The HONOR 90 5G smartphone impressed me with its cameras and display quality (here’s our review). Now, HONOR Philippines introduced a more affordable version called the HONOR 90 Lite 5G with almost half the price.
It boasts a 100 Megapixel main camera, “edgeless” display, and plenty of storage space but looks boxier and without some of its namesake’s standout features. Let’s see if it is worthy of the “HONOR 90” name in this full review.
HONOR 90 Lite 5G back design.
Home screen
Despite its large 6.7-inch display, I consider the HONOR 90 Lite 5G as a compact smartphone. It’s just 2.9 inches in width, 7.48 mm in thickness, and 179 grams in weight. It feels light yet sturdy when held in my hands.
Its backside has a glittery finish with some brandings and regulatory markings. The camera system stands out with its overlapping camera rings. It’s like a Venn diagram of cameras although it also creates several nooks for dust to accumulate.
Unlike the curved edges of the hONOR 90 5G, the sides of the HONOR 90 Lite 5G are flat with the volume and power buttons on the right side. On the other side is the SIM card tray which can accommodate two nano SIM cards.
Ports at the bottom
Side view with volume and power buttons
At the bottom are the loudspeaker grille, USB type-C port, and microphone. Another microphone is found at the top along with the ambient light sensor.
HONOR claims that the HONOR 90 Lite 5G has excellent durability with some extensive testing. In their labs, the device survived the touch screen durability test up to 800,000 times and supported up to 70 kg of load.
I like compact smartphones so I’m already liking this smartphone. Let’s see if that continues with the screen, performance, and cameras.
Watching videos on the HONOR 90 Lite 5G.
HONOR 90 Lite 5G homescreen
The HONOR 90 Lite 5G already has a distinctive back design but the front panel is more impressive. It’s occupied by a large 6.7-inch “edgeless” display with narrow bezels on both sides and at the top. The chin is slightly more substantial but that’s understandable at this price range.
The screen itself has decent quality with sharp details, good color reproduction, and a 90Hz refresh rate for smooth animations. However, I would have preferred an OLED display or even the same LCD with a smoother 120Hz refresh rate. It’s also not as bright as I had hoped, especially outdoors.
Watching videos on the device is immersive thanks to the nearly edgeless design but it only has a single loudspeaker system. Audio from earphones also sound great since it’s Hi-Res audio certified but I would have loved it if it featured stereo loudspeakers aside from the extra loudness of the Ultra Volume mode feature.
Camera app interface
The HONOR 90 Lite 5G is equipped with a 100 Megapixel main camera, 5 Megapixel ultra-wide camera, and 2 Megapixel macro camera.
It uses 4-in-1 pixel binning to produce 25MP pictures with manageable file sizes and improved quality from the large camera sensor. The full 100MP resolution can still be used by enabling the Hi-Res mode.
When using the default camera settings, it can capture good-looking pictures in daylight or well-lit scenes. Here are several sample pictures:
HONOR 90 Lite 5G sample picture (Photo mode, default)
HONOR 90 Lite 5G sample picture (Photo mode, default)
HONOR 90 Lite 5G sample picture (Photo mode, default)
The ultra-wide camera can also get decent shots but it’s obviously lower in quality compared to the main camera.
HONOR 90 Lite 5G sample picture (Ultrawide mode)
Both cameras struggle when it comes to indoor photography. Pictures don’t look as sharp or vivid with some graininess starting to show.
HONOR 90 Lite 5G sample picture (Photo mode indoor)
HONOR 90 Lite 5G sample picture (Photo mode indoor)
HONOR 90 Lite 5G sample picture (Photo mode indoor)
HONOR 90 Lite 5G sample picture (Photo mode indoor)
It can still shoot decent night shots thanks to some AI enhancements but a slight zoom in and it reveals a grainy image and washed out details.
HONOR 90 Lite 5G sample picture (Photo mode low-light)
HONOR 90 Lite 5G sample picture (Night mode)
Meanwhile, there’s also a 16 Megapixel camera on the front to take care of selfies. It can also capture good-looking selfies in well-lit scenes.
HONOR 90 Lite 5G sample selfie
Video recording for both the rear and front cameras maxes out at 1080p resolution only. Just like with pictures, videos look good when shot in daylight but grainy at night.
It doesn’t have any video stabilization feature so you’ll have to hold the phone steady to prevent shakiness in videos.
This is how notifications look like on the HONOR 90 Lite 5G
A MediaTek Dimensity 6020 powers the HONOR 90 Lite 5G along with 8GB of RAM. These are enough for a generally smooth performance with basic tasks without having to worry about multi-tasking.
There are still some lags and hiccups though especially when launching resource-intensive apps and games. It scored 506 points in the Geekbench 6 single-core test and 1,434 points on the multi-core test.
Its 256GB of built-in storage is plenty for videos, games, and other files but there’s no microSD card slot for additional storage.
Screenshots
The HONOR 90 Lite 5G comes with Android 13 operating system with the Magic OS 7.1 interface. It doesn’t have any issues when it comes to availability of apps since it has the Google Playstore and GMS.
There are some pre-installed apps like Facebook, Netflix, Trip.com, and Booking.com but these can be easily uninstalled.
Call of Duty on the HONOR 90 Lite 5G.
The HONOR 90 Lite can run Call of Duty Mobile up to Medium graphics quality. Its performance is decent and I’ve enjoyed playing several multiplayer matches but there’s still some jankiness at this reduced graphics quality.
Meanwhile, Mobile Legends can run up to Ultra graphics quality. However, the gaming experience is laggy so I returned it to the default High graphics quality setting. There are occasional lags during teamfights but it’s already enjoyable.
Hence, this device can run games at medium to high graphics quality with occasional lags. There were no heating issues and some additional features can be easily enabled using a gaming sidebar called Game Manager.
SIM card tray
The HONOR 90 Lite is a dual SIM smartphone capable of 5G connectivity. It has ultra-fast mobile internet speeds in areas with 5G signals.
There is no 3.5mm audio jack so you’ll need USB Type-C earphones or TWS earbuds for better sound quality. The earpiece already sounds clear during voice calls while the Ultra Volume Mode of the loudspeaker is useful in loud environments.
For security, the device has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner which works well – it’s quick in unlocking the phone.
The 4500mAh battery of the HONOR 90 Lite might seem small but it can last more than a day on a single charge with my normal use. It shows the effective battery management of HONOR’s software.
When playing games continuously (MLBB), it can last up to 9 hours before needing a recharge.
Recharging the phone takes 1 hour and 30 minutes to reach 100% battery capacity using the bundled 22.5W HONOR fast charger. It’s not as fast as more expensive smartphones but this is already a decent charging speed.
The HONOR 90 Lite 5G and its box.
In conclusion, the HONOR 90 Lite has a near bezel-less display resulting in a compact design, decent performance, high resolution 100MP main camera, fast mobile internet connectivity, and long battery life.
However, it lacks the niceties of more premium smartphones like an AMOLED display, stereo speakers, and official water resistance. It’s far from the features offered by the HONOR 90 5G. It also faces tough competition in its price range.
Nevertheless, the HONOR 90 Lite is a good smartphone for its price and I recommend it. It’s official price is ₱12,990 and is now available in physical and online HONOR stores.
