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MagyarHonor 50 Lite review: Entry-level smartphone with thick 64 MP camera
The Honor 50 Lite is the first mid-range smartphone since the split from Huawei, nonetheless, it's still very similar to the latter's Nova 8i, but it comes with all Google services and is not subject to any of the restrictions imposed on Huawei by the trade war between China and the US.
The smartphone has a nominal price of just under 300 Euros (~$338) and is only available in Germany with 6 GB of RAM and a generous 128 GB of internal storage.
Possible contenders in comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Drive | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 76.9 % | 02/2022 | Honor 50 Lite SD 662, Adreno 610 | 192 g | 128 GB UFS 2.0 Flash | 6.67" | 2376x1080 | |
| 79.5 % | 12/2021 | Gigaset GS5 Helio G85, Mali-G52 MP2 | 210 g | 128 GB eMMC Flash | 6.30" | 2340x1080 | |
| 81.5 % | 11/2021 | Motorola Edge 20 Lite Dimensity 720, Mali-G57 MP3 | 185 g | 128 GB UFS 2.1 Flash | 6.70" | 2400x1080 | |
| 85.9 % | 05/2021 | Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G SD 780G 5G, Adreno 642 | 159 g | 128 GB UFS 2.2 Flash | 6.55" | 2400x1080 |
Case - Stylish colors for the Honor 50 Lite
The Honor 50 Lite is available in the resonant Midnight Black (black) and Deep Sea Blue (blue) colors. Thanks to the large central camera hump at the back, it doesn't wobble back and forth on flat surfaces.
The metal frame provides the Honor smartphone with a certain quality, and the clean workmanship is also impressive. The back is made of plastic, but it still looks high quality. Furthermore, the susceptibility to fingerprints is limited. There is no detailed specification for the display glass, which is additionally protected by a factory-applied film.
The card slot can accommodate two nano SIM cards. There's no special protection against dust or water.
Connectivity - Honor smartphone without a microSD slot
The Honor 50 Lite offers a decent connectivity package. The USB 2.0 port supports OTG. In addition, an audio jack (3.5 mm) is available, and a connected headset serves as an antenna for the FM receiver.
The only thing that's missing is the option to expand storage via a microSD card.
Software - Android 11 with Magic UI 4.2
The Honor 50 Lite ships with Android 11 and the proprietary Magic UI 4.2. At the time of testing, the security patches are from October 1, 2021 and no longer up to date. Honor hasn't revealed the update frequency yet, nor whether there will be an update to Android 12. But since the smartphone doesn't appear on the company's roadmap for this, the situation looks rather bleak.
Honor preinstalls a few third-party apps, but all of them can be uninstalled. However, there is no DRM certification, which means that accordingly protected content can only be consumed in SD quality.
Communication and GNSS - Good positioning and stable Wi-Fi
The Honor 50 Lite can use Wi-Fi 5 (IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac) and supports both 2.4 and 5.0 GHz networks. The transfer rates using our Netgear Nighthawk AX12 test router are constant in both directions, but not particularly high.
The Honor smartphone can access mobile Internet via LTE at best - 5G is not supported. The range of frequency bands covered includes the most important bands in Germany, but not much more.
| Networking | |
| iperf3 transmit AX12 | |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G | |
| Gigaset GS5 | |
| Honor 50 Lite | |
| Motorola Edge 20 Lite | |
| iperf3 receive AX12 | |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G | |
| Average of class Smartphone (last 2 years) | |
| Gigaset GS5 | |
| Motorola Edge 20 Lite | |
| Honor 50 Lite | |
The satellite fix is quite fast outdoors, but a while is needed for our position to be determined more precisely. It's possible to determine the location indoors, but it's not very precise.
The Honor 50 Lite had to face a comparison with the Garmin Venu 2 during a short test drive. Although the smartwatch is even more accurate, the smartphone still offers decent positioning.
Telephone and call quality
The call quality of the Honor 50 Lite is quite good when held to the ear, but as soon as background noise is added, the user's voice becomes a bit constricted and nasal. In general, the ambient noise suppression is rather mediocre. The speaker reverberates slightly, but it has a decent microphone range.
The smartphone has room for two nano SIM cards and supports both VoLTE and WLAN calls.
The Honor 50 Lite's quad-camera setup should be adjusted
The front-facing camera of the Honor 50 Lite is no cause for enthusiasm. Pictures look pale and lack dynamic range. Sharpness and detail accuracy are also rather mediocre.
Despite its 64 megapixels, the main camera isn't quite satisfactory. Color reproduction is slightly reddish, dynamic range is lacking, and fine details are captured in a slightly washed-out manner. An 8x digital magnification is possible when zooming, but again, Honor hardly takes advantage of the sensor's high resolution here. The setup is completed by an ultra wide-angle lens, where the distortion correction should be deactivated, since actual straight edges tend to look curved otherwise. The macro lens as well as the depth lens are nice extras on the spec sheet, but unfortunately, they're nothing more.
Videos can only be recorded in Full HD resolution and at 30 frames per second on both sides.
Image Comparison
Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.
Main cameraMain cameraUltra-wide angle5x zoomLow light
Accessories and warranty - Powerful charger included in the box
The Honor 50 Lite comes with a 24-month warranty that can't be extended. In addition to the smartphone, a modular 66-watt power adapter is also included. The manufacturer also provides a USB cable, a transparent silicon protective case, and a SIM tool.
Input devices and handling - Fingerprint reader integrated into the power button
The Honor 50 Lite has a capacitive touchscreen that recognizes up to eight touches at a time. Inputs are implemented quickly and precisely. The gliding properties of the protective film that is applied are good, but not comparable with those of glass.
A fingerprint sensor, which is integrated into the power button, is responsible for security. It recognizes stored fingerprints very reliably and is sufficiently fast. Alternatively or additionally, a less secure facial-recognition system that uses the front-facing camera is available as well, and it's much faster.
Display - Flicker-free 60 Hz LCD
The LC display of the Honor 50 Lite measures 6.67 inches (16.94 cm), and it has a high pixel density due to its Full HD Plus resolution. The brightness of the panel is decent considering the price range, and it's constant both with and without the sensor as well as in the APL50 test.
The black level is quite good and allows for a strong contrast ratio. It only increases slightly to 0.46 cd/m² with evenly distributed bright and dark areas (contrast: 1,044:1).
The low minimum brightness, the flicker-free display, and an optional eye-care mode round off the Honor smartphone nicely.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 92 %
Center on Battery: 477 cd/m²
Contrast: 1163:1 (Black: 0.41 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 2 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5
ΔE Greyscale 3.2 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
98.2% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 2.14
| Honor 50 Lite TFT-LCD, 2376x1080, 6.67 | Gigaset GS5 IPS, 2340x1080, 6.30 | Motorola Edge 20 Lite AMOLED, 2400x1080, 6.70 | Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G AMOLED, 2400x1080, 6.55 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screen | -59% | -21% | 17% | |
| Brightness middle | 477 | 513 8% | 420 -12% | 863 81% |
| Brightness | 456 | 517 13% | 428 -6% | 860 89% |
| Brightness Distribution | 92 | 93 1% | 89 -3% | 93 1% |
| Black Level * | 0.41 | 0.39 5% | ||
| Contrast | 1163 | 1315 13% | ||
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 2 | 7.2 -260% | 3.15 -58% | 3.2 -60% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 5.9 | 10.8 -83% | 7.1 -20% | 5.2 12% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 3.2 | 8.6 -169% | 4 -25% | 3.9 -22% |
| Gamma | 2.14 103% | 1.91 115% | 2.233 99% | 2.33 94% |
| CCT | 6525 100% | 8643 75% | 7413 88% | 7299 89% |
* ... smaller is better
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected |  | ||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 17924 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
The CalMAN analysis shows that the image is very cool out of the box. The most natural image is only achieved by adjusting the settings. For this purpose, we selected the Normal profile and set the white balance to Standard. If you decide to set the latter to Warm, you will be punished with a slight greenish tint. Overall, however, the display can reproduce colors and grayscales quite accurately.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 16.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 5.2 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 11.6 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 33 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (21.5 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 40 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 18 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 22 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.2 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 56 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.7 ms). | ||
The Honor 50 Lite's display remains legible on cloudy days, but it will reach its limits on sunny days due to its limited brightness.
Viewing-angle stability is good. Content looks warmer at flat viewing angles, and the panel appears a bit dimmer. However, we couldn't detect any screen bleeding or glow effects.
Performance - Snapdragon 662 in the Honor 50 Lite
The Honor 50 Lite is powered by a slightly outdated Snapdragon 662, which has 6 GB of RAM. The system speed is decent, but there are stutters here and there, and the refresh rate of only 60 Hz slows down smooth scrolling.
Compared with the competition, the 50 Lite is equipped with the slowest SoC, but its performance is still satisfactory thanks to the use of the faster UFS storage. Casual games are no problem for the Honor smartphone, but limited frame rates and lower detail levels need to be reckoned with in more demanding games.
| GFXBench 3.1 | |
| on screen Manhattan ES 3.1 Onscreen (sort by value) | |
| Honor 50 Lite | |
| Motorola Edge 20 Lite | |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G | |
| Motorola Defy | |
| Oppo A74 | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 (11 - 26, n=10) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (3.7 - 158, n=184, last 2 years) | |
| 1920x1080 Manhattan ES 3.1 Offscreen (sort by value) | |
| Honor 50 Lite | |
| Motorola Edge 20 Lite | |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G | |
| Motorola Defy | |
| Oppo A74 | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 (13 - 14, n=10) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (6.2 - 279, n=184, last 2 years) | |
| CrossMark - Overall (sort by value) | |
| Honor 50 Lite | |
| Gigaset GS5 | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 () | |
| Average of class Smartphone (200 - 1474, n=164, last 2 years) | |
| JetStream 1.1 - Total Score | |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G (Chrome90) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (last 2 years) | |
| Motorola Edge 20 Lite (Chrome 94) | |
| Honor 50 Lite (Chrome 96) | |
| Motorola Defy (Chrome 93) | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 (47.8 - 53.7, n=9) | |
| Oppo A74 (Chrome 91.0.4472.77) | |
| WebXPRT 3 - Overall | |
| Average of class Smartphone (39 - 304, n=122, last 2 years) | |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G (Chrome90) | |
| Oppo A74 (Chrome 91.0.4472.77) | |
| Motorola Edge 20 Lite (Chrome 94) | |
| Motorola Defy (Chrome 93) | |
| Honor 50 Lite (Chrome 96) | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 (51 - 59, n=11) | |
| Octane V2 - Total Score | |
| Average of class Smartphone (4633 - 89112, n=210, last 2 years) | |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G (Chrome90) | |
| Motorola Edge 20 Lite (Chrome 94) | |
| Honor 50 Lite (Chrome 96) | |
| Motorola Defy (Chrome 93) | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 (8893 - 10247, n=14) | |
| Oppo A74 (Chrome 91.0.4472.77) | |
| Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 (3779 - 4650, n=11) | |
| Oppo A74 (Chrome 91.0.4472.77) | |
| Motorola Defy (Chrome 93) | |
| Honor 50 Lite (Chrome 96) | |
| Motorola Edge 20 Lite (Chrome 94) | |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G (Chrome90) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (388 - 9999, n=172, last 2 years) | |
* ... smaller is better
| Honor 50 Lite | Gigaset GS5 | Motorola Edge 20 Lite | Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G | Average 128 GB UFS 2.0 Flash | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AndroBench 3-5 | -10% | 75% | 129% | 3% | 232% | |
| Sequential Read 256KB | 492.5 | 319.8 -35% | 954 94% | 949 93% | 530 ? 8% | 1505 ? 206% |
| Sequential Write 256KB | 184.6 | 269 46% | 478.3 159% | 710 285% | 215 ? 16% | 1112 ? 502% |
| Random Read 4KB | 129.7 | 160.5 24% | 141.4 9% | 207.9 60% | 129.6 ? 0% | 247 ? 90% |
| Random Write 4KB | 117.7 | 31.37 -73% | 161.9 38% | 206.9 76% | 100.7 ? -14% | 271 ? 130% |
Emissions - Decent sound
Temperature
The surface temperatures of the Honor 50 Lite remain within a harmless range at all times, but the smartphone heats up considerably under continuous load. However, no performance losses could be detected, even in a stress scenario.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 35.2 °C / 95 F, compared to the average of 35 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 56 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 33.6 °C / 92 F, compared to the average of 33.8 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 30.1 °C / 86 F, compared to the device average of 32.7 °C / 91 F.
Speaker
The mono speaker at the bottom of the Honor 50 Lite offers a good sound that is suitable for occasional videos, games, phone calls, and so on. For prolonged multimedia playback, however, it lacks precision in terms of highs and, as expected, also depth.
Alternatively, a very good audio jack (SNR: 97.79 dBFS) and Bluetooth for wireless transmission are available.
Honor 50 Lite audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (89.1 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 33.1% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (7.4% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | reduced mids - on average 6.5% lower than median
(+) | mids are linear (6.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2.9% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (20.7% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 30% of all tested devices in this class were better, 9% similar, 61% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 38%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 50% of all tested devices were better, 8% similar, 42% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (89.2 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 23.7% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (9.8% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | higher mids - on average 5.3% higher than median
(+) | mids are linear (4.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 7.5% higher than median
(+) | highs are linear (4.4% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (19.8% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 24% of all tested devices in this class were better, 8% similar, 68% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 38%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 45% of all tested devices were better, 7% similar, 48% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Battery life - 4,300 mAh in the Honor smartphone
Energy consumption
The Honor 50 Lite's power consumption is especially elevated at higher brightness levels. This applies to both maximum brightness and our standard 150 cd/m².
Thanks to the powerful 66-watt fast-charging system, the 4,300 mAh battery is fully recharged in less than 50 minutes.
| Off / Standby |   0.08 / 0.18 Watt |
| Idle |  0.69 / 2.57 / 2.73 Watt |
| Load |
4.28 / 6.32 Watt |
    
| |
| Honor 50 Lite 4300 mAh | Motorola Edge 20 Lite 5000 mAh | Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G 4250 mAh | Oppo A74 5000 mAh | Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power Consumption | 24% | 1% | 22% | -10% | -1% | |
| Idle Minimum * | 0.69 | 0.8 -16% | 0.83 -20% | 0.62 10% | 0.846 ? -23% | 0.897 ? -30% |
| Idle Average * | 2.57 | 1.2 53% | 1.92 25% | 1.59 38% | 2.51 ? 2% | 1.452 ? 44% |
| Idle Maximum * | 2.73 | 1.5 45% | 1.97 28% | 1.63 40% | 2.72 ? -0% | 1.629 ? 40% |
| Load Average * | 4.28 | 3.7 14% | 3.84 10% | 4.05 5% | 4.99 ? -17% | 5.55 ? -30% |
| Load Maximum * | 6.32 | 4.7 26% | 8.6 -36% | 5.2 18% | 7.16 ? -13% | 8.31 ? -31% |
* ... smaller is better
Energy consumption: Geekbench (150 cd/m²)
Energy consumption: GFXBench (150 cd/m²)
Battery life
Not only the smaller battery, but also the increased power consumption don't allow the Honor 50 Lite to achieve top runtimes in our comparison field. The Edge 20 Lite in particular has a much longer battery life despite sporting a 90 Hz display.
Nevertheless, the Honor phone offers good battery life all in all.
| Honor 50 Lite 4300 mAh | Gigaset GS5 4500 mAh | Motorola Edge 20 Lite 5000 mAh | Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G 4250 mAh | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Runtime | 13% | 27% | -4% | |
| WiFi v1.3 | 767 | 868 13% | 972 27% | 734 -4% |
| Reader / Idle | 2163 | 1509 | ||
| H.264 | 1443 | 1248 | ||
| Load | 294 | 223 |
Pros
Cons
Verdict on the Honor 50 Lite
The Honor 50 Lite is still unable to hide its roots this year. Nevertheless, it's a successful entry-level smartphone that can impress with a good LC display, good battery life, and super-fast charging at 66 watts.
At just under 300 Euros (~$339), the Honor 50 Lite is no bargain, and it will have a hard time standing up to the competition.
The 64 MP camera's imaging performance is somewhat disappointing. Hopefully, Honor will improve this with an update. Speaking of updates, their release policy hasn't been clarified yet, and even Android 12 is still uncertain.
Strong alternatives to the Honor 50 Lite are the Motorola Edge 20 Lite or the Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G. Since the discounts for the larger Honor 50 sibling model are often more generous, it's definitely worth considering investing a bit more money.
Price and availability
At the time of writing, you can find the Honor 50 Lite on Newegg for $279.99.
Honor 50 Lite
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01/31/2022 v7
Daniel Schmidt
Pricecompare
