The Honor Magic5 Lite’s standout feature is its curved front screen, which gives the device a luxurious appearance. However, this mobile device has much more to offer, HONOR Magic5 Lite is available in three stunning colours: Titanium Silver, Emerald Green, and Midnight Black.
Upon unboxing the Honor Magic5 Lite (Titanium Silver), despite being a mid-range device, the device’s sinuous design, sharp edges, and attention to detail gave the impression of a high-end phone. The device’s exterior is reminiscent of the Honor Magic4 Pro but with a distinct rear camera module. Once we powered on the device and began setting it up, it became apparent that it embodied the spirit of a mid-range device.
Key Specs
The phone’s curved screen adds a completely new look to the device. Despite the expected drawbacks of curved screens, the phone fits comfortably in the hand, has a slim profile, and is excellently constructed, despite being made of plastic. Its appearance suggests a higher category than its price point would indicate.
The Honor Magic5 Lite boasts a slim profile with symmetrical curves on the rear face, creating a sleek appearance. The buttons are easily reachable and responsive. The device features a dual SIM tray on the lower edge but lacks an SD card slot. With just a Solo speaker is also located on the bottom edge, alongside the USB C port. While the circular camera module adds a certain charm to the phone’s design, it may seem somewhat pretentious and doesn’t blend seamlessly with the device’s sleek and sinuous lines.
The most significant generational leap in the Honor Magic5 Lite is evident on the screen. The phone has moved from an LCD screen that was in the Honor Magic4 Lite to a curved AMOLED screen with a substantial improvement in quality, brightness, and colour reproduction. The screen’s curves provide an exclusive touch to the phone’s design, the screen offers faithful colour reproduction in normal mode, remarkable sharpness, and maximum brightness, allowing for outdoor viewing with minimal difficulty. However, the auto-brightness feature may be slow to adjust to changes in lighting conditions, hopefully, an update can fix this little problem.
The Honor Magic5 Lite receives a high grade for its screen, but its sound capabilities are somewhat lacking. The phone does not have a 3.5 mm headphone jack and only features a single external speaker located on the bottom edge of the device. The speaker reaches a volume of up to 87 dB and does not distort too much at maximum volume. However, it may lack bass and treble clarity.
With headphones, the audio quality is very good, well-balanced with a soft bass boost, and improved surround sound thanks to the Honor Histen system. The Magic5 Lite supports SBC, AAC, LDAC, and aptX Bluetooth codecs. The device also provides analogue audio through USB-C, and the adapter required to connect headphones via cable does not need a DAC as it is not included. However, the phone does not offer image output through this port.
The smartphone features an optical fingerprint reader located at the bottom of the front screen for biometric authentication. However, it may not be the most precise fingerprint reader, as users may need to try multiple times before the phone unlocks. Additionally, the device offers facial recognition as an extra unlocking method, which is much faster but may be less secure than fingerprint authentication.
Battery
While the Honor Magic5 Lite uses the Snapdragon 695 processor, which also powered the previous Honor Magic4 Lite. This processor provides 5G connectivity and reliable performance in various situations, with no significant issues encountered during testing. The phone’s animations are fluid, and switching between apps is smooth. The device’s 120 Hz panel adds to the overall feeling that the Honor Magic5 Lite is more expensive than it is.
During testing, the phone was used for web browsing, multimedia content consumption, and gaming. The device performed decently, with occasional slowdowns while playing games such as ‘PUBG,’ ‘Genshin Impact,’ and ‘Fortnite’ in HD quality. Despite the slight slowdowns, the phone didn’t get too hot during extended gaming sessions, even while charging. The device’s temperature dissipates well throughout the phone, and it never becomes uncomfortable to hold.
With the battery life of the Honor Magic5 Lite is quite impressive, even when playing demanding games. Users should be able to use the device throughout the day without needing to recharge, and even when gaming, they can expect a reasonable amount of battery life. However, it’s worth noting that heavy usage or extended gaming sessions may still drain the battery faster, and it’s always a good idea to have a charger on hand just in case.
It’s impressive to see that the Honor Magic5 Lite can achieve such fast charging speeds, charging at a maximum of 40 W, the Honor Magic5 Lite has a massive 5100mAh Battery, so you do not need to worry about battery life.
10 minutes of charging: 26% battery.
15 minutes of charging: 33% battery.
20 minutes of charging: 42% battery.
25 minutes of charging: 59% battery.
30 minutes of charging: 68 of battery.
Total: 58 minutes of charge.
During the day, the Honor Magic5 Lite delivers high-quality image processing that effectively handles dynamic range. The HDR feature retains sharpness in darker areas, even when zoomed in, while also preserving the white balance of the scene.
At night, the phone’s night mode provides a valuable enhancement to low-light photography. It is recommended to activate this mode when there are no moving objects or people present. Without night mode, the Honor Magic5 Lite may overexpose brighter areas, but with night mode, it may introduce beams after processing when interpreting flashes. Nevertheless, the night mode greatly reduces noise levels in captured images.
The night mode on the Honor Magic5 Lite is designed to enhance low-light photography by illuminating the scene and reducing noise and watercolour effects. Overall, the results are generally favourable in rescuing dark images.
The camera app included in MagicUI 6.1 is a robust and comprehensive tool that offers numerous options for both serious photographers and casual users. In addition to features like multi-video recording, the app includes a portrait mode that works effectively and allows for shooting with a variable digital aperture. It also supports super-resolution mode, which enables shooting at the 64-megapixel sensor.
While the app offers manual settings for pro shooting, it does not support a RAW format. Video recording is limited to a maximum resolution of 1080p and a maximum frame rate of 30fps. Overall, the camera app on the Honor Magic5 Lite offers a wide range of features and functionality for capturing high-quality photos and videos.
The front-facing camera doesn’t do a bad job in a generic way: natural skin tones in the processing, a blur that is properly clipped, don’t exaggerate the contrast and the level of detail is usually decent.
Overall, the Honor Magic5 Lite has left us with positive impressions. As a mid-range device, it stands out by placing a significant emphasis on its exterior design, offering a device that feels and looks like a high-end smartphone. The curved panel is a standout feature that adds a distinctive touch to the device.
So the Honor Magic5 Lite remains an impressive mid-range device that “delivers a premium experience at a great price point”.
The Honor Magic5 Lite delivers an impressive level of performance, with the ability to run games at a decent quality while maintaining smooth execution. The device also offers the option to force rendering without excessive penalties.
Despite the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack and an SD card slot, the device still delivers quality audio when using headphones. In terms of photography, the Honor Magic5 Lite performs admirably, delivering images of remarkable quality under good lighting conditions. The device’s performance in low-light conditions is acceptable, and the wide-angle lens is a valuable feature despite being somewhat limited.
Overall, the Honor Magic5 Lite strikes an impressive balance between features and performance, with outstanding battery life being a standout feature.
For
- The screen looks great in a mid-range: the curves enhance the feeling of quality.
- Very good autonomy
Against
- Dated Android 12 from the start
TNC Score 4.3/5
