UPDATE: The Huawei P30 Lite has just received EMUI 10 update in Kenya just like the Huawei Y9 Prime 2019. (Via Phil Kimani). Huawei launched the Huawei P30 Lite together with its bigger brothers the Huawei P30 Pro and the Huawei P30 in Kenya recently. The Huawei P30 Lite brings to the table a vastly improved design, Android Pie out of the box, truly stunning camera experience and impressive specs.
I got to play around with the device for a while and here are my initial thoughts.
Design and Hardware
The Huawei P30 Lite is quite a looker. It comes in a curvy and compact form that goes easy on the hand. Our unit was a white one although you can get it in Aurora Blue or Breathing Crystal. The plastic body gives it a glossy and mimics the glass back on its bigger siblings that make it feel premium but light at the same time.
The incredibly soft and rounded edges make for an interesting design that gives you a comfortable grip without getting the pinky strain when using the phone. The mono speaker grill, headphone jack, primary microphone and the USB Type-C port are located at the bottom and not only acts as the charging port but also a head[phonme jack if you have USB Type-C headphones or earphones.
The right spine holds the volume rocker and power buttons while the top has the sim tray slot and the secondary microphone. Upfront, you get the 6.15″ FHD+ display which works well in both dim and well-lit scenarios such as direct sunlight.
Cameras
On the back, you get triple camera setup that gives it a slight bump and is made up of a 24MP f/1.8 primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. A fingerprint reader is next to the cameras and works pretty fast and accurate compared to face unlock the Huawei P30 Lite has. The three cameras promise to give you great shots such as the one shown in the samples.
The dewdrop notch on the top chin of the phone houses the 32MP selfie camera that offers AR features such as stickers to goof around with. Generally, you get to fiddle around with different modes and features on both cameras including Pro, ultrashot and night mode to give you a variety of choices.
Software and Performance
Huawei’s in-house processor, the octa-core Kirin 710 processor combined with 4 or 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage power the Huawei P30 Lite There’s EMUI 9 on top of Android 9.0 Pie. So far, the experience has been smooth. EMUI 9 adds a few customisation choices for you to play around with and personalise the phone. For RAM intensive apps such, there’s the occasional stutter when you go back to playing heavy games after opening a couple of apps. For the average user, the RAM and onboard storage are more than enough.
Battery Life
A 3,340mAh battery rocks the Huawei P30 Lite and coupled with the support for 18W fast charging. The Huawei P30 Lite’s battery impressed me on days where I used the phone lightly and when I went heavy on it. The fast charging can get the relatively smaller battery from 0% to around 70% in an hour and that’s enough juice to push you through the day if you’re in a hurry in the morning.
Pricing and Availability
The Huawei P30 Lite has been priced quite attractively at Ksh 29,999. Pre-orders are now live from Jumia, Kilimall and Masoko until the 26th of April where with each purchase you get a gift hamper that includes a Huawei Band 3 and free Bluetooth speaker.
Stay tuned for our full review coming out in a couple of days.
