Review of the Honor 9 Lite smartphone after a year of use: personal experience

At the end of March 2021, after two weeks of painstakingly searching for information about smartphones, I chose and purchased Honor 9 Lite for myself as my main smartphone. After exactly a year of operation, I want to share my impressions, emotions, feedback and constructive facts about this phone model.

Appearance

Honor 9 Lite stands out from the crowd and attracts attention with its appearance. The aluminum case, covered with so-called 2.5D glass, gives the device a special, expensive look. In models of sapphire blue and gray, the light shimmers beautifully, and looking at the clean glass on both sides, a mirror reflection is clearly visible.

With this smartphone:

• It’s comfortable to walk down the street and talk by putting the device to your ear;
• there is no shame in putting it on the table in a restaurant, even if the interlocutor has the latest iPhone model;
• if the interlocutor or a random passer-by does not know what kind of smartphone model it is, then based on appearance, build quality and tactile sensations (if you give the gadget in your hands), they will give you a 100% answer that it is a flagship;
• goes well with a formal suit;
• the first impression is always positive.

I proceeded from practical reasons, and simply because I like this color better, I took the Honor 9 Lite in black.

For appearance

, my rating for the smartphone is 10 out of 10.

Hybrid tray. Simple and convenient

First, let's talk a little about the hybrid tray. It is basically convenient and compact. It is thanks to hybrid trays that manufacturers have the opportunity to make ultra-thin and waterproof smartphones.

But you may encounter a number of problems. Firstly, the trays can get stuck and then become very difficult to remove. This is a very common problem in budget devices, but it also occurs in flagships. Secondly, incorrect installation of the SIM card can lead to it simply falling out. If you are wondering how to insert a SIM card into Honor 9 Lite, then you are faced with the last problem.

To successfully install a SIM card, you first need to open the tray using the tool that comes with your smartphone. If it is difficult to get out, then try to press a little harder, but do not press too hard, otherwise you will simply break the tool and may damage an important element of the device. After you take it out, insert one or two SIM cards and hold them with your fingers so that they do not fall out. After that, simply push the tray back.

Ergonomics

As for convenience and practicality of use, in general everything is good, except for a few points.

In similar case sizes, competitors usually fit a 5.2-inch display. Honor, due to the reduced frames on the right and left of the screen, has achieved the placement of a 5.65-inch display. Because of this decision, Honor 9 Lite has a screen with an aspect ratio of 19:8, and it cannot be called a shovel.

It fits well in the hand, the case thickness is 7.6 mm and the rounded edges help you hold the smartphone in one hand and surf the Internet with your thumb. But using one hand, I can’t reach all corners of the smartphone with my thumb, at least for me.

You have to move the gadget a little in your palm, which causes slight discomfort.

For me, the weight of the smartphone is noticeable (Honor 9 Lite was 4 years away from the feather-light Samsung Galaxy S4), but this is for the better.

As for the black edges of the empty space, they are not noticeable on this display, and provide room for fingers when holding the phone in a horizontal position.

Horizontal coverage hides the two front cameras on the left side and does not cover the speaker on the right. This contributes to a good perception of the content, be it a game, a movie or a regular book.

The phone fits easily into your clothing pocket and does not slip out of your hands.

Regarding the shortcomings identified during the period of operation:

1. The main dual camera, enclosed in a small frame, has a millimeter protrusion above the glass. By placing the device on a flat surface and pressing on the lower right edge, the play is clearly visible. Because of this, the smartphone, especially in the first 3-4 months, slid on its own on even and smooth surfaces. So, he ran away from me from the edge of the sofa, table, open and closed laptop.
2. Honor 9 Light is very easily soiled. You will have to wipe it down often, so it’s better to get yourself into a new habit.
3. If you don’t wipe your smartphone for a long time or your fingers are wet or sweaty (especially in the summer), then the fingerprint scanner on the back of the screen refuses to read your fingerprint. Until you wipe your finger dry and wipe the scanner, you won’t be able to unlock it using this method.
4. Well, the previously mentioned minor inconvenience is that when working with one hand, you won’t be able to reach all corners of the screen with your thumb. To do this, you need to loosen your grip and lower the phone slightly onto your fingers to give your thumb freedom of movement.

Ergonomics:

7 out of 10 points.

Setting up a fingerprint

First, go to Settings and set a PIN code - this is mandatory. This can be done in “Security and Privacy” - “Screen lock and passwords” - “Password” - “PIN code”. Then you can register the fingerprint by clicking on the register button.

If you clicked cancel, no problem, open the fingerprint settings, and you can configure it this way:

Go to the “Security and Privacy” section - “Fingerprint”.

“Fingerprint management” (enter the PIN code) - “New fingerprint”.

Now, with one finger (I use the index finger) touch the fingerprint sensor, which is located on the back of the smartphone for convenience.

Watch the screen carefully and press your finger in the places where it is shown. The smartphone will vibrate and give feedback if you do everything correctly. Once complete, give the fingerprint a name (for example, “Right Index”).

Ready. I also use my left index fingerprint for added convenience. By analogy, you can tighten it up.

Now, in addition to unlocking your smartphone, you can use your fingerprint to access personal files, photos (configurable in the security and privacy section), financial applications and anything else that supports this function.

In total, you can only save 5 prints.

A fingerprint sensor in a modern smartphone is a great way to protect information stored on the device from unauthorized persons. Plus, using a scanner to unlock your screen takes less time than entering a digital or pattern password. This technology is called Touch ID and is increasingly used in modern smartphones. Now we will look at how to set up a fingerprint on Honor and Huawei after purchasing a smartphone, and also answer popular questions on this topic.

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What happens to a smartphone after a fall?

Do not put a cover on it under any circumstances. There is no point in hiding such beauty!

As for safety, I will say this: it fell on me 30-40 times. There were serious falls onto the tiles from a meter height and onto the asphalt (from about 1 meter 70 centimeters), there were no cracks or chips of the glass, only a microscopic dent remained on the end, which is noticeable in bright light and detailed examination.

My friend, who purchased the same model of smartphone, dropped the gadget in the gym on the metal body of one of the exercise machines. Just fell out of my pocket while doing an angle press. A gray spot appeared on the end of the device, which was easily removed with a finger. As it turned out, the smartphone, as a result of the fall, knocked a piece of paint off the body of the simulator and was left without a scratch or dent.

Therefore, don’t wear a cover, really.

Drop resistance:

9 out of 10 points

Battery life could be better

The weak point of the Honor 9 Lite is the rather disappointing battery life: 7 hours 08 minutes in our “online” testing with the display activated for a modern smartphone with a 3000 mAh battery - this is unexpectedly low. Many top models can boast of 10 to 12 hours in this area.

Despite this, for ordinary users the battery's energy reserves should last the whole day without any problems. However, in two years, when the battery endurance decreases somewhat, there will no longer be any certainty. In addition, the 3 hours that a smartphone must spend at a power outlet until its battery is full again is quite a long time.

Honor 9 Lite: there is a headphone audio jack. Illustration: Chip

Display

The smartphone screen is truly pleasing to the eye. The AMOLED screen delivers an excellent picture in Full HD+ resolution. There is no “caustic acid” in color rendering, no backlight flickering, only soft and smooth automatic adjustment.

There is a special mode with soft yellow light to protect your eyes from overstrain. In general, the entire implementation of the gadget is made for comfortable visual perception.

If something about the colors doesn’t suit you, there is a flexible adjustment of the color temperature of the normal and vision protection mode. I did not touch these settings and left them “as is”.

At night - perfectly visible at minimum brightness. In sunny weather, maximum brightness is more than enough. Even if the screen is exposed to direct sunlight, you can read the text on the screen without any problems.

And to boot, there is a reduced HD+ screen resolution mode.

The pixels are not visible, the picture quality sags a little, but it significantly saves battery. A useful feature if the gadget will not charge for several days.

Screen quality:

9 out of 10 points.

Camera

I’ll write right away - this is not a camera phone. Yes, the smartphone has dual cameras on the back and front, but the smartphone does not take super high-quality photos.

But it’s also impossible to call a smartphone completely bad in terms of photographs. Using modes and settings, especially in good light, you can get pretty decent photos.

I wrote about the shooting settings of Honor 9 Lite here.

Morning (the contrast of the clouds played).

Day (cloudy).

At night or in low light conditions, the photo capabilities of the device are all gone.

Flash brightness is average. In the photo, the text from a book or A4 is clearly visible.

There’s no need to brag about the video capabilities either. Shooting is available in a maximum of Full HD (16:9), in the H.264 codec, with a bitrate of 17 Mb/s. Camera stabilization when walking is weak. Sound recording is at an average level. It is written in quality 192 Kb/s, 48 ​​KHz, in AAC format. Wind or extraneous continuous noise is a serious problem when recording voice.

Note!

Photos from a smartphone without compression, I uploaded them in a separate archive.

Camera quality:

4 points out of 10.

We liked the display of Honor 9 Lite

In addition to its appearance, Honor 9 Lite repeats Huawei P Smart to the smallest detail. Honor is an independent “daughter” of a large Chinese concern and both models do not make much of a secret about it. Also in Honor 9 Lite, buyers get a 5.65-inch display in a narrow 18:9 format. The resolution is 1080x2160 pixels, that is, it corresponds to the extended Full-HD length, which is also called Full-HD Plus. Content looks extremely crisp and colors are neutral.

The maximum brightness of the display is also excellent, so its contents can be read without problems even in bright sunlight. But in a direct comparison, it becomes clear that the Huawei P Smart panel is able to offer something a little more and therefore receives a higher total of rating percentage points in the Display test category.

Natural colors, decent brightness: the 5.6-inch display with Full-HD-Plus resolution seems convincing to us. Illustration: Chip

Interface

Out of the box, Honor 9 Lite runs on Android 8.0 with the proprietary EMUI 8.0 add-on.

Machine learning has been introduced into the EMUI operating system, which analyzes the user’s work with the smartphone and uses a personalized algorithm to speed up the work of Honor 9 Lite. Based on an analysis of launched applications and the time they were launched, the system tries to predict your actions, loading frequently used programs into memory at a specific period of time.

I read about this kind of work of artificial intelligence before buying a smartphone. In general, I did not notice a noticeable increase in the acceleration of the smartphone. But most importantly, after a year of use, I did not notice any excessive freezes or severe lags of the interface.

Everything about the design of the EMUI shell is perfect: neat fonts, identical icon shapes and unity of style throughout the entire interface.

Standard, like many other proposed design themes, are made with high quality and taste.

There are no complaints about the management. Among the additional features I would like to highlight:

1. Flip the device to mute the sound (incoming, alarm, timer).
2. Double tap on the screen to enable or disable the screen lock.
3. Taking a screenshot by moving three fingers together on the screen.
4. Special features for people with visual impairments and more, with a ton of flexible settings.

Sound

The Honor 9 Lite is fine with multimedia. No, seriously, the speaker came out pretty loud.

And the DAC helps you enjoy pleasant sound, even through the included headphones.

The gadget connected to the headphones allows you to go into the audio effects settings, select the desired type of headphones and adjust the equalizer.

Calls

The smartphone can use 2 SIM cards. Calls occur in standby mode (while you are talking on one, the second is not available for incoming and outgoing calls). Since the smartphone has a combined slot, you need to make a choice between a second SIM card and increasing memory using a MicroSD card.

Note!

I have posted instructions on how to install a SIM card in Honor 9 Lite on a separate page.

The radio module of the global version of the smartphone supports all GSM frequency bands for communication, and LTE frequency bands, which are used by cellular operators in Russia and Europe.

The speaker is loud, the interlocutor can be heard perfectly. By turning the volume up to maximum, you can hear your interlocutor in a noisy public place.

The noise reduction of the microphone is good. In the same noisy place, you will be able to answer your interlocutor and he will understand your words.

Contactless payment

The beauty of this smartphone is the NFC chip present on board. This means that you can easily link your Visa and MasterCard to Google Pay and make payments at the terminal using Honor 9 Lite.

I described in detail the instructions for linking cards and their use via NFC on this page.

Interface

gets subjective: 8 out of 10 points.

Phone packaging and accessories

Buyers have long been accustomed to Huawei's colored packaging boxes. In the case of Honor 9 Lite, the box is blue.

Fig.2 Phone with packaging and charging kit.

The model name is displayed on its front, and rather scant information is displayed on the back.

From it you can find out that the smartphone has four cameras, Honor FullWiew Display and 2.5D Curved Glass.

There is no other useful information on the box.

Inside there is various documentation, a special clip with which to open the trays, a plastic bumper, a USB - micro-USB cable, a two-amp 5-volt charger without fast charging, and the smartphone itself.

Fig.3 Phone charging kit.

Unfortunately, headphones are not included in the package, so you will have to purchase them separately.

Fingerprint scanner

Everything is in order with the security of the device. The best option of all presented is the fingerprint scanner on the back of the smartphone. Registration occurs in a standard way; up to 5 prints can be stored in memory.

In addition to its main function, using a fingerprint scanner you can:

1. Answer the call.
2. Turn off the alarm.
3. Take pictures and turn on video recording.
4. Open the notification panel.
5. View photos in full screen mode.

Additionally, you can use other protection methods:

• pin;
• graphic key;
• facial recognition.

The latter method is not entirely safe, since the Honor 9 Lite is not equipped with many sensors for high-quality protection during facial recognition. Yes, the method is very convenient, but a person who looks like you, or a photo of you, can easily unlock your smartphone.

Safety

: 7 points out of 10.

How to set up a payment module?

Working with NFC is not difficult, the main thing is to correctly perform the initial preparation of the smartphone. First you need to activate the module in the settings and download the proprietary Google Pay application. Let's figure out how to enable NFC in Honor 9 Lite:

1. Module activation. You need to open your smartphone settings via a shortcut on the desktop or in the notification shade. Next, select the “Device Connections” item, find the “NFC” item and allow data exchange. You can take an alternative route: open the notification menu by swiping from top to bottom on the desktop. Among the many shortcuts, you should find the one that corresponds to the required function and activate it. To save battery power, it is recommended to disable the module and activate it before paying in the store.
2. Installing Google Pay. We go to the official Play Market store and write “google pay” in the search. Click the “Install” button, wait for the download and click “Finish” when finished.

Adding a map

Linking a bank card is done in the Google application. For this:

1. We launch the program via a shortcut on the desktop of the smartphone.
2. Press the “Add card” button and wait for the camera to activate.
3. We photograph the card taking into account the recommendations that are displayed on the screen.
4. We study the proposed terms of use and agree to them.
5. Choose a convenient activation method. The best way is via SMS message.
6. Enter the received PIN code in the appropriate field.

Activation requires an Internet connection to synchronize data with the Google server. If the mobile network is unstable, then all manipulations should be carried out via WiFi.

Use in stores with terminals

Using NFC in the Honor 9 Lite phone to make payments can be done without much difficulty. While in the store, you just need to activate the chip from the notification shade and bring your smartphone to the payment terminal. The system will automatically recognize the module and make contactless payment through Honor 9 Lite. In some cases, transactions will have to be confirmed by entering a PIN code on the terminal. This is standard practice for some banks, so no need to worry.

Now, knowing how to pay with your phone instead of a Sberbank card through Android Pay in Honor 9 Lite, you don’t have to bother searching for a wallet or cardholder at the cash registers.

It is better not to leave the function constantly activated. According to some reports, there are loopholes that allow scammers to take advantage of the inattention of smartphone owners by downloading their personal data.

In Honor gadgets, the module for contactless payment allows you not only to pay with your phone in the store. You can also transfer files to other smartphones that have a similar option. To do this, you need to configure NFS on each device, select the required file and point to the appropriate parameter in the transfer settings. It is important to keep the gadgets as close to each other as possible, because the system operates within a limited radius.

Hardware capabilities in games and multitasking

The Honor 9 Lite cannot boast of a graphical component, but it also cannot be called completely stifling. The GPU handles most games at medium and low settings, with a screen resolution of 2160x1080 pixels.

But drawdowns in FPS cannot be completely avoided, especially in:

• not optimized games;
• complex and dynamic scenes;
• with a large concentration of players and depicting their actions in one place.

The GPU Turbo technology that Huawei introduced into its gadgets is available for this gadget as of September updates. With its help, FPS in games is automatically optimized. The technology really works, but when the quality of detail in games increases, with a subsequent drop in FPS, it will not help.

When it comes to multitasking, the smartphone fails. Constantly switching between applications, using a smartphone during a messenger call, parallel use of 3 or more programs leads the smartphone to lags, freezes, incomprehensible bugs, freezes, which are corrected by clearing the memory or rebooting the device.

Multitasking and hardware capabilities

: 5 out of 10 points.

Results, pros and cons

Honor 9 Lite is a balanced and modern representative of the middle segment of smartphones with a bright widescreen screen, excellent cameras, a stylish glass body and fast operation of the proprietary shell.

Among the shortcomings, we note low battery life, soiled materials and poor performance in heavy games. In any case, taking into account the official price (14,990 rubles), this smartphone will certainly become a bestseller in Russia.

( 3 ratings, average: 5.00 out of 5)

Autonomy

The battery works in tandem with the EMUI shell, so the charge is not consumed left and right. During normal operation of the smartphone (meaning without significant load on the processor and video accelerator, as happens during games), the battery shows autonomy for 20 hours.

Additionally, there is:

• energy saving mode;
• ultra;
• changing screen resolution;

It is also possible to monitor statistics and battery usage.

So at any moment you can figure out what might be consuming precious energy so voraciously.

On my own behalf, I will say that I charge my smartphone once a day. I’ll put it on charge at night, and in the morning I’ll put it in my jeans pocket and go to work. In the evening, from 60 to 25% of the charge remains, depending on the “intensity” of the working day.

It has never let me down in terms of battery drain, like the same Samsung smartphones do. If it says that there is 6% charge left, that means it is. I can make one long call, several calls, or go online for a few minutes, without fear that it will go down right now.

Autonomy

: 8 out of 10 points, because you always want more.

Device interface

Honor 9 Lite initially runs on the Android 8 operating system, however, you won’t notice it right away.

This is due to the fact that the proprietary EMUI 8 shell installed on the phone changes absolutely everything - both the interface and the functionality of the device.

Fig.9 Preview of EMUI 8 shell.

This add-on is very interesting because it has a kind of machine learning. Its job is to analyze all possible user preferences in order to speed up the system. So, for example, if you use certain applications quite often, then the built-in AI will constantly download the necessary files into the memory of your smartphone. Thus, the system tries to predict which application you will want to use in the near future.

Although the eighth Android itself contains many improvements to speed up the phone.

Among them, the most significant are the following:

• picture-in-picture function;
• the ability to automatically fill out various forms (registration, etc.);
• improved Bluetooth;
• Sending selected text directly to the desired application.

And this is far from a complete list.

There is quite a lot to be said about the EMUI 8 shell itself, but it should be noted that, unlike the constantly changing functionality and appearance of Android, it remains absolutely similar to its predecessor, EMUI 5.

It is not clear why Huawei does not pay due attention to this.

It is no secret that users expected something new from the new add-on, and not just correction of existing shortcomings.

Specifications

I thought it was the right decision to leave the characteristics plate at the end. It is likely that before getting to the pages of my review, you have already become acquainted with the performance characteristics of the smartphone. But if you forgot something or didn’t know something, then all the information is in one place.

Advice!

There is a new Honor 10 Lite model on sale. I recommend that you familiarize yourself with its capabilities in this brief review.

EMUI 8.0 software shell

Honor 9 runs Huawei's proprietary shell EMUI 8.0, which is based on the latest Android 8.0. Since the start of use, small updates have come with the correction of minor bugs. EMUI, along with MIUA from Xiaomi and Fly from Meizu, has its own recognizable style, with its cute oval interface elements and smooth animation.

The appearance, which by default consists only of desktops, can be changed to the familiar Android, with a separate menu for applications. Additionally, there is its own store with themes where you can choose the visual part of the interface to suit you. The navigation bar can also be customized, swap buttons, add another button to expand the notification shade, or even hide it completely if it bothers you.

A Huawei account is a very important thing, I advise you not to skip setting it up after you initially turn on your smartphone, because it will make it possible to block or track your device if it is lost or stolen. By the way, you won’t be able to unlink this account by simply flashing it.

There is a separate desktop where there is a trick for local news and statistics on phone usage activity for the day. And also many different functions such as: pay for a purchase using a wallet, call a taxi, check the weather and all this, unfortunately, only works outside of China. On such a large display, it is convenient to use split mode, when the work area is divided into two parts and thus you can open two, almost any, applications at the same time.

EMUI 8.0 is an excellent multifunctional shell that I have loved since the 7X, it is fast, well optimized, but at least on mid-range and flagship smartphones it is stable and careful with RAM, after a full load of my three gigabytes, a little less is available one and a half. At the same time, applications stay in the background for a long time, do not reboot and work from where they left off. Programs also open quickly, but it feels like MIUI will be faster in this regard.

But things don’t always go smoothly, and neither does Huawei. The shell slows down at times, and small twitches appear when heavily loaded. True, this is still a middle segment and at this price you can forgive minor shortcomings, especially since the company consistently releases updates for its models.

And now, about the weak part of the Kirin 659, it has Mali-T830 graphics, and only two cores, but 900 MHz. What obvious disadvantages arise from this? Firstly, the graphics component is slightly inferior to Adreno 506 and Snapdragon 625, according to synthetic tests.

Secondly, with games, not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance. Either the 830 is not so bad, or the Honor software developers are not eating their bread in vain. But the situation is as follows: in the 3D shooter New Heritage, the graphics are stable. By eye 30-35 FPS, no drops at all. In this game, Redmi 5+ found some strange obstacles for itself and showed a not so smooth picture with frequent drawdowns.

In World of Tanks, everything is sad, at medium low settings, depending on the location, it shows only 20-40 FPS with drops of up to 15. It’s quite difficult to play, especially when you get into a mess and you’re surrounded by several opponents, the only solution is to deteriorate the graphics. The smartphone does not heat up, does not troll, and is quite suitable for not too demanding games.

Grade

Based on the ratings given in the article, I would like to give the Honor 9 Lite an overall quality rating.

Huawei Honor 9 Lite results in AnTutu Benchmark

In the popular AnTuTu benchmark, the Huawei Honor 9 Lite smartphone scores an average of about 74,685 points. This figure, like all those given below, was taken from the official website of the developer of this software. Unfortunately, we currently do not have detailed data on the device's performance in AnTutu.

Comparison with other smartphones from the ratings of different years

The rating of devices on the official AnTuTu website is updated once a month. Old data is available via Web Archive.

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