When you think of the brand Huawei, one thing comes to mind, smartphone camera, if that’s not it then you have it all wrong. However, in 2018, Huawei decided to be more like Apple. No, not in making extremely expensive products, but in giving us a device that is well-built, looks good and mimics the famous iPhone X in design. The first thing that everyone noticed during my time with the P20 Lite, is how much it looks like an iPhone and I have decided to start my discussion with this fact and get done with it before we get to what the device really is about.
So at the front, we have a 5.84-inch full HD display that comes in an awkward 19:9 aspect ratio and that number is thanks to the pronounced notch at the front. Huawei tried to push the limits of the display with the P20 series and admittedly, the phones do look good across the range and whether or not you like the notch, is entirely up to you.
The back also looks like an iPhone X, thanks to the vertical alignment of the cameras. So, what am I saying about the design of the Huawei P20 Lite? Deal with it. It looks and feels good!
Cameras
Now onto serious matters. The number one reason to buy the P20 Lite is for its cameras. The device has a dual camera setup on the back, featuring a 16MP lens and a 2MP lens, whose functionality I will explain in just a bit. On the front, we have a 16MP lens that does a good job at lying to you that your skin is so flawless, thanks to the in-built beauty mode that can be disabled. As a side note, portrait mode on the selfie camera is bad!
The 2MP lens on the back is solely used for depth sensing thus producing great bokeh images with the subject well in focus and the background blurred. Otherwise, the images produced by the main lens are Instagram ready with popping colors and great detail despite them lacking the Leica branding:
Build Quality
Straight to the point, I have not yet met a device that is this well-built at this price. The Huawei P20 Lite comes in a glass-like back that is held in place with an aluminium frame. If I had not told you that the device has a plastic back, you’d live your life believing that the P20 Lite is made entirely out of glass. The phone is quite light, easy to use in one hand and is a looker.
Battery Life
Powering the internals of the Huawei P20 Lite is a 3000mAh battery that sounds like a joke, but thanks to Huawei’s EMUI and Kirin 659 optimization, getting over 5 hours screen-on-time is doable. The phone lasts me well throughout the day and even when it doesn’t, the fast charge that is delivered through the USB-C port, pumps 80% charge in around 1 hour. However, I would have loved to see at least a 3500mAh battery, considering how huge the display on this little thing is.
Shortcomings?
There’s really no one thing that I can pick and say I hate about the P20 Lite. The phone comes with all the traditional bells and whistles of a 2018 mid-range smartphone such as 4G support, 4G RAM, 64GB internal storage, Android 8.0 Oreo, fingerprint reader, face unlock and many others, all of which I have talked about in-depth in the video review embedded down below.
The only problem really is the lack of an identity that the Huawei P20 Lite suffers from but that’s not just Huawei, we have the OPPO F7 going and many more going in that direction as well. So, if you happen to have Kes.32,000 to spare, get yourself what is possibly the best device at this price point.
