Quick Verdict
With the Honor 20 Lite, it's probably the price that first attracts you to it, then its looks/design and when you start using the smartphone, its camera will also get the 'thumbs-up'. Colours are accurate in images, portraits look good and detail is good. Yes, there are some clipping issues when using bokeh effects, particularly with selfies, and the AI function tends to oversaturate certain colours, green being the main one, but overall, it's a decent camera for the price. HDR mode extends the dynamic range so you get more detail at either end of the scale and the aperture mode introduces some lovely out of focus shapes to photo backgrounds. The on-going Huawei problems that are still taking up newspaper columns may be a concern but Honor have promised they will continue to support their customers but currently, we don't know if Huawei/Honor smartphones will continue to receive updates. However, this aside, for around £220, you can't go wrong with the Honor 20 Lite.
+ Pros
- All-screen display
- Good image quality
- Excellent price
- Eye-catching design
- Great specs (for the price)
- Cons
- Huawei issues can't be ignored
- Limited zoom
- No USB-C
- Clipping issues when using portrait mode
- AI oversaturates colours, particularly greens
The Honor 20 Lite is the budget/mid-range smartphone which completes the trio of smartphones in the Honor 20 series. As with the Honor 20 and Honor 20 Pro, the Honor 20 Lite has a big focus on photography but at a price that more people will be comfortable with. However, as the Honor 10 Lite is still available, with reasonable specs and a really great price that's well under £200, is the Honor 20 Lite a big enough improvement to make it worthwhile spending the extra money needed to buy it?
Honor 20 Lite Features
As with all Honor smartphones, they're designed to look like a premium smartphone without the premium price but this also means you get cut-down versions of some features, too.
You do get a large 6.21-inch display, thin bezels and a small dewdrop notch, which is home to the front-facing camera, taking up minimal space. You also get a fingerprint scanner on the rear and an AI-assisted triple rear camera set-up which is built into a really cool-looking back panel (the Phantom Blue colour on test is particularly eye-catching). However, to be able to bring you features like this at the price on offer, Honor had to make some cuts somewhere and these come in the form of a plastic body, LCD panel instead of an OLED on the screen, micro-USB instead of USB-C, smaller battery, limited zoom on the camera... you get the picture. It's worth noting we're not saying these are bad things that mean the Honor 20 Lite loses points, they're just things that are worth noting before deciding which of the Honor 20, or indeed any other smartphone, is for you.
While we're mentioning the 'not so flagship' features, the triple camera is, technically, a triple camera setup, but the 3rd camera is a 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor so it's not really something you use on its own to capture images. Instead, it's used to enhance the photos you capture with the 24MP f/1.8 main camera. You also get an 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle camera and a 32MP f/2.0 selfie camera on the front. Plenty of photography modes and AI features are built-in, though, along with HD video at 30/60fps. You also get a decent amount of memory (128GB ROM/4GB RAM) which can be extended further with a microSD memory card.
Key Features
- 6.21inch screen (1080 x 2340 pixels)
- 32mp selfie camera, dewdrop
- 24mp main camera
- 8mp ultra-wide-angle camera
- 2mp additional camera
- Fingerprint sensor
- 3400mAh battery
- 128GB ROM/4GB RAM
- Kirin 710 processor
- 164g
- 1548mm x 73.6mm x 8mm
Honor 20 Lite Handling
The overall design of the Honor 20 Lite is quite similar to the Honor 10 Lite with a big screen, minimal bezels and a modern design. The dewdrop notch takes up minimal space and the lack of a chin means you do get an, almost, all-screen design. The sides are rounded but the frame, and back, are constructed from plastic rather than metal or glass which will be one of the cost-cutting ways Honor use to bring you a smartphone like this at such a good price. Some won't like it but plastic isn't as easy to break like glass, which is a positive, but it will scratch easily so pop on a case to prevent this. A case will also stop fingerprints from marking the rear of the smartphone, too.
Even though the Honor 20 Lite has plastic construction, the overall look of it is eye-catching as the Phantom Blue option shifts from blue to purple depending on how you move the smartphone around. If you prefer something less colourful, a black version is available.
Staying on the back, you find the triple-camera in the top-corner and fingerprint sensor top-centre which is in easy to reach. To the side are the power and volume controls which feel a little high-up as you have to adjust your hold or move the smartphone slightly to reach the buttons and on the bottom is a headphone jack - yay but not a USB-C port - boo. Instead, you get micro-USB and to the side of this sits a speaker.
In the hand, the Honor 20 Lite feels well-made and comfortable to hold. You can easily navigate it with one hand but as we always say; capture photos holding the smartphone in both hands.
The large 6.21inch LCD screen is big (90% screen-to-body ratio), bright and we didn't have any trouble using it outdoors. If you sit the Honor 20 Lite next to a smartphone with an OLED screen, of course, you'll find differences but in reality, you're not going to do this and as the picture is sharp and colours are accurate, there's nothing negative to say about it.
The camera app is very similar to the camera app found on other Honor smartphones with just a few options missing when compared with more expensive smartphones. It's easy to use, simple to navigate and there are plenty of modes/features built-in. You do get a Pro mode should you want to control things such as white balance and the portrait mode makes it easy to introduce bokeh to shots. There's also an aperture mode, night mode, HDR, panorama, slow-mo, AR lens, light painting, time-lapse, stickers and filters built-in. You also get access to a wide and standard lens as well as digital zoom.
Battery life - The battery is rated at 3,400mAh which is less than the Honor 20/Honor 20 Pro but it's not poor by any means. In fact, the chances of you running out of power are pretty slim with light use allowing us to only reach 40% after two day's use. There's no wireless charging available and fast-charging isn't built-in either.
Antutu and Geekbench scores are as follows: Geekbench - Single Core: 1548 & Multi-Core: 5477 and AnTuTu - 131697.
Honor 20 Lite Performance
The performance section is where we look at the image quality performance of the camera. Additional sample photos and product shots are available in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own review, photos and product ratings.
Huawei Honor 20 Lite Sample Photos
Sample Photos - Overall, image quality is good with accurate colours and good levels of sharpness but there could be some improvements. For example, even though the AI is great at identifying what's in front of it, it has a habit of oversaturating colours (particularly green) and can oversharpen textures, too. On the other hand, without it, some shots can lack 'pop' but it doesn't happen every time you hit the shutter button. The Honor 20 Lite does handle wide dynamic range better than the Honor 10 Lite did which is good to see but low light can cause image detail to become soft. HDR mode does improve the overall dynamic range of an image, bringing more detail to both highlights and shadows.
Portraits are good with excellent levels of detail and lovely bokeh but clipping can be an issue, especially with selfies, where parts of the image are thrown out of focus that you don't want to be. This mainly occurs around the hairline which is where the improved technology found in more expensive smartphones trumps the less expensive Honor 20 Lite. Don't be too heavy with the beautification mode as it can really smooth skin out and detail can be lost as a result.
The aperture mode is good and even though the depth sensor is only 2MP, we didn't have any issues with clipping and some lovely bokeh is introduced.
Huawei Honor 20 Lite Lens test images
Lens Performance - You can switch between 1X and a wide-angle lens (an improvement over the Honor 10 Lite with 1 lens and a depth sensor) but if you want to use any reach beyond this, you're relying on digital zoom. The wide-angle lens does capture more in the frame but the detail isn't quite as good and colours don't have as much punch as the standard lens. Purple fringing can also be seen around the branches in the shot captured in the Churchyard with the wide-angle lens. 3X digital zoom isn't bad and is useable but beyond this, detail falls off fast.
Huawei Honor 20 Lite ISO test images
ISO Noise Performance - You can change the ISO in the manual camera mode and it ranges from 50-3200 (improved over the Honor 10 Lite). As always, by sticking to the lowest ISO possible, the image quality will improve but even the low ISO number results aren't quite as good as some other smartphones we've tested as detail falloff can be seen from ISO200. When you reach ISO800, you really do start to see a deterioration in detail.
Huawei Honor 20 Lite White-balance test images
White Balance Performance - AWB (Auto White Balance) has done a decent job but the Fluorescent Preset has produced a shot with pink tones and the Tungsten preset is a little on the yellow side.
Huawei Honor 20 Lite Digital filters
Digital Filters - Digital Filters can be applied after capture and they include various vintage-inspired looks as well as black & white options. Some are demonstrated above.
Panoramas are stitched well with accurate colours and even lighting through the shot, even the darker areas haven't caused too many problems. Although, purple fringing can be seen in the tree branches.
Value For Money
The Honor 20 Lite is available for around £220 which makes it excellent value for money. Alternatives include the Honor 10 Lite, Google Pixel 3a (XL), Samsung Galaxy A7 or any featured in our 'Best Budget Android Camera Phones For Photography Under £300'.
For more smartphone options, have a look at our top lists which include the '11 Best Mid-Range Smartphones For Photography' and the '19 Best Camera Phones For Photography'.
Honor 20 Lite Verdict
For around £220, the Honor 20 Lite is a bit of a bargain and with its features, modern design and a decent battery, it's a smartphone that's well worth considering. If you're on a budget and don't really want to spend the amount of money that's needed to purchase a premium smartphone, the Honor 20 Lite is a good option but do have a look at the Honor 20 first to see if you can stretch to it as it does offer a few more features.
Back to the Honor 20 Lite and you get a decent camera, a big screen and a cool looking device. Yes, there are some clipping issues and colours can be oversaturated but overall, it's capable of capturing good images. No, the phone isn't constructed from glass/metal and there's no USB-C but these are small design cons you can probably live with when you think the Honor 20 Lite is priced well under £300.
HDR mode extends the dynamic range so you get more detail at either end of the scale and the aperture mode introduces some lovely out of focus shapes to photo backgrounds. The on-going Huawei problems may be a concern but Honor have promised they will continue to support their customers but currently, we don't know if Huawei/Honor smartphones will continue to receive updates. However, this aside, for around £220, you can't go wrong with the Honor 20 Lite.
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For around £220, the Honor 20 Lite is a bit of a bargain and with its features, modern design and a decent battery, it's a smartphone that's well worth considering. |
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