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Honor 400 Lite: Two-minute assessment
Squint, and you might mistake the Honor 400 Lite for an iPhone 16 Pro Max. Honor is clearly enamored with Apple‘s complete strategy to smartphones, or extra seemingly the enduring reputation of the very best iPhones, and it is evidently not afraid to put on that admiration on its sleeve.
The prospect of a £250 cellphone with a Dynamic Island (or ‘Magic Capsule’) and Digital camera Management (or ‘AI Digital camera Button’) is an undeniably attractive one. Honor has executed these two components effectively, delivering a price range Android cellphone that feels barely completely different from its rivals. That is laborious to realize in a staid smartphone market.
Nonetheless, within the strategy of in search of to supply an iPhone-style expertise on a budget, Honor seems to have taken its eye off the ball in some elementary areas. The Honor 400 Lite does not carry out in addition to lots of its friends, whereas its digicam system feels undercooked.
In the meantime, Honor’s MagicOS feels as cluttered and unappealing as ever, emulating the essential look of iOS with out reaching the identical stage of refinement. It is good to see a six-year replace promise, although, which is among the many best in its class.
Strong battery life and a great 6.7-inch OLED show additionally assist the Honor 400 Lite’s trigger, although its 35W charging speeds are nothing to write down dwelling about, and that sizeable notch in all probability will not enchantment to those that watch a number of motion pictures and TV reveals on the go.
Finally, the Honor 400 Lite is a price range cellphone designed to enchantment to those that equate ‘iPhone’ with ‘smartphone’, however who lack both the assets or inclination to spend upwards of £600 on their subsequent handset.
It will serve such folks fairly effectively, however those self same folks ought to know that they will not be getting probably the most from their cash. There are quicker, extra strong, and simply plain higher telephones within the sub-£300 bracket.
Honor 400 Lite assessment: worth and availability
- Launched on April 22, 2024
- On sale within the UK and Europe for £249.99 / €269
- Just one variant (8GB RAM / 256GB storage)
- No US or Australia availability
The Honor 400 Lite was introduced in April 2025 and is because of go on sale within the UK and Europe on Might 22. Honor smartphones aren’t bought within the US, whereas an Australian launch for the Honor 400 Lite can also be off the playing cards on the time of writing.
It will be accessible in only one variant in these territories: 8GB of RAM and 256GB of inner storage. This sole mannequin will value £249.99 / €269 (about $330 / AU$520).
At this worth, the Honor 400 Lite is competing with a complete host of reasonably priced telephones, together with the Samsung Galaxy A26, the Poco X7, and the Motorola Moto G75 5G. All of those rivals have superior water resistance, whereas the Moto G75 5G additionally has MIL-STD-810H sturdiness.
Samsung’s cellphone has wider availability and that acquainted One UI software program, whereas the Poco X7 has a transparent efficiency edge.
Honor 400 Lite assessment: specs
| Header Cell – Column 0 | Header Cell – Column 1 |
|---|---|
|
Dimensions: |
161 x 74.6 x 7.3mm |
|
Weight: |
171g |
|
Show: |
6.7-inch Full HD+ (1080 x 2412) as much as 120Hz AMOLED |
|
Chipset: |
MediaTek Dimensity 7025 Extremely |
|
RAM: |
8GB |
|
Storage: |
256GB |
|
OS: |
Android 15 |
|
Main digicam: |
108MP 1/1.67-inch sensor |
|
Extremely-wide digicam: |
5MP sensor |
|
Entrance Digital camera: |
16MP sensor |
|
Battery: |
5,230mAh |
|
Charging: |
35W wired |
|
Colours: |
Velvet Gray, Velvet Black, Marrs Inexperienced |
Honor 400 Lite assessment: design
Picture 1 of 3
- Clearly iPhone-influenced design
- Magic Capsule notch provides widgets and selfie gentle
- Skinny, light-weight all-plastic construct
- Devoted digicam shutter button
Honor would not be the primary firm to take a web page out of Apple design playbook, however the Honor 400 Lite takes it to the following stage. It seems to be extra like an iPhone (particularly the iPhone 16 Professional Max) than just about another cellphone I’ve seen.
Sure, you’ve gotten the flat-edged look with the curved corners, similar to the Google Pixel 9a and Samsung Galaxy S25. However the similarity runs to the smaller particulars, too. The digicam module seems to be extraordinarily much like that of the iPhone 16 Pro, with solely a triangular motif marking it out.
Flip the Honor 400 Lite onto its entrance, and there is an prolonged floating notch that appears rather a lot like Apple’s Dynamic Island. Honor calls it the ‘Magic Capsule’, but it surely serves an identical perform.
Honor’s psychedelic-sounding notch facilitates tiny heads-up widgets when doing issues like taking part in music or operating a timer. Faucet a kind of widgets, and it will develop barely to a bigger, width-spanning model.
One factor the Honor 400 Lite’s Magic Capsule does not copy from Apple is a very safe Face ID system, with no 3D Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor to seize the required depth info. That is likely a value situation, because the flagship Honor Magic 7 Pro does embrace such a function.
As an alternative, the Honor 400 Lite’s prolonged notch provides you a devoted selfie gentle, although it has pretty restricted utility. It will technically let you file movies and take video calls in very low lighting, supplied you actually need to convey that mid-noughties webcam vibe.
A extra consequential addition is the AI Digital camera Button, located a little bit method under the quantity and energy buttons on the right-hand edge. It is one other direct carry from Apple, with an identical look and considerably unsatisfactory positioning to the iPhone 16’s Digital camera Management.
It too serves as a devoted digicam shutter button, full with two-stage operation for locking focus and a swipe-to-zoom facility which may really be higher than Apple’s. It additionally serves as a two-tap digicam shortcut, whereas a protracted press will convey up Google Lens, a lot because it brings up Visible Intelligence on an iPhone.
Maintain the Honor 400 Lite in your hand, and all of the iPhone comparisons flake away. That is an all-plastic affair, regardless of the metal-effect body. It is well-built, with no creaks and a refined pearlescent end to the rear.
It is also very gentle, given its giant 161 x 74.6mm footprint, at simply 171g, whereas it is solely 7.3mm thick.
You may additionally discover the uneven bezel, which will get thicker on the corners and throughout the chin. That is a positive signal that we’re procuring within the £250 class right here, although a 93.7% screen-to-body ratio continues to be fairly first rate for a price range cellphone.
Honor 400 Lite assessment: show
Picture 1 of 2
- Strong 6.7-inch FHD+ OLED
- Will get good and vivid
- Solely a mono speaker
Honor has outfitted the 400 Lite with an completed 6.7-inch OLED show, with an FHD+ (1080 x 2412) decision and a most refresh fee of 120Hz.
These are all specs that we have come to anticipate within the £250 class, they usually see the Honor 400 Lite matching the likes of the Poco X7 and the Samsung Galaxy A26.
Not many price range telephones can boast a 3500-nit peak brightness, nevertheless. PWM dimming of 3840Hz, in the meantime, cuts perceptible flickering and potential eye pressure.
Basically use, I discovered this to be a very nice show to make use of, not less than as soon as I might switched away from the ramped-up ‘Vivid’ colour mode to the extra muted and pure ‘Regular’. It is large, sharp, color-accurate, and responsive, whereas its brightness scales evenly from very darkish (nice for low-light viewing) to fairly vivid.
It is a disgrace the All the time On Show perform does not meet the outline, nevertheless, requiring a display faucet to activate.
Additionally a disgrace is Honor’s enduring insistence on packing its reasonably priced cellphone with a single downward-firing speaker. It does not really feel like an excessive amount of to ask for a stable set of stereo audio system, even at this worth.
Honor 400 Lite assessment: cameras
- 108MP principal digicam struggles with HDR and night time pictures
- Poor 5MP ultra-wide
- Solely 1080p/30fps video
Honor has simplified the digicam setup from final yr’s Honor 200 Lite, with the pointless 2MP macro digicam dropping out altogether.
This leaves you with what seems to be the identical pair of cameras, particularly a 108MP 1/1.67″ f/1.8 principal sensor and a 5MP f/2.2 ultra-wide.
The principle digicam is a reliable shooter underneath superb circumstances, capturing loads of element. It is even ok to supply pretty convincing 2x and 3x crops within the absence of a devoted telephoto.
There are points with this principal digicam, nevertheless. It appears to battle with HDR eventualities, both failing to carry very darkish shady areas or in any other case blowing out background highlights.
I additionally seen some odd processing results, together with a wierd halo impact round distant birds in entrance of a blue sky.
Night time pictures, too, aren’t excellent, with poor element and baggage of noise. The dearth of OIS right here is sort of evident.
The ultra-wide, in the meantime, is of a reasonably substandard high quality, missing intimately and failing to match the tone of the primary sensor.
The selfie digicam has additionally modified because the Honor 200 Lite, dropping from a 50MP f/2.1 unit to a 16MP f/2.5. It captures sufficient pictures with fairly wealthy colours, however once more struggles with blown-out highlights.
The availability of an LED gentle is an fascinating one. It positively improved the readability of my low-light selfie pictures and movies once I activated it manually, however is it strictly needed when most telephones merely use a white display for the job? I am not so positive.
Speaking of video, the primary digicam maxes out at a weedy 1080p at 30fps. That is a reasonably poor effort when rivals such because the Galaxy A26, Moto G75 5G, and Poco X7 can all file at 4K.
Honor 400 Lite assessment: digicam samples
Picture 1 of 32
Honor 400 Lite assessment: efficiency
- MediaTek Dimensity 7025 Extremely is merely sufficient
- Strong 8GB of RAM
- 256GB of storage
The Honor 400 Lite is supplied with a MediaTek Dimensity 7025 Extremely chipset, which is not a really sturdy performer even inside the price range cellphone class.
I’ve used a cellphone with this chip earlier than within the Redmi Word 14 5G (which did not ship within the UK), and I used to be left fairly unimpressed. Suffice it to say, the Honor 400 Lite did nothing to alter my thoughts on this part.
Throughout CPU and GPU benchmark exams, it is outgunned by the Moto G75 5G, the Samsung Galaxy A26, and the Poco X7.
I might prefer to say that this does not matter in sensible phrases, however that is not the case. There is a typically wallowy really feel to every part from unlocking the cellphone to app startup and even primary animations.
It could be unfair to name this efficiency halting or stuttery, however every part appears to take a beat longer than it ought to. I might be tempted to let it off the hook given the value, however the Poco X7 (to make use of one instance) feels good and snappy by comparability.
Certainly, whereas the Poco X7 is able to operating Genshin Impression fairly effectively on Medium settings, the Honor 400 Lite must run it at Low and even Lowest for those who’re to keep up an honest body fee.
The solitary mannequin accessible within the UK provides you a stable 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which is most welcome.
Honor 400 Lite assessment: software program
- Android 15 with MagicOS 9
- Six years of OS updates and safety patches
With the Honor 400 Lite, you are getting Android 15 recent out of the field, coated in Honor’s newest MagicOS 9 UI. It is not my favourite Android pores and skin by any stretch of the creativeness.
Honor evidently does not suppose a lot of the flowing, vibrant UI design that Google baked into the most recent model of Android, preferring as a substitute the sq. icons and break up notification menu of Apple’s iOS.
The 2 UIs actually look uncannily alike in locations, proper all the way down to the look of the Settings menu and the lock display. The aforementioned Magic Capsule drives this acquainted sensation dwelling with its Dynamic Island-style mini-widgets.
Sadly, such an admiration for Apple’s work does not prolong to the corporate’s no-nonsense strategy to bloatware. You may discover Fb, Reserving.com, TikTok, Amazon Procuring, ReelShort, LinkedIn, and the Temu procuring app all sitting on the second dwelling display straight from first boot-up.
There’s additionally a High Apps folder with 4 extra third-party apps. It is a little bit extreme, if removed from uncommon, on Android.
Elsewhere, there is a whopping nice themed ‘Necessities’ folder on the primary dwelling display containing 9 of the corporate’s personal apps, and one other giant folder stuffed with AI-suggested apps that I by no means discovered remotely helpful.
Honor additionally gives its personal App Market, which feels utterly pointless with the Google Play Store current and accounted for (Honor is not a part of Huawei, so it is not hampered by the identical sanctions).
There is a smattering of AI options right here, together with some Google-affiliated ones reminiscent of Good Imaginative and prescient (primarily Google Lens), Google Gemini, and Circle to Search.
Honor has carried out a function known as Magic Portal that considerably overlaps the latter Google provision, allowing you to attract round textual content and pictures earlier than opening up a shortcut menu for sharing the ensuing snippets to different apps. It is nowhere close to as good as Circle to Search, however it may really be fairly helpful on this extra localized on-device software. Or it might be, if the knuckle-based enter system wasn’t so flaky.
Favorite Area is a folder to shortly stash these swiftly scrawled-out snippets. Nonetheless, given the big variety of superfluous preinstalled apps, I am unsure why there is not an ordinary Favorite Area app. I encountered quite a few references to it and saved a number of snippets earlier than it supplied to create a shortcut (within the form of an app icon) on the house display.
Relating to picture enhancing, Honor gives a fairly efficient AI Eraser for deleting undesirable objects and other people. AI Outpainting is a weird however technically spectacular function that primarily turns your common pictures into ultra-wides, utilizing AI to deduce what could be simply out of body. It sort of works by way of creating convincing (although not correct) photographs, however I am unsure why you’d ever need to make use of such fakery past a tech demo.
Maybe probably the most optimistic facet of Honor’s software program provision on the 400 Lite is the promise of six years of OS and safety updates. That is proper up there with the Samsung Galaxy A26 on this price range class.
Honor 400 Lite assessment: battery life
- 5,230mAh battery
- 35W wired charging
- No charger within the field
Honor has equipped a larger-than-average 5,230mAh battery with the 400 Lite, which is considerably bigger than the 4,500mAh battery of the Honor 200 Lite.
It ends in predictably sturdy stamina. I discovered that I used to be in a position to undergo a day of reasonable to heavy utilization, with 4 hours 40 minutes of display on time, and be left with 58%.
You could possibly conceivably undergo a full two days right here, although extra intensive purposes and combined community use will, after all, drain that battery a lot quicker.
In an more and more widespread transfer, there isn’t any charger equipped within the field. Honor claims that for those who purchase the devoted 35W Honor Wired SuperCharge charger, the cellphone can energy as much as 100% in 75 minutes.
In my expertise, you do not essentially must exit of your method to safe the official brick. Whereas a Xiaomi 120W Hypercharge brick trickled alongside at a glacial tempo, a Samsung 65W Tremendous Quick charger received the job completed in simply 72 minutes.
As charging charges go, that is not particularly fast. The Poco X7, with its 45W charging assist, can get its equally sized battery as much as 100% in 50 minutes. The Moto G75 5G solely helps 30W charging, however that price range rival additionally contains wi-fi charging, which the Honor 400 Lite doesn’t.
Ought to I purchase the Honor 400 Lite?
|
Attributes |
Notes |
Score |
|---|---|---|
|
Design |
Vastly by-product of the iPhone, however solidly constructed, light-weight, and with a neat devoted digicam button. |
3.5 / 5 |
|
Show |
A giant, vivid and sharp OLED show with good pure colours. |
4 / 5 |
|
Efficiency |
The MediaTek Dimensity 7025 Extremely is not a very sturdy performer, even inside this price range class. |
3 / 5 |
|
Digital camera |
Strong pictures in good lighting, however struggles with HDR and low gentle eventualities, and the ultra-wide is not as much as a lot. |
3 / 5 |
|
Battery |
A big 5,230mAh battery can get you thru two days, although 35W charging is not the quickest. |
4 / 5 |
|
Software program |
Stuffed with bloatware and extra iOS than Android, although Honor’s six years of assist is welcome. |
3 / 5 |
|
Worth |
You are getting a stable cellphone with some distinctive options at a low worth. |
4 / 5 |
Purchase it if…
Do not buy it if…
Honor 400 Lite assessment: additionally take into account
The Honor 400 Lite is not the one stylish reasonably priced cellphone available on the market. Listed here are a number of the higher options to think about.
How I examined the Honor 400 Lite
- Evaluate take a look at interval = 1 week
- Testing included = On a regular basis utilization, together with net searching, social media, pictures, gaming, streaming video, music playback
- Instruments used = Geekbench 6, GFXBench, 3DMark, native Android stats, Samsung 65W energy adapter
First reviewed: April 2025