If the Huawei P20 and the Huawei P20 Pro have been designed to combine with smartphone royalty, then the Huawei P20 Lite is down there scrapping with the center lessons.
At a worth of £329 (round $455 / AU$580 – although don’t look forward to finding it broadly obtainable within the US), the P20 Lite is roughly half the worth of the Huawei P20, and counts the likes of the Moto Z2 Play as a direct rival.
Identical to that different mid-ranger, Huawei’s telephone makes an attempt to trickle down somewhat of the glamour and panache from larger up the vary. Regardless of its cheaper price tag, the P20 Lite retains the dominant edge-to-edge show and distinctive notch of its huge brothers.
Add to dual-lens digicam, a speedy fingerprint scanner and Android eight.zero, and the Huawei P20 Lite begins to look lots like a middleweight contender for the brand new edge-to-edge era.
Whereas it’s a strong effort from one of many world’s greatest producers, nevertheless, there are a couple of notable shortfalls which may make you query whether or not it actually offers worth for cash.
Dropping down a notch
- Sports activities speedy face recognition
- A trendy all-screen look
You would say that the primary objective of any ‘Lite’ telephone is to offer a tough approximation of the flagship at a extra accessible worth level. It must be readily identifiable as a part of the household, but sensible about the place it cuts corners to return in underneath price range.
For essentially the most half, the Huawei P20 Lite meets that transient with a good quantity of favor.
Certainly, fashion is the operative phrase right here. All three P20 telephones symbolize a design departure for the Chinese language model after the smart-but-humdrum Huawei P10.
Identical to the remainder of the smartphone world, Huawei has switched to an all-screen design philosophy. The P20 Lite has a comparatively small chin, minimal facet bezels, and a cut-out notch on the high of the show containing the entrance digicam and earpiece.
In line with the apparent debt it owes to the iPhone X (extra on which within the subsequent part), the Huawei P20 Lite can use the digicam sensors saved in that notch to learn your face and unlock your telephone.
Whereas Face Unlock appears to work shortly and precisely (even in pitch darkish circumstances, not like different Face ID wannabes) it doesn’t appear to be as superior or safe as Apple’s answer.
As proof of this, Face Unlock is switched off by default, and you need to fish by means of the menus to manually change it on. The way in which it scans your face immediately within the set-up phases additionally means that it isn’t actually acquiring an in depth 3D map of your face like Face ID.
Nonetheless, there’s no denying Huawei’s answer works shortly to unlock the telephone. Set the P20 Lite to wake once you choose it up, and also you gained’t have to consider unlocking it in any respect.
If you happen to’re utilizing the telephone for enterprise utilization, or want to make sure the utmost ranges of safety, you would possibly need to persist with the default fingerprint sensor.
Design
- Notch appears to be like lots just like the P20 (and the iPhone X)
- A metallic and glass construct
As we’ve already talked about, Huawei has taken a recent method to design with the P20 household. It’s not arduous to identify the continued affect Apple has over the producer’s work, nevertheless.
Identical to its brothers, the Huawei P20 Lite is in thrall to the iPhone X. It’s obtained a really related footprint and form, and naturally there’s that acquainted notch consuming into the highest fringe of the expansive show.
The notch itself is lots narrower than the iPhone equal, likely owing to the much less superior entrance digicam array we mentioned above. It’s somewhat wider than the Essential Phone’s notch, although.
In a single respect, the P20 Lite is even nearer to the iPhone X design than its huge brothers are, due to the omission of a front-mounted fingerprint sensor. Curiously, this has been shifted to a extra common (for Android) place on the rear.
That’s to not say that the P20 Lite has used the additional house notably well. There’s nonetheless a noticeable chin under the show, with a Huawei image positioned there instead of a button.
In the case of every day use, the rear fingerprint sensor is an efficient one. It allow us to in far more instances than it stored us out, and in super-quick time at that. It wasn’t as finicky about finger positioning as some lesser telephones proceed to be both.
The P20 Lite’s metallic rim is nothing to put in writing residence about. It has a matt end and a barely curious pair of ridges working concerning the outdoors, which really mixed to make us assume it was manufactured from plastic till we felt its cool contact.
Nonetheless, the telephone feels good and premium within the hand owing to its all-glass and metallic make-up. It’s a disgrace the facet buttons really feel so plasticky and nondescript, however these are the kind of minor shortcuts that may mix to shave kilos off the ultimate worth.
Speaking of shaving kilos, the Huawei P20 Lite weighs in at a comparatively scant 145g. With dimensions set at a mere 148.6 x 71.2 x 7.4mm, it truly is a supremely pocketable piece of equipment.
Show
- Edge-to-edge 5.84-inch show
- 1080 x 2280 decision
Regardless of its small measurement, the Huawei P20 Lite manages to cram in a 5.84-inch show, due to the entire edge-to-edge method. This manifests itself in a considerably unorthodox 19:9 side ratio.
Whereas this makes for a powerful canvas when flicking by means of the house display and native apps, it appears to have little sensible use. Many apps stay unoptimised for this type of show, with Android understandably slower in adopting notched shows than iOS.
YouTube presents you a daily rectangular image by default, with thick black borders both facet.
Video games aren’t at all times fully optimised for this type of show, both. One of many greatest releases of latest instances, Remaining Fantasy XV: Pocket Version, exhibited unusual visible artefacts when pushing it into full display.
Nonetheless, the show itself is succesful and engaging. It’s an LTPS TFT, which implies that it’s sharp and correct despite the fact that it lacks the distinction and punch of an AMOLED.
A extra noticeable downside of not having an AMOLED show comes when you actually can’t abide that notch, and choose to cover it within the choices menu. With the AMOLED-packing Huawei P20 Professional, this selection would make the notch all however disappear. Right here (as with the P20) you may clearly see that they’re merely ‘black’ sections of display to the left and proper of the notch.
One other factor the P20 Lite show shares with the P20 is decision. Whereas flagship Android telephones usually go for QHD resolutions, the Huawei P20 went with 1080 x 2240, and didn’t undergo remotely. The P20 Lite follows go well with with a 1080 x 2280 display, and positive sufficient it’s lots sharp sufficient for just about all duties.
Many due to Vodafone for offering us with a Huawei P20 Lite for evaluation