Honor 9 Lite Review: Lite Heavyweight That Is Also Light On The Wallet

Honor has launched the Honor 9 Lite with quad camera and 18:9 aspect ratio. It also comes with full HD display. We spent a good amount of time with the device and here is our review. 

The device looks premium with its glass finish and honor has mastered the colors of the smartphone. The device is available in three colors – Sapphire blue, Glacier Grey and Midnight Black.It also has 3000mAh battery which makes the phone quite impressive. It comes in two variants – the 3GB and 32GB variant is priced at ₹ 10,999/- and the 4GB and 64GB variant is priced at ₹ 14,999/-. The device looks promising with its bezel less display and premium glass finish. We had a chance to keep the Glacier Grey variant of 4GB and 64GB with us for some days and here is our review.

Specifications
Display 5.65 inch,  IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen and 2.5D Curved Glass

 

Screen Resolution 2160 X 1080 pixels with 428 PPI
Processor octa-core
CPU Hisilicon Kirin 659
Memory 3GB /32GB, 4GB /64GB  with extendable SD storage upto 256 GB
Operating System Android 8.0 Oreo with Emotion UI 8.0
Dimensions 151 mm x 71.9 mm x 7.6 mm
Weight 149 g
Battery 3000mAh
Camera
Rear

Front

13MP + 2MP with LED Flash and AF

13MP + 2MP

SIM Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano + Nano/microSD)
Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, Bluetooth, GPS, microUSB, OTG
Network GSM / CDMA / LTE
Colors Sapphire blue, Glacier Grey and Midnight Black

Let us first see the design of Honor 9 lite. Honor 9 lite looks premium with its design and look. With its 2.5D corning Gorilla glass finish this smartphone looks premium. The edges of the smartphone has curved finish and the colors look impressive. Constructed with layered nano-etched design on its back, the Honor 9 Lite shines bright with its mirror-like effect. On top of that, the slim integrated design and PPVD craftsmanship frame together enable light to flow around the device.

Honor 9 lite comes with 18:9 bezel less display and weighs 149 g. The device comes with quad camera, two at the front and two at the rear. The fingerprint sensor is present at the back and it unlocks the device at 0.25 seconds. Power button and volume rocker is present on the right side and the hybrid nano SIM slot is present on the left side. The headphone jack is present at the bottom with microUSb port and speakers. It is available in three colors – Sapphire blue, Glacier Grey and Midnight Black.

The display consists of 5.65 inch IPS LCD display with capacitive touchscreen. The screen has a resolution of 2160 X 1080 pixels with 428 PPI. The smartphone consists of Full HD+ display which makes the screen look impressive. The 2160×1080 FHD+ and 18:9 bezel-less display makes us to enjoy full view display which is very good while watching videos and playing games. The display gives us a good experience. Do remember to put a back cover on it so that you don’t smudge the rear side.

Honor 9 lite comes with the latest Android version android 8.0 with its own Emotion UI 8.0 as a skin. We did not see any lag in the device when we do multi-tasking even when we open and keep 4 or 5 apps.

Now let us go to the hardware part. Honor 9 lite is powered by Hisilicon Kirin 659 octa-core processor, fabricated in a cutting-edge 16-nanometer process. The CPU runs faster at the speed of 2.36GHz. Honor 9 lite we had has 4GB RAM and the internal memory is of 64GB which can be expandable upto 256GB via microSD card. We tried playing games like Asphalt 8 and Mortal Kombat. The gaming experience was good. With this 18:9 bezel less display and the processor, the videos were also very good when we played them.

Honor 9 lite comes with 3000mAh battery powered by 5th gen smart battery saving technology. With this battery capacity, the smartphone ran for one and a half day which is quite good. There are six power saving features available in this device. All of them are very useful for the busy and hectic schedules that we have today.

The camera of the smartphone looks quite good with its 13MP and 2MP rear camera and PDAF fast focus and the selfie camera is also 13MP and 12Mp which is good to take nice selfies. We took some pictures with the smartphone and the pictures were quite good. However, we did notice that the low light photos were not that much good. The selfies we took also came out very well. We did not see any problem when we took selfies. The bokeh mode on both the front and rear were good and it is testament to Honor’s mastery in the dual camera department.

Here are some of the photos taken from Honor 9 Lite.

Honor 9 lite comes with dual hybrid SIM slot which supports nano SIMs and a microSD card. We tried using Airtel SIM and a JIO SIM. The call quality was good and the VoLTE was also working well. The connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, Bluetooth, GPS, microUSB and OTG. It has everything that the young ones need in their phone.

The phone is powered by EMUI 8.0. Based on Android 8.0 Oreo, EMUI 8.0 is packed with features like Smart Resolution, dynamic wallpaper, navigation bar customisations and more. A well-crafted software, EMUI 8.0 is in sync with Huawei/Honor’s consumer-centric approach bringing to the table a smooth flawless experience and a curated design for its users. A true successor to EMUI 5.1, the software provides simplified interface enabling an easy single touch switching between user spaces, prompt data transfer and quick file sharing abilities. There are a lot of nifty Indian features that have been added to things like the calendar.

With EMUI 8.0 installed, the smartphone can support an intelligent split-screen interface, navigation dock, simplify one-hand operation and smart view on landscape and easy switch. With EMUI 8.0, Huawei has delivered a crafty software capable of delivering complex information and functions in the simplest of forms. Incorporating the features of its predecessor, EMUI 8.0 gives smart tips basis the behavior cognizance and requirements. Very lightweight and nimble UI.

The fingerprint sensor is present in the rear of the smartphone which unlocks the device in 0.25 seconds. It runs on Honor’s fourth-generation fingerprint identification technology.

Verdict

Honor 9 lite is a well-designed and premium looking smartphone. It is recommended for the younger generation if they are looking for a smartphone in a budget range that is also premium looking device. The bezel less display and the 3000mAh battery also makes the device quite good. With the  3GB/32GB variant starting at ₹ 10,999/- and the 4GB/64GB variant priced at ₹ 14,999/- this is a very Lite Heavyweight and looks like it will take the budget segment by storm.

About Hema

Likes Food, Technology and Mobile Devices in that order. Started as a programmer, became an architect and now a blogger. Topped University Ranks once, been in tech for two decades. Wants to travel the world and climb the everest!

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