News & Reviews:   Huawei Honor 3C Lite

Rumours about the first 64-bit Huawei smartphone have popped up complete with a picture and tech specs. Called the Huawei G628, it offers a 64-bit 1.5GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6752 processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB storage, 5-inch 720p display, 8MP rear camera with LED flash, 2MP front camera, 3G LTE and Android 4.4 KitKat. It seems a bit strange that it won't come out with Android 5.0 Lollipop but our earlier coverage of the Huawei Honor 3C Lite led to some face to face time with Huawei officials who said that Android Lollipop would be coming to Huawei devices before or within Q2 of 2015. As usual, no Malaysia release dates or pricing details yet but the Huawei G628 is expected to cost CNY1000 (RM573). As always, do take such rumours with a good pinch of salt.

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.

Retailing at just RM399, the Huawei Honor 3C Lite offers nearly all the same tech specs and performance as the earlier released Honor 3C smartphone. We go hands-on to prove this with the Honor 3C Lite smartphone in our hands-on video below. Check it out for yourself as we take it for a spin with demanding apps like Asphalt 8:Airborne.

The Huawei Honor 3C Lite offers a number of big features at an even lower price of RM399 including an 8MP rear camera with LED flash and a 1.3GHz quad-core processor. Offering the same looks and design, other tech specs like the 5-inch HD display are also retained. Thanks to Huawei Malaysia the Malaysian Honor team we managed to get some time with this value smartphone. Check out our unboxing video below for a look at what the Huawei Honor 3C Lite comes with.

The recent release of the Huawei Honor 3C Lite and Honor 4x smartphones have brought out another rumour regarding the Huawei Honor 3C. According to rumours from an anonymous source, the RM499 priced Huawei Honor 3C could get a successor next year by a device with some refreshed tech specs. These features and tech specs include a 5.5-inch display, 64-bit processor, 13MP rear camera and 4G LTE connectivity. What is even more interesting is that all of these mid-range features would be available around the same Malaysia pricing as the Honor 3C which was priced at RM499. Rumours also say that it could be priced even lower, which would make it a direct contender for the recently released Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G which retails for RM589 with similar tech specs. No details yet on Malaysia release dates but we expect it to arrive sometime in early 2015.

Big thanks to Mr. Anonymous!

If you are looking for a cheap smartphone, the new Huawei Honor 3C Lite is a great option. This affordable version of the Honor 3C will be available for pre-order starting 28 November 2014 from VMall.my. Starting from the above date, you can pre-order the device for just RM399 from the online store as opposed to its regular retail price of RM449. In addition, 10 lucky winners who buy the Honor 3C will get a free holiday trip to Langkawi. The pre-order starts at 10AM on the said date and ends at 6PM on 3 December 2014. The first batch of pre-orders will start shipping from 8 December 2014. Even though the Honor 3C Lite is much cheaper than the original Honor 3C, the tech specs remain more or less the same. You get a Quad Core 1.3GHz Mediatek processor, 5 inch 720p display and an 8MP rear camera like the Honor 3C model. However, the RAM is reduced to 1GB, as is the battery capacity from 2300 mAh to 2000 mAh. Surprisingly, Huawei has increased the onboard storage from 8GB to 16GB in this cheaper variant. The Honor 3C also comes with 6 months exchange warranty along with a 1 year Original Manufacturer warranty.

We first covered the Huawei Honor 3C Play Edition back in August 2014 when it was officially announced in China. At the time, it was priced at CNY599 (RM308) and came with a design fairly similar to the Huawei Honor 3C. It turns out that we could soon see the Honor 3C Play as the Huawei Honor 3C Lite. Tech specs are more or less the same as mentioned earlier such as  a 1.3GHz MediaTek MT6582 processor, 1GB RAM, 16GB storage, 5-inch display at 720p pixel resolution, 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera, dual-SIM support and Android 4.2. Huawei Malaysia have teased it officially with teaser images on their Facebook page and at VMALL.my so we expect the Malaysia release date to be very soon. No news yet on pricing but we expect it to go for the entry-level market at around RM299 to RM349. Stay tuned for more developments.