[product test] What is the HONOR Magic 5 Lite Aka HONOR X9a worth?

Hi all,

For a month now I test the HONOR Magic 5 Lite (HONOR X9a) which is offered at 329 €. 

So what is it worth? Is the HONOR Magic Lite good value for money? and what are its strengths and weaknesses?

We will try to answer this in the rest of the article.

• Presentation and unboxing:

It is a classic white box with the name of the phone in silver letters, we see immediately that the smartphone is compatible with 5G.  
On the turn the reminder of the name of the phone as well as its manufacturer and the labels with the serial number and IMEI number.
Once opened, we arrive on the phone which is packed in a bag of protection. Once removed, we arrive on a white cardboard support.
Underneath, a white cardboard pouch that contains the pull for the Sim card as well as the quick start manual for the phone. Under this sleeve we find a USB C cable and that's it!  
HONOR does not deliver a charger with this phone in UE !  
You will therefore need to reuse an old charger or buy one. 

I offer you a video of unboxing of this HONOR Magic 5 Lite:

Technical specifications:

This mobile comes to position itself at the top of the  entry-level even if its name makes you think that it is  in the high-end.
It hasa "list" price of 379 € with 6 GB of  ram and 128 GB of rom.

Here are the main features:

• Android 12 with the Magic UI 6 overlay.
  
• A 6.67-inch curved AMOLED display and a dynamic signage frequency of up to 120 Hz.
  
• A 5100 mAh battery.
• 128 Gb ROM and 6 Gb RAM.
• 5G compatibility.
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 695: Two Arm Cortex-A78 (2. 3GHz), six Cortex-A55 (1.8GHz).
• An Adreno 619 GPU.
  
• 64MP ultra-clear main photo sensor (f/  1.8), 5MP ultra-wide angle photo sensor (f/2.2) and 2MP macro photo sensor (f/2.  4).
  
• Front photo sensor of 16 Mpx (f / 2.45).

There are also the classics: USB C port, NFC, Bluetooth 5. 1, wifi 5.

The HONOR Magic 5 lite takes quite well in hand despite its curved screen, a very smooth back that quickly takes fingerprints in its black version.

The green version it is not subject to this concern of fingerprints.  For those who like to use their smartphone without covers unfortunately it will be necessary to use one here to limit fingerprints.
Thes photo sensors are in a large thin circle that is reminiscent of the shape of the sensors of the HONOR Magic 5 Pro.

It is sometimes difficult to select the information that is on the curved edge of the smartphone.  
By the way, HONOR has also added a detection function to prevent unwanted contact on the screen and it works well.

Indeed on my HONOR Magic 4 Pro, it tended to leave some applications because I could touch with my other hand another area of the phone without wanting to.

And this never happened when I used the HONOR Magic 5 Lite.

Finally, it has a total mass  of 175 g, it is  really light and this is quickly forgotten in a pocket of jeans.

• How is it used?

I'll start with its superb AMOLED screen  that can display a dynamic refresh rate up to 120Hz depending on what you are doing.
The screen is really bright, whether in full sun or at night.  
The fingerprint sensor under the screen is quick to recognize the fingerprint.
The interface of Magic UI 6 is really nice,  it supports gestures and personalizes it thanks to the Pre-installed Themes application on the Magic 5 Lite.

This smartphone is compatible with HONOR Connect, which allows if you have an HONOR laptop or tablet to easily share its files, but also to benefit from screen mirroring on the PC or tablet screen.
It is thus possible to use your smartphone on your computer or tablet without having to touch it!

The screen of the HONOR Magic 5 Lite contains 0.65mm reinforced glass.

• And the photo / video in all this?

The photo is usually one of the very good points of HONOR smartphones, so what about this Magic 5 Lite? 

The HONOR Magic 5 Lite has 3 photo sensors on the back and a facial sensor:

• 64MP ultra-clear main photo sensor (f/1.8),
  
• 5MP ultra wide angle photo (f/2.2),
• 2MP macro photo (f/2. 4).
• Front photo sensor of 16 Mpx (f / 2.45).

For photography, HONOR uses a center-symmetry Matrix Star camera design that exudes a clean aesthetic.
I was disappointed with the video photo part which does not easily manage to make a beautiful photo!
Indeed the colors are much too bright and too far from reality!  
I will let you judge for yourself on photos I took with it during my trip to Tunis.

As soon as digital zoom is used (possible up to x8), the quality is degraded especially in poor light conditions, because there is no optical telephoto lens.
As for the videos, they are quite fluid, without stuttering. However, I still have the same complaint about thecolor rendering which is much too saturated. 

I hope that HONOR can correct this photo part with future updates of Magic OS (new name of Magic UI) so that the photo rendering  brings it closer to the reality of what we want to take a picture.

• Performance and autonomy:

The Snapdragon 695 SOC is a mid-range soc, but it's still energy efficient.
It is really fluid in everyday tasks without overheating.  
I was able to play games such as Pokemon Go or Genshin Impact smoothly without slowing down.  
It should be noted that HONOR offers 5 GB of its Turbo RAM in addition to the 6 GB of RAM offered by the smartphone, this allows you to keep more active application in the background without feeling slowed down when browsing or using.  

As for autonomy, the 5100 mAh battery allowed me to hold 2 days in reasoned use that is to say without being constantly on my smartphone to surf on social networks or internet.

I was also able to participate in the HONOR 2 days Battery Challenge during the MWC and check for myself that it was able to last 2 days.
  
Here are the screenshots I was able to take during my two days at MWC Barcelona:

• Balance sheet:

I'll start with the disappointment, HONOR here can not match or exceed smartphones of 2022 on the photo part.

Yet it was for me one of the strong points of this brand whether in entry-level or high-end.  
I hope HONOR won't neglect this part in its upcoming entry-level smartphones.

Pass this disappointment, the balance is still positive, indeed the battery is one of the big positive points of this test, it really allowed me to hold on which changes the HONOR Magic 4 Pro which does not last a whole day!  
For the rest are screen is really fluid and bright, it is also the first time that HONOR offers an AMOLED on this price range, last year we had the right to a 90 Hz LCD screen.  

It is therefore a good development for the consumer.  

You should also know that HONOR offers on this smartphone 2 years of  major updates up to Android 13 (Magic OS 7) and 3 years of

security update.

In short, if you are looking for a fluid smartphone with good autonomy and the photo part is not your priority, this smartphone may be for you!

The "+":

- The AMOLED screen  at 120Hz, fluid and bright with a superb definition.

- The superb battery of 5100 mAh that can last up to 2 days
- The fluidity brought by the Snapdragon 695.
- HONOR Connect, real gateway between the smartphone, laptop or tablet.
     
The "-":

- The photo part.- Fingerprints on the black      version.
- No charger in the box.
- The software support time is too low compared to other      manufacturers.