The honor 9 Lite is currently honor Malaysia’s most affordable smartphone, and despite its budget-friendly price tag, it’s really quite a capable device. The 9 Lite features hardware found on much more expensive phones, and it even has four cameras – two on the back, and two selfie shooters.
Let’s start with the honor 9 Lite’s 5.65-inch FullView display. Not only is it a Full HD+ display – many phones in this price range only ship with 720p screens – it is also an 18:9 panel. Thanks to the taller aspect ratio, you’re getting a bigger display without the extra width. In fact, the 9 Lite actually has a larger and higher resolution display than the more costly honor 9.
Design-wise, the 9 Lite is a sleek-looking device. Its tiny top and bottom bezels give it a modern aesthetic, and the glass back panel lends to a premium look and feel too. Just look at the back of the phone – we particularly like the mirror-like effect of the glass surface. Really, you’d be hard-pressed to find a device that looks as sleek as this phone in this price range.
Other specifications of the 9 Lite are quite respectable as well. These include a Kirin 659 chipset paired with 3GB RAM, 32GB of internal storage – further expandable with a microSD card up to 256GB – a 3,000mAh battery, and EMUI 8.0 based on Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box.
But enough of that: let’s get to the honor 9 Lite’s quad-camera system. On the back, the phone features a 13MP shooter paired with a 2MP camera to capture depth information. Thanks to this camera configuration, the 9 Lite can shoot images with bokeh effects; the camera system also has phase detection autofocus.
Beyond simulating bokeh effects, the two rear cameras can take pretty good-looking images too. Judge for yourself.
The 13MP + 2MP selfie cameras can take pretty convincing bokeh shots.
And then we have two front-facing cameras, which are also made up of 13MP + 2MP sensors. Naturally, the selfie cameras can create convincing bokeh effects, and the Portrait Mode has a Beauty Level bar you can adjust to your liking to enhance your selfies.
There are also various selfie-centric features available on the honor 9 Lite. The Gesture Control feature, for one, allows you to take a selfie by simply waving to the camera. Once the phone recognises the action, it will start a two-second countdown – this is especially convenient if you can’t reach for the on-screen shutter button.
Aside from that, you can also use the wide-angle panorama function to take group selfies. Once you’ve activated the feature, just press the shutter button and pan your phone to the left and right. The phone will automatically take additional pictures as you’re panning the phone. Oh, it’s also worth mentioning that the front-facing cameras are also used for the 9 Lite’s Face Unlock feature.
Speaking of which, if you’re not a fan of facial recognition, you’ll be happy to know that the 9 Lite’s rear fingerprint sensor is as impressive as ever. It can recognise my fingerprint accurately most of the time, and it’s very quick too. honor’s fingerprint sensors are some of the quickest in the market, and the same remains true for this phone.
The honor 9 Lite is a competitively priced mid-range smartphone, and it offers plenty value for money – it retails at only RM749, and it’s often discounted to RM699 too. If you’re in the market for a new phone that won’t break the bank, the honor 9 Lite should definitely be in your shortlist.
To learn more about the phone, head on to Vmall.my.
Disclosure: this article is sponsored by honor Malaysia.
