Introduction and specifications
The midranger from Honor’s flagship Magic series returns for another round in 2023 and offers some upgrades over its predecessor. While last year’s Magic4 Lite was somewhat disappointing, we have higher hopes for the Magic5 Lite, especially as it rightes some past wrongs.
Notably, the Honor Magic5 Lite is a rebranded Honor x9a, which was released in January in select Asian markets, so you can use this review to help you decide whether the x9a is worth it. The two handsets are identical.
Honor Magic5 Lite • Honor X9a
The updated Lite features a superior OLED panel instead of IPS while running at 120Hz, has a better main camera, adds an ultrawide to the rear, increases battery capacity, and offers a new back design.
The phone still uses Honor’s established design language, but we like the minimalist ring on the back better. Plus, it’s a distinctive look that no other midranger has.
The device also comes with an updated Magic UI 6.1 based on Android 12, which promises more features and improvements under the hood. Of course, Google’s mobile services are on board as the company is now a separate entity from Huawei.
The specifications of Honor Magic5 Lite / Honor x9a at a glance:
- Body: 161.6×73.9×7.9mm, 175g; glass front, plastic back and side frame.
- Screen: 6.67″ AMOLED, 1B color, 120Hz, 800 nits (HBM), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 395ppi.
- chipsets: Qualcomm SM6375 Snapdragon 695 5G (6nm): Octa-core (2×2.2GHz Kryo 660 Gold and 6×1.7GHz Kryo 660 Silver); Adreno 619.
- Memory: 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM.
- Operating system/software: Android 12, Magic UI 6.1.
- Rear camera: Broad (main): 64MP, f/1.8, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 5MP, f/2.2; Macros: 2MP, f/2.4.
- Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.5, (wide).
- Video capture: Rear camera: 1080p@30fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
- Drums: 5100mAh; 40W wired.
- Various: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC; Infrared port.
One thing has remained unchanged, and that is the chipset. The new model shares its predecessor’s Snapdragon 695 SoC, which is a capable mid-range silicon but lacks 4K video recording capabilities. And that’s our only beef with Qualcomm’s offering. We’ll be sure to check how well that chipset fares in the context of this year’s midrangers on the following pages, so read on to find out more.
Unboxing of the Honor Magic5 Lite
To our surprise, the Magic5 Lite arrived without a charger in the box. There is only one USB-A to USB-C cable used for charging and data transfer.
There was no case inside the box either. Now, we can’t be sure all markets get the same retail package, but our unit did not receive a charger. And yes, last year’s Magic4 Lite had the proper 66W charger.
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