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Huawei P9 Lite review
| Review: June 2016 | ||
Last updated August 2017 Rating: In a nutshell: The Huawei P9 Lite is one of our top-rated phones for 2016. Priced at just under £300, it's a mid- to higher-end phone with an impressively skinny metal design, a big 5.2 inch Full HD display, and an 8-core processor. A big battery life and 16GB of memory complete the package. |
P9 Lite: design & looks
Did somebody order a Chinese? Oh yeah, it was us. We ordered a "Lite" meal - the P9 Lite in fact, and it turned out to be a very tasty dish indeed.
The first thing we noticed about the P9 Lite was the bill. It costs about £150 less than the P9. That means you can get it for less than £300 sim free or pay as you go, and makes it a real bargain.
The P9 Lite is about the same size as the P9 - perhaps half a millimetre thicker, but still what we'd call ultrathin - and it weighs a gram or two more. It's a good weight for its size - not heavy, but feeling solid. That's not surprising for a metal alloy phone, of course. Available in Black, White or Gold, the P9 Lite shares the good looks and high build quality of the regular P9, with sleek design, chamfered edges that catch highlights, and twin speaker grilles at the bottom edge, giving it serious HTC-inspired looks. On the back of the phone you'll find a square fingerprint scanner, used to unlock the device.
The P9 Lite has the same size screen as the P9 at 5.2 inches. The screen resolution is the same - 1920 x 1080 pixels - making it both big and sharp. This Full HD display is bright, with well-saturated colours and good viewing angles.
8-core Kirin processor
Like the P9 itself, the P9 Lite uses an octa-core Kirin 64-bit processor. It's a slightly slower model, but still very capable, with 4 cores running at 2GHz and 4 at 1.7GHz. Fitted with either 2GB or 3GB of RAM, depending on the version, it's a good high-end CPU.
The P9 Lite has half the flash memory of its big brother, which is fair for the price. The 16GB of storage plus microSD card slot should be plenty for most users, and you won't find a phone with more memory for this kind of money.
Android 6 Marshmallow
The P9 Lite runs Android 6 Marshmallow, with the latest version of Huawei's Emotion UI on top. This Apple-inspired user interface adds some interesting features, but isn't our favourite mod. It doesn't appear to give the phone any noticeable performance hit however.
13 megapixel camera
Perhaps the most obvious reduction in specification compared with the P9 is the fact that the P9 Lite has a single rear camera, instead of the dual lens configuration of the P9. But we have no complaints. The 13 megapixel Sony BSI camera with autofocus and flash is as good as most mid- to high-end phones, and performs competently under most lighting conditions. It's a good everyday camera that will meet the needs of most users.
Similarly, the front camera will serve the needs of the selfie-seeker, with a fixed-focus 8 megapixel sensor, and wide angle f/2.0 lens. The screen lights up as a flash in low lighting.
Connectivity
The P9 Lite misses out on the USB-Type C connector of the P9, being equipped with a more conventional array of connectivity options - 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, micro-USB, NFC, and a headphone socket. GPS and Glonass positioning are included, as well as a compass.
Strong battery life
Often the "Lite" version of a phone loses out when it comes to battery life. Not so with the P9 Lite, which shares the heavy-duty 3000mAh battery of the P9. Considering that its Kirin 650 processor uses less power, this gives the P9 Lite an impressively long battery life - between 1 and 3 days in our estimate.
Conclusion - as good as the original
Of course the P9 Lite isn't quite as good as the P9. But when you factor in the substantially lower cost, we'd rate it as an even better buy.
The P9 Lite makes cuts in the right places - eliminating the dual lens camera, and opting for a lower-spec but still fast processor. The memory has been cut to 16GB too, but for the price bracket, we think that the P9 Lite gives more than any other phone.
Update (August 2017): The new Huawei P10 Lite doubles the memory to 32GB and brings a few other welcome improvements.
Huawei P9 Lite features include:
- Operating system: Android 6 Marshmallow with Emotion UI 4.1
- 13 megapixel BSI f/2.0 camera with autofocus and flash, 1080p video recording
- 8 megapixel front camera, fixed focus
- Display: 5.2 inches with 1920 x 1080 pixels
- A-GPS/Glonass positioning
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
- Processor: Kirin 650, 64-bit, 8-core (2.0GHz x4, 1.7GHz x4)
- Sensors: Fingerprint sensor, Accelerometer, Compass, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi (2.4GHz b/g/n), Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth, USB, NFC, 3.5mm audio jack
- Memory: 16GB, microSD memory card slot, 3GB RAM
- Networks: 4G LTE, 3G, Quadband GSM
- Size: 147 x 73 x 7.5 mm
- Weight: 147g
- Battery: 3000 mAh
User questions
Sorry - questions and comments on this page are now closed.
How do you zoom in when about to take a photo?
Asked by Chris
from England
on 20th Dec 2017
I bought my phone in south africa, but it doesent want to take an international sim and its supposed to be unlocked. Can this be fixed?
Asked by
Darrilyn
from USA
on 14th Sep 2017
On a ceuiseliner working, want to put At&t sim for when we in US
PORTS.
How do I make the P9 lite connect to Windows Media Player?
Asked by Jan
Townsend
from GB
on 13th Apr 2017
All my previous smartphones have connected automatically to WMP but
the P9 lite doesn't. I want to put music of my choice on the phone.
How can I do this?
Huawei P9 Lite user reviews
Sorry - reviews and comments on this page are now closed.
Average rating from 18 reviews: 
Reviewed by shafiullah
from ksa
on 11th Oct 2017
It very good phone.
Rating:
Reviewed by Jan
from United Kingdom
on 6th Apr 2017
Got this phone as an upgrade from EE here in the UK. My only problem
with it is it won't synch with Windows Media Player. Does anyone know
how I can make it connect up?
Rating:
Reviewed by Redfitzy
from United Kingdom
on 21st Mar 2017
I have just purchased this phone second hand for £120 and so far
so good I had a alcatel idol 3 5.5 before buy my 2 year old put it
down the toilet after 2 weeks GUTTED and that was a lovely phone the
only problem is no where can fix it anyway back to the p9 lite its a
lovely handset great battery life great screen it's a all round
beautiful handset id say it's the best handset under £210 all
day.
Rating:
Reviewed by Sid James
from England
on 16th Mar 2017
I have had this phone now for about 6 weeks now. I thought that I
would take a chance on something different from my previous HTC one
mini. Everyone kept saying go for an iphone, but when I saw this and
read numerous reviews(all favourable), I thought lets give it a go.
Well so far I have been more than impressed, it does everything it
says on the tin. I think Huawei will be one of the leaders in the
market if they continue to build phones like this one, and once you
get over the fact its not a iphone or Samsung, then you will really
enjoy this phone , especially at the price.
Rating:
Reviewed by David banks
from United Kingdom
on 5th Feb 2017
I brought my p9 lite as ive always been interested in them i think
they are far superior than the iphones. The only problem i have is the
keyboard the buttons seem closer together and im always hitting the v
or b buttons but hey im 70 and into smartphones in a big way and the
p9lite is a fantastic phone so if you want a great phone better than
samgsung and iphone you wont go wrong with a huawei p9 lite.
Rating:
Reply by Mike
from UK
on 4th Mar 2017
Download the free 'Big Buttons Keyboard' app.
Reply by Avril Meallem
from Israel
on 4th Dec 2017
Try downloading the google keyboard . I had the same problem on a 4
inch screen but with the google keyboard I hardly make any mistakes
and it is also a slide keyboard and very accurate.
Reviewed by Andy
from United Kingdom
on 15th Jan 2017
Got mine for £150 unlocked from Carphone Warehouse, WOW does
everything you need. Dont like emui but I use Go Launcher. For the
price best phone ever had, does everything I want that my s6 did.
Little tweaks missing but these are ones you watch on reviews of
samsung or iphone that you try and then never use. This is not a mid
range phone its a high end phone missing stupid things you dont really
need. To Huawei keep up the excellent work and low cost and I'll never
use another brand again.
Rating:
Reviewed by Joe
from UK
on 9th Jan 2017
After some looking around for a suitable replacement to my aging
iPhone 5 I decided to spend less cash. I was looking at the Galaxy A5
2016 but I'm not keen on Samsung products generally.
I
stumbled onto Huawei by mistake. I picked it up thinking it was a Sony
Xperia Z3. I was allowed to 'try before I buy' but hadn't noticed
Huawei on the front nor the rear. I was really surprised by the speed
of the phone and the overall weight and looks. When I asked how much
the Xperia Z3 was, I was then told it was the P9 Lite. I thought they
were joking.
I've had the phone for several weeks and I
have not issues with it.
My lesson learnt is 'don't be a
brand snob'. The P9 Lite is 5 out of 5.
Rating:
Reviewed by River_Reyes
from Philippines
on 7th Jan 2017
The best smart phone i owned! nothing compares! better than my Samsung
Galaxy S6.
Rating:
Reviewed by David
from Uk
on 26th Dec 2016
I'm very impressed with my huawei p9 lite,to me it has everything I
need and I think it's better than the iphones. It's fast enough for
me, the colours are bright and the camera is pretty good, better than
the samgsungs, and battery is amazing. I've got it in a leather case
and being a elderly gentleman it's perfect the only gripe I've got is
the keyboard seems small but other than that I'd say the manufacturers
if they keep on producing phones like this will rival the other
leading names. Well done huawei and thankyou for introducing a phone
with so much going for it at a respectable price.
Rating:
Reviewed by Steve
from UK
on 30th Nov 2016
I bought the P9 lite last week, as the reviews for it were good. The
screen is clear and the sound good, but it's main attribute is the
battery life, which is astonishing. I charged it last Wednesday when I
bought it, and although it took over three hours, there was still 20%
left on Sunday morning, after downloading apps, calls, and watching
youtube. This is one of the best phones I've had.
Rating:
Reviewed by Mike
from United Kingdom
on 25th Nov 2016
Bought the Huawei as a replacement for my old Iphone 5s. Fantastic
phone, works very fast, screen is perfect resolution is great. Now for
the most part battery life is just fantastic, Iphone could handle 5hrs
of heavy usage, Huawei has an outstanding battery life, highly
recommended, would not go back to Apple again.
Rating:
Reviewed by Liz
from United kingdom
on 23rd Oct 2016
Great battery! That's all! Phone not as good as I thought. It will do
till I can afford a Samsung!
Rating: 
Reviewed by Harry
from UK
on 21st Oct 2016
Very impressive low to mid range phone, great addition.
Rating:
Reviewed by Mandy griffiths
from Wales
on 16th Oct 2016
The p 9lite is a great phone .The only time I will change is when the
next one is created.
Rating:
Reviewed by Simo
from Morocco
on 15th Oct 2016
I have HUAWEI P9 LITE and I like it.
GOOD work HUAWEI.
Rating:
Reviewed by Alice
from south Africa
on 2nd Oct 2016
Huawei foons will be the beste foons in next 20years from now.
Rating:
Reviewed by Andy Hagan
from UK
on 17th Sep 2016
Superb phone. Superb value for money. Very fast. Great screen. Way way
better than Moto G I had before. Can now buy for under £200, SIM
unlocked. Absolute bargain. Reckon that in less than five years,
Huawei will overtake both Apple and Samsung in global smartphone
sales.
Rating:
Reviewed by Lewis
from UK
on 14th Sep 2016
I like phones that many wouldn't think of owning. The Huawei P9 Lite
is just such a device. I purchased mine the other day from Carphone
Warehouse. The sales representative was keen to help and was even more
keen to show me Samsung Galaxy s7's, iPhone 6S (he talked in length
about the 7, YAWN!!!!).
At the time of purchasing the P9
Lite I had an iPhone SE. I liked the smaller format of the iPhone over
the 6/6S (I use to have a 6 which bent and then the battery caught
fire when I slowly straightened it). Although Steve Jobs said the 3.5"
screen size was perfect for normal hands and can use it one handed, I
actually preferred the 4" screen. I have no issue with iOS. I think
iOS 10 (developer BETA) was very good on the SE, but I have fell out
of love with Apple and the current product strategies. By this I mean
to get the better camera with the 7 you have to buy the stupidly large
7 Plus. Why? I think I would have gone for the 7 if it had the same
camera set up. Why the camera hump? I would have got the 7 if it had
the same camera as the 7 plus and no camera hump. A slightly thicker
iPhone 7 with dual camera and without camera hump means larger
battery. I just don't understand the logic. Ok Huawei have done the
same with the P9 range (P9, P9 Plus & P9 Lite) but the costs are
not silly like Apple and Samsung devices
I digress.
The P9 Lite feels premium for the cost. I got mine for
£199 ($264, 234Euros). Bargain price for specification. Read
S21's review for specs.
Once setup to my preferred way
(installed Apex Launcher over the EMUI 4.0 and unlocked the bootloader
and rooted ready for custom ROMS) I am now able to give my review.
I have nothing negative to say. Even if the phone cost twice
the price I would not have a negative word to say. OK, 16gb on board
storage is a little low, but adding an SD card takes care of that.
The P9 Lite is fast. the battery last 2 days with average
use. I can get to the 3rd day before charging. The finger print reader
is bloody fast (slightly slower when using the Apex launcher). It has
all the connectivity required by me including NFC for Android Pay.
5 out of 5. Good on you Huawei for showing the world how to
make a good smartphone at a good price.
Rating:
Reply by Lewis
from UK
on 17th Sep 2016
#########UPDATE#########
I cannot fault the P9 Lite. It
has performed admirably when comparing it to device twice the cost.
Obviously I've been tinkering with it over the past few days setting
it up to how I like. I think the EMUI 4.1 isn't great but I can live
with it. I could install another launcher but this doesn't help the UI
side of things.
I've unlocked the bootloader and rooted
the device. Removed several system based apps, mainly Google stuff
such as music, drive etc. This has lightened the ROM a bit and I find
I have more available RAM with multiple apps open.
Speed
- very good
Battery life - very very good
Build quality -
very very good for cost
Screen quality - very good (good colours
etc)
I'd buy Huawei again.
Reply by Lewis
from UK
on 24th Sep 2016
#############UPDATE 2#############
Since my first review
10 days ago I have had a software update. Being that I have the
VNS-L31 Europe version I am now running software version C432B151 with
EMUI 4.1.1 with Android Security Patch Level to 1 August 2016.
Basically Huawei are being good with regular updates. EMUI isn't my
preferred Launcher/UI but this minor update seems to have made a
slight difference with smoothness. I only like one screen of apps I
use all the time with the rest in the app draw. EMUI removes this app
draw for an iOS style layout. EMUI is not the lightest Launcher/UI and
does consume a bit more RAM than others. I doubt Huawei will drop
EMUI.
As mentioned before I have removed unwanted apps
via unlocking the bootloader and rooting the device. I like Android to
run with only the apps I need. With 3gb of RAM I find I tick along
only using 1 to 1.1gb of RAM with plenty in reserve. Something I have
noticed is that EMUI doesn't multitask very well. Open a bunch of apps
and despite the large amount of spare RAM I found apps refresh often.
EDIT, EMUI 4.1.1 seems to have addressed this. I opened all the apps
on my P9 Lite and found none had to refresh when going back to them,
bonus.
I don't normally write lengthy reviews like this
but I feel compelled to do so as I am very impressed by the Huawei P9
Lite and what it offers for the price. I got mine for £199 and
although it isn't in the same league as the Samsung Galaxy 7 or 6 and
iPhone 7 or 6s for that matter, it does hold up very well against
them.
I agree with Andy Hagan's comment regarding Huawei
overtaking iPhone, Samsung and others, only as long as they produce
devices such as the P9 Lite etc.
Do we need phones with
CPU's quicker than a PC. Do we need over 3gb RAM to power apps. I just
don't think we do. The P9 Lite had the correct balance of
everything.
I did buy a Moto G4 the other day. I use to
own the Moto G 3rd Gen and liked the phone a lot. Unfortunately I
cannot say the same for the Moto G4. 5.5" screens are to big IMHO. The
P9 Lite is just right.
Huawei all the way.
Reply by Lewis
from UK
on 1st Oct 2016
Great. My phone slipped off a chair and despite having a rugged case
on the screen shattered. I've had screens crack before but this was
like a car window type of shatter. Not impressed.
My
negative is the screen is definitely not to gorilla glass
standards.
Reply by Lewis
from UK
on 12th Nov 2016
Since my P9 Lite met its end I was lucky and acquired a iPhone 6S free
of charge. Using iOS was easy and very familiar, but equally
frustrating. If you have used iOS and Android you'll probably know
where I'm coming from.
I decided to get another P9 Lite,
carried out the same process as before, unlock bootloader, remove
loads of junk I don't need to lighten the OS.
Still an
amazing phone for the money. I stand by my comments already
made.
Reply by nieya
from malaysia
on 23rd Jan 2017
how about it SAR value? almost reach 1.6. I love this phone. but it
scares me, or im just being paranoid?
