Kirin 659 is good, but the competition is getting better
Huawei’s homegrown Kirin 659 is six months old by this point, but despite its age the chipset performed well during its time with us. We’re well acquainted with the chipset’s performance and limitations, especially when it comes to graphically intense games.
Huawei lists the P20 Lite as having either 64GB or 128GB of storage, but local reps have clarified that the phone that they’re bringing into the country will only be the 64GB version. The phone does have expandable storage, though you’ll have to sacrifice one of your SIM slots if you want more room though.
The chipset is good enough to ensure hassle-free navigation, and the 19:9 aspect ratio gives you more space to play with when you’re going through apps like Facebook.
As good as the 659 is, it’s showing its age compared to the competition. MediaTek’s Helio P60 has more graphical processing power, so does Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 630 and 626 which is used in the devices of its competitors. It’s a concern for sure, but if you’re not really that much into Android games it’s not going to matter much.
The P20 Lite has two biometric unlocking options: one is the fingerprint scanner on the rear, and the other is the facial unlock feature. As with other Huawei phones the fingerprint scanner works like a treat, quickly unlocking the phone every single time. The facial recognition feature isn’t as fast as we’re used with the company’s P20 Pro (to be fair almost no other phone is) since it’s not AI boosted but worked surprisingly well even under less than optimal conditions.
The P20 Lite has a single bottom firing speaker which is surprisingly loud especially considering the source.
Powered by the same UI as its big brothers
The Huawei P20 Lite is powered by Android Oreo, and runs on EMUI 8.0, the same Android interface that’s present on the company’s flagship offerings. EMUI offers added functionality like the Game Assistant, which gives users three game modes to choose from (including a setting for long battery life).
Does the P20 Lite deliver the goods when it comes to the camera?
