News JVTech I got my hands on the new Honor smartphone with two days of battery life for less than 400 dollars
While waiting for the Magic5 Pro, which will be Honor’s main attraction for the MWC show in Barcelona at the end of February, we were treated to a preview of the Magic5 Lite, the most affordable option in the new range that promises mountains and wonders in matters of autonomy.
The technical sheet of the Honor Magic5 Lite
2023 is the year of the “5” range at Honor and the Magic5 Lite is the latest to arrive. Officially announced by Honor this Monday February 13th, it will be available from February 21st.
Let’s get to the hard part with the processor that makes this smartphone entry-level: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 695 5G, same as the Magic4 Lite. It remains satisfactory but well below the latest versions currently on the market. As with any sub-$400 smartphone, don’t expect incredible performance. Ditto for RAM: 6GB is the union minimum for self-respecting Android smartphones, although the RAM Turbo feature can dig into memory to make it virtual RAM. The Magic5 Lite should work like a charm if you don’t use it very intensively due to heavy gaming.
Inside we find a 5100mAh battery. That’s a lot, and Honor tells us this is the largest battery capacity available for such a thin smartphone: 7.9mm. For comparison, Samsung’s Galaxy S23 is 7.6mm thick but has a battery of just 3900mAh. Of course, autonomy is also a question of software optimization. Honor promises 24 hours of YouTube playback on a single charge.
The 6.7-inch curved screen has a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels. AMOLED technology allows infinite contrasts and that’s what really changes in this Magic5 Lite compared to the previous version. OLED on smartphones is doing a world of good. We are still entitled to an adaptive refresh rate of 120 Hz for excellent fluidity without loss of autonomy. The maximum brightness of 800 cd/m² is good for the price range, with the Samsung Galaxy A33 being capped at 700 cd/m².
On the photo side, the Magic5 Lite has:
- 64MP main sensor with f/1.8 aperture with night mode
- 5MP ultra wide angle f/2.2 aperture
- 2 MP macro sensor with F/2.4 aperture
How to find the Honor Magic5 Lite?
Obviously not having been able to test the autonomy in my few minutes of handling, I can nevertheless share with you some information and my personal feelings.
First of all I really appreciate the ring design on the back, especially compared to the Magic4 Lite. More sophisticated and impossible to guess, this smartphone costs only $379. And if you don’t want to wear protective covers, The shape of the photo module ensures that the smartphone does not rattle when placed on a table. I could see the two colors you see here, with a large to clear version that really changes color depending on how it’s tilted.
Much less risk is taken for the front. We know fine edges and a punch for the selfie camera well. I always struggle with curved edges Although Honor ensures that the Magic5 Lite detects and avoids accidental touches. The benefit of having an under-screen fingerprint sensor is that you don’t have to place it on top of the power button, which tends to make the button in the device less clickable and depressed, a choice that bothers me a lot.
In an increasingly competitive market for entry-level smartphones, we’ll see if this Honor Magic5 Lite manages to stand out, autonomy and the screen being two of its strengths and two points dear to users.
