Is the Honor 9 Lite a legit bang-for-the-buck device?
It is official: Huawei’s sub-brand Honor is back after a 2-year absence, and they intend to make a powerful comeback with the Honor 9 Lite. Sporting features such as a quad camera setup, a Full HD+ display, and Android Oreo, the Honor 9 Lite shapes to be a tempting offering with its price of Php 7990.
Following a flash sale last May 5, Honor will be making the Honor 9 Lite available once again on May 15 via Shopee. Is it the bang-for-the-buck phone it promises to be? Read through our full review and be the judge.
Honor 9 Lite Specs
- 2.36GHz octa-core Kirin 659 processor
- 3GB of RAM
- 5.65-inch Full HD+ IPS display, 2160 x 1080 resolution
- 32GB of expandable storage (up to 256GB via MicroSD)
- 13-megapixel f/2.2 and 2-megapixel rear cameras with PDAF, LED flash
- 13-megapixel f/2.0 and 2-megapixel front cameras
- Dual SIM
- 3G, LTE
- WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
- Fingerprint sensor, face unlock
- Android 8.0 Oreo with EMUI 8.0
- 3000mAh battery
It is gorgeous hands down
If there’s one thing that makes the Honor 9 Lite stand out, it has to be its glossy glass back. Aside from its aluminum chassis, you also get a glass back, which gives it a premium appeal. We’ve used this phone for a few days, and we got a few positive stares with it, even if the glossy back is hidden behind the frosted clear case that comes with the phone.
The same goes with the front with its skinny top and bottom bezels and its notch-free display. Another thing worth noting is that the protrusion of the dual rear cameras is smaller than usual compared to the competition.
The display is bright and crisp
Even with its compact size, you get a 5.65-inch Full HD+ display that excels in color reproduction and readability in broad daylight. Its ambient light sensor had a few quirks at first, but as we used the phone further, the Honor 9 Lite’s automatic brightness control keeps the appropriate brightness accurately.
Interestingly, the Honor 9 Lite has an option to shift the display to an HD+ resolution in order to conserve battery life. Even if we tried to shift the display to HD+ resolution, colors are still good though you will sacrifice a bit on sharpness if you prefer a lower resolution in exchange for a better battery life.