A mid-ranger with a stunning display

When buying devices in the budget-friendly price segment, it’s often difficult to find an option that impresses on design while getting the basics of the smartphone experience down pat.

To fill this opening, HONOR has made several devices, and for 2024, its entrant, the HONOR Magic6 Lite, is out to impress with its design and, most importantly, its display. But how does the hardware on this smartphone stack up in the market? That’s the idea we explore in this review.

HONOR Magic6 Lite Review: Technical Specs

HONOR Magic6 Lite Review: Price & Availability

The HONOR Magic6 Lite has made its way to European markets in a single variant, offering 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and retails for £349.99. You can order it from the HONOR online store, where it’s available in three different colors: Emerald Green, Midnight Black, and Sunrise Orange.

For our North American readers, the HONOR Magic 6 Lite is not officially available on the continent, and you must import it. As an alternative, we recommend the Google Pixel 7a, which is available at a discounted price across most retailers.

HONOR Magic6 Lite Review: Design

At first look, the HONOR Magic6 Lite doesn’t look much different than its predecessor, the Magic5 Lite. And there isn’t much reason for it to look different. The mid-range device from 2023 impressed us, and the 2024 iteration continues to do more of the same.

Its build features a curved glass front and back, while the mid-frame uses plastic. The latter choice helps the device maintain its lightweight attribute, weighing only 185 grams. As for the finish on the back, it’s a silky-smooth matte finish that glistens in certain patterns. The Emerald Green variant we tested is quite the looker if you want something beyond the standard black option.

Focusing on the one other notable aspect of the phone: On the back is a circular camera module, an identifying factor for all recent Magic series devices, which features a knurled finish around it. Fortunately, its large size means when you place the device on its back, it doesn’t rock.

Apart from this, the device maintains a fairly standard layout: power button and volume rockers on the left and charging port, microphone, plus the SIM card tray on the bottom.

*The Sunrise Orange variant features a vegan leather back.

HONOR Magic6 Lite Review: Display

Upon turning the HONOR Magic6 Lite to the front, you’ll be greeted by a 6.78-inch display, which is the primary reason most users should consider when planning to buy this smartphone.

The display uses an AMOLED panel with a resolution of 2652 x 1200 that is capable of reaching a peak brightness of 1,200 nits, refreshing at 120Hz, and covering 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. Combine these four aspects, and what you have is an impressive screen that will impress most users, if not everyone who looks at the device.

When taken outdoors, I noticed that the HONOR Magic6 Lite didn’t really struggle for visibility, and the panel quality was further reflected when I noted that there was no noticeable color shift when viewing the screen from different angles. AMOLED panels are highly susceptible to the latter, especially when it comes to devices in the budget segment.

One last thing we want to touch upon when it comes to the display. Throughout this section, we didn’t mention Corning’s Gorilla Glass. Well, that’s because, for display protection, HONOR is using its own proprietary tech this time around — HONOR Anti-Drop. It claims the device’s display should be able to withstand 1.5-meter drops from any angle due to this implementation.

HONOR Magic6 Lite Review: Performance and Battery

Powering the HONOR Magic6 Lite is once again a mid-range processor from Qualcomm, i.e., the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1. The processor does not disappoint for what it is; it brings a performance uplift from the last generation and doesn’t feel like a compromise, given the price of the device.

I could immediately tell how snappy the phone was and how it didn’t struggle to maintain its refresh rate or render system animations. When it comes to mobile gaming, simple titles like Minecraft, Clash of Clans, or Clash Royale didn’t sweat the device, but what surprised me was that a taxing title like Genshin Impact also ran surprisingly well at medium settings. Obviously, anything higher would definitely make the device struggle, but it’s possible for you to enjoy some gaming on the device.

To manage all the system activities, HONOR provides 8GB of RAM (expandable via a RAM boost feature), and with the optimizations on Magic OS 7.2 (based on Android 13), the user experience also remains fairly smooth. Switching between apps is quick, and RAM management isn’t too bad. And lastly, to store everything you download, you will have access to 256GB of storage.

Coming to its battery endurance, the HONOR Magic6 Lite features a 5,300 mAh cell, a slight 200 mAh increase over its predecessor. This battery will ensure that the device easily lasts you over a day of use. We had a hard time draining its predecessor to zero, and this one is similar in that aspect. Standby times on the phone also didn’t disappoint.

But when it comes to charging up the device, you will find yourself spending quite a bit of time plugged in the device. Despite its support for 35W charging, we often found the device needing more than an hour to go from 0% to 100%.

HONOR Magic6 Lite Review: Camera Capabilities

The cameras on the HONOR Magic6 Lite, while part of its headlining features, don’t match up with the other aspects of the phone in terms of user experience. Diving into the details of the camera system, it features three camera sensors on the back: a 108MP wide camera, a 5MP ultra-wide camera, and a 2MP macro camera.

Here, the 108MP wide camera should be your only choice when taking photos, as it does the best job of the three sensors. Shooting in broad daylight captures the best rendition of a subject and its colors. And you’ll often have more details available for viewing. Thanks to the large megapixel counts, it also offers a 3x zoom that acts as a pseudo-optical zoom, giving you some additional versatility.

A few negatives we noted for the system were:

• The high-contrast image outputs
• The hit-or-miss HDR performance
• Poor low-light imaging ability

The first drawback can make captured images appear washed out — although editing can help; the second makes capturing background details difficult, as the camera focuses all its attention on a subject. And the last one results in extremely noisy images. So, keep this in mind while buying this smartphone.

As for the other two sensors, they’re more here for the numbers on the spec sheet rather than adding value. In most cases, avoid using them.

Coming to the front camera, the 16MP shooter is worth using as its output is fairly satisfactory for the cost of the device and is usable.

HONOR Magic6 Lite Review: Verdict

Coming to the verdict for the HONOR Magic6 Lite. There’s a lot of competition for this device to outshine in the market. But with its great display, equally appealing design, and solid performance, it checks quite a few boxes.

We’d be hard-pressed to find a phone with a screen that is this bright without compromising on color output. And the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor, as we mentioned earlier, will handle most of the tasks you throw at it with ease. The battery life is also a huge positive.

So, if having the best smartphone camera at this price isn’t a requirement in your list of smartphone wants, the HONOR Magic6 Lite is an easy device to recommend. But if you’re looking for a compact device or one whose camera system is versatile and delivers every time, you’d be better off looking elsewhere.