Buying a smartphone nowadays can be quite tricky. That is why you should always take into consideration the specifications that matches your lifestyle and of course your budget. What are you looking for? A good camera? high storage capacity? long battery life? big screen size? or all of the above?. If all of these are in your checklist, then here’s an interesting smartphone device from HONOR that might fit in your smartphone requirements. The HONOR 90 Lite 5G. -a lighter and more affordable version of the HONOR 90 5G.
I was able to test it for weeks now(at the time of this post) and let me share with you my user experience to find out if this phone is worthy for your hard-earned money and won’t break the bank.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?
- Quick Start Guide
- FREE Transparent Silicone Case
- 22.5W Fast Charging Adapter
- Type-C Cable
- Sim Ejector Pin
- 3.5mm Headphone Jack Connector(type-C)
- HONOR 90 Lite unit
DESIGN AND DISPLAY
Out of the box, the HONOR 90 Lite unit looks simple, modern and minimalist. It’s lighter(179g), thinner(162.9 x 74.5 x 7.5mm) and does not feel cheap when held. Even though the construction of the exterior side and back is plastic, it still looks good especially with the soft metallic finish.
Going around this smartphone, you’ll see the power button alongside with the volume rocker on the right side. The power button also doubles up as a fingerprint sensor and it can detect fingerprint fast and accurately.
On the left side, you’ll find the sim tray that can house 2 Nano SIM Cards(not e-SIM capable). MicroSD slot is not available for memory expansion, but don’t worry because HONOR 90 Lite offers large capacity memory and storage. There’s a USB-C port on the bottom as well, beside the single downward-firing speaker( it’s not a stereo one, but it delivers a decent amount of volume and bass).
Again, No headphone jack port like the HONOR 90 5G, but you can make use of the 3.5mm Headphone Jack Connector(type-C) provided in the box package or use Bluetooth headphones/earphones for you to have a better listening experience.
At the backside, the fine jewel-inspired ring camera design gives this smartphone a high-end look. It looks quite bumpy though, but it’s no cause for concern.
There are three nature-inspired colors available. I got the Midnight Black. The two others are Cyan Lake and Titanium Silver.
As I mentioned earlier, HONOR 90 Lite is the lighter version of the HONOR 90 5G, which means that HONOR made a few adjustments to the hardware components to make it more affordable to the market. That includes the 6.7-inch LTPS LCD panel on the front instead of a curved AMOLED panel like HONOR 90 5G.`
The screen is almost bezel less with screen-to-body ratio of 93.6%3 large enough to allow users to view content comfortably. Even though it lacks in color pop and crisp graphics, the HONOR 90 Lite 5G compensates with a decent 90Hz refresh rate, making it more responsive, fluid and smoother to scroll.
Just like it’s sibling, the HONOR 90 Lite also has soothing Eye Care Features with multiple display modes such as Eye Comfort Mode, E-Book Mode, Dark Mode, Dynamic Dimming, and Circadian Night Display. You can even calibrate the color display to achieve more True-to-life colors. Making use of these features will put less strain to your eyes when you browse, play, and binge-watch.
CAMERA
Aside from big storage, one of the most talked about features of HONOR 90 Lite is its camera. It comes with a triple rear camera system where its main camera packs a 100MP f/1.9 sensor. There’s also a 5MP f/2.2 wide and depth camera and a 2MP f/2.4 macro sensor. Sample shots below.
I took it to a test and got pretty good still images especially when there’s good light source available. Its performance on low light is also acceptable. Thanks to the Night Mode, as it enhances photo quality by reducing the noise and improving details.
I’m pretty impressed with this phone’s AI feature as it can detect the type of subject you want to take photos of, at the same time adjusts the settings automatically to get the best detail quality out of the image on different environments. It can even detect animals too! Cute.
If you want to add more appeal to your photos, you may turn on and choose from the built-in filters(not available in the front camera):
- Sentimental
- Valencia
- Blue
- Mono
- Halo
- Nostalgia
- Dawn
HONOR 90 Lite is also capable of taking portrait photos too. And if you want to blur your background you may activate the Bokeh function. The Bokeh effect though is not that seamless when it comes to separation of background and foreground, but still has acceptable quality.
For those who love taking selfies, HONOR 90 Lite’s 16MP( f/2.5 aperture) front-facing camera is for you. Surprisingly, photo quality looks natural, but if you prefer to have a more enhanced look you may activate the Beauty mode. If you want a blurred background, the Portrait Mode will be your best friend. Yes! Portrait mode is also available to use even in the front camera.
Content creators can take advantage of HONOR 90 Lite’s AI Instant Movie Assistant as it makes the editing process way easier to produce a social media-ready video. There’s also the Collage function where users can pick several images and generate a beautiful collage based on a range of templates. This feature is excellent for creating custom memes that are used in abundance amongst today’s tech-savvy consumers.
Another interesting camera mode is the Multi-Video Mode wherein you can simultaneously record clips using the front and rear cameras. This is a good feature for those who love to make live reaction videos.
Tapping the “More” section of the camera, you’ll see other camera features that you may actually like and make use of.
When it comes to video recording, Both the rear and front cameras are limited to only 1080p at 30fps.
PERFORMANCE AND STORAGE
The HONOR 90 Lite comes with MediaTek Dimensity 6020 processor which delivers good performance and efficiency on day-to-day use. Multi-tasking is never a problem as I can ran multiple apps with no issues.
Storage is a win with the phone’s 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage capacity which can keep around 57,808 pictures, 22,322 songs or 892 HD videos. Whoah! That’s a lot!
The HONOR 90 Lite is also equipped with HONOR RAM Turbo (8GB+5GB), an HONOR technology that moves a portion of flash memory to RAM, meaning 8GB RAM can be increased to 13GB RAM. To accommodate even more files, the HONOR 90 Lite gives users the option to compress videos in the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) format while maintaining the footage quality, releasing 35% of the video space for more of their favorite content.
In terms of using this smartphone for gaming, I tested it on Mobile Legends with High Graphic settings being set and it handled the game well. You can maximize frame rate and graphic settings to Super and Ultra to enjoy more satisfying visuals while playing.
BATTERY LIFE AND CHARGING:
Powering the Honor 90 Lite is a 4500 mAh battery that can be charged up by a 22.5W Fast Charging Adapter. Luckily here in PH, we have the global version that comes with this charger adapter. We don’t need to buy it separately compared to some other countries that lacks one. So thank you HONOR for including the charger adapter! 😁
Going back, charging the HONOR 90 Lite took about 1 hour and 24 minutes from 2% to full 100%. It may not be as fast as some devices in the market today, but still, it is good enough and reasonably quick.
As for power consumption, with light to moderate mobile activities such as watching movies, social media browsing, checking emails, 30-1 hour straight gaming and some picture taking, the Honor 90 Lite’s battery lasted a bit less than a day. It can go for more than a day if you will make some power-saving measures such as adjusting screen brightness to 50-60%, turning off mobile data and apps when not in use and more.
So that’s my review of the Honor 90 Lite. I hope I was able to help you decide if this is the phone best suited for your smartphone needs.
PRICE AND AVAILABILITY:
The HONOR 90 LITE 5G (8GB/256GB) is priced at Php12,990. You can get it via HONOR’s Experience Stores and partner dealers nationwide. You may also get it thru partner stores online: Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok Shop.
HONOR 90 LITE 5G FULL SPECS
For more updates and announcements, you may visit HONOR’s website www.hihonor.com or social media platforms: Facebook(Facebook.com/HonorPhilippines), Instagram (Instagram.com/honorph/) and TikTok: (Tiktok.com/@honorphilippines). To check out HONOR’s complete list of retail stores, go to https://www.hihonor.com/ph/retailers/.
