When the Huawei Honor 3C first came out, it made a big splash as one of the few smartphones in Malaysia to offer big features at a relatively tiny entry-level price of RM499. Nearing the end of the year and the Huawei Honor 3C Lite has entered the scene, cutting this price tag down even further to RM399 but at the cost of some of the features and tech specs that defined the earlier Honor 3C. Does the Huawei Honor 3C Lite measure up? Check out our review of the Honor 3C Lite below to find out.
Design, Tech specs and Features - Still good and simple with a few changes
Design-wise, the Honor 3C Lite doesn't change much, featuring the same rounded plastic backside and curvy look as the earlier Honor 3C. It still feels comfortable in the hand, while the 5-inch IPS display remains at the same 1280 x 720 pixel resolution as before. Again, the backside is a bit slippery but the overall build remains solid with the same 3.5mm audio jack on the top and 8MP camera with LED flash on the back. While it may not look different, the front camera is now 2MP (the Honor 3C had a 5MP front camera). Designed for the young and brave the Honor 3C Lite measures in at 72.3 x 142.2 x 9.4mm and weighs 156g. Check out our Honor 3C Lite vs Honor 3C tech spec comparison tool or the full tech spec and features list of the Honor 3C Lite below:
- 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor
- 1GB RAM
- 16GB storage + up to 32GB microSD
- 5-inch IPS display (1280 x 720 pixel resolution, 294 ppi)
- 8MP rear camera (LED flash, autofocus, f/2.0 wide aperture, 5P optical lens) + 2MP front camera
- 72.3 x 142.2 x 9.4mm | 156g
- supports Dual SIM (3G + 2G), WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
- features AirSharing
- 2000 mAh battery
- Android 4.4.2 + Huawei Emotion UI 2.0
- Available in black and white
Tech specs for the Honor 3C Lite
The overall look and feel remains the same as the earlier Honor 3C
Powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor, 1GB RAM and fairly large 16GB storage, the smartphone supports Dual SIM slots, 3G and has a 2000 mAh battery to keep everything going. While it may pack in Android 4.4.2 from the get go, it only uses the Huawei Emotion UI 2.0 which is more simple to use but lacks some of the motion features we're used to. The overall interface is more stable though with no problems at all in terms of hangs or lags, something that we did see with the Honor 3C. One tech spec that the Honor 3C Lite does improve is 16GB worth of storage which is double that of the 8GB in the Honor 3C. The Honor 3C Lite is also compatible with the Huawei TalkBand B1 smartband. Connectivity is fairly smooth on 3G with a stable connection for the most part.
The Honor 3C Lite works with most smartbands including the Huawei TalkBand B1
Performance - Higher than expected
Performance is surprisingly good though, and while simple we found the Honor 3C Lite to be mostly capable with our benchmarks it is also capable with games and apps as well. For our benchmarks, it delivered an AnTuTu score of 17964, beating out the Honor 3C which scored 17132. In Epic Citadel it got 46.5fps on high quality which is quite high but in 3DMark it only managed 2071 in the Ice Storm Extreme benchmark. Camera performance was surprisingly good and while the 2MP front camera no longer offers panorama or groufie shots, both cameras deliver fast autofocus and work well in low-light conditions. The audio does sound a bit tinny but again it is enough for the job. Battery life was another surprise as Huawei Malaysia lists it at 24 hours on moderate use but on fairly heavy use (non-stop camera and video usage, browsing, social media, some gaming, some video editing) the Honor 3C Lite lasted around 1 full day and a half.
The Honor 3C Lite scores 17963 in AnTuTu
... which is higher than the Honor 3C.
The Honor 3C Lite performance on Epic Citadel is quite respectable
Not so good performance on 3DMark
However, you can still play smooth Asphalt 8:Airborne on medium quality settings
8MP, HDR
Pretty good low-light performance at 8MP, Auto
Another good low-light shot on 8MP, Auto
Some noise on low-light, but still good performance on 8MP, HDR
Good action shot at 8MP, Auto
Panorama shot, 8MP, Auto
Still pretty good selfie shot quality on just 2MP
Video recording performance using the Honor 3C Lite is smooth
Conclusion - Simple, stable and better than most
Overall, the Huawei Honor 3C Lite is a surprisingly better entry-level smartphone than it's predecessor. It also delivers better than average features and performance for it's price than many other smartphones in the RM399 range. While the lower-end EMUI 2.0 offers less features, the simplicity of use, overall performance and stability it gives is well worth it. If you're going to get a smartphone for you brave young individual then you should definitely put the Honor 3C Lite on your consideration list.
Check out our unboxing video of the Honor 3C Lite
Check out our hands-on video of the Honor 3C Lite
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