Honor 9 Lite it is an interesting mid-range, well built and with interesting performances. Its killer feature should lie in the presence of four cameras, but I don't think that's the case.
Aesthetics and display
Honor almost always manages to conceive interesting smartphones in this price range and this device has confirmed it. On an aesthetic level, the back panel is made of glass exactly like the display protector. Instead, the bezels are totally in aluminum. Its dimensions are 151 × 71.9 × 7.6 mm for a total weight of 149 grams.
The display is a IPS LCD with Full HD + resolution, good visibility in all lighting conditions and good color rendering. The 18: 9 aspect ratio allows you to insert a screen from 5,65" inside a rather small size device.
Indeed, you will be able to perform some operations using only one hand. In short, a very interesting display and from the settings you can also calibrate the color temperature and customize other features.
Hardware and software
The Honor 9 Lite hardware is good mid-range. Inside, an octa core processor from Huawei and enough RAM:
- Soc: Kirin 659;
- RAM: 3GB;
- Internal memory: 32GB with the possibility of expansion via microSD;
- Battery 3000 mAh;
- Supporto dual Sim dual stand-by.
The hardware is sufficient for daily use with some intense peaks at certain times. The operating system on this mid-range is Android Oreo under user interface EMUI 8.0. The hardware / software optimization still needs some improvement, but overall the user experience is good.
L'energy autonomy enough, I covered more than a day (one and a half to be precise) using it as a second device. If you buy it as your first device, at the end of the day you may need to attach the Honor 9 Lite to a power bank or its charger. The charging cycle from 0% to 100% takes approximately an hour and a half because fast charging is not available. Unfortunately, the standard used is still the microUSB. Obviously, all forms of energy saving are present.
The GPU can hold up even the Gaming. I had no problem testing the usual Dead Trigger 2 playing with good fluency.
Multimedia: audio and cameras
As anticipated, the killer feature of Honor 9 Lite should be the presence of four cameras, two on the back and two on the front. For everyone the combination is 13 + 2MP.
The main camera, with LED flash and phase detection focus, offers acceptable shots as long as the lighting conditions are complicit. It is certainly not a camera phone and you notice it immediately. The 2MP sensor is responsible for ensuring the correct depth of field and, therefore, the sighed Bokeh effect. However, I have not noticed any particular qualities. The same thing goes for videos, shot in full HD resolution.
The front camera, on the other hand, is a novelty. A double sensor ready to offer selfie with blurred background. I did several photographic tests and in different conditions. In my opinion, Honor 9 Lite - with its front photographic compartment - does not exceed all top-of-the-range devices equipped with "only one" camera, but it certainly manages to do better than several competitors of the same range and some top of the range (such as Honor 9 itself). Here too, the secret to good selfies lies in the lighting conditions. If they are scarce, the noise of the shots will be quite loud.
Audio comes from one speaker audio mono unfortunately a little disappointing. The highs are not the best and the lows not deep enough, you will often have the instinct to press the volume rocker upwards, to try to turn the volume up a little.
Connectivity and sensors
The highest form of connectivity, related to mobile data, is theLTE. Reception is average, I had no problems. There is no lack of dual SIM dual stand-by support.
Also present is Wifi (unfortunately not dual band), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS (with A-GPS and Glonass). In addition, a treat for the mid-range Honor is presents the NFC.
The sensor suite is quite complete: brightness / proximity, accelerometer, compass and even the sighed gyroscope (often absent on this range of devices). Finally, the good fingerprint reader - positioned on the rear - it is fast and quite accurate.
Pros and cons of Honor 9 Lite
Would I buy it? Yes. I would choose it for these reasons:
- Ottimo balance between quality and price;
- Good hardware and software performance;
- Large display with 18: 9 aspect ratio;
- captivating aesthetics.
- Absence of dual Band Wifi;
- Arrival microUSB now obsolete, even the cheapest entry levels are starting to adopt the type-C;
- Audio speaker a little too weak.
In short, Honor 9 Lite is promoted with a couple of "buts". After all, no device is perfect and its price (€ 229 list) invites you to overlook the flaws of the device.
