HONOR 90 Lite Review | Geek Lifestyle

After a very successful launch of the HONOR 90 5G, we figured it would only be a matter of time before the brand brought us a more affordable, yet equally promising version in the HONOR 90 Lite. We love the HONOR 90 5G, and it definitely holds is own in a crowded midrange competition. It’s a tough act to follow. On the other hand, the HONOR 90 Lite is a stylish all-round smartphone packed with an capable camera system, an immersive display, and a range of smart features that won’t break the bank.

WATCH: HONOR 90 5G Launch

So, how does it stack up to its older smartphone sibling? How much bang for your budget are you getting? Best we found out.

Geek-sthetic

Right out of the box, the HONOR 90 Lite has a premium feel while being fairly light at 7.48mm thin and 179g heavy. The curved screen craze is nice and all, but having some actual straight edges is personally refreshing. Sporting the Cyan Lake colorway, the phone gives off a subtle holographic sheen that’s more resistant to fingerprints than your average, and won’t need a wipe down ever so often. The flat edges rest perfectly between your fingers, offering more grip. To the sides, you get your volume rocker, fingerprint scanner power button, and sim tray. Like its midrange predecessor, you won’t be getting stereo speakers here.

The backside sports its triple camera setup in an interesting, overlapping circle design. It gives a slight bump to the posterior, but it’s no cause for concern. Being clad with a 100MP lens, this should be quite interesting.

Binge-watching Factor

Now, for the display. It’s pretty good for what’s supposed to be a budget device. While on paper, you’re getting a 6.7-inch LTPS LCD, FHD+ Display, it’s still a pretty sight to behold, with its 1080 x 2388 resolution and  93.6% Screen-to-body Ratio. The display comes with a 90Hz Refresh Rate, which is sufficient enough for daily binge watches and mobile gaming. Like most premium HONOR devices, you also get dynamic dimming, circadian night display technology, and the patented TÜV Rheinland low blue Light certified eye protection. Just like the HONOR 90 5G, your eyes will thank you.

As for your binge viewing experience, you’re guaranteed a good time. The dynamic refresh rate can offer a smooth 90hz if you so desire, or a steady 60hz if need be. The LTPS LCD display provides great picture resolution with no disadvantage regardless of your viewing angle. In the sound department, it really would’ve been nice to have stereo speakers. It could’ve been a one-up on the HONOR 90 5G. Still, the Extra Volume feature gives audio a welcome boost without any buzz or crackle.

Gaming Prowess

Genshin Impact

In terms of installing, running, and enjoying your favorite mobile games, the HONOR 90 Lite is most reliable once you curb your expectations. It rocks a MediaTek Dimensity 6020 5G chipset with with 8 (+5 expanded) RAM. This makes it fully capable of running any new mobile titles, no sweat. It’s all a matter of how high you can crank up the graphic settings.

Honkai: Star Rail

At this point, we can leave out Mobile Legends. COD Mobile and like whenever we run our tests. Even the most budget-esque of budget options can run those games at decent settings–even the brand new Farlight 84. So, worry not. The gacha titles make a difference.

Tower of God: New World

Genshin Impact and its punishing graphical demands do take a toll on the HONOR 90 Lite. Taking the settings up to medium will give you framerate drops and jitters that can throw you off your game. Keeping it at a low at 30fps while making sure that motion blur is switched off should do the trick.  Honkai Star Rail might take a while to load all its assets upon startup, but it’s smooth sailing once you’re in-game. Also, you can crank your settings up to medium at 30fps without suffering as hard as with Genshin Impact. Tower of God: New World is a more recent title that can be run at high settings. It has less working parts than its gacha contemporaries, but still requires a bit of power to run. We were pleasantly surprised with how smoothly it could be played on the HONOR 90 Lite.

Geek Photoshoot Capabilities

The HONOR 90 Lite sports a 100MP main shooter, and it packs quite the punch. Good move on their part for highlighting this feature, as it’s something one wouldn’t expect firsthand when considering more affordable smartphones. You get a triple-camera setup featuring a 100MP (f/1.9) main shooter, a 5MP (f/2.2), wide and depth lens, and 2MP (f/2.4) macro lens. Up front, you’ll find a no-nonsense 16MP selfie camera.

Camera shot wide

In terms of shots, the 100MP camera captures hi-res shots that provide enough detail to crop into several other photos of your own. This is arguably the main highlight of this lens as there’s a lot of pixels to go around at the fraction of the price of more important smartphones. Color accuracy is decent as well. Not too much AI saturation.

As for your usual X2 zoom and wide shots, there’s a slight difference at first glance. The wide lens doesn’t capture shots accurately as your default. However, the X2 zoom does provide a bit more detail than you’d expect. The cameras aren’t as great while under dim lighting, and there can be a bit more noise the less lighting you have. 

As for the portrait camera, you can expect some nicely detailed shots under good lighting. The AI bokeh isn’t too aggressive either, providing some decent outlining for your shots. It’s by no means perfect, but you get good shots.

Selfies come out decent as well. While you only get neither a wide shot nor a zoom, you get a fair amount of detail, regardless of whether you turn on Beauty Mode or not.

Beauty Mode set to over 9000

Another cool feature you’ll find on the HONOR 90 Lite would be the Multi-Video function. It’s basically a vlogger’s delight, providing two separate shots the four equipped lenses. While the maximum shooting capability for video is 1080p 30fps, it’s a fun feature to have.

The HONOR 90 Lite’s AI Instant Movie Assistant makes the editing process way easier utilizing multiple modes to produce a social media-ready video. All you need to do is literally point and shoot.

Everyday Reliability

Having a great display and capable cameras is nice, but most budgetarians look towards how reliable a daily driver the HONOR 90 Lite can be. They do mean business, and at the end of the day, a dead or dying smartphone is out of the question. Fortunately, it’ll be money well spent in this department.

MagicOS 7.1 coupled with Android 13 make sure that everything is running smoothly in the background, providing an great user experience overall. Scanning documents and sharing files are a breeze. With a beefy 4500 mAh battery you can get more than a working day’s worth of charge, and a bit more to spare once you get home. With reckless abandon, you can get just about ten hours of power. You can get much more if you use the smartphone more conservatively. While you only get a 33W charger, you’ll still be able to get back into the thick of things in just an hour.

Final Geek Lifestyle Verdict

As a budget-friendly smartphone in a bustling budget smartphone world. the HONOR 90 Lite can run with the big boys. It’s a capable device that cuts down on most of the bells and whistle, but delivers in overall reliability.

The HONOR 90 Lite is priced at PHP 12,999 at 8GB/256GB. Of course, at this price, it faces stiff competition. But it’s still worth considering. 

For more details, do check out HONOR’s official social page and website.

If you’re interested in getting your hands on an HONOR 90 Lite, you can also check out their licensed online retail outlets over at Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok.

HONOR 90 Lite Full Specs:

• MediaTek Dimensity 6020 5G (7nm)
• Mali-G57 MC2
• 6.7 inches LTPS LCD, FHD+ Display, (1080 x 2388), 90Hz refresh rate
• TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light Certified Eye Protection +Dynamic Dimming + Circadian Night Display
• 8GB RAM (5GB RAM expanded)
• 256GB Storage
• 100 MP, f/1.9, (wide), PDAF
• 5 MP, f/2.2, (ultrawide)
• 2 MP, f/2.4, (macro)
• 16 MP, f/2.5, (wide)
• 5G, LTE, Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, fingerprint scanner (side-mounted), USB Type-C
• 4500mAh battery with 22.5W SuperCharge support
• Android 13, MagicOS 7.1
• Cyan Lake, Titanium Silver, Midnight Black
• SRP: PHP 12,999