The most crucial feature of the Honor 200 Lite is its affordable pricing.
Based on our criteria, it falls halfway between mid-range and budget phones at launch in the UK, costing £279. If you’re interested in the Honor 200 Lite, it’s most likely due of its low price, but it also has additional advantages.
Like many other phones in the same price range, you get a nicer display, better cameras, and longer battery life than you might think. The Honor 200 Lite makes tradeoffs in terms of performance and extras like wireless charging and waterproofing, as is common.
Design & Build
- Appealing design
- Matte finish on the back
- No waterproofing
I really enjoy the way the Honor 200 Lite looks: it’s slim, light, and easy on the eyes. I would replace the little bigger camera bump on the rear, but I can live with it. You have three color options for the phone: pastel blue, darker cyan, and the black unit seen below.
It measures 161.05 mm x 74.55 mm x 6.78 mm and weighs 166 grams, making it both larger and lighter than the iPhone 15. It feels a little plasticky in the hand, but the matte finish on the back is well done and gives a sense of elegance. The corner curves are also noticeable, as they are more rounded than normal.
The matt finish on the back is nicely done and adds a touch of style
There is no official IP classification for water and dust protection here, as is common with low-cost phones, and Honor has not emphasized anything about sustainability or durability. Note that the fingerprint sensor is conveniently located on the power button and functions adequately.
Screen & Speakers
- 6.7-inch AMOLED screen
- Display is sharp and bright
- Single loudspeaker
The Honor 200 Lite’s 6.7-inch, 1080 x 2412 pixel AMOLED display is undeniably bright and clear.
Increase the brightness, and everything on the screen shines – Honor hasn’t indicated the maximum brightness level, but it’s not noticeably lower than the best phones on the market.
With a refresh rate of up to 90 Hz, moving between menus and apps is fluid and slick, and while the bezels aren’t ultra-thin, they’re certainly not offensive in size. Colours appear rich and homogeneous throughout the screen, but there is no HDR support, so video content does not look as fantastic as it does on top-tier flagships.
The brightness and crispness of the display is definitely one of the highlights of the Honor 200 Lite
We have one loudspeaker at the bottom, which is fine. It’ll suffice for watching movies and listening to podcasts, but you probably shouldn’t play your favorite songs over it because they won’t sound great (use some wireless or USB-C headphones instead).
Specs & Performance
- Acceptable budget specs
- Plays most games fine
- Supports Wi-Fi 5 and 5G
On the one and only option available, the Honor 200 Lite has a MediaTek Dimensity 6080 chipset, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage, placing it squarely in the budget-to-midrange category.
Performance is generally smooth and speedy, however there may be a little delay if you’re doing something complicated (such as launching picture-in-picture or switching between apps).
Relatively demanding games, such as Real Racing 3, perform smoothly, and most day-to-day use will not result in noticeable slowdowns. Of course, the risk of purchasing inexpensive phones is that they will eventually grind to a halt before flagships, but this will only become apparent over time.
Performance is mostly fine and snappy, though you do occasionally see a moment’s delay if you’re doing something complicated
Given the low entry price, you definitely get your money’s worth in terms of performance. Perhaps the most significant issue with the Honor 200 Lite in this aspect is that there are so many other decent bargain phones available.
Honor 200 Lite benchmarks
In terms of connection, the Dimensity 6080 chip provides 5G as standard, in addition to Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, and NFC for contactless payment.
Cameras
- Triple-lens rear cameras
- 50Mp selfie camera
- No telephoto sensor
I was really delighted with the photographs and movies produced by the Honor 200 Lite’s 108Mp + 5Mp ultrawide + 2Mp macro rear camera system, as well as its 50Mp selfie camera.
Even in low light, the camera performs admirably, and while it cannot compete with the Pixels and iPhones of the world, it produces satisfactory photos virtually every time.
As with all Honor phones, there are numerous photo settings to choose from, the most of which I believe most people will not use.
Some modes, such as those designed for night photographs and HDR processing, do not appear to be significantly different from the normal photo mode. There’s also an unusual multi-video mode that allows you to record split-screen clips using both the front and back cameras.
Even in low light, the camera does well – you’ll get good results almost all of the time
Video recording is limited to 1080p resolution at 30 frames per second, and there’s no fancy features like optical image stabilisation (OIS) – another indication that we’re dealing with the low-end of the market. However, the Honor 200 Lite excels in terms of point-and-shoot convenience.
Battery Life & Charging
- Long-lasting battery
- 4500mAh battery capacity
- No wireless charging
The Honor 200 Lite comes with a 4500mAh battery that easily gets me through each day, sometimes with 30-40% power left.
I am not the most demanding phone user, and this is a brand-new battery, but it is still rather impressive. The only time I came near to requiring a recharge was when I was gaming and using the map GPS for an hour or two, but there was still plenty of battery life.
Streaming a movie at maximum brightness and low volume depleted the battery by 7% per hour, resulting in almost 14 hours of video playback in total – a very good score. Of course, this is one of the advantages of a phone with lower power consumption and a lower quality display on the front.
Standby battery life seemed to be adequate as well; when I returned to it after an hour or two of inactivity, the battery level had just slightly decreased.
There is no wired charging here; only 35W wired charging, which charges the phone from 0% to 12% after 15 minutes and 26% after 30 minutes. Not bad for a budget phone, but nothing spectacular.
Software & Apps
- Android 14 and MagicOS 8
- Some bloatware
- A few nice UI touches
The 200 Lite comes pre-installed with Android 14 and Honor’s MagicOS 8.0, as well as a couple of Honor’s own apps: an email client, a calculator, a weather app, a video and music player, a notes app, and a gallery for your photographs and movies.
It’s a lot of bloat, but since Android is Android, concealing these Honor apps and utilizing alternatives is simple. In general, the UI is a little brighter and busier than I’d like, but that’s primarily a matter of personal preference, and Android, of course, provides plenty of customisation possibilities.
The interface is a little more bright and busy than I would like, but that’s largely down to personal choice
One disadvantage is that Honor has not specified how many years of updates this handset is eligible for, despite the fact that three major Android upgrades are promised for Honor flagship phones.
Price & Availability
At the time of writing, the Honor 200 Lite costs precisely £279.99 in the UK. As usual, the phone isn’t available in the US.
It is available directly from Honor or on Amazon. The phone is not available on contract from any networks, therefore you must purchase it outright and connect it with a SIM-only deal.
Specs
- Android 13, MagicOS 8
- 6.7-inch AMOLED display (90 Hz, 1080 x 2412 pixel resolution)
- Mediatek Dimensity 6080 with 8GB RAM
- 256GB storage
- 5G
- Bluetooth 5.1
- Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
- 64Mp f/1.8 main rear camera
- 5Mp f/2.2 ultrawide camera
- 2Mp f/2.4 macro camera
- 16Mp f/2.1 wide selfie camera
- Power button fingerprint reader
- USB-C port
- 4500mAh battery
- 35W wired charging
- plastic body
- 161.1 x 74.6 x 6.8 mm
- 166g
- Available in black, blue, and cyan
