Honor 8 Lite smartphone

Play video

To test the “omnivorous” nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone.

Further testing of video playback was performed by Alexey Kudryavtsev.

We did not find the MHL interface, like Mobility DisplayPort, in this smartphone, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see

“Methodology for testing video signal playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)»). Screenshots with a shutter speed of 1 s helped determine the nature of the output of frames of video files with various parameters: the resolution varied (1280 by 720 (720p), 1920 by 1080 (1080p)

Note: If green ratings are given in both the Evenness and Skips columns, this means that, most likely, when watching films, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and skipping of frames will either not be visible at all, or they will not be visible at all. quantity and visibility will not affect viewing comfort. Red marks indicate possible problems with playback of the corresponding files.

According to the criterion of frame output, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is good, since in most cases frames (or groups of frames) can (but are not required) be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without skipping frames. The screen refresh rate is 59Hz, so with 60fps files, at least one frame per second is skipped.

When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the border of the screen, one to one in pixels, that is, in the original resolution. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235: all gradations of shades are displayed in shadows and highlights.

Battery life

The non-removable battery installed in Honor 8 Lite has a capacity of 3000 mAh. With this battery, the smartphone demonstrates quite satisfactory battery life, but nothing more. In real-life usage scenarios, under normal, average operating conditions, the hero of the review is quite capable of quietly holding out for one full day without recharging, but you shouldn’t count on more.

Testing was traditionally carried out at the usual level of energy consumption without using energy-saving functions, although, of course, such functions are provided in the device.

Continuous reading in the Moon Reader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd/m²) with auto-scrolling lasted until the battery was completely discharged for about 13.5 hours, and when watching videos continuously in high quality (720p) with the same brightness level via a Wi-Fi network, the device operates for approximately 10.5 hours. In 3D gaming mode, the smartphone can work up to 4.5 hours.

From a standard AC adapter with a maximum output current of 2 A, the smartphone charges in approximately 2 hours 40 minutes with a current of 1.6 A at a voltage of 5 V. The smartphone does not support wireless charging.

Design, dimensions, control elements

In terms of appearance, the 8 Lite repeats all the previous “eights”: sleek body, glass, bright colors: blue, gold, white. There is also a version in black. In the picture, it is difficult to distinguish 8 Lite from just 8; what is most noticeable is the absence of a second camera. However, in real life the 8 Lite is much more primitive.

This is reflected in the materials used. For example, in the younger version, the glass on both sides feels like plastic to the touch, the side edges are also plastic, and, in my opinion, very simple and cheap. In addition, the main disadvantage is the lack of oleophobic coating on both the front and back panels.

Frankly, I don’t understand what’s going on with Huawei: Honor 8 and 8 Pro have an oleophobic coating, but the flagships P10/P10 Plus and the affordable 8 Lite do not. Stupid savings or strange miscalculation?

Otherwise there are no problems: excellent assembly, no creaks or play, thickness only 7.6 mm, light weight — 147 grams, fits perfectly in the hand.

On the top of the front panel there is a camera, sensors, an indicator of missed events (in the right corner) and an earpiece. It is loud, the interlocutor can be heard clearly and legibly, the sound is mid-frequency.

At the bottom left is a microphone, in the center is a microUSB connector (why not Type-C?), and on the right is a speakerphone.

The power button and volume rocker key are on the right edge, and on the left there is a combination slot (2XnanoSIM, nanoSIM microSD). At the top there is a 3.5 mm headphone jack and an additional microphone.

On the reverse side there is a flash and cameras, both elements are flush with the body. Just below is a fingerprint scanner.

Honor 8 Lite and Honor 8 Pro

Honor 8 Lite and Apple iPhone 5

Honor 8 Lite and Meizu M5s

Camera

The front module here has an 8 MP sensor with a wide-angle lens (77°) with f/2.0 aperture, fixed focus and without its own flash. Naturally, there is a mode for decorating a portrait, and for video shooting too. The Honor 8 Lite selfie camera takes quite good photos: the image is bright, the detail is high, the colors are natural, the automatic white balance is adequate.

The main camera uses a module with a 12-megapixel matrix (pixel size 1.25 microns) and a lens with a maximum aperture of f/2.2, there is fast phase detection autofocus and a single, not very bright flash. There is no stabilization system. There is no second, auxiliary camera module here, but there is a mode that allows you to change the focus point on a finished photo.

As usual, there is a professional control mode in the settings. If you turn it on, a horizontal slider will appear with variable values ​​for shutter speed (from 1/4000 to 8 s), photosensitivity (up to ISO 1600), metering method, focusing options, white balance and exposure compensation scale. As for additional modes, in addition to the mentioned variable focus mode, as well as HDR, there are a lot of stage modes, including those that can be downloaded additionally (food mode, light painting, etc.). Using Camera2API, you can transfer camera control to third-party applications, as well as save pictures in RAW.

The camera can shoot video in a maximum resolution of Full HD @ 30 fps, there is a slow motion mode. There is no stabilization function, but it would not hurt here, since slight hand tremors are noticeable even when shooting statically, let alone when shooting in motion. The picture itself is juicy and of quite high quality; there are no complaints about the detail and smoothness of the video sequence, as well as the sound. The noise reduction system copes with its tasks adequately.

• Video No. 1
  (34 MB, 1920×1080@30 fps, H.264, AAC)
• Video No. 2
  (16 MB, 1920×1080@30 fps, H.264, AAC)

Below are examples of photographs with our comments on quality. Our specialist Anton Soloviev commented on the camera’s performance.

	Good sharpness across the frame. The license plates of nearby cars are distinguishable.
	The camera handles macro photography well.
	Good detail in the background.
	The text is well done.
	Good detail on the plans.
	The detailing across the frame is also good.

The camera can be called good, as follows from the comments to the pictures. It boasts high detail and sharpness across the field and planes. You can find small areas of blur, but these are minor things. The program also works well in the camera: there is practically no noise, and the noise reduction is quite accurate.

Cameras

Unlike Honor 8 and 8 Pro, the Lite model uses one 12 MP main camera module (f=2.2, pixel size 1.25 microns). Front camera 8 MP (f=2.0). There is a single flash.

Traditionally for Huawei, the camera records very well during the day, decently in the evening and quite well at night. We are pleased with the accurate white balance, correct focus, and a small amount of noise and artifacts.

Selfies come out great: with the right BB, sharp, wide-angle. Pure pleasure.

As for the video (FullHD 30 fps), it seemed somewhat primitive to me: a small viewing angle, low clarity. «Frontalka» writes only HD.

Examples of photos

Screen

Honor 8 Lite is equipped with an IPS display (with LTPS technology) with 2.5D glass with sloping edges. Its physical dimensions are 65×116 mm with a diagonal of 5.2 inches. The resolution is 1920×1080 pixels, the density is about 423 ppi. The frame around the screen has a total width of approximately 3.5 mm on the sides, 16 mm on the bottom, and 14 mm on the top.

You can adjust the display brightness manually or use automatic settings based on the ambient light sensor. The AnTuTu test diagnoses support for 10 simultaneous multi-touch touches. There is a vision protection mode to prevent eye fatigue.

A detailed examination using measuring instruments was carried out by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections, Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are slightly worse than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2020) screen (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens (on the left — Nexus 7, on the right — Honor 8 Lite, then they can be distinguished by size):

The screen of the Honor 8 Lite is slightly lighter (brightness according to photographs is 125 versus 113 for the Nexus 7). The ghosting of reflected objects in the Honor 8 Lite screen is very weak, this indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (more specifically, between the outer glass and the surface of the LCD matrix) (OGS — One Glass Solution type screen).

Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of intense external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. On the outer surface of the screen there is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating, which is even better in efficiency than that of the Nexus 7, so fingerprints are removed much easier and appear at a lower speed than in the case of regular glass.

When manually controlling the brightness and displaying the white field in full screen, the maximum brightness value was about 530 cd/m², the minimum was 6 cd/m². The maximum brightness is very high, and given the good anti-glare properties, readability even on a sunny day outdoors should be at an acceptable level.

In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor (it is located to the left of the front speaker slot). In automatic mode, as external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases.

The operation of this function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment, with it the user can try to set the required brightness level in the current conditions. We slightly increased the brightness in complete darkness and found that in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 14 cd/m², in an artificially lit office (approximately 550 lux) it sets it to 170 cd/m², in a very bright environment (corresponding to clear lighting outdoors during the day, but without direct sunlight — 20,000 lux or a little more)

increases to 530 cd/m². We were quite pleased with the result. It turns out that the auto-brightness function works adequately and to some extent allows the user to customize their work to individual requirements. At any brightness level, there is no significant backlight modulation, so there is no screen flicker.

This smartphone uses an IPS type matrix. Microphotographs show typical IPS subpixel structure:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

The screen has good viewing angles without significant color shift even when viewing large deviations from perpendicular to the screen and without inverting shades. For comparison, here are photos in which the same images are displayed on the screens of Honor 8 Lite and Nexus 7, while the screen brightness is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera is forced to switch to 6500 K.

White field perpendicular to the screens:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field.

And test picture:

Colors on the Honor 8 Lite screen have a natural saturation; the color balance between the Nexus 7 and the screen under test is slightly different.

Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:

It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens, but on the Honor 8 Lite the contrast has decreased to a greater extent due to the strong brightening of blacks.

And the white field:

The brightness at an angle of the screens decreased (at least 4 times, based on the difference in shutter speed), but in the case of Honor 8 Lite the drop in brightness is slightly less. When deviated diagonally, the black field brightens greatly and acquires a reddish tint. The photographs below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is the same!):

And from another angle:

When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the black field is average:

The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is high — about 1200:1. Black-white-black response time is 26ms (14ms on, 12ms off). The transition between 25% and 75% gray halftones (by color value) and back takes a total of 42ms. The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal any blockage in either the highlights or the shadows.

This device has a dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness in accordance with the nature of the displayed image — on average dark images, the backlight brightness noticeably decreases. As a result, the resulting dependence of brightness on hue (gamma curve) does not correspond to the gamma curve of a static image, since the measurements were carried out with sequential display of shades of gray on almost the entire screen.

For this reason, we carried out a number of tests — determining contrast and response time, comparing black illumination at angles (however, as always) when displaying special templates with a constant average brightness, and not monochromatic fields in full screen. In general, such a non-switchable brightness correction does nothing but harm, since constantly changing the screen brightness can at least cause some discomfort, reduce the visibility of gradations in shadows in the case of dark images and the readability of the screen in bright light, since in average images the backlight brightness is not the brightest is underestimated.

Color gamut close to sRGB:

The spectra show that the matrix filters mix the components with each other to a moderate extent:

As a result, visually the colors on this screen do not differ from natural ones. The grayscale balance is a bit of a compromise, as the color temperature is well above the standard 6500K, but the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is below 10, which is considered acceptable for a consumer device.

At the same time, color temperature and ΔE change little from hue to hue — this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

This device has the ability to adjust the color balance by adjusting the hue on the color wheel.

In the graphs above, the curves are Without corr. correspond to the results without any color balance correction, and the curves Corr. — data obtained after shifting the point to the position indicated in the image above. It can be seen that the change in balance corresponds to the expected result, since the color temperature has approached the standard value and ΔE has decreased on average.

There is a fashionable setting that allows you to reduce the intensity of the blue component.

Marketers tried to intimidate the user in order to show the level of care of the manufacturer. Of course, there is no UV radiation (see spectrum above), and there is no eye fatigue caused specifically by blue light. In principle, bright light can lead to disruption of the circadian rhythm (see the article about the iPad Pro with a 9.7-inch display), but everything can be solved by adjusting the brightness to a comfortable level, and there is absolutely no way to distort the color balance, reducing the contribution of blue sense.

To summarize: the screen has a very high maximum brightness and has good anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors without any problems, even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. It is also possible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works adequately.

The advantages of the screen include the absence of an air gap in the layers of the screen and flicker, an effective oleophobic coating, high contrast, acceptable color balance and a color gamut close to sRGB. The disadvantages are the low stability of black to the deviation of the gaze from perpendicular to the screen plane, as well as the non-switchable dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness. Nevertheless, taking into account the importance of characteristics for this particular class of devices, the quality of the screen can be considered high.