Huawei P20 Lite review: Excellent display with an average battery

With the Huawei P20 Lite, the Chinese manufacturer has created an exciting mid-range smartphone that scores with a fabulous display, fast performance and a quite attractive price. Less convincing are the battery life and the washed-out photos in twilight.

P20 series

Huawei is once again racing three different versions of its latest P20 smartphone flagship series. The cheapest version, located at the lower end, is called the Huawei P20 Lite. But how slimmed down is this version really and how does it beat its more expensive sister models P20 and P20 Pro? On paper, there are clear differences between the Tech Specs: All three P20 derivatives have an Octa Core processor, but with the HiSilicon Kirin 659, the Huawei P20 Lite definitely has the weakest expansion stage in its heart. However, with 4+4 cores and a maximum clock frequency of 2,360 MHz, the P20 Lite is by no means weak on the chest - the subjective performance convinces the CHIP test laboratory.

But the hard facts speak volumes: The rendering of our test PDF took about 2.5 seconds longer than with the P20 with just 4.1 seconds. The integrated memory of 64 GByte is also definitely sufficient, but smaller than in the other two models. By the way, about 50 GByte of the 64 GByte memory space is available to you. Plus point: The P20 Lite swallows microSD cards with a capacity of up to 256 GB. Huawei uses 4 GB RAM for smooth multitasking. As already mentioned above, this is sufficient in our subjective performance evaluation - we didn't have any jerks or freezes in the test.

The Huawei P20 Lite has the twist-resistant new USB type C standard, but transfers data slower than its big brothers, namely with USB 2.0 and not USB 3.0. All in all, no big drama if you consider that the Huawei P20 Lite costs more than 500 Euros less than the top model P20 Pro at the time of testing.

Display

The display discipline is clearly the hobbyhorse of the Huawei P20 Lite. The smartphone doesn't offer an OLED screen like the top model P20 Pro, but that doesn't stop it. Because the 5.8-inch LC display with its FHD+ resolution shows all contents in razor-sharp detail - even in strong sunlight. In figures, this means: 2,280 x 1,080 pixels, 433ppi and a maximum brightness of 490 cd/m². The chessboard contrast of 176:1 also proves our subjective impression of a beautifully dynamic and high-contrast display.

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We think you not only like to look at the Huawei P20 Lite, but you also like to look at it. Of course, the workmanship is not as high as with the expensive Samsung models or the top phones from our own ranks, but we can't complain much either: The phone has a high-quality metal frame, on the back is Huawei glass. And above all, it offers a conventional 3.5 millimeter jack plug for your headphones.

By the way, the fingerprint sensor is located on the back and is not located at the front, as it is with the P20 or P20 Pro. In contrast to the more expensive P20 models, the display incision reminiscent of the iPhone X cannot be concealed by an option in the settings. Too bad. We would have wished for one more thing: while the P20 Pro is resistant to dust or water after IP certification, the P20 Lite is vulnerable to adverse external influences.

camera

Huawei also equips the P20 Lite with a dual camera. However, the lenses and sensors are composed as follows: While a 16 megapixel sensor is used on the front (yes, 16 megapixels for Selfies are already an announcement), the 16 megapixel sensor of the rear main camera is additionally supplemented by a 2 megapixel lens for the popular Bokeh effect. The Dual-Cam makes a good impression in the test lab - at least as long as it is bright enough.

As soon as the light conditions become more difficult, the noise filter rinses the photos quite softly. Details can then hardly be recognized. Rather, we would accept more noise instead of having to do without so many details. There is no optical zoom here. By the way, we really like the front camera.

But you have to put up with economy measures for the camcorder: The P20 Lite films maximum in full HD and at only 30 fps. That's enough for everyday use, but of course you're further away from super slow motion or ultimate fluid shots.

Stylish display, great looks, fast performance - if the battery doesn't play along, the fun is quickly over. Huawei wants to counteract an early end with a 3,000 mAh battery. The capacity doesn't seem particularly high to us and so it's also reflected in the test lab that a little more power would have been good here: After 7:36 hours there is a shift in the shaft. For comparison: The P20 manages more than ten hours of battery life and the P20 Pro more than eleven hours. After all, the battery can be recharged more or less quickly thanks to quick-charging technology. Fortunately, a fast-charging power supply unit is even in the carton.

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