Not everyone needs a top of the line smartphone. Indeed, the truth is that if we use the smartphone to work and chat, for some light games and just for some photos and videos for social media, we have the opportunity to choose devices with competitive prices in the mid-range. But why give up the elegant style, to a good quality screen and – above all – to one drums that allows us to stay away from the outlet for a long time? These days we had the opportunity to tester Honor Magic5 Lite, even taking it with us on trips for a couple of days. And it seems to us the kind of device that will make many users happy – just know what you want and here is the our review of the Honor Magic5 Lite.
Our review of the Honor Magic5 Lite
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Honor has recently been presenting devices in many price ranges, from a few hundred to true top of the range. But one of the features that we have always appreciated about the brand is the ability to bring a quality experience even to the medium-low segments of the market.
The new Magic5 Lite from Honor that we tested in this review, however, has a full mid-range price. From 350 to 500 euros there are many really interesting devices, because they implement some features of the top of the range trying to make the technologies that they have to give up in order to keep the price low. Already as we open the package we notice that the new Honor smartphone seems to focus on elegance on the one hand, and from the specifications we understand that the other strong point could be autonomy. But will it be able to stand out in this highly competitive space?
Design: elegant and well built
Opening the box of Honor’s Magic5 Lite that we tested in this review, the first impression is that of an elegant device with attention to detail. First, the thickness is minimal with i only 7.9 millimeters and the weight remains at 175 grams. Well balanced in the hand, the device feels compact and vertically slender. We are used to large smartphones, but even those coming from a more compact device should have no difficulty adapting to the screen of Honor’s new device, which curves elegantly on the side edges.
Honor has chosen to place both the unlock key and the volume rocker on the right, while below we find both the SIM slot and USB-C charging input. The other two sides are clear.
The back curves around the edges, helping the grip on the device. The glass on the back feels very elegant and has a premium taste, as does the Matrix Star Ring in which Honor glues the three cameras. We also appreciated the original Honor Talents cover that the company provided us for this test, which comes with a sticker to insert inside the Matrix Star Ring: a much appreciated extra attention.
Honor Magic5 Lite review: a quality display
Il Honor Magic5 Lite’s display is quite large (6.67 inches) to allow you to enjoy videos and TV series, also thanks to the 2400×1080 resolution, which allows you to enjoy movies in cinematic format. The 1.07 billion colors of the display are rather very vivid, albeit rather cold in the initial configuration. In the settings, however, you will find the possibility to customize the rendering of the screen a lot, which is of excellent quality. While watching videos or playing games, the 120Hz refresh rate and touch sampling up to 300Hz remove all doubts: it is a good quality panel, above average.
The screen is curved at the edges to bring the 93% screen body ratio and help you immerse yourself in the vision. We found ourselves very well: the effect is perhaps not comparable to the very latest top of the range (which cost even a thousand euros more, we have to say) but we think it’s an excellent result for this price range – and also for the immediately higher one.
Certificate TÜV Rheinland and with Dimming PWM 1920H to avoid flickering of any kind, Honor also ensures to avoid eye strain. All attentions appreciated on this very good quality display.
Performance and software: smooth and performing (for those who are not hardcore gamers)
Honor Magic5 Lite is equipped with a processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 695, which is a more suitable product for daily use. In our tests, it knew the various applications and multitasking very well: if your day is made up of chats, emails, social networks and a few moments to play without pretexts, it is a more than suitable product. Mainly because the Honor RAM Turbo (which adds another 5GB of RAM to the 6GB of the device) allows you to remain fluid in managing apps, even with a low-power processor: this lengthens battery life without excessive slowdowns.
Different speech for those who play. This is not a device that hardcore gamers will appreciate. Testing games like Genshin Impact e Fifa Mobile we experienced some slowdowns, with the device getting a bit warm (although not annoyingly so in our tests). The benchmarks confirm it: it’s not made for those who play a few hours every day – and maybe want to compete online.
As for the software, the device flaunts Magic UI 6.1based on Android 12. One of the innovations that seem most interesting to us on the Honor Magic5 Lite (but which we have not been able to test for this review) is theAnti-aging Engine, which promises to minimize the deterioration of the operating system over time.
For the rest we find the solidity of Android 12 together with the customizations by Honor – like the Themes app that allows you to greatly customize the graphics of your smartphone. But also conveniences such as Honor Share and Multi-Screen, excellent if you have more of the brand’s products. Even if that weren’t the case, the software experience is positive: we prefer a look more similar to basic Android, but navigation is extremely intuitive. And you can customize the operating system so much that it’s truly yours in every way.
Camera: good quality (when there is a lot of light)
The Honor Magic5 Lite’s camera did not prove to be the strong point in this review. The quality of photos taken in good light conditions is good thanks to a squite powerful 64MP main sensor. However, in low light, the quality drops off – shots are grainier and there’s a bit too much noise. There Night Mode is pretty good thoughalthough not miraculous: it does not distort the colors too much and the images produced (if you stand still for 3-4 seconds) are sharp and well defined.
A detail that we appreciated instead is the stabilization, above average for the price range. The videos are quite stable e especially the zoom that, even at x10, it produces quite sharp images although there is no dedicated lens.
The 5MP wide-angle camera, on the other hand, is not very performing: above all, we are not crazy about the fact that it has warmer tones than the main sensor. You will use it little, especially for videos. The macro from 2MP doesn’t help the main sensor enough, making bokeh effects with this sensor. Fortunately, theThe main camera’s AI blurs backgrounds pretty well even without. The front sensor for selfies isn’t as sharp as we’d like, but for video calls and the occasional social media selfie it gets the job done.
All in all, the 64MP main camera gets the job done for all of the photography department, with results you may not print as blow-ups, but will be more than enough for social media. It is not a smartphone for content creators and influencers, but for the average user it knows how to defend itself.
Some example shots
Battery and charging: a champion of duration
The battery of Honor Magic5 Lite from 5100 mAhcombined with the not particularly energy-intensive processor, turns out to be the strong point in the tests for this review. You can use the device for a whole day without having to recharge it. And then use it the next day without too much trouble. Even testing it to the max, we arrived at the late afternoon of the second day. Most users will even go as high as twoif you don’t play too much and don’t watch consecutive hours of YouTube videos.
We also liked how the device don’t lose battery percentage when in standby. Throughout the writing of this review, the Honor Magic5 Lite remained 100% constant, albeit unlocking it several times to check specifications and settings. Really great.
Charging is not as snappy as that of other devices in this price range, even if you get about half the battery with half an hour of charging. However, the fact that the autonomy is so long-lasting allows you to organize yourself for recharging: you will always arrive on time to a charger (which, however, you will not find in the package – even if you can buy the 66W one included in the bundle).
Honor Magic5 Lite review: is it worth it?
You can buy Honor Magic5 Lite on the HiHonor site for 389,90 euro. A price (which is lowered by 20 euros for new subscribers) that is really interesting, especially if you consider that by pre-ordering from February 21st you can receive the headphones bundled with Honor Earbuds 2 Lite, l’Honor SuperCharge charger from 66w (which greatly shortens the charging times) and the cover with Honor Talents decorations like the one with the seagull you see in the photos in the article. Also included is the guarantee of…