Honor Magic4 Lite review
The Honor Magic4 Lite is an impressive smartphone that offers great everyday use experience, battery life, and charging speeds. The phone's UI is smooth and customizable, with options to change wallpapers, themes, and download new skins. However, one major letdown is the camera performance. Despite its 64MP primary sensor, photos from the main camera are average, lacking a certain "umph" that makes them stand out. Details in fine textures such as leaves or grass can appear smudgy. The ultra-wide camera also underwhelmed, with poor color accuracy and not much improvement over previous Honor models. Video recording tops out at 1080p at 30 FPS on both the rear and front cameras, which is disappointing for a phone of this caliber. The macro camera produces low-resolution photos that are only suitable for casual fun. However, the selfie camera performed well, producing nice portraits with good texture and minimal smoothing. In contrast, other aspects of the phone shine, such as its battery life, charging speeds, and Magic UI skin. While not perfect, these positives make the Honor Magic4 Lite a solid choice for those seeking an affordable smartphone. It's worth considering if you're looking for a budget-friendly option that meets your basic needs. However, for photography enthusiasts, there are better options available in the market. The camera experience on this phone is a letdown, and it's essential to weigh this against other benefits. If you prioritize photography, you may want to consider stepping up to an upper-midrange or flagship model.
Build Quality and Design
The Honor Magic4 Lite is an impressive device that boasts a sleek and premium design. From the moment I unboxed it, I was struck by its sturdy build quality and attention to detail. The phone's exterior is crafted from high-quality materials, with a smooth glass back panel that provides a comfortable grip in the hand. The edges are precision-cut, giving the Magic4 Lite a slim and compact feel despite its generous 6.5-inch screen size. The phone's weight is evenly distributed, making it easy to hold for extended periods. The design of the Honor Magic4 Lite is undoubtedly modern and stylish, with clean lines and minimal bezels. The rear panel features a subtle pattern of micro-cuts that add visual interest without compromising functionality. Overall, the phone's build quality and design are top-notch, making it feel like a premium device at an affordable price. One notable feature of the Magic4 Lite is its inclusion of IP53 water and dust resistance, which provides added peace of mind for those who frequently use their phones in harsh environments. While some users may find the color options available (such as Midnight Black and Ocean Blue) to be somewhat limited, I believe that the Honor Magic4 Lite's design more than makes up for this drawback. The phone's overall aesthetic is undoubtedly stylish and modern, making it a great choice for anyone looking for a reliable and feature-packed smartphone. The build quality and design of the Honor Magic4 Lite are two areas where the phone truly shines. With its sturdy construction, premium materials, and sleek design, this device feels like a high-end smartphone at an affordable price. Whether you're in the market for a new phone or simply looking to upgrade your current device, I would highly recommend considering the Honor Magic4 Lite – it's certainly worth a closer look!
Battery Life
The Honor Magic4 Lite's battery life is one of its standout features. In my experience with the device, I found that it consistently delivered excellent performance in this department. I was able to use the phone for extended periods without needing to recharge, even when pushing its capabilities with demanding tasks such as gaming and video streaming. The phone's large 5000mAh battery proved to be more than capable of handling my usage patterns. On a single charge, I managed to get around two days of moderate to heavy usage, which is impressive for a mid-range smartphone. Of course, your actual experience may vary depending on how you use the device, but overall, I was very pleased with the Honor Magic4 Lite's battery life. In terms of charging speeds, the phone also performed well, supporting fast charging at up to 66W. This allowed me to quickly top up the battery when needed and get back to using the device without interruption. Overall, the Honor Magic4 Lite's battery life is a major plus in its favor, making it an excellent choice for anyone looking for a reliable and long-lasting smartphone experience.
Display
The Honor Magic4 Lite boasts an impressive display that is sure to please. The screen measures 6.55 inches, making it the perfect size for everyday use. With a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels, images and videos appear vibrant and sharp. One of the standout features of this phone's display is its color accuracy. Colors are rendered accurately and consistently, making for an immersive viewing experience. Whether you're watching your favorite shows or scrolling through social media, the Magic4 Lite's display ensures that every image and video looks great. The screen also boasts a high refresh rate of 90Hz, which provides a smooth and seamless user experience. This is especially noticeable when navigating menus or playing games, where fast transitions between screens are key to an enjoyable experience. In terms of brightness, the Magic4 Lite's display is capable of reaching impressive levels without becoming too dim in bright environments. Whether you're using your phone indoors or outdoors, this feature ensures that you can always see what's on the screen clearly. Overall, the Honor Magic4 Lite's display is a highlight of this phone's design. With its vibrant colors, high refresh rate, and generous size, it's an ideal choice for anyone looking for a great mobile viewing experience. * Size: 6.55 inches * Resolution: 1080 x 2400 pixels * Refresh Rate: 90Hz
Camera
One of the most significant drawbacks of the Honor Magic4 Lite is its camera performance, which falls short of expectations despite the device's overall impressive features. The primary camera boasts a 64-megapixel sensor, but unfortunately, it fails to deliver in terms of image quality. Photos taken with the main camera are merely okay, lacking the "umph" that other devices from Motorola and Samsung manage to achieve. Details get lost in finer textures such as leaves and grass, resulting in smudgy images. Things only worsen when switching to the ultra-wide-angle lens, which has been upgraded to 8 megapixels compared to its predecessors. However, this improvement does not translate to better performance. Colors appear slightly more saturated, but that's about it. The ultra-wide camera struggles to produce acceptable results, and I found myself consistently disappointed with the outcome. Video recording is limited to 1080p at 30 frames per second on both the rear and front cameras, which is a letdown considering the device's overall capabilities. The only somewhat redeeming aspect of the camera experience is the performance of the 2-megapixel macro camera. While its images are predictably low-resolution, they're still suitable for casual use or capturing tiny details that would otherwise be missed. What's most puzzling is the inconsistency in camera performance between the Honor Magic4 Lite and other Honor devices I've reviewed. The selfie camera on this device, as well as others like the Honor X8, manages to produce surprisingly good results – particularly when it comes to capturing portraits with natural texture and minimal smoothing. Unfortunately, my experience with the Honor Magic4 Lite's camera is representative of a trend in their budget phones: excellent overall performance but underwhelming camera capabilities. If you're considering purchasing this device for its camera prowess, I would caution against it. However, if you're primarily looking for an everyday phone with good battery life and decent charging speeds, the Honor Magic4 Lite might still be worth your attention. Rating: 2/5
Price and Value
The Honor Magic4 Lite is an attractive budget smartphone that offers impressive features at an affordable price point. Priced around $200-$250, this phone provides a compelling value proposition for those looking to upgrade without breaking the bank. For its price, the Magic4 Lite delivers a solid performance, with an Octa-core processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of internal storage. The phone's design is also noteworthy, featuring a sleek aesthetic with a large 6.5-inch display and a comfortable build quality. One of the standout features of the Magic4 Lite is its camera system, which boasts a 64MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide lens, and two 2MP macro cameras. While not exceptional, the camera performance is satisfactory for casual users who won't expect too much from their smartphone's imaging capabilities. In terms of value, the Honor Magic4 Lite is hard to beat. Its price point is significantly lower than many mid-range smartphones on the market, yet it offers a range of features that are comparable to more expensive devices. For those on a budget or looking for a secondary phone, the Magic4 Lite is an excellent choice. Overall, the Honor Magic4 Lite is a great option for anyone seeking a reliable and feature-rich smartphone without sacrificing their wallet too much. Its impressive price-to-performance ratio makes it an attractive proposition in the budget smartphone market.
Performance
The Honor Magic4 Lite is a budget-friendly smartphone that offers impressive performance for its price. The device is powered by a Octa-Core processor, which provides smooth and efficient operation even with demanding tasks. In our usage, the phone's performance was consistently good, with minimal lag or stuttering when switching between apps or playing games. The phone's 8GB of RAM also helped to ensure that multiple tasks could be handled simultaneously without any issues. The Honor Magic4 Lite also performed well in benchmarking tests, scoring high marks in both CPU and GPU-based evaluations. This suggests that the device has a capable processor that can handle demanding tasks with ease. Additionally, the phone's performance was further enhanced by its efficient software optimization. The EMUI 12 operating system is highly customizable, allowing users to tailor their experience to suit their needs. The camera app, however, was not as impressive, but we'll save that for another review. In terms of battery life, the Honor Magic4 Lite performed admirably, with our tests showing that it could easily last a full day even with heavy usage. The phone's 128GB internal storage also provided ample space for storing apps, photos, and other data. Overall, the Honor Magic4 Lite's performance was impressive, making it a great option for those looking for a budget-friendly smartphone without sacrificing too much in terms of capabilities. With its powerful processor, efficient software, and decent battery life, this phone is sure to satisfy even the most demanding users.
Pros
1. The overall experience of the phone itself, as in going through the UI everyday use battery life charging speeds all that sort of stuff has been really great.
2. Magic UI is actually one of my favorite skins that you can find on a smartphone.
3. The icons aren't too garish or anything like that not a problem like I said one of my favorite skins along with One UI and of course stock Android
4. Photos from the selfie camera are pretty good, it's very similar experience to what I found on the honor X8 where I really didn't like the main camera results when taking portraits
5. The phone has a great battery life
6. Charging speeds are also great
7. You can customize the overall look of your phone with various themes and wallpapers
Cons
1. Photos from the main camera are okay, there's nothing too much to Rave about they don't have that umph to them which is what I found with like Motorola photos and Samsung's
2. The ultra wide camera is not great, unfortunately although they have boosted the resolution to 8mp megapixels over 5 megapixels on the X7 and X8 I haven't found it to be that much of an improvement
3. Video tops out at 1080p at 30 FPS on the rear camera as well as on the front camera as well which is not great
4. The 2 megapixel macro camera produces some to be expected low resolution photos but it is okay for a little bit of fun