Honor 9 Lite Vs Xiaomi Mi A1 Vs Moto G5S Plus – Dual Camera Mid-Rangers Battle Royale!

Honor smartphones are not new to India. Most of Honor’s smartphones are affordable mid-range devices. But Honor has a few premium devices like the Honor View 10 and Honor 8 Pro, both of which are still value-for-money smartphones. The Honor 7X and Honor 9i were also recently launched, both of which are slightly premium mid-range smartphones.

The Honor 9 Lite, which was launched in India on 17th January, is the newest entrant in the mid-range dual-camera smartphones arena. But, it has managed to one-up the others with two sets of dual cameras! That’s right! Honor’s newest affordable midrange smartphone has 4 cameras on board. Having 4 cameras seems like an overkill, especially in a midrange smartphone. Often in the quest for a better camera, other specs are sacrificed in order to keep the price down.

Is the Honor 9 Lite one of those smartphones which are heavy on the cameras and light on the other specifications?

Let’s find out.

Honor 9 Lite – Great Specs At Low Cost

The Honor 9 Lite is powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 659 octa-core processor which is paired with the Mali-T830 MP2 GPU. This is the same processor which does the duty in the more expensive Honor 7X, right down to the same clock-speed. Another highlight of the Honor 9 Lite is that it runs Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box.

There are 2 versions of this smartphone available;

1. 3GB RAM + 32GB Storage; Rs. 10,999/-
2. 4GB RAM + 64GB Storage; Rs. 14,999/-

These are great specifications in the mid-range at respective price points. The Honor 9 Lite’s real bragging point is the 4 cameras (dual cameras front & back) and it comes with some nifty features on the software side as well. The hardware level bokeh effect is something that is quite rare in this price range.

The Honor 9 Lite will be going on sale exclusively on Flipkart on 21st January at 12:00 midnight.

It is a sleek phone which weighs in at 149 grams which is lighter than most phones in the same price range. The 5.65 inch full HD+ IPS LCD display is crisp and bright. It sports the latest 18:9 form factor, which allows for a bigger display in a smaller form-factor.

It feels like a complete package at its price point, especially in the camera department. But things are not always so straight-forward in the smartphone world. The Honor 9 Lite has two main competitors who can match it spec to spec, except of course in the camera department. They are the Xiaomi Mi A1 and Moto G5S Plus. Both these smartphones have comparable specifications and price points.

So can the Honor 9 Lite stand up to these 2 veterans?

Honor 9 Lite Vs Xiaomi Mi A1 Vs Moto G5S Plus – The Dual-Camera Gang

Both, the Xiaomi Mi A1 and the Moto G5S Plus have a dual-camera setup at the back, just like the Honor 9 Lite. Where the 9 Lite is powered by Huawei’s HiSilicon Kirin processors, both its rivals pack in Snapdragon’s processors. Both, the Mi A1 and the Moto G5S Plus are powered by the Snapdragon 625 processor.

It is worth taking a look at them side-by-side to ascertain the leader among these three. Of course, specifications rarely matter in the real world. But since we do not have access to the Honor 9 Lite, this is the next best thing which will help you in making a decision.

	Honor 9 Lite	Xiaomi Mi A1	Moto G5S Plus
Processor	HiSilicon Kirin 659 2.36GHz octa-core processor	Snapdragon 625 2.0GHz octa-core processor	Snapdragon 625 2.0GHz octa-core processor
GPU	Mali-T830 MP2	Adreno 506	Adreno 506
RAM	3GB / 4GB	4GB	4GB
Storage	32GB / 64GB; Expandable Up To 256GB; Hybrid Slot	64GB; Expandable Up To 128GB; Hybrid Slot	64GB; Expandable Up To 128GB: Hybrid Slot
Display	5.65 Inch; Full HD+; IPS LCD; 2160 X 1080	5.5 Inch; Full HD; LTPS IPS LCD; 1920 X 1080	5.5 Inch; Full HD; IPS LCD; 1920 X 1080
Primary Camera	Dual 13MP + 2MP; PDAF; LED Flash	Dual 12MP + 12 MP; PDAF; 2X Optical Zoom; Dual-Tone, Dual-LED Flash	Dual 13MP + 13MP; Autofocus; Dual-Tone, Dual-LED Flash
Selfie Camera	Dual 13MP + 2MP	5MP	8MP; LED Flash
Battery	3,000mAh Li-Po Battery	3,080Ah Li-Ion Battery	3,000mAh Li-Ion Battery
Connectivity	Dual SIM; 4G LTE with VoLTE	Dual SIM; 4G LTE with VoLTE	Dual SIM; 4G LTE with VoLTE
Sensors	Fingerprint (rear-mounted); Accelerometer; Proximity; Compass	Fingerprint (rear-mounted); Accelerometer; Gyro; Proximity	Fingerprint (rear-mounted); Accelerometer; Gyro; Proximity; Ambient Light Sensor
OS Version	EMUI Based on Android 8.0 Oreo	Stock Android 7.1.2; Upgradable To Android 8.0 Oreo	Stock Android 7.1;
Price	3GB + 32GB – Rs. 10,999/- 4GB + 64GB – Rs. 14,999/-	4GB + 64GB – Rs. 13,999/-	4GB + 64GB – Rs. 13,999/-

The Verdict

All these 3 smartphones are almost evenly matched. The Honor 9 Lite definitely leads in the camera department.

Hands down, the Honor 9 Lite is the best-looking smartphone among the three!

It is wrapped in an Aluminium frame with 2.5D curved glass on both, front as well as back, sides. This gives it a very premium feel in the hand. It is also the only smartphone here which has an 18:9 aspect display. This gives it a very sleek and contemporary look.

Honor smartphones are known for their no-nonsense, smooth performance. Part of it can be attributed to the choice of hardware and the rest is all software optimisations. The Honor 9 Lite is a newly released smartphone, whereas the other two are at the end of their product cycle.

So if you are looking for a beautiful, sleek, contemporary and a smooth performing phone, the Honor 9 Lite will tick all your boxes and serve you well as an all-around smartphone.

The Honor 9 Lite is going to be a Flipkart exclusive and will be available on 21st January at 12:00 midnight.