Huawei P8 Lite

In order to appeal to different markets, Huawei has released two different iterations of the P8 flagship. There’s the monstrous P8 Max and the P8 Lite. The P8 Lite is priced to attract the more budget conscious shoppers, but in order to reduce the price tag Huawei had to make some sacrifices. The most notable is its all-plastic build. Still, reviewers consider it to be a fairly attractive device thanks to its curved corners and slim (0.3-inch) profile. It also surprised them with its excellent grip, which comes courtesy of its brushed plastic back and faux metal frame.

At 5-inches, the 720p resolution display offers a decent pixel density of 295ppi. While certainly not as clear and sharp as a Quad HD screen, experts describe it as a decent enough. They could still notice pixels, but it offered good color reproduction, wide viewing angles and maximum brightness high enough for good sunlight legibility. Some reviewers experienced issues with touch sensitivity having to frequently tap and double tap multiple times in order for their action to register.

Packed with a 1.5GHz octa-core processor and 2GB of RAM, the P8 Lite falls in line with other devices in its price range. Experts generally had smooth performance when swiping around the home screen and Android Authority adds, “The overall experience was mostly fluid, and the UI was fast and responsive most of the time.” The Lite also comes with 16GB of onboard storage, which can be expanded further via microSD card and 4G LTE connectivity. What impressed critics the most was the longevity of the 2,200mAh battery. They were able to easily breeze through a day of moderate usage without the need to reach for a charger and a full two days when only doing the most basic activities. The only way they were able to drain the battery in less than a day was to keep the screen at max brightness, watch movies and do a ton of web browsing. Even then, they were able to get five hours of use. This is great news for consumers as the P8 Lite’s battery is not removable.

The P8 Lite comes equipped with a 13MP main camera. For the most part, critics were able to get decently colored and detailed images in good lighting conditions though they add colors generally tend to be a bit dull. Low light settings were different story, resulting in a lot of noise and lack of details in their pictures. They suggest this is due to the lack of optical image stabilization and slow camera shutter. It took some experts a full two seconds from pressing the button for the pictures to actually process.

For many reviewers, the Huawei P8 is a difficult phone to recommend due to its various shortcomings. Anand Tech states, “At this time there are simply better options in the…price point.” Tech Radar adds, “…the P8 Lite simply can’t keep up with the competition.”