Honor 400 Lite – Review

I’ve been utilizing the Honor 400 Lite for practically two weeks, and it’s time to share my ideas on it with you.
For starters, if you wish to decide this telephone up, then you are able to do so by heading to the Honour website and ordering it now. There may be at present a proposal in place the place you will get some free Bluetooth headphones as effectively, so now is an effective time to choose one up in order for you one.

That being mentioned, must you be choosing this as your telephone of selection for the following few years, months, days (delete as acceptable)? Properly, let’s undergo it and discover out.

Design

I’ve already mentioned a number of of the telephone’s design points in my unboxing publish, which I encourage you to take a look at if you wish to. If not, I’ve included the video under.

From the video, we are able to see that Honor has performed it comparatively protected by way of the design and has adopted a design language that’s now turning into extra mainstream of the squared off edges, flat show and rounded corners. Some might even mistake the telephone for being an iPhone at a look. That’s, till you had been to take a more in-depth have a look at the again and, particularly, the digicam module, which stands out sufficient to present the telephone some id. I just like the slight change in color used within the triangle containing the digicam lenses and flash module. It offers a focus to the again and attracts the attention in.

The opposite noticeable change from earlier Honor-numbered sequence units is the squared-off edges and the usage of a flat show over the beforehand seen curved shows. This creates a harsh edge for the display screen the place it ends, but it surely does permit the becoming of edge-to-edge display screen protectors just like the included factory-fitted plastic one. Whereas the curved edges of outdated had been very good aesthetically, they had been annoying to make use of as the sides of the telephone had been generally not very helpful for selecting up contact factors. I’m glad to see that Honor has now adopted this design ethos right here, and I hope they’ll proceed to incorporate this in the remainder of the lineup. I’m additionally happy to say that the bezels on the sting of the telephone present up another manufacturers to disgrace as they’re each very small and, extra importantly, uniform in dimension, which is very nice to see. Total, the Show panel could be very pleasing to the attention and has been a pleasure to make use of. I’ll go into the brightness and visible high quality a bit in a while. One different factor I ought to point out whereas we’re right here is the truth that the show has 7 completely different “shields’ to assist shield your eyes. These are the next

• 3840Hz high-frequency PWM
• Dynamic Show Dimming
• Circadian Evening Show
• Comfy dim mild changes
• Low blue mild ({hardware})
• E-book Mode
• Darkish Mode

I’ve not used all of those, however I can say with some certainty that they do get very darkish when utilized in a darker atmosphere, nearly to the purpose the place they’re too darkish, particularly for my outdated, ailing eyes. The choices to regulate all of those modes are within the show settings, which makes them straightforward to seek out. Nonetheless, the PWM setting can’t be adjusted, and neither can the Dynamic Show Dimming, as these are simply managed by the telephone mechanically.

The following bit that I need to point out is a brand new function that Honor is introducing with the 400 Lite and can hopefully be seen in future variations as and once they come out (Ed be aware: I anticipate to see some extra from the sequence later this 12 months, primarily based on earlier years.) That is, after all, the brand new digicam button, which I’m happy to say is definitely a bodily button, not like a few of the different reinterpretations of the design which were seen. On the right-hand facet, under the ability/sleep, wake/lock/unlock button, is the place you can find a barely recessed lengthy button/contact bar that may can help you carry out a number of completely different actions.

Now, firstly, I do need to have a moan in regards to the positioning. It’s too excessive up on the telephone; it must be nearer to the underside, as this isn’t the place I might naturally place my finger when I’m taking a photograph. Additionally it is far too straightforward to press this by mistake on telephone calls or when making an attempt to unlock the telephone. I’ve accomplished this a number of occasions whereas utilizing the telephone.

With that out of the way in which, I’m happy to say that the button works very effectively because it permits you to do a fast launch into the digicam app from wherever within the telephone’s UI or certainly when the telephone is locked. A protracted press will open up Google Lens, permitting you to do a fast picture search. It will be good to see that skill to customize this should you wished to, although. When you’re within the digicam itself, the button will then can help you slide your finger alongside its size to regulate the zoom settings. A protracted maintain together with your finger on the button will can help you decide the main focus level, after which urgent it is going to take the image. You may also use a press and maintain to file video. It’s not fairly what I’ve used beforehand on the likes of Xperias from Sony again within the day, however it’s a good factor to have. Apparently it is going to additionally work with Gloves on, however as it’s at present the center of a warmth wave within the UK I’ve not tried this function!

The following factor I need to point out within the design is the ruggedness and water resistance. I incorrectly acknowledged within the above unboxing video that the telephone was not IP-rated. The telephone is in actual fact rated for IP64, which in plain English signifies that it’s splash resistant, though Honor appears to suppose in another way with their advertising and marketing marketing campaign on X, as they’ve this picture under

 

Should you ask me, I wouldn’t intend to take this swimming, however I wouldn’t be afraid to make use of it whereas I used to be on the seaside or by the pool, for instance. Additionally it is SGS rated for as much as a 1.8 m drop onto laborious surfaces, which once more I haven’t tried, however it’s good to know that this was examined.

That about concludes the design facet of issues, so we won’t transfer onto {hardware}. These two areas are inclined to merge into one quite a bit, so I’ll attempt to not repeat myself.

{Hardware}

Total, the telephone could be very effectively made, and as you noticed above, it reveals from the testing it has undergone, however past that, the parts getting used on the within are all good specs for the worth of the machine.On the very coronary heart of the telephone, we discover that it’s being powered by a Mediatek Dimensity 7025 Extremely, which is in flip backed up by an IMG GXM08-256 graphics chip. Now I’ve by no means heard of that particular graphics chip, however I’ve heard of the Dimensity CPU, and it’s now not related to being an inexpensive chipset solely utilized by funds manufacturers. Medaitek have been making huge strikes throughout the Chinese language smartphone market with each Vivo and Oppo having used it of their flagships on the finish of final 12 months on each their Chinese language-focused telephones and likewise the International variations. 

The Dimensity 7025 is just not a flagship chip, but it surely’s corresponding to the Snapdragon 695, which is actually a Snapdragon 6s Gen 3.  This implies telephones just like the Samsung Galaxy A 36 and the Moto G 85 use the 695/6s Gen 3.  It was additionally used within the Nord CE Lite 3G, which was reviewed in 2023. I discovered the efficiency then was greater than sufficient.

Now, let’s discuss how the Honour 400 Lite performs each day. I’ve been fairly happy with it. I haven’t had any points utilizing it as my every day driver. There was generally a small delay when opening greater apps, particularly for the primary time, however as soon as they cached to the quick reminiscence, this wasn’t a difficulty.

The reminiscence unit I’ve for assessment is the 8GB model with 256GB of storage, which is the one model out there within the UK. I consider there’s a 12GB RAM model in different markets. RAM can generally be a bottleneck to efficiency, particularly should you’re the kind of consumer who has many apps open and tabs open. Nonetheless, clearing out lively apps and searching tabs can pace issues up once more. I’m not going to attempt an blow smoke up your ass and say that that is the one telephone you’ll ever want by way of efficiency however for the informal consumer who want as telephone as a telephone and desires to make use of for emails and social media then it will go well with them completely from a efficiency standpoint. As a facet be aware, I’ve given the Nord CE 3 Lite to my Son, who has by no means complained in regards to the efficiency of that telephone in any respect, and he makes use of it for greater than the issues I simply talked about above.

The following huge inner half is, after all, the battery. Contained in the glossy profile of the Honor 400 Lite we have now bought a 5230WH battery which may cost at 35w. This battery was in a position to final me via 2 full days with very mild utilization, and when pressured, it will get me via a full day.  To recharge the battery took me round 1 hr 37mins when plugged right into a GAN 67 W charger and utilizing the Honor Supercharger protocol. Sadly and unsurprisingly, for this worth,e we don’t have any of the flowery Silicon carbon battery tech and should make do with the older fashion Li-ion Polymer Battery. I believe for this reason the charging pace is comparatively low in comparison with the remainder of the market. We’re additionally missing Wi-fi charging, however once more, that is fully comprehensible.

So these are the 2 huge hitters from an inner {hardware} perspective. What about all the opposite components? Properly connectivity-wise smart we’re very effectively served with all of the necessities, as it is going to assist all of the G’s from 2 as much as 5 it has Wifi 2.4GHz and 5GHz as much as 802.11 ac. You need to use it as a Wi-fi hotspot on each of those 2.4GHz and 5 Ghz bands should you want to. It would additionally assist Wi-Fi Direct for file switch, which made shifting all my particulars from my Oppo Discover N5 to the Honor 400 Lite easy and straightforward. For Bluetooth, we have now bought 5.3 onboard, which does the necessities with out an excessive amount of concern and that is about as up-to-date as we are able to anticipate from a funds providing. I had no situation utilizing my Pixel Watch 3 45mm with the telephone, with notifications and different actions coming via rapidly each time.

As talked about earlier, the telephone will cost at as much as 35W by way of the included charger, which can in flip be plugged into the telephone by way of the USB Kind-C 2.0 port. This will even supply reverse charging for low-powered units like Vapes, Bluetooth headphones, smartwatches and many others. It ought to be famous that once I plugged my Oppo Discover N5 into the Honor 400 Lite it was the Honore that took the cost however when i did the identical with my One Plus Pad 2 (which was at20%) that charged, the one factor i can consider is that the machine with the higher battery cost would be the one providing the cost. It could be that this was a beforehand identified and understood idea that had up till now eluded me!!!

GPS-wise, we’re effectively catered for once more with all of the anticipated methods being supported, these being GPS/AGPS/GLONASS/BeiDou/Galileo. The telephone will even work off network-based positioning in addition to WLAN-based positioning.  Leaving one of the best for final, we have now all sensors  which might be supported, all the principle culprits being right here, consisting of:

• Gravity Sensor
• Fingerprint Sensor
• Compass
• Ambient Gentle Sensor
• Proximity Sensor (Ultrasonic strategy, non-physical strategy sensor)

That about concludes the {hardware} and design points, however I wished to share some photos of the telephone subsequent to a different one from an analogous worth level, and for this, I’ve chosen the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G (primarily as I had one at hand, as it’s my work telephone).

Efficiency

This telephone has been constructed to be a “Lite” model for a sequence of telephones, and because of this, I’m not anticipating to be offered with a high-end gaming monster or DSLR substitute. That being mentioned, although, most telephones today, together with lower-end fashions such because the Honor 400 Lite, are very succesful by way of what they’ll do performance-wise.

My preliminary first impression was good, with little or no perceptible lag when shifting across the OS, and I used to be in a position to deliver all my apps and providers over from my Discover N5 with out an excessive amount of drama. I then began to make use of it, and little issues began to point out up, the truth that that is working a lower-tier processor, to be honest, although, I’m evaluating this to my every day, which is working the Snapdragon Elite. I discovered that some greater apps simply wanted that little bit extra time to load up than I used to be used to. Dont get me fallacious, the telephone is certainly not sluggish, however it’s slower than a flagship in 2025, which is predicted.

I used to be in a position to play video games on the telephone with out too many points, though my gaming decisions should not precisely essentially the most taxing issues on this planet. I’m primarily taking part in Grand Mountain Journey(a ski/snowboard sim recreation). I’ve bought it set on the highest framerates and graphics settings, and it performed simply wonderful. I did discover a bit bit of warmth build-up from prolonged gaming classes, however nothing uncomfortable. I additionally observed a little bit of preliminary lag once I began to play the sport, however this disappeared as quickly as I carried out a restart, permitting the lag to cease. I’ve tried to demo this within the video clip under.

 

There’s a recreation getting menu that may be introduced up while taking part in a recreation, but it surely presents very minimal changes. Nothing like what might be discovered on gaming-focused units just like the RedMagic sequence.

I additionally tried Asphalt Legends Unite as I need to push it a bit tougher with a extra intense recreation. Even with Settign totally cranked to the max, I used to be in a position to get an excellent gaming expertise. and nearly no lag. Listed here are some screenshots from the Recreation

On this first one, I had 3D mode turned on, together with all the opposite settings being ramped as much as max.

Right here I’ve turned off 3D Settings

It makes issues look lots higher.

Gaming efficiency is nice sufficient for all however essentially the most ardent of avid gamers, as I’ve indicated with the above two video games, the telephone is nice for informal gaming, however should you need to play intense RPG-style video games or first-person shooters with full graphics and excessive body charges, then chances are you’ll need to look elsewhere.

One other facet of efficiency is how effectively this works as a telephone for making calls. I’m happy to report that it fulfils this activity very effectively I used to be in a position to make a obtain calls with no points, and the opposite particular person was in a position to hear me clearly and concisely in all however the weakest of sign areas. It additionally handles my messaging wants very effectively with the native Google Messages preinstalled, supporting RCS messaging with no points. WhatsApp was seamless, as might be anticipated.

Lastly is the efficiency of the loudspeaker. It’s okay for quantity, however there is no such thing as a depth to the sound that comes from having a stereo setup. Additionally it is far too straightforward to cowl the speaker when watching a video or when gaming. Try the instance under.

Two extra sections to cowl, and we are going to cope with the biggy first, the Digicam.

Digicam

I’ve been in a position to get some fairly okay pictures out of the digicam setup on the Honor 400 Lite, which shouldn’t be an excessive amount of of a shock provided that they’re now fairly well-versed in making good digicam telephones. The 400 Lite makes use of a two-lens setup on the digicam module with the bigger of the 2 being a 108MP Digicam with an aperture f/1.75. The second is a wide-angle and Depth digicam and is just 5MP with an aperture of f/2.2. The vast majority of the work right here is being accomplished with the principle 108MP digicam, which can pixel bin the photographs all the way down to a extra palatable 13.3MP picture. These photos had been for essentially the most half fairly clear and crisp  as you’ll be able to see within the gallery under. 

As you’ll be able to see from above, even with the sunshine fading into nightfall, these images had been all fairly good and had been acceptable. I did come throughout one situation, and that was once I was making an attempt to seize a picture of this black cat.

The telephone’s shutter pace wasn’t fast sufficient to seize the motion, and in consequence, we have now a little bit of a blurry mess.

Low mild efficiency wasn’t too shabby both, as might be seen from the evening pictures under.

The one on the left is with evening mode off, simply utilizing the conventional settings, and the one on the appropriate is with evening mode turned on. There’s a important distinction, and this means that, not like extra greater specced units I’ve examined, the telephone’s AI is just not getting used to vary the digicam setting from regular to an evening mode shot with out you doing it your self.  Surprisingly sufficient, this doesn’t annoy me as I wish to know when the telephone goes to issues within the digicam and when it isn’t!

As for Selfies, these should not too shabby.

Within the samples under, you’ll be able to see each a shot with Bokeh results and one with out Bokeh.

I do just like the Bokeh that’s being utilized as it’s a very shut reduce round my face, and it actually doesn’t affect my face an excessive amount of. I additionally tried the selfie cam in low mild and I used to be shocked by the outcomes. Beneath is an instance with out the flash, after which one with the flash. Now, once I say flash, I imply that there’s an LED hidden within the digicam cutout subsequent to the entrance Digicam lens that may mild up simply earlier than the digicam takes its shot. I’ll be trustworthy, I’ve not seen this earlier than, so I used to be a bit shocked when this occurred. It seems that if it will get darkish sufficient, then the total display screen will mild up as effectively, which is extra what I used to be anticipating to see!

Having appeared on the specs once more, I don’t know why I used to be shocked, as it’s there in black and white!

As for the AI Digicam Button, as Honor calls it have been happy with the way it performs, and the UI is simple to make use of. Sliding your finger from left to proper zooms in, and vice versa. A protracted press will can help you set the main focus, after which lastly, a tough lengthy press will begin recording video, with you having to faucet once more to cease recording.

The very last thing I need to focus on is video. Each cameras will file video at 30 FPS in 1080p, which is par for the course on a funds telephone like this. In case you are stationary when recording, then the outcomes are okay; nonetheless, herald any movement after which issues get much more sketchy. recorded this whereas gently strolling down the highway.

Not nice to be trustworthy, and I didn’t need to file for for much longer as I didn’t need to offer you all movement illness! That is all the way down to a scarcity of any type of picture stabilisation within the telephone. Now I’m not actually that shocked by this, as on the finish of the day we’re a sub £300 telephone, so some issues should be reduce from the spec sheet.

Time to delve into the software program

Software program

The Honor 400 Lite comes with Android 15 with an Honor OS 9 pores and skin on high of it. The Honor pores and skin is nice and has some very helpful features on it, but it surely additionally has one function that’s, in my view, pointless. As you’ll anticipate there may be full suite of AI onboard which can enable you to do numerous issues from enhancing images you may have taken to utilizing the digicam together with the AI Digicam Button to rapidly open Google Lens for looking out with Gemini. It could additionally do textual content translation and assist with homework proper there throughout the Lens app.

Inside the gallery, extra AI features are current, together with your regular AI enhancing suite for images and one other one which I believed was fairly cool known as AI immediate video, which may create some very straightforward slideshows for you.

You even have Honor Magic Portal which can permit you too simply share content material out of your display screen to a wide range of providers equivalent to Fb, WhatsApp, X. You may also used this so as to add a picture to the gallery or a Favorite Area. if you’re fortunate sufficient to personal different Honor Gadgets then this may be accessed from different units as effectively, assuming the proper permissions have all been arrange.

You even have Honor AI Translate which is a really helpful app for translating speech into different languages. I’ve included some screenshots of this in motion under.

The software program works fairly darn effectively, and will probably be supported for six years of OS updates and 6 years of safety updates, which is a giant plus for potential consumers. Whether or not the telephone will nonetheless be going sturdy by that time is unsure, however time will inform on that one.

Now I’ve left it lengthy sufficient time for a rant!!!!

Notifications and Management panel splitting should not wanted; why should producers power this variation when a few of us don’t need it. I’ve seen that it is a pattern that’s beginning to be discovered throughout a number of producers as they’re all aping what Apple has accomplished in splitting these up. I don’t thoughts having the choice as I’ve on my Oppo Discover N5 and beforehand on my OnePlus 13 and many others. What i do thoughts is that Honor and others have now stared to power this variation on us with out giving us the selection and to be blunt this pisses me proper off. Cease it, should you should do that “splitting” then give the consumer the selection of what they need to use both break up (ick) or unified (superb). Thankyou

Now that’s out of the way in which we have to come to a conclusion.

Conclusion

Honor appears to be like like they’ve set the tone for an additional sequence with the 400 Lite, and it’s for essentially the most half, an excellent base from which to construct future units, as they did with the 200 sequence final 12 months. Sure there are a number of compromises which were made to get the worth to the place they wanted it to be and these could also be deal breakers however for lots of people, they received’t. I do know that if I had been in search of a second telephone (for work use perhaps) or a telephone for my relations, then this is able to defiantly be one on my radar.

When competitors then you’re going to be trying on the likes of the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite 5G (£199), OnePlus Nord 4 (£399) Samsung Galaxy A26 5G (£249). Having not had the prospect to assessment all of those I cant say which one would be the finest nonetheless the Honor 400 Lite is an effective guess, should you can stretch the funds a bit bit, although I might even be contemplating the OnePlus Nord 4 particularly whether it is on supply which it continuously is.

So there you may have the Honor 400 Lite has been reviewed and it’s a nice funds banger of a telephone, perhaps not for the flagship chasers, however definitely ok for the lighter consumer of a telephone equivalent to children or (to coin a time period from Steve Litchfield) Normobs. You should purchase the Honor 400 Lite from Honor now for the candy and attractive worth of £249 and they’ll even embody some HONOR Selection Earbuds Clip that are value £149.99.

Cheers in your time.