Huawei's P20 phones are its best yet, with stunning designs
and photography skills to envy. But there's one member of the family you may
not have met yet.
Huawei's P20 Lite, or the Nova 3e as it's known in countries
like Australia, doesn't have the camera prowess of its more expensive siblings,
but it's a strong mix of capable and affordable. It looks great, has enough power
for reliable performance outside intensive 3D gaming and costs just AU$399.
It's more pricey in the UK, where it retails for £329, though that cheaper
Australia price converts to $295. Unfortunately, the Huawei P20 Lite won't sell
in the US, as with other Huawei phones.
The P20 Lite is stiff competition for phones like the Moto
G6, Motorola's excellent new budget handset. The G6 has a cleaner operating
system and is a little less expensive in the US and UK ($249, £229, AU$399),
but the Moto G6 design isn't as up-to-date as the P20 Lite's.
It's not without compromise, but Huawei's P20 Lite is a
tremendous deal for those who think that even the OnePlus 6 is too expensive a
phone.
Huawei P20 Lite
Huawei P20
Lite isn't light on looks
Though it's in the name, the Huawei P20 Lite doesn't share a
strong resemblance to the Huawei P20 or the even brawnier P20 Pro, which has
three rear cameras on the back. It's very much its own beast -- and a regal one
at that.
The P20 Lite has a big ol' 5.84-inch, 2,280x1,080-pixel
display. It's light on bezel, like most premium phones today, with just enough
to cram a notch up top and a Huawei logo below the screen. The phone comes with
responsive facial recognition, which is a smart touch for an inexpensive
device, though keep in mind that face unlocking is more convenient than it is
secure. For example, you won't be able to use this to validate mobile payments,
unlike the fingerprint reader on the rear.
The phone's backing is similarly nice to look at, and with a
glossy, reflective back looks like a snazzier Honor phone. Hidden antenna lines
and a metallic fingerprint scanner add to the design, too. I got the Klein Blue
model, which is extremely blue, though it also comes in Sakura Pink and
Midnight Black.
Simply put, this phone looks more expensive than it is.
Software is less remarkable, though. The phone runs EMUI 8.0, Huawei's take on
the Android 8.0 Oreo operating system, and while it's OK, it's certainly not as
clean and slick as the near-pure Android you'll see on Moto's phones.
Huawei's P20
Lite is heavy on features
Power and
battery
The P20 Lite is a terrific budget phone, but it's still a
budget phone. That means compromises are needed, and the Kirin 659 processor is
mostly where you'll feel it.
It's not a slow handset, but there are moments of lag. Going
from reading a news app to Googling a word definition to checking a Facebook
message and then back to the news app, for instance, is a command sequence
likely to stump the phone, if only for a couple of milliseconds. There were
also a few times that audio from an app kept going even after I had closed it.
There's also enough power here for most 3D gaming. A game
like Asphalt 8 runs fine, though bigger games that require more RAM won't run
optimally here. In PUBG, for instance, I had to play at the lowest graphics
settings.
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