Huawei p9 lite phone. Huawei P9 Lite smartphone test: smart savings

Decent affordable model in the updated family

This spring, Huawei introduced an updated line of its fashion models: P9, improved P9 Plus, and simplified P9 lite. We have already reviewed the central model of the P9 line in the corresponding review, now it’s time for its lightweight modification. Naturally, there is no longer a dual Leica camera here, no metal case, the processor is installed less productive, and so on. But this is when compared with the current flagship.

However, we should not forget that P9 lite has the most direct relation not even to it, but to its own progenitor - P8 lite, which was released exactly a year ago. We will compare the hero of today's review with him. And with this comparison, everything is the other way around: the new product has a much better screen, a more powerful processor, and a larger battery. In general, the P9 lite is more similar in characteristics to the “full-fledged” P8, that is, the lite version today is a flagship by last year’s standards.

P8 lite, by the way, became the first fully equipped modification of the flagship; before it, the Huawei P series included only “numbered” models in one version without lightweight or improved versions. So today we have the opportunity to find out whether Huawei’s new fashion has caught on and whether the new product is really worthy of its popular predecessors.

Main characteristics of Huawei P9 lite (model VNS-L21)

• SoC HiSilicon Kirin 650, 8 cores ARM Cortex-A53, 4x2.0 GHz and 4x1.7 GHz
• GPU Mali T830 MP2
• Operating system Android 6.0, EMUI 4.1
• Touch display IPS 5.2″, 1920×1080, 423 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 2 GB, inner memory 16 GB
• SIM cards: Nano-SIM (2 pcs.)
• Supports microSD memory cards up to 128 GB
• GSM networks 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100 MHz networks
• LTE networks Cat.6 FDD Band 1/3/7/8/20
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n (2.4 GHz), Wi-Fi Direct
• Bluetooth 4.1, NFC
• USB 2.0
• GPS/A-GPS, Glonass, BDS
• Direction, proximity, lighting sensors, accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetic compass, step counter, fingerprint scanner
• Cameras 13 MP, f/2.0, autofocus, LED flash
• Camera 8 MP, front, f/2.0, fixed. focus
• Battery 3000 mAh
• Dimensions 147×73×7.5 mm
• Weight 145 g

Appearance and ease of use

The new product, like its predecessor, received a plastic case, which significantly distinguishes it from the current top version, since the P9 smartphone is clad in an all-metal case without plastic. Metal is also present here, but only in the form of a rim that runs along the entire side perimeter of the P9 lite case.

The design of the new product is practically no different from its predecessor, and even from other P series devices, since their appearance is almost the same. However, you can notice that the P9 lite received a strange-looking glossy translucent insert on the back cover, which looks completely out of place here and looks worse than the matte insert that was in the same place on the P8 lite.

Interestingly, being just a few millimeters wider, longer and thicker, the P9 lite feels larger and bulkier in the hand than the metal P9. This is not to say that the smartphone is comfortable to operate with one hand; it is quite large for this purpose, even despite its small thickness. Matte surfaces prevent it from slipping out of your fingers and do not attract fingerprints. There are no complaints about the assembly; the device feels like a monolithic block.

The front panel does not have a convex 2.5D glass, it is the same flat as the P8 lite. But compared to last year’s model, the screen received twice the resolution: here it is already full Full HD, although the physical size has increased slightly (from 5 to 5.2 inches).

The front panel contains the usual number of elements, among them there is led indicator events. The front camera did not receive its own flash; here it was replaced with screen backlighting. There are also no touch buttons at the bottom of the device; all buttons are moved to the screen. Their order and set can be set independently in the settings.

None of the elements on the back of the case protrude beyond its limits, so you can comfortably use the smartphone even when it is lying on the table. There is a camera with a flash, as well as a fingerprint sensor area. New scanner fingerprint is implemented with support for ARM TrustZone technology, which increases the speed and accuracy of unlocking the smartphone with one touch.

The sensor pad recognizes the owner’s fingerprints as standard, but in addition, even without authorization, it can be used as a small touchpad. With it, you can scroll through pages, flip through photos in the gallery, turn off alarms, answer phone calls, and everything else in the same spirit. This functionality is now often found in smartphones equipped with a fingerprint scanner; we have already seen it in Huawei smartphones.

Mechanical keys and a card slot are usually located on the side faces. There were no significant changes to the buttons, except that the power key changed its strange and unsightly shape to a more suitable elongated one. Now all the buttons look nice and uniform. The keys are large and, as usual for Huawei smartphones, have a rather soft stroke.

As for the card slot, there are more changes here. The P8 lite had two such slots, but here only one connector is embedded, and, unfortunately, it is again a hybrid one. That is, you can install either two SIM cards or a memory card instead of one of them. Users have gone so far as to grind and glue cards together so that the smartphone can accept two SIM cards and a memory card at the same time, and if they go to such pains, it means they really need it. Then why don’t manufacturers listen to them and continue to fill their new devices with similar “hybrid” connectors? The question remains unanswered for now...

The interface connectors are located at the ends, where they should be. However, if in the older P9 model the audio output could be found at the bottom end, next to the Micro-USB connector and speaker output, then here, like the Huawei P8 lite, the hole for the headphone minijack is located at the top end and is adjacent only to the hole for the second, auxiliary microphone.

The Micro-USB connector here is standard, not type C, like the older P9; it is located in the center of the lower end. It is habitually framed by two grilles, and just as habitually one of them serves only as props, since there is no speaker behind it.

There are no plugs on the connectors, nor are there any strap mounts. The device did not receive protection from moisture and dust. As for the body colors, in the presentation photos there are devices of three colors, but at the time of the announcement of the article in official Russian retail there are white, black, gold and silver options.

Screen

The smartphone is equipped touch screen IPS, its physical dimensions are 65x115 mm, diagonal - 5.2 inches. The screen resolution is 1920×1080, the pixel density is 423 ppi. The frame around the screen is not very wide: about 3.5 mm on the sides and 15 mm on the top and bottom. On the large panel of the smartphone, the frame does not look rough; the screen as a whole fits in organically, although there was no attempt to achieve a “frameless” effect like the P9. The manufacturer provides exact figures: the Huawei P9 lite screen occupies 76.4% of the front panel surface.

The display brightness is automatically adjusted based on the light sensor. There is also a proximity sensor that blocks the screen when you bring the smartphone to your ear. Multi-touch technology allows you to process 10 simultaneous touches. You cannot activate the screen by double tapping the glass, but the screen will activate when you touch the fingerprint scanner pad. In the display settings, you can enable support for working with gloves.

Detailed examination using measuring instruments conducted by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are better than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) screen (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, on the right - Huawei P9 lite, then they can be distinguished by size):

The screen of the Huawei P9 lite is darker (brightness according to photographs is 103 versus 111 for the Nexus 7). The ghosting of reflected objects in the Huawei P9 lite screen is very weak, this indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (more specifically, between the outer glass and the surface of the LCD matrix) (OGS - One Glass Solution type screen). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of strong external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. The outer surface of the screen has a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (even better in efficiency than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much more easily and appear at a lower speed than with regular glass.

When manually controlling the brightness and displaying the white field in full screen, the maximum brightness value was about 520 cd/m², the minimum was 11 cd/m². The maximum brightness is very high, which means, given the excellent anti-glare properties, readability even on a sunny day outdoors should be at a good level. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor (it is located to the left of the front speaker slot). In automatic mode, as external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment, with which the user can try to set the desired brightness level in the current conditions. If in an office environment the brightness slider is set to maximum, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 16 cd/m² (normal), in an office illuminated by artificial light (approximately 400 lux) it sets it to 520 cd/m² (excessively bright), in in a very bright environment (corresponding to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more) increases to 520 cd/m² (to the maximum, which is what is needed). If everything is also in office conditions, the brightness slider is at half the scale, then the screen brightness for the three conditions indicated above is as follows: 16, 180 and 520 cd/m² (suitable values). If the brightness control is set to minimum - 11, 11, 520 cd/m² (the second value is too low). It turns out that the auto-brightness function works adequately and to some extent allows the user to customize their work to individual requirements. At any brightness level, there is virtually no backlight modulation, so there is no screen flickering.

IN this smartphone An IPS type matrix is ​​used. The microphotographs show a typical IPS subpixel structure:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

The screen has good viewing angles without significant color shift even with large viewing deviations from perpendicular to the screen and without inverting shades. For comparison, here are photographs in which the same images are displayed on the screens of Huawei P9 lite and Nexus 7, while the screen brightness is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera is forcibly switched to 6500 K. There is a white field perpendicular to the screens:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field. And a test picture:

The colors on the Huawei P9 lite screen are clearly oversaturated and the color balance varies between screens. Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:

It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens, but on the Huawei P9 lite the contrast has decreased to a greater extent due to the strong highlighting of blacks. And a white field:

The brightness at an angle of the screens has decreased (at least 4 times, based on the difference in shutter speed), but the screen of the Huawei P9 lite is still lighter (brightness according to photographs is 237 versus 222 for the Nexus 7). When deviated diagonally, the black field brightens greatly and acquires a reddish tint. The photographs below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is the same!):

And from another angle:

When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the black field is good, although not ideal:

The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is high - about 1200:1. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 24 ms (13 ms on + 11 ms off). The transition between halftones of gray 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes a total of 45 ms. The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal any blockage in either the highlights or the shadows. The exponent of the approximating power function is 2.36, which is slightly higher than the standard value of 2.2. In this case, the real gamma curve almost does not deviate from the power-law dependence:

This device has some kind of dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness in accordance with the nature of the displayed image. As a result, the resulting dependence of brightness on hue (gamma curve) may not correspond to the gamma curve of a static image, since the measurements were carried out with sequential display of shades of gray on almost the entire screen. For this reason, we carried out a number of tests - determining contrast and response time, comparing black illumination at angles - (however, as always) when displaying special templates with a constant average brightness, and not monochromatic fields in the entire screen. It should be noted that in this case, the brightness correction is weakly expressed and has a not entirely obvious dependence on the image, but it would be better not to have it at all.

The color gamut is noticeably wider than sRGB:

Let's look at the spectra:

We have already seen this in the case of, for example, Sony Xperia Z2, the non-lite version of Huawei P9 and other mobile devices. Sony indicates that these screens use LEDs with a blue emitter and green and red phosphors (usually a blue emitter and a yellow phosphor), which, in combination with special matrix filters, allows for a wide color gamut. Yes, and the red phosphor apparently uses so-called quantum dots. For a consumer device, a wide color gamut is not an advantage, but a significant disadvantage, since as a result, the colors of images - drawings, photographs and films - oriented to the sRGB space (and the vast majority of them) have an unnatural saturation. This is especially noticeable on recognizable shades, such as skin tones. The result is shown in the photo above.

The balance of shades on the gray scale is average, since the color temperature is above the standard 6500 K, but the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is below 10, which is considered an acceptable indicator for a consumer device. At the same time, at least ΔE changes little from hue to hue - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

This device has the ability to adjust the color balance by adjusting the hue on the color wheel.

The curves in the graphs above Without corr. correspond to the results without any color balance correction, and the curves Corr.— data obtained after shifting the point to the position indicated in the image above. It can be seen that the change in balance corresponds to the expected result, since the color temperature approached the standard value and ΔE decreased. There is a benefit from this correction, and the brightness has decreased by less than 10%. Note that this function implemented in this version rather for show, since there is no numerical reflection of the correction and there is no field for measuring color balance.

To summarize: the screen has a very high maximum brightness and has good anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors without any problems, even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. It is also possible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works adequately. Also, the advantages of the screen include the presence of an effective oleophobic coating, the absence of an air gap in the layers of the screen and flicker, high contrast, and good uniformity of the black field. The disadvantages are low black stability to deviation of the gaze from perpendicular to the screen plane, an excessively wide color gamut and average (without correction) color balance. Nevertheless, given the importance of characteristics specifically for this class of devices, the screen quality can be considered high, although you should prepare for strange and not entirely natural shades in films and photographs.

Sound

Huawei P9 lite sounds, surprisingly, no worse than the older P9 model. The simplified version from Huawei turned out to be well equipped in terms of the sound system, this distinguishes it favorably from the same simplified version Sony Xperia XA, for example, and from many other modern smartphones of the mid-range and even the highest category. Huawei P9 lite is equipped with HiSilicon Hi6402 audio processor, 9 V Smart PA and a powerful built-in speaker. The sound of the P9 lite is really very good, this is one of the indisputable advantages of the new product. Both when the main speaker is working and in the headphones, the entire spectrum of frequencies, low in abundance, is perfectly visible, while the sound is not dull, but bright and rich. At the maximum volume level, the backgrounds do not merge, individual instruments remain distinguishable, and there is enough volume reserve for any environment. The vibration alert is average in power, or even slightly below average.

To play melodies, you use your own player, and, as usual, no additional ones manual settings it does not - you can only turn it on or off virtual system Super Wide Sound 2.0 (SWS), but only when working with connected headphones.

There are no complaints about the conversational speaker and microphone, although everything here is quite standard: the intonation and timbre of a familiar voice remain recognizable, and almost no extraneous noise is noticed. The microphones are not too sensitive; to record on a voice recorder, you need to bring the device closer to the sound source. The sound itself is recorded cleanly and remains intelligible when played back; the noise reduction system copes with its tasks adequately. It is curious that here, unlike the older model, they did not forget to install the FM radio program.

Camera

Unlike Huawei P9, there is not a word about collaboration on the camera with Leica, everything is simpler here. Huawei P9 lite is equipped as standard with two cameras with a resolution of 13 and 8 megapixels. Quality front camera(8 MP, f/2.0) is not ideal, but overall it’s fine for selfie level, and in comparison with the P9 it looks no worse. The front module does not have its own flash; it is imitated here by the bright backlight of the display itself, which turns on for a second immediately before shooting. An example of a photo taken using this pseudo-flash can be seen below.

The main camera is equipped with a 13-megapixel module with a Sony IMX214 sensor and a lens with a maximum aperture of f/2.0. It has its own fairly bright flash. Autofocus is fast, works accurately, and makes no mistakes.

The camera control menu is exactly the same as in the older P9 model. There are a lot of settings, additional modes too. The menu is arranged logically and is comfortable to use: a gesture on the left brings up a menu with various modes, on the right - a camera settings menu (image resolution, button control, etc.), and at the bottom brings up a menu for manual shooting settings. In it, as usual, you can independently control focus, shutter speed, sensitivity (ISO), exposure compensation and white balance. Using the Camera2 API it is possible to transfer camera control third party applications without restrictions, up to saving pictures in RAW.

The video camera can shoot with a maximum resolution of up to 1920×1080 at a speed of 30; there is neither 60 fps nor a 4K (UHD) shooting mode. There is also the possibility of slow-motion slo-mo recording in 720p resolution at 120 frames per second. For video shooting, you can turn on the stabilization function, but its effect is barely noticeable when shooting on the go. When shooting video at maximum resolution, the camera copes well in terms of image quality, but there are noticeable dips in speed and slowdowns, which noticeably spoil the whole picture. The sound during video recording is recorded quite well, and the noise reduction system copes adequately with wind noise.

• Video No. 1 (44 MB, 1920×1080 @30 fps)
• Video No. 2 (28 MB, 1920×1080 @30 fps)

	Sharpness in the central part of the frame is quite good.
	In the lower right and left upper corners large areas of blur.
	The text is well done.
	The camera does macro photography well.
	As the shot is removed, the sharpness drops smoothly.

Huawei P9 lite	Apple iPhone 6 Plus

The camera turned out to be good. She takes advantage of places software processing, due to which the image is slightly blurred, although the detail does not suffer very much. The most disappointing areas are the areas of blur at the edges of the frame, but when shooting close objects they are almost invisible. As a result, the camera is quite suitable for documentary shooting.

Telephone and communications

The smartphone works as standard in modern networks 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA, and also has support for fourth generation networks LTE Cat.6 with a maximum possible speed of up to 300 Mbit/s for reception, frequency aggregation is supported if there is appropriate support from the operator’s network. Five FDD LTE bands are supported, including the three most common among domestic operators (B3, B7 and B20). In practice, in the Moscow region, the smartphone was confidently registered and worked in 4G networks.

There is support for Bluetooth 4.1, and unlike the older model, there is an NFC module. The smartphone supports Wi-Fi Direct, you can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth channels. Smart Wi-Fi+ lets you automatically switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data networks. The USB 2.0 connector here does not support connection external devices in USB OTG mode. NFC module, unfortunately, does not have compatibility with the Mifare Classic protocol, which is necessary for the successful operation of the “” application with the Troika transport card. Modern Sony smartphones have this compatibility, and so do Alcatel Idol 4s, so in this regard Huawei smartphones are not the best choice for domestic public transport users.

The navigation module works with GPS (A-GPS), Glonass and Chinese Beidou. There are no complaints about the operating speed of the navigation module; the first satellites are detected during a cold start within the first minute. But it is worth noting that in the same place, the Sony Xperia XA demonstrates higher speeds in 4G, and finds satellites faster in cold mode.

The smartphone is equipped with a magnetic field sensor, on the basis of which the compass of navigation programs operates.

The smartphone, unlike the older model, provides work with two SIM cards according to the standard Dual SIM Dual Standby, that is, not equipped with two radio modules.

Any of the SIM cards can be designated as the main one for organizing voice calls, transferring data and sending SMS messages; When dialing a number, you can also select the desired card using the corresponding buttons. A SIM card in any slot can work with 3G/4G networks, but only one of them can function in this mode at a time. To change the assignment of slots, cards do not need to be swapped - this can be done directly from the phone menu.

OS and software

The device uses a software platform as a system Google Android 6.0 Marshmallow 64-bit version with its own Emotion UI 4.1 shell, almost the same as in the older P9 model. Here, work with gestures is reduced to a minimum, and there is also an additional virtual control button that folds out on the screen into a radial menu. It is possible to change the design themes and enable a simplified desktop mode; the bottom control row of virtual buttons can also be reassigned at your discretion. The navigation panel has a timeline of events, on the next one you can find a quick access menu to the main settings, and by swiping up from the bottom you can call up another menu where you can find a flashlight, a voice recorder and some other useful functions and settings.

The preinstalled programs are still the same: there is a file manager, the phone manager is responsible for optimizing the system and its security, and the built-in pedometer constantly counts the steps taken during the day, and does this even when you don’t ask it for it.

Performance

The Huawei P9 lite hardware platform is based on the new 8-core HiSilicon Kirin 650 SoC of Huawei's own design. This SoC is made using 16nm technology. It consists of two clusters of four Cortex-A53 processor cores with frequencies of 2.0 and 1.7 GHz. The Mali T830 MP2 video accelerator is responsible for the graphics. The manufacturer claims that if we evaluate the performance of the CPU and GPU, the Kirin 650 is ahead of the Kirin 620 by 60% and 100%, respectively. Here we can mention the new i5 coprocessor, which is responsible for the operation of all sensors of the device, the performance of which has also been increased and power consumption reduced.

The smartphone's RAM capacity is 2 GB, the built-in flash memory is 16 GB (the user has less than 10.5 GB of free space). This volume can be increased using microSD cards, but then you will have to remove one of the SIM cards. Connectivity options USB port There are no external flash drives in OTG mode.

Most of all, the new HiSilicon Kirin 650 is close in results to another fresh mid-level platform - MediaTek Helio P10, which runs the similarly positioned Sony Xperia XA. Only here the graphics are a little worse, but in terms of complex and specialized browser tests there is absolute parity between them.

Based on the testing results, we can confidently say that HiSilicon Kirin 650 is a mid-level platform, not higher. A device with such filling confidently copes with almost any task, including demanding games. You can comfortably play World of Tanks at maximum fps; heavier games show no higher than 30 fps, but also do not suffer from slowdowns and lags.

Testing in latest versions comprehensive tests AnTuTu and GeekBench 3:

For convenience, we have compiled all the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks into tables. The table usually adds several other devices from different segments, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry figures). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain “behind the scenes” - due to the fact that at one time they passed the “obstacle course” on previous versions test programs.

Testing the graphics subsystem in gaming tests 3DMark, GFXBenchmark and Bonsai Benchmark:

When testing in 3DMark, the most powerful smartphones now have the ability to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).

Browser cross-platform tests:

As for benchmarks for assessing the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowance for the fact that their results significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly correct on the same OS and browsers, and this is possible during testing not always. For Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

Thermal photographs

Below is a thermal image of the rear surface, obtained after 10 minutes of running the battery test in the GFXBenchmark program (the lighter, the higher the temperature):

It can be seen that the heating is more localized in the upper part of the device, which apparently corresponds to the location of the SoC chip. According to the heat camera, the maximum heating was 41 degrees (at an ambient temperature of 24 degrees), this is the average heating in this test for modern smartphones.

Playing video

To test the omnivorous nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone. Also, you shouldn’t expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it. All results are summarized in a single table.

According to the testing results, the test subject was not equipped with all the necessary decoders that are needed to fully play most of the most common multimedia files on the network, in this case, audio files. To successfully play them, you will have to resort to the help of a third-party player - for example, MX Player. True, it is also necessary to change the settings and manually install additional custom codecs, because now this player Does not officially support AC3 audio format.

Format	Container, video, sound	MX Video Player	Standard video player
BDRip 720p	MKV, H.264 1280×720, 24fps, AAC	plays normally	plays normally
BDRip 720p	MKV, H.264 1280×720, 24fps, AC3		The video plays fine, there is no sound
BDRip 1080p	MKV, H.264 1920×1080, 24fps, AAC	plays normally	plays normally
BDRip 1080p	MKV, H.264 1920×1080, 24fps, AC3	The video plays fine, there is no sound	The video plays fine, there is no sound

Further testing of video playback was performed Alexey Kudryavtsev.

We did not find the MHL interface, like Mobility DisplayPort, in this smartphone, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Methodology for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices) 720/24p

Fine No

Note: If in both columns Uniformity And Passes Green ratings are given, this means that, most likely, when watching films, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and frame skipping will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect the viewing comfort. Red marks indicate possible problems related to the playback of the corresponding files.

According to the criterion of frame output, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is good, since frames (or groups of frames) can (but are not required) be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without skipping frames. When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the border of the screen, one to one in pixels, that is, in the original resolution. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235 - all gradations of shades are displayed in shadows and highlights.

Battery life

The capacity of the removable battery installed in Huawei P9 lite is the same 3000 mAh as that of the older model. The P8 lite, by the way, had a battery capacity of 800 mAh less, but that one had half the screen resolution. It's nice that the manufacturer's promises about a more careful approach to power consumption in their new chip came true: the P9 lite model turned out to be noticeably more durable in all standard testing modes than the P8 lite. True, the device still cannot be called a long-liver: under intense operating conditions, it sometimes barely lasts until evening charging. But on the other hand, under exactly the same conditions, the competing Sony Xperia XA shows much worse results, so overall everything is normal here. The company's flagship P9, meanwhile, demonstrates better results, being equipped with exactly the same battery capacity.

Testing, as usual, was carried out without using any energy-saving modes, although, of course, the device has them.

	Battery capacity	Reading mode	Video mode	3D Game Mode
Huawei P9 lite	3000 mAh	14:30	10:00 am	4:00 am
Huawei P9	3000 mAh	19:00	9:00 a.m.	4 hours 50 minutes
Huawei P8 lite	2200 mAh	11:00 am	7:00 am	3 hours 30 minutes
Sony Xperia XA	2300 mAh	09:40	7 hours 50 minutes	2 hours 30 minutes
Sony Xperia X	2620 mAh	15:50	9:00 a.m.	5 h. 30 m.
Micromax Canvas 5	2900 mAh	14:40	9:50 a.m.	4:00 am
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3	4000 mAh	15:45	11:00 am	5 hours 50 minutes

Continuous reading in the Moon+ Reader program (with a standard, light theme, with auto-scrolling) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd/m²) lasts 14.5 hours. When continuously watching videos from Youtube in high quality(720p) with the same brightness level through home network The Wi-Fi device operates for up to 10 hours. In 3D gaming mode, the smartphone works reliably for about 4 hours.

Unfortunately, the Huawei P9 lite smartphone arrived to us for testing without a supplied charger. From a conventional charger with a maximum output current of 2 A, the device charges for a very long time, approximately 3 hours 50 minutes with a current of 1 A at a voltage of 5 V. The device does not support wireless charging.

Bottom line

I was pleased with the price of the device: with all its positive qualities and a minimal number of shortcomings (in general, there are none), the smartphone is sold in official Russian retail at a price of 20 thousand rubles, which is 3 thousand cheaper than the same Sony Xperia XA Dual ( the minimum prices for these devices from gray supplies are, of course, lower). Huawei P9 lite in this comparison looks clearly better in terms of sound and battery life, it loses a little in the power of the video accelerator, but this is not such a significant minus. Comparing the new product with its predecessor P8 lite is generally pointless, since P9 lite is better him in almost everything. And even before much more expensive flagship P9 our hero doesn't fold. Of course, the fundamental aspects here, such as performance and cameras, are worse, but there are some little things that the top-end device is deprived of: for example, availability of NFC and FM radio. Huawei's new mid-level fashion device is interesting and balanced, and its plastic body, against the backdrop of the widespread fashion for metal in cases, even looks somehow self-sufficient and commands respect.

Huawei P9 Lite was officially announced in the spring of 2016. This smartphone is a lightweight version of the famous flagship P9. This device has lost somewhat in terms of power relative to its older brother, but has successfully retained the overall design and some unique features.

Appearance and ergonomics

Matte plastic with texture adorns the back of the Huawei P9 Lite, which looks very stylish. There is a side metal frame. Moreover, all the corners of the body are rounded, and the edges are beveled. The smartphone is thin and attractive, but the appearance is somewhat spoiled by the translucent insert on the back, which is glossy for some reason. The fingerprint scanner is located on the back, it is implemented in the shape of a square. The memory card slot is already customarily combined with a second SIM, and the volume buttons are made of plastic. The device does not tire your hand at all and is truly a pleasure to use. Moreover, thanks to its excellent ergonomics and compact size, the gadget will fit in any palm. Dimensions of P9 Lite: height - 146.8 mm, thickness - 7.5 mm, width - 72.6 mm, weight - 147 g. Colors - silver, gold, black and white.

Display

The smartphone has a 5.2-inch screen with optimal dimensions. The viewing angles of this IPS matrix are very good, and the Full HD resolution only adds to the believability. The picture is rich and moderately juicy. But the brightness is a little lacking, especially noticeable in the sun. This display is covered with 2.5D glass, which looks really impressive.

Hardware and performance

Since the P9 Light still seems to be a mid-level device, the processor here is appropriate. We are talking about the Kirin 650 chip, which is made using the latest 16-nm process technology. The processor with eight cores can be overclocked to a frequency of 2000 MHz, and the Mali-T830 MP2 video chip is designed to accelerate graphics. The standard set includes 2 GB of RAM, as well as 16 GB of internal storage. Memory expandable up to 128 GB MicroSD cards. The advantages of the EMUI 4.1 shell and the Android 6.0 operating system are actively used here.

Thanks to modern hardware, there is no slowdown in the operation of the smartphone. At the same time, Huawei P9 Lite scores about 53,000 points in the AnTuTu test. In games, certain problems can only be observed in very demanding projects. If you lower the graphics level a little, then even the coolest toys will run perfectly smoothly.

Communication and sound

The Huawei P9 Light has amazingly high-quality speakers. The melodies became not only clearer, but also louder. The situation is similar with listening to music through headphones. And with the help of an equalizer you can easily enhance the bass or volume of the sound. The gadget supports standard networks, as well as LTE Cat 4.

Camera

The P9 Lite comes with a 13-megapixel camera. The user will be able to find many shooting modes, where there is even professional tools. A good level of detail in the photo is complemented by good color rendition. Very fast focusing instantly finds the subject in the frame. The device has a flash, but at night the pictures are somewhat noisy. Thanks to the capabilities of the 8-megapixel front camera, you can always experiment with self-portraits.

conclusions

What does a user get for 20,000 rubles? A solid middle peasant with great ambitions. The P9 Lights comes with a charging unit, instructions and micro-USB cable, as well as a branded headset. The smartphone successfully retained the wonderful design of the flagship, and also acquired, although not powerful, modern hardware that makes the device work quite quickly.

Pros:

• Fast fingerprint scanner.
• Juicy screen.
• Attractive appearance.
• Great sound.
• Beautiful shell.

Minuses:

• There are problems with night photography.
• Not enough memory.

Technical specifications Huawei P9 Lite

General characteristics
Model	Huawei P9 Lite, VNS-L21, VNS-L31, VNS-L22, VNS-L23, VNS-L53
Date of announcement/start of sales	April 2016 / May 2016
Dimensions	146.8 x 72.6 x 7.5 mm.
Weight	147
Case color range	Black, white, gold
Number and type of SIM cards	Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Dual SIM (Nano-SIM)
operating system	Android OS, v6.0 (Marshmallow)
Communication standard in 2G networks	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2
Communication standard in 3G networks	HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100 - VNS-L21, VNS-L31 HSDPA 800 / 850 / 2100 / 900 - VNS-L22 HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100 - VNS-L23
Communication standard in 4G networks	LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 7(2600), 8(900), 20(800) - VNS-L21, VNS-L31 LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 19(800), 28(700), 40(2300) - VNS-L22 LTE band 2(1900), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 28(700) - VNS-L23 LTE band 2(1900), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 12(700), 17(700) - VNS-L53
Display
Screen type	IPS LCD, 16 million colors
Screen size	5.2 inches
Screen resolution	1080 x 1920 @424 ppi
Multitouch	yes, up to 10 simultaneous touches
Screen protection	Gorilla Glass 4
Sound
3.5mm jack	There is
FM radio	There is
Additionally	24-bit/192kHz audio
Data transfer
USB	microUSB v2.0
Satellite navigation	GPS (A-GPS), GLONASS/BDS
WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth	v4.2, A2DP, LE
Internet connection	LTE, Cat4; HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps, EDGE, GPRS
NFC	yes (in models L31, L21)
Platform
CPU	Octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 650 processor (4×2.5 GHz Cortex-A72 & 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A53)
GPU	Mali-T830MP2
RAM	2GB/3GB RAM
Inner memory	16 GB
Supported memory cards	microSD up to 256GB, uses a combined SIM/SD-CARD slot
Camera
Camera	13 MP, f/2.0, autofocus, LED flash
Camera functions	1/3″ sensor size, 1.12 µm pixel size, geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, panorama, HDR
Video recording	1080p@30fps
Front-camera	8 MP, f/2.0, autofocus, 1080p
Battery
Battery type and capacity	Li-Po 3000 mAh non-removable
Additionally
Sensors	3D touch, fast charging, charging other devices, fingerprint scanner
Browser	HTML5
Email	IMAP, POP3, SMTP
Other	— Fast battery charging — XviD/MP4/H.265 player - MP3/eAAC+/WAV/Flac player — Document viewer — Organizer — Voice dialing, voice commands
Equipment
Standard equipment	Huawei P9 Lite: 1 USB cable: 1 User manual: 1 Warranty card: 1 Charger 5V/2A: 1

Prices

Video reviews

For the second year in a row, Huawei is splitting its P-series into multiple devices. Today we’ll talk about the younger version - Huawei P9 Lite. On the one hand, this is a budget version of the flagship. On the other hand, there is no smell of budget here. However, there are always some nuances, which we will talk about in review.

Equipment

Since the Russian office still does not provide complete gadgets for testing (they only sent a smartphone and for some reason USB cable Type-C), I had to scour the Internet for unboxing photos of the Huawei P9 Lite.

As you can see, the equipment is more or less standard: a Micro USB power cable, a charging block, a wired headset and a box with a fairly original appearance.

Design

Nowadays fashionable rounded edges protective glass(2.5D) I did not receive P9 Lite. The panel here is flat, framed by a plastic frame, which practically does not protrude above the front surface.

The base of the body is made of metal. But the back is made of matte plastic. In its older brothers, metal is present everywhere. However, it cannot be said that the P9 Lite smacks of cheapness. On the contrary, this is a well-built, high-quality and very pleasant smartphone to use. In two weeks I received a lot of positive emotions from testing this device.

On the back side there is a camera peephole, which is placed in a glass frame. This is exactly what can be adjusted to the definition of 2.5D glass. The lens does not stick out (thanks, Huawei!), the basic information about the camera is nearby, which eloquently tells us that the photo part here is not simple... but golden. However, more on that later.

The fingerprint scanner is located on the back wall of the smartphone. A certain ARM TrustZone technology is used, which allows you to save up to 5 fingerprints and recognizes them quickly and in any position. However, all this has long been the norm. But the sensor’s self-learning ability is a highlight.

When you register a fingerprint, the scanner reads it in just five steps. It would seem that this is very little for correct recognition. No matter how it is!

The scanner works great. In two weeks he made a mistake maybe once or twice.

The unlocking speed is again beyond praise. Of course, I didn’t detect it, but by eye, unlocking takes no more than half a second. Maybe the notorious learning ability is not just a marketing slogan, but a really working technology.

I was also pleased that you do not need to additionally activate the smartphone for it to unlock. He raised his finger and the screen lit up. This is how it should be, and not how it is implemented in the iPhone or Samsung Galaxy S7, when you need to physically press a button.

At the top end there is a 3.5 mm jack for connecting a headset. I am glad that Huawei is not yet ready to experiment and is not going to give up this essentially very necessary to modern man interface.

The developers did not equip the device and USB Type-C, unlike its older brothers P9 and P9 Plus. Perhaps this is even good. You won’t find anywhere else anywhere an extra charge for half an hour.

The multimedia speaker is located on the bottom (to the right of the charging port). It is of high quality and quite loud: on a scale of ten, I would give it 7.5 points, which is very good. On a noisy street the bell can still be heard.

Touch keys here are part of the system - this is both bad and good. It's bad because they eat away part of the useful screen area. It’s good that there is an empty area under the screen, which is very convenient to hold the smartphone in landscape orientation. There are no accidental clicks. In addition, the control panel can be customized to your liking.

Despite the fact that the screen is small (5.2 inches), the developers still provided one-handed control. The interface can be made miniature or simply move the keyboard to the left or right edge as needed.

Display

The device received a 5.2-inch screen, pressed using In-cell technology and based on an IPS matrix. Accordingly, the color saturation is close to natural, the contrast is not raised to eye-watering levels, and the viewing angles are maximum.

In the photo below I compare the screens of our hero and Xiaomi Mi Max (the latter is easy to identify due to its huge diagonal of 6.44 inches). The naked eye can see that the P9 Lite display handles viewing angles more adequately.

For those who like to tweak everything in the world to suit their needs, the menu has color and temperature settings. In my opinion, it is not needed.

Of course, there is a very high-quality oleophobic coating. Fingerprints practically do not accumulate on the surface of the glass, and if this happens, they are easily removed.

Screen sensitivity is very good. For those who are not satisfied with this, they can activate the “With Gloves” mode for even greater screen grip. 10 simultaneous presses are recognized.

Technical characteristics of Huawei P9 lite (model VNS-L21)

• HiSilicon Kirin 650 processor with 8 cores (4x Cortex-A53 2 GHz and 4x Cortex-A53 1.7 GHz, 64-bit)
• Mali-T830 MP2 graphics with an operating frequency of 600 MHz
• RAM 2 GB (650 MB free after reboot) or 3 GB (not ours) LPDDR3
• built-in storage 16 GB eMMC (actually 10.4 GB available)
• Memory card support available (Micro SD or Nano SIM)
• 5.2-inch display, 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution (424 ppi pixel density), In-cell (full lamination)
• 8 MP front camera (f/2.0, viewing angle 27 mm, 1080p video recording at 30 fps)
• main camera 13 MP (f/2.0, sensor size Sony IMX214 1/3’’, pixel size 1.12 microns, 1080p video recording at 60 fps)
• battery 3,000 mAh
• OS Android 6.0
• dedicated audio processor HiSlicon Hi6402
• shell that completely covers the system from Google, EMUI 4.1
• sensors: light and distance sensors, digital compass, accelerometer, fingerprint scanner
• connectors: Micro USB 2.0 (OTG works fully), 3.5 mm headphone output
• Dimensions: 146.8 x 72.6 x 7.5 mm
• weight 147 g

Wireless capabilities:

• 2G, 3G, 4G (LTE Cat 6, bands: 1, 3, 7, 8, 20)
• support for two SIM cards: Micro and Nano
• Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n, single frequency 2.4 GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, FM radio
• navigation: GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS

A little more about the processor. The HiSilicon Kirin 650 chipset, which is average by modern standards, is installed here. The “Stone” is created using a 16-nanometer technological process and consists of 8 cores, four of which operate at elevated frequencies of 2 GHz, and the other four at 1.7 GHz at maximum load.

In graphics tasks, the processor is helped by a good Mali-T830 MP2 video chip, which “plows” at a frequency of up to 600 MHz. Part of the system on a chip is also 2 GB of LPDDR3 RAM.

In our country, a junior modification will be sold, which has only 2 GB of RAM on board - model VNS-L21. A version with 3 gigs of RAM is sold abroad - VNS-L31. Frankly speaking, I have never felt a lack of RAM. All applications hang in the background, 5-6 tabs in Chrome, of course, reload every time, but I don’t think this is that critical. Under load, the device does not stutter and works great.

But the presence of an NFC chip in such an affordable device is a pleasant exception to the rule. This is usually the privilege of flagships.

Performance

Everything is fine with this smartphone. The shell is perfectly debugged, the animation flies, applications launch quickly, I did not notice any lags or glitches. It feels like you are using an expensive and advanced device.

In system benchmarks, the device does not achieve any sky-high performance levels.

It is slightly ahead of solutions based on MediaTek Helio X10, which, as a rule, are significantly cheaper than our hero.

A little ahead, but noticeably more expensive. However, this is not the point.

Software shell

The smartphone runs on the latest Android 6.0. However, you can’t get to it in the form in which it was created by Google. The EMUI 4.1 software add-on completely covers the original Android design.

Firstly, all application icons are located on the main screens. There are no lists or matrices here. We remove programs directly from the desktop.

Secondly, there are their own themes. There are six standard types to choose from, the details of which can be combined with each other to suit your taste.

I’ll tell you in more detail about what I liked or otherwise caught my attention.

Nowadays it is fashionable to hide some menu items (memory, battery, language and input) somewhere deeper in the parameters. In our case, all these items ended up in “Advanced settings”. Xiaomi has been doing this for a long time, and Huawei has caught up. It's not too inconvenient in my opinion.

I liked the feature that was implemented in the latest revision of EMUI - the smart display of the notification panel. It has long been the custom that Huawei divides the list of notifications and shortcut icons into two windows. However, now everything is a little trickier. If there is at least one alert, then when you pull out the curtain, the notifications open. If the list of recent ones is empty, then the quick access icons are pulled out. A trifle, but a cool one!

I really like the way Huawei treats security. Firstly, here you can lock not only the main screen and individual applications, but also create a special “Personal” section. Here you can add pictures, audio notes, some private video, etc. Everything is set up very simply, right in file manager and is protected by fingerprint or password. A very convenient thing.

And in general, the EMUI shell, unlike many other competitors, allows you to customize the device very finely, without resorting to installing any dubious utilities or launchers. Here is a partial list of all the useful things:

• turning on do not disturb mode at night
• turning off and on the smartphone according to a schedule
• setting up wired headset buttons
• locking the screen using a proximity sensor when the device is in your pocket, it will not be able to unlock on its own (this happens to me)
• tracking which applications use RAM and how, and so on

In addition, literally every application can be configured in terms of access rights, file extensions, power supply, background operation, notifications, and so on. Sometimes the system automatically analyzes everything that is running and suggests deactivating energy-consuming or unused applications. You always know which utility is messing with your battery or putting an indecent amount of load on your processor. Traditionally, these are Instagram and Messenger from Facebook.

I was a little annoyed by the system's Health app, which tracked my steps and was constantly hanging in the notification bar. It turned out that neutralizing this event was as easy as shelling pears. I restricted his access to this line, leaving the rest of the permissions in place.

Of course, Android 6 plays an important role in all these settings, however, the Chinese did their best by adding their own chips to the firmware. Moreover, they did it stylishly, not like the terrifying CleanMaster utility looks and works.

Camera capabilities

Let's start with the front camera. In our case, it is an 8-megapixel sensor, on top of which a fast f/2.0 lens is installed. The focus is fixed, but that's not a problem.

Below are a couple of examples of photos taken with the front camera. Pay attention to "sharping". Wild clarity comes out when you turn off automatic face retouching. In general, with or without “porcelain skin”, photographs always smack of some kind of unnaturalness. Although everything looks quite good on the smartphone screen.

Huawei in its new line focuses on the quality of images, so it does not hesitate to reveal all the ins and outs regarding the main matrix. So, the rear Sony IMX214 sensor is 13 megapixels. It measures 1/3 inch. It sounds like a good idea, but translated into more clear language The crop factor turns this parameter into 7.5. For example, my Canon 60D DSLR has a sensor with a crop factor of 1.6. Let me remind you that the unit is taken as the generally accepted standard of 36 x 24 mm, which corresponds to film photography.

And yet, this is a smartphone, albeit with a very high level of photo quality. Below are examples by which you can evaluate everything yourself.

We take the original pictures without “resize” from here.

As for me, many modern cameras take very good pictures during the day. However, not every smartphone can cope with difficult shooting conditions: night, twilight, indoors, etc. Below are a few examples in this case and, in my opinion, the device passed the test with a minus. The downside is that the clarity of the picture at night is slightly blurred by digital noise reduction.

The settings have a manual photography mode, where you can independently set the exposure step, ISO level and adjust the depth of field. For my taste, the thing is relatively useless, because the machine handles almost any scene perfectly well on its own.

Of course, the device can shoot video in a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels at 30 frames per second. I was not impressed with the quality of the videos.

Sound quality

The manufacturer refers to a special audio processor, HiSlicon Hi6402, which supposedly makes the sound brighter, richer, you richer, your children healthier, your wife more beautiful, and so on. However, I didn't hear anything extraordinary. Nice, high quality sound from headphones. On par with most solutions on the market.

Battery life

At first it seemed that the smartphone lasts a long time on one battery charge. However, it later became clear what was the reason for this. Before that, I used the budget Fly Cirrus 3, which drained the battery to zero by the evening.

P9 Lite does the same thing only late at night. The device did not work for me for more than a day. At the same time, the glow of the screen with auto brightness did not exceed two hours. Notifications, calls, background synchronization - all this is there as always.

The built-in battery is 3,000 mAh. This is both a little and a lot. Still, a lot depends on software optimization.

The Chinese understand that processors are becoming more and more powerful, so all their brainchildren are stuffed with additional software energy consumption optimizers. In our case, this is SmartPower 4.0. Here you can manually configure the operation scenarios of individual applications or follow the advice of the system itself and do as it says. The feature is really useful and, if you use it wisely, you can squeeze out an additional 4-5 hours of battery life.

Bottom line

Now buy Huawei P9 Lite possible for 19,990 rubles. Frankly speaking, it’s strange to see such a price tag for a new product, and of very good quality.

In terms of performance and hardware, the P9 Lite cannot compete with the Chinese, which are sold in gray form on well-known online platforms. For comparative money you can get a more productive gadget. And the only advantage of our hero over such competitors is the presence of NFC, which is very rare among mid-range Chinese devices.

But in terms of photography, Huawei is ahead of its competitors in the form of Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro and Meizu M3 Note, and so on. Not by a head, but still he is a little ahead.

However, in the case of P9 Lite, all this is not the main thing. He takes it in another way: the quality of execution. Moreover, both external and internal. In my opinion, the EMUI shell is almost the best that is on the market. Plus, perfect software optimization and absolute glitch-free operation - this is also a level that is worth the money.

Already on sale Price: 19,990 rubles

Huawei P9 Lite test results

• Price-quality ratio
  Fine
• Place in the overall ranking
  108 out of 200

• Price/quality ratio: 70
• Performance and Control (35%): 85.2
• Equipment (25%): 56.6
• Battery (15%): 62.9
• Display (15%): 90.8
• Camera (10%): 57

Editorial rating

User rating

You have already rated

Huawei P9 Lite: the appearance of the phone is aesthetically pleasing

In the case of the Huawei P9 Lite, one of the victims of the equipment (compared to) was the flagship’s dual camera. Instead, a completely ordinary 13-megapixel module is installed.

The WLAN speed has also become slightly worse: the P9 Lite lacks the ac standard. Instead of LTE Cat6, the P9 Lite has LTE Cat4.

In terms of performance, we cannot complain about the P9 Lite, although it uses an eight-core Kirin 650 with clock frequency 2 GHz instead of the much more powerful Kirin 955 in P9.

P9 Lite performs tasks at lightning speed and responds to gesture controls without delay. Like the top model, this smartphone has 3 GB of RAM.

What other features of the P9 Lite we liked, and what inconveniences we will have to endure when purchasing the P9 Lite - we will tell you further. In any case, the price of the device is reasonable: buy this mobile phone possible for 290 euros (the price in Russia will be announced on June 7, but at the current exchange rate it turns out to be 21,300 rubles).

Huawei P9 Lite: The smartphone comes with a multi-function slot. You can place either two SIM cards there, or a memory card and one SIM card.

Convincing display and phone acoustics of the P9 Lite

We are glad that when crossing flagship features off the list for the Lite version Huawei company I didn’t run the red pencil over the main ones. For example, in the multifunctional slot of the P9 Lite, you can insert either two SIM cards or a card MicroSD memory and one SIM card. Telephone acoustics also deserve praise: it's been a long time since we had such pleasure from a test conversation.

On the smartphone side, we liked the quiet line and the natural sound of the interlocutor's voice. Noise reduction also works well, only during a counter-conversation the P9 Lite can occasionally swallow one or another syllable. We were also pleased with the speakerphone mode - the voice of the interlocutor sounds clear and natural, as if he were nearby.

In terms of display, Huawei also did not lose face. While the P9 Lite doesn't have OLED technology, not to mention the curved or rounded edge of the Edge, its contrast ratio (118:1) and maximum brightness (500 cd/m2) are quite high for a 5.2-inch device. The color space coverage could have been a little wider, but overall the display deserves good to very good ratings.

Huawei P9 Lite: Even without the help of Leica, the P9 Lite produces quite usable images.

Bad photos without a Leica camera?

While Huawei collaborated with Leica on its flagship P9 camera - whether on software or lenses - the P9 Lite comes without this bonus. And are the photographs now bad? No, the 13-megapixel camera is capable of taking quite satisfactory pictures.

Particularly in daylight, images are very detailed and clear even in corners. Additionally, our test "scene" with the artificial head looks pleasantly bright.

Even in low light, the P9 Lite takes beautiful photos. Although they turn out to be very “soft”, they are quiet and bright for the same reason. The P9 Lite camera is only usable in complete darkness: despite the presence of a dual LED flash, the images are too dark, noisy and not very clear.

Among the various shooting modes, there are interesting ones not only for the female part of the audience, for example, “Food”, but also slow motion, as well as time-lapse. The professional mode, in which you can independently determine the ISO and shutter speed parameters, is aimed at ambitious photographers.

Huawei P9 Lite: despite the large capacity, the battery wears out quite quickly.

P9 Lite has a battery problem

Until now, strictly speaking, everything was going like clockwork, but the time has come to talk about problems. In the case of the P9 Lite, this is the battery. With a battery capacity of 3,000 mAh, the smartphone should have been well prepared for our battery tests, but in web surfing mode it died out quite quickly - after just 6 hours 18 minutes.

However, in the mode telephone conversation The device can last longer - you can chat continuously for about 9.5 hours. We were unpleasantly surprised by the time it takes the smartphone to fully charge using the included power supply: the P9 Lite must spend approximately 3 hours 30 minutes at a power outlet - this is simply a very long time.

Huawei P9 Lite: alternative

It plays in the same league as Huawei P9 Lite - in terms of both price and equipment (price in Russia is 15-20 thousand rubles). If you've never heard of the ZUK smartphone, that's okay! Behind its facade there is equipment from Lenovo, and in large quantities. This mobile phone also has Dual-SIM function and a fingerprint sensor.

During the test it showed a good duration of time battery life. A large battery with a capacity of 4100 mAh can withstand more than 10 hours of continuous use in web surfing mode, and more than 13.5 hours in telephone conversation mode. In appearance, ZUK Z1 due to the plastic back cover It can’t compete with P9 Lite in any way.

But the display with its 5.5-inch diagonal is larger and offers better contrast, higher brightness and the same Full HD resolution. Lovers of LTE speeds should be careful when choosing the ZUK Z1 - there is no 800 MHz band.

TEST RESULTS
Productivity and management (35%)
Equipment (25%)
Battery (15%)
Display (15%)
Camera (10%)
CONCLUSION Huawei has made its top model P9 lose weight. The result is an incredibly elegant and hard-working P9 Lite. During the test, we liked its performance, display and phone acoustics most of all. The Achilles heel of a smartphone is the battery.	72.7% OVERALL RESULT

Features and test results of Huawei P9 Lite

Price-quality ratio	70
OS during testing	Android 6 with EMUI 4.1
Current OS	Android 7
Is there an OS update planned?	no data
App Store
Weight	146 g.
Length x Width	147 x 73 mm;
Thickness	8.0 mm;
Expert design review	Very good
Expert assessment of work speed	Fine
Download speed: PDF 800 KB via WLAN	5.6 s
Download speed: main chip.de via WLAN	0.2 s
Download speed: chip.de test chart via WLAN	10.7 s
Sound quality ( Speakerphone)	Fine
CPU	HiSilicon Kirin 650
Processor architecture
CPU frequency	2.000 MHz
Number of CPU cores	4+4
RAM capacity	3.0 GB
Battery: capacity	3.000 mAh
Battery: easy to remove	-
Battery: surfing time	6:30 h:min
Battery: charging time	3:39 h:min
Function fast charging	-
Charger and fast charging cable included
Battery: discharging time/charging time	1,8
Function wireless charging	-
WLAN	802.11n
Voice over LTE
LTE: frequencies	800, 1.800, 2.600 MHz
LTE: Cat. 4	up to 150 Mbit/s
LTE: Cat. 6	-
LTE: Cat. 9	-
LTE: Cat. 12	-
Screen: type	LCD
Screen: diagonal	5.2 inches
Screen: size in mm	64 x 115 mm;
Screen: resolution	1.080 x 1.920 pixels
Screen: Dot Density	425 ppi
Screen: max. brightness in a dark room	477.7 cd/m²
Screen: staggered contrast in a bright room	60:1
Screen: staggered contrast in a dark room	118:1
Camera: resolution	13.0 megapixels
Camera: measured resolution	1,365 line pairs
Camera: expert assessment of image quality	Fine
Camera: VN1 noise	2.1 VN1
Camera: minimum focal length	3.8 mm;
Camera: minimum shooting distance	5 cm;
Camera: Shutter Time with Autofocus	0.82 s
Camera: optical stabilizer	-
Camera: autofocus	Yes
Camera: flash	Double LED, LED
Video resolution	1.920 x 1.080 pixels
Front camera: resolution	8.0 megapixels
LED indicator	yes (multicolor)
Radio	Yes
SIM card type	Nano-SIM
Dual SIM	Yes
Protection against dust and moisture (IP certificate)	-
Fingerprint's scanner
User accessible memory	9.5 GB
Memory card slot	Yes
USB connector	micro-USB 2.0
Bluetooth	4.1
NFC	Yes
Headphone output	3.5 mm;
HD Voice	Yes
SAR	1.38 W/kg
Firmware version during testing	VNS-L31C432B104
Test date	2016-05-11

Let us remind our dear readers that we have already had the honor of getting acquainted with the new flagship Huawei P9 - and, moreover, we even gave it a medal “For Innovation and Design”. The smartphone turned out to be really cool - cute, powerful and with an excellent camera. It costs, however, an unusually high price for a Chinese smartphone: about fifty thousand rubles. For everyone who wants a simpler gadget that looks about the same, Huawei just made the P9 Lite - a simplified version of the current flagship.

If we usually list all the advantages of a gadget in the introduction to the material, this time we want to focus on what the P9 Lite does not have in comparison with its older brother. The smartphone is built on a more modest system-on-chip (Kirin 650 instead of the monstrous Kirin 955), lacks a dual camera and a newfangled USB interface Type-C. The volume of both built-in flash memory and RAM has also been reduced. And at the same time, the P9 Lite body is half a millimeter thicker than the body of the original version. In general, they took away all of the gadget’s main features and made regular smartphone middle price category. But the price has also been reduced significantly - you will have to pay about 20-25 thousand rubles for a smartphone. At the same time, the P9 Lite is still not so weak: an eight-core system-on-a-chip, a 5.2-inch Full HD display (just like the original) and a fingerprint scanner. The smartphone is worth a closer look, especially for those who are not used to throwing money away.

⇡ Technical specifications

	Huawei Ascend P7	Huawei P8 Lite	Huawei P8	Huawei P9 Lite
Touch screen	5 inches,	5 inches,	5.2 inches,	5.2 inches,
	1080 × 1920 pixels, IPS;	720 × 1280 pixels, IPS;	1080 × 1920 pixels, IPS;	1080 × 1920 pixels, IPS;
		Capacitive, up to 10 simultaneous	Capacitive, up to 10 simultaneous	Capacitive, up to 10 simultaneous
	touches	touches	touches	touches
CPU	Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 910T:	Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 620:	Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 930/935:	Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 650:
	four cores	eight cores	four cores
	ARM Cortex-A9 (ARMv7)	ARM Cortex-A53 (ARMv8)	ARM Cortex-A53 (ARMv8), Frequency 1.5 GHz;	frequency 1.7 GHz;
	frequency 1.8 GHz;	frequency 1.2 GHz;	four cores	four ARM Cortex-A53 (ARMv8) cores,
	28 nm process technology;	ARM big.LITTLE technology;	ARM Cortex-A53e (ARMv8), Frequency 2 GHz;	frequency 2 GHz;
	32-bit computing	28 nm process technology;	ARM big.LITTLE technology;	ARM big.LITTLE technology;
		32- and 64-bit computing	28 nm process technology;	28 nm process technology;
			32- and 64-bit computing	32- and 64-bit computing
Graphics controller	ARM Mali-450 MP4, 533 MHz	ARM Mali-450 MP4, 533 MHz	ARM Mali-T628 MP4, 600 MHz	ARM Mali-T830MP2, 600 MHz
RAM	2 GB	2 GB	3 GB	2/3 GB
Flash memory	16 GB + microSD	16 GB + microSD	32/64 GB + microSD	16 GB + microSD
Connectors	1 × micro-USB 2.0	1 × micro-USB 2.0	1 × micro-USB 2.0	1 × micro-USB 2.0
		1 × 3.5mm headset jack	1 × 3.5mm headset jack	1 × 3.5mm headset jack
	1 × microSD/micro-SIM	1 × microSD/micro-SIM	1 × microSD/nano-SIM	1 × microSD/nano-SIM
	1 × micro-SIM	1 × micro-SIM	1 × nano-SIM	1 × nano-SIM
cellular	2G/3G/4G	2G/3G/4G	2G/3G/4G	2G/3G/4G
		Two SIM cards in micro-SIM format	Two SIM cards in micro-SIM format	Two SIM cards in micro-SIM format
	(the second one cannot be installed when using a memory card)		(the second one cannot be installed when using a memory card)	(the second one cannot be installed when using a memory card)
Cellular connection 2G	GSM/GPRS/EDGE	GSM/GPRS/EDGE	GSM/GPRS/EDGE	GSM/GPRS/EDGE
	850/900/1800/1900 MHz	850/900/1800/1900 MHz	850/900/1800/1900 MHz	850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Cellular 3G	DC-HSPA+ (42 Mbps)	DC-HSPA+ (42 Mbps)	DC-HSPA+ (42 Mbps)	DC-HSPA+ (42 Mbps)
	WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100 MHz	WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100 MHz	WCDMA 850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz	WCDMA 900/1900/2100 MHz (versions VNS-L21, VNS-L31; other versions have a different set of frequencies)
Cellular 4G	LTE Cat. 4 (150 Mbit/s)	LTE Cat. 4 (150 Mbit/s)	LTE Cat. 6 (300 Mbit/s)	LTE Cat. 6 (300 Mbit/s)
	LTE band 1, 3, 7, 8, 20	LTE band 1, 3, 7, 8, 20	LTE band 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12,	LTE band 1, 3, 7, 8, 20
	(2100/1800/2600/900/800 MHz)	(2100/1800/2600/900/800 MHz)	17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 40	(2100/1800/2600/900/800 MHz)
			(2100/1900/1800/1700/850/
			2600/900/700/800/2300 MHz)
WiFi	802.11b/g/n + Wi-Fi Direct	802.11b/g/n + Wi-Fi Direct	802.11a/b/g/n + Wi-Fi Direct	802.11a/b/g/n + Wi-Fi Direct
Bluetooth	4	4	4.1	4.1
NFC	Eat	Eat	Eat	Eat
IR port	No	No	No	No
Navigation	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
Sensors		Illumination, proximity, accelerometer/gyroscope,	Illumination, proximity, accelerometer/gyroscope,	Illumination, proximity, accelerometer/gyroscope,
		magnetometer (digital compass)		magnetometer (digital compass), pedometer
Fingerprint scanner	No	No	No	Yes
Main camera		13 MP (4160 × 3120), back-illuminated matrix,	13 MP (4160 × 3120), back-illuminated matrix,	13 MP (4160 × 3120), back-illuminated matrix,
		autofocus, LED flash	autofocus, dual LED flash	autofocus, single LED flash
Front-camera		5 MP (2592 × 1952), no autofocus, no flash	8 MP (3264 × 2448), no autofocus, no flash	8 MP (3264 × 2448), without autofocus, with flash
Nutrition	Non-removable battery: 9.35 Wh (2460 mAh, 3.8 V)	Non-removable battery: 8.36 Wh (2200 mAh, 3.8 V)	Non-removable battery: 10.18 Wh (2680 mAh, 3.8 V)	Non-removable battery: 11.4 Wh (3000 mAh, 3.8 V)
Size	140 × 69 mm	143 × 71 mm	145 × 72 mm	147 × 72.5 mm
	Case thickness 6.5 mm	Case thickness 7.7 mm	Case thickness 6.4 mm	Case thickness 7.5 mm
Weight	124 g	131 g	144 g	147 g
Water and dust protection	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
operating system	Android 4.4.2 KitKat	Android 5.0 Lollipop	Android 5.0 Lollipop	Android 6.0 Marshmallow
	Emotion UI 2.3 shell	Emotion UI 3.1 shell	Emotion UI 3.1 shell	Emotion UI 4.1 shell
recommended price	14,990 rubles	15,990 rubles	23,990 rubles	20,990 rubles

⇡ Appearance, ergonomics, fingerprint scanner

The device is made in a style characteristic of the Huawei P line: a recognizable rectangle with rounded corners and a wide, stylized metal edging running along the edges of the case.

The smartphone weighs moderately - 147 grams, the hand does not get tired of it, the thickness is standard - 7.5 millimeters. The dimensions are quite acceptable by current standards - the smartphone fits in most pockets and does not stick out from them.