specifications. Its power is only 5 watts. For complete energy recovery, the phone requires 2 hours 45 minutes.
Finally
Although most smartphones in the budget segment now have a metal case, the model compares favorably with its glass design. But for a good appearance, you have to pay because the phone is slippery and fingerprints are noticeable on it. The manufacturer to some extent fulfilled the promise that he made on the front of the camera. Own processor of the Chinese manufacturer Kirin performs tasks quite well, but stumbles a bit on demanding applications such as games.
Considering the price, the specifications of the Huawei Honor 8 Lite are pretty good. The smartphone runs on Android 7.0 with the latest version of the EMUI user interface. The camera's performance is excellent, and the ability to fully manually control its settings is useful. However, if battery life and fast charging are critical, you will have to look for something else.