Honor Magic5 Lite/Honor x9a review

Competition

Prices, even on budget-oriented handsets like the Honor Magic5 Lite, continue to rise. Last year's Magic4 Lite was priced at around €300 at launch, while its successor is asking €369. Honor tried to justify the price hike with a flagship-grade, curved OLED screen, slightly bigger battery and upgraded camera hardware. This, however, may not be enough to position the device competitively. For some context, let's see what the competition offers in this price range.

One of the first devices to come to mind is the Google Pixel 6a - a true disruptor in this price segment. It's currently selling for around €330 and undercuts the Magic5 Lite by a little. The 6a has Google's 2021 flagship SoC under the hood (a much better alternative to the Snapdragon 695), superb camera performance, a set of stereo speakers and the latest Android with the potential for another upgrade down the road. The Magic5 Lite, on the other hand, has a superior display, faster charging and longer battery life.

Google Pixel 6a • Xiaomi 12 Lite • OnePlus Nord 2T

The Xiaomi 12 Lite is a viable option, albeit being a year-old phone. Sure, the Xiaomi 13 Lite is just around the corner with a modern Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC, but we expect it to arrive around the €400 mark or even more. The 12 Lite, on the other hand, is an excellent alternative to the Magic5 Lite as it's objectively a better phone. It's faster, offers the same level of display quality, takes better photos and videos and charges faster. Battery life is comparable and you get to enjoy a decent set of stereo speakers too. For just around the same asking price of €350, it's a no-brainer.

OnePlus' Nord 2T is also a handset worth exploring. A powerful Dimensity 1300 SoC sits behind the wheel, the display may be just 90Hz, but it's still bright enough and it's OLED. Moreover, photo and video quality are miles ahead of the ones we took with the Magic5 Lite. The faster charging and the stereo speakers are nice features that give the Nord 2T an extra edge over Honor's offering.

Realme GT2 • Samsung Galaxy A53 5G

The Samsung Galaxy A53 is a fan-favorite midranger from last year with impressive display quality, excellent camera performance and outstanding battery life. It charges slower and the Exynos 1280 SoC isn't exactly the best alternative to the Snapdragon 695 inside the Lite, but as a whole package, Samsung's Galaxy A53 offers better value for less than €350.

Last but not least, the vanilla Realme GT2 should definitely be considered by users willing to spend a little more on a phone. The device goes for anything between €370 and €400 but rocks a powerful Snapdragon 888 chipset, bright and vibrant OLED panel with HDR10+ certification, rarely matched main camera performance, good-sounding stereo speakers, blazing-fast charging and great battery life. In short, the GT2 does everything the Honor Magic5 Lite does, but much better. So the extra few bucks spent on the GT2 will definitely be worthwhile.

Verdict

The new Magic5 Lite fixed only some of the Magic4 Lite's shortcomings from last year, with the display being the most significant upgrade. It's a rare flagship-grade OLED in this price range, but it's just not enough to persuade us. Pretty much all of the Magic5 Lite's competitors offer a similar display quality while being better in other areas.

Honor's midranger still drags behind the competition in terms of raw performance, launches with outdated Android and judging by its predecessor, an update to Android 13 probably won't arrive this year. It has no stereo speakers, ships without a charger, supports only 40W charging (down from Magic4 Lite's 66W), camera quality is far behind the competition, still can't shoot 4K videos and we've seen more premium builds from the competition. Excellent battery life and a great display are the only things going for the Magic5 Lite and that just isn't enough.

Pros

• Flagship-grade, curved 120Hz OLED panel.
• Lightweight and recognizable design.
• Excellent battery life.

Cons

• Underwhelming camera quality and no 4K video recording.
• Single loudspeaker has unimpressive loudness and quality.
• Slower charging than last year and ships without a charger (in some regions).