The HONOR 90 Lite 5G is a mid-range phone that offers good features for a reasonable price. It has a 6.7-inch IPS LCD display, a MediaTek Dimensity 6020 processor, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a 4500mAh battery.
But the highlight of this phone is its triple rear camera setup, which includes a 100MP main sensor. How does the HONOR 90 Lite 5G perform in real life? Let’s find out in this review.
Design & Display
The HONOR 90 Lite 5G has a sleek and minimalist design, with a plastic frame and a plastic back. The back panel has a gradient color effect, which changes depending on the angle and lighting. It is also resistant to fingerprints, which probably won’t matter as most will use the supplied case.
The phone comes in three colors: Cyan Lake, Titanium Silver, and Midnight Black. It feels solid and comfortable in the hand, thanks to its flat frame and matte texture. It measures 162.9 x 74.5 x 7.5 mm and weighs 179 grams, which gives it a substantial impression.
The phone has a 6.7-inch IPS LCD display, with a resolution of 2388×1080 pixels, a 19.9:9 aspect ratio, and a 93.6% screen-to-body ratio. It also has Dynamic Dimming technology which adjusts the dynamic range to lessen eye strain and fatigue.
The screen has a punch-hole cutout for the 16MP selfie camera, and thin bezels all around it, save for the bottom which is noticeably thicker.
The display supports a 90Hz refresh rate, which makes the animations and scrolling smoother and more responsive. It also has good brightness, contrast, and colors, which makes watching videos and playing games more enjoyable.
The HONOR 90 Lite 5G has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, which is fast and reliable. It also has a USB Type-C port, a mono speaker, and a microphone at the bottom, a dual SIM tray on the left, and another microphone at the top. The phone does not have a 3.5mm headphone jack, but it supports Bluetooth 5.1 and NFC for wireless connectivity.
Cameras
The HONOR 90 Lite 5G has a triple rear camera setup, which consists of a 100MP main camera, a 5MP ultra-wide camera, and a 2MP macro camera. The main camera has an f/1.9 aperture and uses pixel binning to combine four pixels into one, resulting in large 25MP photos.
In terms of quality, the cameras can capture detailed and sharp images, with good dynamic range and color reproduction, in good lighting conditions. Indoor and low-light shots are decent, but the dynamic range is limited and colors look slightly muted. There is also some noise, and sharpness is reduced.
The ultra-wide camera has an f/2.2 aperture and a 120-degree field of view. The ultra-wide camera can capture more of the scene, and add some perspective and drama to the photos. The ultra-wide camera also has decent quality, but it suffers from some distortion and noise. The macro camera has an f/2.4 aperture and a 4cm focal distance. The macro camera can capture close-up shots of small objects, but it has limited resolution and detail.
The phone struggles with night shots. The colors look good, but the photos lose sharpness and details. Dynamic range also takes a hit and there is more noise. They’re still good for social media postings, though, and look okay on a phone display.
The phone can record videos up to 1080p, with electronic image stabilization. The video quality is decent, but not very impressive. It lacks 4K recording and slow-motion features, which are common in other mid-range phones.
The HONOR 90 Lite 5G also has a 16MP selfie camera, with an f/2.45 aperture. The selfie camera can take nice and pleasant selfies, with good skin tones and a bokeh effect. The selfie camera can also record videos up to 1080p at 30fps.
Performance
The HONOR 90 Lite 5G is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 6020 chipset, which is a 7nm octa-core processor, with two Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.2GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 2.0GHz. It is paired with a Mali-G57 MC2 GP. The phone has 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It runs on MagicOS 7.1, which is based on Android 13.
In daily use, the phone is smooth and fast, without lags or issues in basic navigation. However, we noticed there are some instances of stuttering, especially when you have a lot of things going on. In our case, we had a YouTube video in picture-in-picture mode, playing in the background. This caused stutters when scrolling and navigating the phone. This doesn’t happen often and it isn’t a big deal, as we found it tolerable. But it’s something to keep in mind.
The phone can run most games like Call of Duty Mobile, PUBG, and Asphalt 9 in low to medium graphics settings. Temperatures are also well controlled, as it didn’t feel that hot during gameplay.
Here are the benchmark scores. The scores of the Dimensity 6020 are comparable to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 695.
Battery
The phone has a 4500mAh battery, which can last for a full day of moderate use, thanks to power efficient 7nm chipset.
The phone also supports 22.5W wired charging. During testing, it charged the phone from 40% to 75% in 30 minutes. A full charge takes around 80 minutes to complete.
Verdict
The HONOR 90 Lite 5G is a great mid-range smartphone, that offers a lot of value for money. It has a sleek and attractive design, a large and smooth display, a decent processor, huge storage, and a long-lasting battery. It also has a capable 100MP main camera, which is rare in this price range.
The HONOR 90 Lite 5G does have some flaws, such as the lack of 4K recording, and the mono speaker, but they are not deal-breakers. This phone is suitable for anyone who wants a budget-friendly smartphone with a high-resolution camera and 5G support.
The HONOR 90 Lite 5G is available for P12,990. Pre-orders are bundled with free wireless earbuds.
HONOR 90 Lite specs
| Display | 6.7-inch FHD+ LCD display, 2388×1080, 90Hz refresh rate |
| Processor | MediaTek Dimensity 6020 |
| RAM/Storage | 8GB+256GB |
| Rear Cameras | 100MP main 5MP ultra-wide & depth 2MP macro |
| Front Camera | 16MP |
| Network | 5G, 4G LTE |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, NFC |
| Others | Side fingerprint scanner, USB-C, headphone jack, hi-res audio |
| OS | MagicOS 7.1, Android 13 |
| Colors | Cyan Lake, Titanium Silver, Midnight Black |
| Battery | 4500mAh battery, 22.5W fast charging |
