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Honor 400 Lite deals36 monthsUnlimited minsUnlimitedtexts1GBdata36 monthsUnlimited minsUnlimitedtexts1GBdata36 monthsUnlimited minsUnlimitedtexts5GBdata36 monthsUnlimited minsUnlimitedtexts5GBdata24 monthsUnlimited minsUnlimitedtexts1GBdata24 monthsUnlimited minsUnlimitedtexts1GBdataLife hasn’t usually been simple for Honor. Beforehand a sub-brand of Huawei, it struggled to face out from its greater sibling, with gadgets that didn’t have a lot of an id of their very own.Then got here Covid and the whole lot modified. Tariffs and blocks have been hurled into the combo and killed Huawei’s presence within the west, forcing the model to divest Honor right into a full-fledged firm.And so Honor has continued, hewing away, working to construct a reputation for itself via all kinds of tech, together with smartwatches, smartphones, laptops and tablets. All through, there’s been a generally inflexible deal with hitting a price range, however extra lately the agency has proven somewhat extra ambition.There’s software program designed to look good, which has ambitions to stake a place of its personal, and will be present in its new {hardware} too. What ‘Honor’ is within the public thoughts is one thing that it needs to concretely set up.It’s via telephones like its new Honor 400 Lite that it hopes to realize that. At just below £/$300, it has a full AMOLED display, a 108MP digital camera and a deal with AI, but additionally one thing extra – an actual emphasis on design. This can be a telephone made to take knocks and scrapes, however one which additionally has a big battery, is skinny and lightweight, and appears good – not a straightforward mixture to tug off.The proof, as ever, is within the pudding. Does the 400 Lite do sufficient to dwell as much as its lofty guarantees? Is design essential sufficient to win a battle by which specs play an extremely essential half? And can it make our listing of the most effective price range digital camera telephones?Learn on for our full overview.Key specs(Picture credit score: Sean Cameron)Swipe to scroll horizontallyChipset: Mediatek Dimensity 7025 UltraRAM:8GBStorage:256GBOS: Android 15Screen:6.7in AMOLED, 2412x1080p, 20:9 side ratio, 394ppiPeak brightness:3500 nits (HDR)Cameras:Again: 108MP f/1.8 (broad), 5MP f/2,2 (ultrawide)Entrance: 16MP (broad)Connectivity:5G, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC, USB 3.2 Sort-CBattery:5230mAh, 35W wired chargingDimensions:161 x 74.6 x 7.3 mmWeight:171gDesign and show(Picture credit score: Sean Cameron)It’s an impulse that many possess, to have a look at what’s widespread and to then dwell as much as the concept that imitation is the sincerest type of flattery. In cell phone phrases, that interprets to, usually, discovering some discreet and different not-so-discreet methods of lifting concepts from Apple.With the 400 Lite, Honor has fallen on the latter; in the correct gentle, it might be an iPhone. The digital camera ‘island’ is a triangle; nevertheless, from the position of the lenses via to the presence of a digital camera button, that is one thing between an iPhone 16 and 16 Professional when it comes to seems.From a standpoint of pure originality, it isn’t a great look. There’s no assertion right here, at the very least on the floor, it’s not doable to see what the true thrust was right here. However you then use the machine for a number of days, and a myriad of small issues add collectively neatly.To start out, it’s created from plastic, however a nice, brushed, grippy plastic. Plastic on the price range finish isn’t an enormous deal (besides maybe from an environmental perspective, for all of the copying of Apple, there are not any claims of recyclability), because it has some optimistic tradeoffs. On the expense of feeling ‘premium’, you get higher drop resistance, a telephone that doesn’t slide and, most crucially, diminished weight.Although at 6.7 inches the 400 Lite display is giant, the machine weighs solely 171g, and at 7.3mm thick, it’s fantastically simple to make use of in a single hand. That isn’t one thing which will be mentioned about a large number of costlier gadgets, and is helped largely by some useful weighting.Design is about greater than flashy strokes, about making one thing that can be utilized by anybody, anyplace, and the 400 Lite succeeds with aplomb on these metrics.Coming to the show, it succeeds on all the metrics which can be usually set for a smartphone in 2025. That signifies that at 1080p, the show is sharp sufficient for many use instances, and that with AMOLED tech, it has properly saturated colors and infinite distinction.I discovered it turned brilliant sufficient to fight the brittle spring solar, whereas additionally getting dim sufficient for bedtime studying. At 120Hz, the display refreshes quick sufficient to maintain the machine feeling easy in on a regular basis use.It’s a show that received’t win any awards, however which has a tick in opposition to each field required to be thought of ‘good’, not outclassing the competitors in any explicit means however undoubtedly retaining tempo.FeaturesIt’s been an odd expertise, seeing the return of the digital camera button on smartphones. After their look on the iPhone 16 collection, it was solely a matter of time earlier than they surfaced elsewhere, and the 400 Lite is without doubt one of the first to take the bounce.The button used is identical as discovered on the iPhones, which is to say there’s no actual ‘click on’ to it, and it’s depressed barely into the body of the machine. You need to use it to launch the digital camera with a fast click on, as is perhaps anticipated. You possible received’t end up utilizing it on a regular basis; nevertheless, when pulling the machine out of your pocket, it’s undoubtedly sooner to launch this fashion than by utilizing on-screen controls.As for the opposite principal play for consideration, it’s a basic, the digital camera megapixel depend. With a full decision of 108MP, in idea, the sensor will seize a frankly ridiculous degree of element, although in apply, that’s hardly possible. As is to be anticipated from a price range smartphone, measured in opposition to the hyperbolic claims of some very excited advertising, the image, because it have been, is a bit more complicated.Software program(Picture credit score: Sean Cameron)If there’s one factor {that a} sure sub-set of Android producers has turn out to be recognized for through the years, it’s barely heavy-handed software program skins. And of these, Honor is among the many most dedicated to reinventing the entire expertise from the bottom up, with ‘Magic OS’.Neglect the whole lot you understand and count on of Android, for capabilities just like the app drawer are not to be discovered. As an alternative, Magic OS performs out as a mishmash of concepts cribbed from iOS, some from inventory Android, some fully new.And for essentially the most half, that isn’t a foul factor. The times of Android being a ‘pure’ expertise are lengthy gone, the most effective gadgets recognise that having somewhat flavour of their very own is essential – like with the Pixel expertise or with Samsung’s OneUI.Magic OS is nice to make use of, has some good visible touches and because of distinctive design decisions, feels thematically coherent in ways in which most of the competitors doesn’t. There’s some annoyances, such the dearth of an app drawer, and the cut up of the notification shade right into a ‘Management Centre’ and a notification space, however on the entire it nearly balances as a value-add relatively than an outright detrimental.CamerasIt’s one of many oldest tips within the smartphone advertising guide – stick a megapixel depend on the sensor and the folks will come. Again within the days of yore, it was a 8MP sensor which dominated the roost, then the notorious 41MP Lumia 1020, and these days we’re spoiled by a bevy of cameras overstuffed with megapixels. Some say 48MP, others 108MP, others 200MP, however all share a secret which proves to be true too with the 400 Lite, whatever the depend, the picture output every time is 12MP.So whereas the promise of the identical degree of element as discovered on a medium-format digital camera is there, you received’t be getting something remotely shut in apply. That isn’t to say that the digital camera isn’t succesful nevertheless.Starting with the app, utilizing the digital camera button I discovered it was very fast to launch in addition to to function, so fortunately you received’t miss too many fast photographs as a consequence.Coming to photograph high quality, it’s one thing of a blended bag. Photographs captured are usually very vigorous, with saturated colors and lots of brightness, nevertheless they do have a tendency in the direction of the cool aspect. Photographs can usually come throughout as somewhat chilly as a consequence, and dynamic vary was rather less broad than supplied by among the competitors, such because the Poco M7 Professional.Element was additionally one thing of a difficulty. Some have a proclivity in the direction of over sharpening, and Honor is certainly amongst that quantity. Photographs with a number of straight traces, equivalent to of buildings aren’t a difficulty, however the place there’s foliage there’s sharpening halos, which is unlucky to see.When the lights go down, efficiency doesn’t enhance, as an alternative staying in the midst of the highway. Whereas the 400 Lite is able to capturing comparatively detailed evening mode photographs, they have a tendency to lack in pop and distinction, which is reflective of the value level however nonetheless unlucky.What’s extra unlucky nonetheless are the choices for video seize. There’s no 4K right here, or 1080p at 60fps, or certainly any type of enhanced audio recording or the like. As an alternative, you’re caught with specs from 2016 – in case you are a budding content material creator you’ll wish to look elsewhere.That mentioned, there are a number of Instagram-friendly modes, together with multi-camera seize and a built-in ‘story’ editor, however the impact stays the identical. This can be a digital camera system which focussed somewhat an excessive amount of on the gimmicks and never sufficient on the core execution, which is unlucky. The 400 Lite is under no circumstances ‘dangerous’ from a photographic perspective, nevertheless it isn’t on the extent of among the competitors, which is unlucky to see.Efficiency and battery(Picture credit score: Sean Cameron)Although it has come to some extent the place sure smartphone monikers not imply a terrific deal (right here’s taking a look at you, ‘Professional’), however some nonetheless have very particular connotations – with ‘Lite’ that means, nicely, lighter, but additionally reduce.The Honor 400 Lite actually isn’t as highly effective as some others, nevertheless the hot button is in producing one thing that is perhaps somewhat cheaper, however which doesn’t really feel cheaper.In actual world use, and particularly for the value level, there was little or no I might discover to fault the efficiency of the 400 Lite. Switching between apps, utilizing GPS, streaming music, something that may represent ‘regular’ utilization gave it no challenge, and it felt as if it greater than stored up every time.For most individuals, it would represent greater than sufficient. There could also be these individuals who intend to run a social media empire from their smartphone, and in case you are one among them then it will possible not be for you. If you’re the type of one who makes use of social media, sends e-mail, prompt messages and listens to podcasts, you’ll be served nicely.That isn’t to say that it has no grunt in any respect. Working the bogus benchmark Geekbench 6, it achieved a single core rating of 956 and a multi core rating of 2256, inserting it roughly across the similar degree as gadgets operating the Snapdragon 860, an previous however nonetheless highly effective chip. That speaks nicely to the ability of the Mediatek Dimensity 7025 Extremely contained inside, paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage by default.I did encounter one barely odd quirk, there have been many apps which claimed to not fit with the machine. Fortnite, for instance, acknowledged that it didn’t meet minimal necessities to run (not true), whereas different benchmarking apps refused to put in. That is one thing which might possible be fastened with a software program replace, nevertheless it’s nonetheless unlucky to see in what ought to be a completed product.The overall impressions of efficiency are borne out in gaming. Taking part in the likes of PUBG, I used to be capable of obtain steady, playable body charges with graphics choices set to ‘balanced’ and ‘easy’. Something extra turned the expertise right into a pop-up slide present.Coming to the battery, at 5,230mAh it’s nonetheless substantial regardless of the sunshine weight of the machine, and paired with a power-efficient trendy processor, all the substances for excellent efficiency have been there.Fortunately, the promise turned out to be true. That is one, of many, gadgets, which can make it via a full day of medium to heavy utilization, solely lasting to a second with gentle use instances.Beginning at 7am, with an hour of GPS, texting and emailing all through the day, an hour of streaming music over bluetooth and watching video within the night, by 7pm I had round 45% left within the tank, which is an honest displaying certainly.When the time involves high up, the 400 Lite does so at as much as 35W, which is way from the quickest pace in the marketplace. I discovered that it took round an hour and ten minutes to succeed in full capability from zero p.c, which is sufficient to make a distinction, however lagging behind among the competitors, particularly the elements branded ‘Xiaomi’.Who’s it for?• Primary digital camera telephone customers on a budgetBuy it if…You desire a telephone that’s just like an iPhoneYou want one thing that isn’t constructed like a brickYou need good battery lifeDon’t purchase it if…You want one thing with a number of powerCamera high quality is a dealbreakerYou need the quickest chargingHonor 400 Lite deals36 monthsUnlimited minsUnlimitedtexts1GBdata36 monthsUnlimited minsUnlimitedtexts1GBdata36 monthsUnlimited minsUnlimitedtexts5GBdata36 monthsUnlimited minsUnlimitedtexts5GBdata24 monthsUnlimited minsUnlimitedtexts1GBdata24 monthsUnlimited minsUnlimitedtexts1GBdata36 monthsUnlimited minsUnlimitedtexts1GBdata36 monthsUnlimited minsUnlimitedtexts1GBdata36 monthsUnlimited minsUnlimitedtexts30GBdata36 monthsUnlimited minsUnlimitedtexts30GBdata
