[REVIEW] Hands-On With The Honor 3C Lite. Should You Get One?
We recently got our hands on the Huawei Honor 3C Lite. Should you get one? Find out what we think about it!
By Darian Goh — 08 Jan 2015, 05:15 PM — Updated almost 10 years ago
Recently, we were given the chance to get our hands on the Huawei Honor 3C Lite, the successor to the Honor 3C. After playing around with it for a while, here's what we think of the phone:
Packaging and unboxing: 4/5. We got to say, we love the packaging of the box. It's compact, small and the turquoise-ish colour is a refreshing change from the bland black or white boxes.
Inside the box, you'll see the standard manual, the charger and the phone. What was interesting is that inside the box is the removable battery, which is always a plus. The only thing that was slightly disappointing was the lack of headphones but that could be easily rectified with over the counter headphones of your choice.
Design: 4/5. Compared to the predecessor, the Honor 3C Lite is more ergonomic and comfortable on the hand. While we would have preferred it to come in a single tone colour, the combination of black & white does make the phone stand out.
Design-wise, the Honor 3C Lite remains slightly the same, featuring the same rounded plastic backside Honor 3C. Although it may be slightly slippery to hold, it still feels comfortable in the hand. On the side of the phone lies the power and volume buttons. The charging slot is as usual on the lower bar while the headphones hole is at the top bar.
The full specs of the Honor 3C Lite
-1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor
- 1GB RAM 16GB storage + up to 32GB microSD
- 5-inch IPS display (1280 x 720 pixel resolution, 294 ppi)
- 8MP rear camera (LED flash, autofocus, f/2.0 wide aperture, 5P optical lens) + 2MP front camera
- 72.3 x 142.2 x 9.4mm | 156g supports Dual SIM (3G + 2G), WiFi b/g/n
- Bluetooth 4.0 features AirSharing 2000 mAh battery
- Android 4.4.2 + Huawei Emotion UI 2.0
- Available in black and white
On the right side of the phone lies the volume rocker and the power button, which is just below it.
Image via SAYSDisplay: 4.5/5. The Honor 3C Lite comes with a 5″ HD 720p display, which basically means you get to watch videos in high definition with clear, crisp colours.
Operating System and Integration: 3/5. The Honor 3C Lite comes pre-installed with Android 4.4.2. However, this is on top Huawei Emotion 2.0 UI, a skin of Android that closely resembles to iOS.
Although it comes with Android 4.4.2, it uses the Huawei Emotion UI 2.0 which is more simple to use but lacks the full customisation of Android. However, that is easily solved with launchers you can download on the Google Play store. The interface is more slick, with no hangs or lags during our usage, something that was prevalent with the Honor 3C.
Performance: 3.5/5. The Honor 3C Lite is powered with a MediaTek processor and is suited for everyday use. Gaming wise, 3D-heavy games does not work as well but if you're just playing games like Angry Birds, this phone does the job.
Powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor, 1GB RAM and fairly large 16GB storage, the smartphone supports Dual SIM slots, 3G and has a 2000 mAh battery to keep everything going.
Performance is surprisingly good though, and while simple we found the Honor 3C Lite to be mostly capable with our benchmarks it is also capable with games and apps as well. For our benchmarks, it delivered an AnTuTu score of 18813, beating out the Honor 3C which scored 17132.
Storage and Battery: 4/5. TThe Honor 3C Lite doubles up by giving a generous 16GB worth of storage. However, should you require more, you can always expand the storage with a microSD card. On the battery side, the phone lasts around a day, which is excellent for today's standards.
The storage is much bigger on the Honor 3C Lite. They really improved on this aspect as it comes with 16GB worth of storage, which is double that of the 8GB in the Honor 3C. The Honor 3C Lite is also compatible with the Huawei TalkBand B1 smartband. Connectivity is fairly smooth on 3G with a stable connection for the most part.
Battery life was another surprise as Huawei Malaysia lists it at 24 hours on moderate use but on fairly heavy use (non-stop camera and video usage, browsing, social media, some gaming, some video editing) the Honor 3C Lite lasted around 1 full day and a half.
Camera: 3.5/5. While the camera works really well on the outdoors, with shots coming out clear and detailed, it's a different story during nighttime with its pictures coming out slightly grainy. We're also really bummed that the front camera has been dropped to 2MP when the Honor 3C had 5MP.
Price: 5/5. Well, if there's one thing we want you to know after reading this article is the price. With all the goodness packed in it, it's a steal at RM449! This shows that a phone can be affordable and (reasonably) good at the same time.
At just RM449, this is such a steal for anyone looking for a phone on a budget. Sure, there are other budget phones out there but we've not seen any that offers almost the same value for the specifications you're getting. It may not be the best phone shooter, or the best in terms of performance, but it does trounce competition within the same price category.
Overall: 3.9/5. If you're looking for a phone that does not dent your wallet, this phone is for you. For the price, you get a phone with great performance coupled with a good camera.
Just in case you're looking for something a little more, Huawei will be bringing in their latest phone, the Honor 6 Plus to Malaysia soon. So do look out for it!
