Verdict
This budget French telephone borrows pot from last year ’s flagship to deliver a intimate and strong - performing smartphone .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
While primarily focusing on Asiatic markets , Honor is a pop Android marque among outside users as well .
While the brand pump out its middling share offlagship equipment , it ’s perhaps most well - hump for its budget offerings – with enough ofaffordable handsetsavailable under the £ 300 price shred . And Honor ’s latest smartphone is no exception . The Magic 5 Lite is a conversant machine , taking intake from last year ’s flagship . While scaling back the price , it go full - steam - ahead on features for a capable budget offering .
Up - front , the Magic 5 Lite greets with an impressive 6.67 - in OLED presentation , featuring a 120Hz refresh charge per unit . Inside the smartphone , you ’ll find a monolithic 5,100mAh bombardment that easily gets you through the day . And round back , there ’s a capable treble camera array fronted by a 64MP main sensor .
Throw all of these into one budget - well-disposed gadget , and you ’re left looking at a seriously capable bit of kit . But how does the Honor Magic 5 Lite get along out in the substantial globe ?
Design & screen
If the Honor Magic 5 Lite looks a little conversant to you , you ’re not alone . The smartphone brand has taken inspiration from last year ’s flagshipMagic 4 Pro . Rather than your common rectangular shape , the Magic 5 Lite embrace kink both on the body and the screen itself . Not only does this look more aesthetical than keen corners , but it also feels better while you ’re holding the gadget .
When I first got my mitts on this gimmick , the slimline innovation really impressed me . It ’s only 7.9 millimetre wooden-headed , while the tapered edge emphasise just how slim this machine is . Plus , the refined polycarbonate human body helps out the “ Lite ” in Magic 5 Lite , with the machine press in at just 175 g.
call on over to the rear , and you ’ll find Honor ’s signature circular camera gibbosity . As far as camera bumps go , this one is fair inoffensive – not raising the twist too much . With three cameras packed inside , it pack up raft of room on the rear . Below this , you ’ll find some Honor branding , and that ’s pretty much it . The Magic 5 Lite embrace its polished color design . My unit is Emerald Green , but Titanium Silver and Midnight Black are also available .
While the polycarbonate back panel does n’t feel the most premium , it helps to keep the damage down . You may want to whack a instance on the back , though , for sum up protection .
Bring your attention to the Magic 5 Lite ’s display and you ’ll find an impressive sieve see back at you . The smartphone take high with a 6.67 - inchAMOLEDpanel , sport a 2400 x 1080 FHD+ answer . Colours are vivacious while look on capacity on this smartphone , featuring the full-bodied black that AMOLED control panel are have intercourse for .
On top of this already telling display , you ’ll receive some additional premium features . honour include a120Hz refresh rateon the gimmick for crispy and smooth navigation on the machine . It boasts a handy always - on display , showing you the time and notification at a glance .
The Magic 5 Lite can crank up to around 800 nits of brightness inside , which is pretty ample for quotidian wake . However , you may find that this budget machine begins to struggle once you head outdoors or into other burnished environs . Up top , there ’s a hole punch selfie center at the very top of the display .
Under the display is an optical fingerprint reviewer . In my experience , this was snappy and accurate to unlock with the touch of a digit .
While not unusual for a budget - focused Android gimmick , you wo n’t find any prescribed body of water or dust proofing on the Magic 5 Lite . It ’s not IP - certified , but Honor still reckons it should be splash repellent . The blade has consume stairs to endeavor to keep water out , such as a rubber gasket around the SIM tray . I ’d probably still err on the side of caution and attempt to keep this phone dry .
Thanks to an impressive presentation , slight and lightweight form broker , and familiar , flagship - esque design , the Magic 5 Lite is quite the looker . plan - wise , it does n’t feel like you ’re using a budget smartphone , which I can only commend Honor for .
Cameras
Since the Magic 5 Lite is a budget smartphone , do n’t expect flagship - level camera performance . However , the 64MP main detector ’s images are by all odds deserving writing home about for a gadget at this price . Unfortunately , the additional camera and some features allow down what would otherwise be a very satisfying smartphone camera setup .
Starting with the master 64MP snapper , you ’ll find the equipment produces sharp and well - uncover images . Colours are bright , exact , and lawful to life – leaning to more realistic colours rather than focusing on reverberance . Pictures get pretty bright , too , thanks to the f/1.8 aperture , which can let a lot of spark in .
You ’ll point out a want of detail when you soar into an image , however . Images become a pot less sharp , with somewhat grainy and noisy images . you could opt for the mellow - closure musical mode to hold back extra detail , but these shots are still a far war cry from flagship solution .
You ’ll get some realistic portraiture gibe from the camera itself , which can tackle close - ups rather well . Head into Portrait Mode , and you ’ll find as exact bound detective work . However , Honor ’s blur can leave pictures looking a piddling unrealistic .
Despite the f/1.8 aperture , the Magic 5 Lite can scramble to take photos in low - light environment . You ’ll notice high level of noise , a deficiency of item and a noticeable jaundiced hue . The headphone ’s dedicated Night Mode lets in more igniter by keeping the shutter open for longer , but still produces sub - par shots .
Ready to fire up some video ? Unfortunately , the rear camera only record in 1080p at 30fps . It ’s a far war cry from the 4 K shot you ’ll find on most smartphones these days , including other budget alternative such as thePoco X5 .
The other two cameras in this triple camera array are a 5MP ultrawide and 2MP macro lense . Since the ultrawide snapper is only 5MP , it ca n’t charm nearly as much item as the main detector – which already struggles . The result is noisy and granular shots , which you ’ll also notice incline to be a hatful darker . Colours are more - or - less as accurate as the main camera , but the want of detail really lets it down .
And the 2MP macro crystalline lens is really quite poor . The actual Macro fashion is n’t soft to ascertain in the Camera app . And when you do attempt to take some first-rate snug - up shot , you ’ll be leave with largely unusable image . There ’s obtrusive distortion , noise , and colors do n’t look anywhere near as vivacious . It ’s a common vogue for budget smartphones to include a downhearted - res macro lens as a third camera , but it does n’t make it any less unsatisfying .
Turn over to the front selfie snapper , and the Magic 5 Lite can take a social media - desirable snap . The hole slug camera is a 16MP sensing element , with a fair narrow f/2.5 aperture . Images are detail , colour - racy , and bright enough despite the lack of HDR . One redeeming feature film is that Honor include a wide-eyed lens here , which countenance you to fill the anatomy with plenty of people – ideal for group selfies .
As for front - face video , the camera can charge in 1080p at 30fps , just like the rear sensor . While telling for front - facing picture , it only makes the chief recording on this equipment more dissatisfactory .
Performance
Powering the Magic 5 Lite is theSnapdragon 695 chipsetcoupled with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage . It ’s an octa - core CPU , with an onboard Adreno 619 GPU for graphics . As is the norm for budget smartphones these twenty-four hour period , it also supports 5 G connectivity .
While Snapdragon 695 can handle workaday usage well , it ’s designed for light chore like messaging and browsing the entanglement , and this becomes detectable with more demanding tasks like 3D play . It match the chipset used in the similarly - priced Poco X5 andOnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite , and is slightly less powerful than the MediaTek Dimensity 930 receive in theMoto G73 5G.
With all this said , the Magic 5 Lite is capable of handling most workaday tasks without much takings . Web browse , checking email , or scroll through societal apps wo n’t try out the gadget . Even when play some lighter plot , the smartphone can hold its own .
However , even the simpler side of more complex tasks made the Magic 5 Lite sweat . Multi - tasking nontextual matter - laboured apps ( such as Netflix or game ) caused some serious lag . It ’s here that you may really find the smartphone begin to shinny .
Putting the Magic 5 Lite through some benchmarking test , produced some anticipate , but definitely middle - of - the - route solvent . Running a Geekbench 6 bench mark trial run on the phone , I got a exclusive - meat score of 828 and a 2070 multi - core score . Even with the same CPU inside , the Poco X5 could n’t quite ruin 700 on the single - Congress of Racial Equality sexual conquest , and only just return 2000 on the multi - core . So between the two devices , Honor ’s oblation is the near choice .
Disappointingly , the Magic 5 Lite ships withAndroid 12 . That ’s now two Android versions behind , so users miss out on the late features , stability , and public presentation that the operating organization can deliver .
At least thing palpate conversant compared to other Honor smartphones , if you ’re coming from a former gadget . MagicUI 6.1 is intuitive – easy to get around , features similar navigation , and offers a well - designed UI .
There ’s a bonny bite of bloatware on the Magic 5 Lite , which is dissatisfactory . Everything from Netflix , Booking.com , and some game fall pre - installed , with some laurels - brand apps alongside existing Google offerings . It ’s easy enough to invalid , but I ’d rather they were n’t there to start with .
Connectivity - Stephen Samuel Wise , the Magic 5 Lite packs everything you ’d bear from a smartphone , even for its budget cost . Alongside 5 GiB , there ’s also support for Wi - Fi , Bluetooth 5.1 , and NFC . There ’s a USB - cytosine port for level at the bottom , which can also be used for data point transfer .
Battery life
award has packed a huge 5,100mAh battery inside the Magic 5 Lite – even bigger than the cell used in theSamsung Galaxy S23 Ultra .
It ’s secure to say you ’ll have no difficulty breezing through the day on this battery . The Magic 5 Lite ’s spec trade - offs really help out with battery life . While the chipset struggles to multi - task , it uses much less tycoon , go away you with surplus bursting charge . All - day bombardment liveliness is an wanton feat on this budget offering , and I ’ve been tempt to weather two 24-hour interval on a individual mission .
After an hour of follow HDR content on Netflix , the Magic 5 Lite lost just 4 % of its charge . Half an time of day of play burn through an identically fairish 4 % .
The Magic 5 Lite does n’t admit flagship - level charging speeds , but it does still include fast charging at 40W via the USB - C interface . It ’s somewhat stock these days , but will well juice up the gadget in not much time at all .
Impressively , the Magic 5 Lite take just 26 minute of arc to charge from 0 % to 50 % , though it exact just under 2 hour to go all the path to 100 % . Notably , there ’s no wireless charging on Honor ’s latest budget equipment , but this is something else that ’s passably vulgar on budget smartphones .
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Should you buy it?
measure in at 7.9 mm thickset and 178 gibibyte , the Honor Magic 5 Lite is one of the best - looking budget telephone around in 2023 .
The Snapdragon 695 chipset is fine for messaging and crop the web , but serious mobile gamers will be left wanting more .
Final Thoughts
Despite some notable letdowns in the camera , software , and carrying out departments , the Magic 5 Lite is a substantial budget Android smartphone .
What it lacks in secondary cameras , the twist makes up for with an telling display . Bloated and old computer software alongside a stuttery chipset are largely forgotten thanks to a assault and battery that just keeps going . The barter - offs here are deserving it , in my opinion .
It might not be flagship - standard but the budget twist packs in mess of feature for its £ 250 price tag . It outperforms more expensive mid - range options in the areas that really numerate . And all of that is enclosed in a soundly - looking , reliable blueprint . There ’s not much more you could ask for . The Magic 5 Lite for certain wo n’t disappoint , and I have no qualms commend it to the budget - focused consumer .
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How we test
We test every mobile phone we refresh soundly . We habituate manufacture - standard tests to compare characteristic properly and we use the telephone set as our main gadget over the review period . We ’ll always say you what we witness and we never , ever , accept money to review a product .
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