Huawei P9 Lite Review
Category : Smartphones
Published by Luca Rocchi on 01.09.16
With the P9 Lite, Huawei has a stunning looking new smartphone in its portfolio. Apart from that the pricing is also on a very competitive level. Overall we're curious to find out whether the P9 Lite is capable of convincing in our review. Despite the mid-range specifications, the P9 Lite offers a few interesting features like the fingerprint reader and the aluminum chassis.
No matter what product you're looking at the battle in the mid-range segment is always a tough one. Something that adds to the competition in the mid-range segment is that every year old high-end devices cram this segment up even more, becoming available at affordable prices. With the P9 Lite, Huawei offers a mid-range smartphone which comes equipped with all the latest technologies on the market. This device is equipped with a HiSilicon Kirin 650 eight-core CPU, a Mali-T830MP2 GPU and 3GB of memory. The internal storage space is 16GB and expandable via micro-SD by up to 32GB. On the connectivity side you get the traditional WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS as well as LTE Cat 6, NFC and a single nano-SIM. The display measures 5.2 inches with HD-IPS technology and offers resolution 1080x1920 resolution.
Display
As we already mentioned, Huawei decided to use a FullHD IPS panel measuring 5.2-inch diagonally. The display is excellent in almost any scenario, only the black color is not perfect, since there is a grey tint to it. The brightness is even high enough to use the P9 Lite outdoors, when the sun is directly shining on the panel. Looking for the backlight sensor, which is crucial for quick brightness changes, we find it in the upper part of the frame and the response time for automatic adjustments is average compared to other products we’ve tested. Apart from that the feedback by the touch screen is perfect, which makes the P9 Lite feel very responsive. The graphics chip inside Mediatek's MT6752 SoC is a Mali-T830MP2 produced by ARM.
Audio and Reception
The sound quality of the P9 Lite is not on the same, good level as the display. While the audio from the speaker was as expected, the same can't be said for the headpiece but at least it's comfortable. The speaker is placed in the lower part of the device next to the microUSB 2.0 port, perfectly integrated into the design of the phone. Apart from the speakers there are LDS antennans, which offer good signal reception under almost any circumstances. The P9 Lite features LTE, A-GPS, GLONASS, WiFi and more. Unfortunately, Huawei does not offer the chance to select the WiFi band therefore it's only available supporting 2.4 GHz. An interesting feature is the WiFi+, a simple function that allows to change quickly the connection between data and WiFi.
Specifications
| Model | P9 Lite |
| Software | Android Marshmallow 6.0 |
| Display | 5.2", 1080 x 1920 Pixel, 424 ppi, IPS |
| Input | Touch Screen, Status LED, Fingerprint |
| SoC | HiSilicon Kirin 650 (4x2.0 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4x1.7 GHz Cortex-A53) |
| Graphics Unit | Mali-T830MP2 |
| Memory | 3072 MB |
| Micro-SD | up to 32GB |
| Rear Camera | 13.0 Mpx f/2.0, AF, LED Flash |
| Front camera | 8 Mpx, f/2.0 |
| GSM / UMTS / LTE / NFC | Yes |
| WiFi | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi Direct, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | v4.1, A2DP, LE |
| GPS | A-GPS, GLONASS/ BDS |
| USB | Micro USB 2.0 |
| Infrared | No |
| SIM card | 1x Micro-SIM |
| Battery | 3000 mAh |
| Diemensions | 146.8 x 72.6 x 7.5 mm |
| Weight | 147 g |
| Bundle |
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| Price | |
Design / Build Quality
The Huawei P9 Lite uses the a meanwhile classic shape, which is common with all touch screen devices available on the market. Overall the P9 Lite measures 146.8 x 72.6 x 7.5 mm weighing in at 147 grams. Despite the size and the 5.2-inch display it's not possible to use the device with one hand. On the right hand side of the device you can change the volume and there is also the power button. At the top and bottom we find the audio connector and the micro-USB port (not OTG friendly). On the other side there is the fingerprint scanner and the rear camera with LED flash. Overall the build quality is on a very good level despite this is a mid-range smartphone; like other models of the same line, also P9 Lite offers a chassis made from solid aluminum with matte back cover in high-quality plastic.
Camera
The P9 Lite comes with a 13-megapixel camera on the back and a 8-megapixel one on the front. The rear camera features a LED flash, which allows you to take pictures with decent quality in the dark. A closer look at the sensor (Sony IMX2014 F2.0) reveals that it’s the same, which can be found on many other devices. However, we want to make clear that the sensor is only a small part of a camera module, and sharing the same sensor does not necessarily mean that you will get great pictures.
In our opinion color reproduction is on a good level and so is field of view. Apart from that the shutter releases almost immediately. Only the focus is not lightning fast like with other devices we’ve had for testing so far. The included application comes with numerous camera modes and settings, and while using the menu you can adjust almost every aspect of the camera, which includes ISO and white balance. We’ve also shot a few videos at the highest possible quality but we can't say that the video quality is on the same level as the picture quality.
1080p @ 30 fps
User Interface
Huawei ships the P9 Lite with Android 6.0 Marshmallow but the update to Android 7.0 Nougat is already in the works. The ROM features the classic Emotion UI which can be found on all Huawei smartphones. There is no bloat ware and the ROM is simple and very well structured. As you can see from the screenshots, there are many shortcuts that make the usage of the P9 Lite easy and intuitive. Like many other devices on the market, you also get a small themes menu where you can change the main looks of your P9 Lite. One of the key points of this device is the fingerprint scanner placed in the rear part of the device. With this function you can unlock the device and use it also as physical button for further action. The performance of the ROM is great, and the device is quick and fast and there is no freezing, which is something we certainly expected from a device with an octa-core SoC and 3GB of memory.
Battery life
The battery is probably one of the best parts of this device as the P9 Lite ships with a not-removable 3000mAh model. It makes the devices run for a full day easily even if you’re working with the P9 Lite heavily. During our tests in 4G mode, we were able to exceed 12 hours of browsing with brightness set to maximum. The Kirin 650 SoC does a great job, when it comes to power consumption. A power user will still be able to get 24 hours out of the 3000 mAh batter pack. Despite P9 Lite is compatible with fast-charge, inside the package there is only a standard charger with 1 Ampere, thus the charging time is quite slow and more than 3 hours. Using a 2 Ampere charger are necessary 2 hours.
Benchmarks
Benchmarks
Conclusion
