Honor 9 Lite review: Featuring dual rear and front cameras, along with a Full View display, the Honor 9 Lite caters to the budget audience with a price-tag starting at Rs 10,999.
We’ve seen a slew of smartphones from Chinese companies in the budget and mid-budget segment in India. Huawei’s sub-brand Honor is one such player, which has been actively pushing devices in the Indian market these days, with its latest offering being the Honor 9 Lite. The phone is essentially a stripped down version of the Honor 9i, which was announced in October.
Featuring dual rear and front cameras, along with a Full View display, the Honor 9 Lite caters to the budget audience with a price-tag starting at Rs 10,999. It sports a dual 2.5D glass design, and runs Android 8.0 Oreo. Another highlight of the Honor 9 Lite is it ships with EMUI 8.0, which is the company’s latest OS. We spent some time with the Honor 9 Lite, and here is our full review.
Honor 9 Lite specifications: Honor 9 Lite specifications: 5.65-inch full HD + resolution (2160 x 1080 pixels) with 18:9 aspect ratio | Kirin 659 | 4GB RAM+64GB storage (expandable to 256GB) | 13MP+2MP rear camera and front camera | 3000 mAh battery | Android 8.0 with EMUI 8.0
Honor 9 Lite price: Rs 10,999 for 3GB RAM+32GB ROM, Rs 14,999 for 4GB RAM+64GB ROM
Honor 9 Lite review: What’s good?
For those who’ve been looking for a budget phone with a design other than full metal body, Honor 9 Lite comes as a refreshing change. Honor 9 Lite looks far more glamorous than most phones in this price range, thanks to its stunning double-sided 2.5D glass design and bezel-less screen. The phone is surprisingly light at 149 grams, which I liked.
Honor 9 Lite looks far more glamorous than most phones in this price range, thanks to its stunning double-sided 2.5D glass design and bezel-less screen.
Honor 9 Lite features a Full HD+ resolution display, hard to find in the Rs 11,000 price range. The screen looks vibrant, crisp and I did not face any issues while using the Honor 9 Lite display in bright sunlight. I was impressed with the viewing angles as well. A Full View display is fast becoming standard on devices these days, and the feature surely made my viewing experience better, especially while watching videos and playing games.
Honor 9 Lite offers a nifty performance when it comes to daily usage. I could open multiple tabs and switch between them seamlessly on the 4GB RAM variant of the Honor 9 Lite. The phone can handle most basic games like Candy Crush Saga without any hitches. During my review period, graphics-heavy games like Asphalt-8 worked pretty good as well with a very little lag. The fingerprint sensor is fast, as it unlocked the phone almost instantly each time I tried.
Except in cases where pinks and reds tend to look a little too bright, I was satisfied with the colour reproduction in most cases. The camera is quick to focus, but it takes an extra second or two in low-light conditions.
The front also house dual rear camera setup, a combination of 13MP+2MP. The pictures taken using the front shooter should please most selfie buffs as shots look detailed and sharp. The colour reproduction is close to natural, which I liked. Though don’t expect much in low-light as the photos tend to have noise.
Honor 9 Lite runs the company’s EMUI 8.0, based on Android 8.0 Oreo. The user-interface is pretty simple and you can swipe right to access apps. The phone ships with Huawei Share, a feature similar to Apple’s AirDrop, which lets Huawei users seamlessly share files with other Huawei devices. The WiFi+ feature automatically switches between Wi-Fi connectivity and mobile data, whichever is stronger.
What’s not good?
The battery on Honor 9 Lite disappoints, especially when you look at competition like Xiaomi Redmi Note 4. It gives you a day’s worth of life on light to moderate usage and takes a long time (almost two and a half hours) to charge fully from six per cent. My daily usage included listening to music online, streaming videos, playing games, and browsing social media.
Honor 9 Lite features a Full HD+ resolution display, hard to find in the Rs 11,000 price range.
Do note that you’ll have to be extra careful with this one, as a slight fall can easily lead to cracks given this is all glass.This is probably the reason why Honor is giving away a free case with Honor 9 Lite. The phone can pick up fingerprint smudges quite easily, something one needs to be careful about at all times.
Verdict
Honor 9 Lite is a good buy if you want a stylish phone that offers a decent overall performance and a good camera. However, battery is a crucial factor for me when it comes to narrowing down on a phone. While Honor 9 Lite seems like a good deal at Rs 10,999, remember this price is for the 3GB RAM variant and you only get 32GB space, which is low when compared to devices in this price-bracket. You can also look at options like Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, M1 A1, or Moto G5s Plus.
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