Honor 9 Lite Smartphone Launch Live Blog
by Ian Cutress on February 6, 2018 4:17 AM EST05:27AM EST - We're in the depths of the East End of London for the next Honor smartphone launch. With Honor recently releasing the Honor 9 Lite in China and India, a similar equivalent is expected for the rest of the world.
05:29AM EST - We're sat in a small room of about 30-40 press. The event should start in a minute or two
05:37AM EST - OK, we're being told the presentation starts at 11, because that's when the livestream starts
06:00AM EST - The speaker is ready to get on stage
06:00AM EST - Starting with the logo, the two dual camera logos
06:01AM EST - two plus two equals four
06:01AM EST - The music has stopped
06:02AM EST - Apparently the live stream will be held at https://www.facebook.com/events/143183203155744/
06:02AM EST - Honor's PR team look to be using a tethered smartphone for the stream?
06:03AM EST - The press person next to me (never met him before) is randomly browsing AnandTech
06:04AM EST - Wilkin Lee to the stage, Sales/Marketing Director UK for Honor
06:04AM EST - Announcing the Honor 9 Lite
06:04AM EST - 5.65-inch fullview display
06:04AM EST - 13MP + 2MP quad camera
06:04AM EST - customized beauty algorithm
06:05AM EST - 'be the master of photography' with #beyourselfie
06:05AM EST - four lenses, 13MP HD dual-lens front camera
06:05AM EST - 16 levels of wide aperture
06:05AM EST - Portrait mode
06:05AM EST - updated software - making eyes pop and cheeks glow
06:06AM EST - Aperture from f/0.95 to f/16
06:06AM EST - hardware level Depth-of-FIeld
06:06AM EST - snap first, focus later
06:06AM EST - Gesture control
06:07AM EST - 'bring your selfie to life'
06:07AM EST - on the rear is 13MP+2MP
06:07AM EST - HDR mode
06:07AM EST - updated
06:07AM EST - faster phase detection autofocus
06:08AM EST - Added a Good Food mode for pictures
06:08AM EST - The goal with the 9 Lite is 'to be a master of photography'
06:08AM EST - Mirror like effect finish on the phone
06:09AM EST - Dual 2.5D Glass Design
06:09AM EST - FullView Display
06:09AM EST - FHD+ screen, 5.65-inch screen in 5.2 inch device
06:10AM EST - Front of the phone will have metal flake details
06:10AM EST - Gloss finish, laser-etched design
06:10AM EST - New set of colors compared to previous launches
06:10AM EST - over 1000 color prototypes tested
06:10AM EST - Final colors will be a 'new' Sapphire Blue, Glacier Grey, and Midnight Black
06:11AM EST - 'New Generation of Affordable Premium' with the hardware
06:11AM EST - EMUI 8, based on Android 8.0
06:11AM EST - Kirin 659
06:12AM EST - 2.36 GHz, 3GB DRAM and 32GB Storage
06:12AM EST - 3000mAh battery
06:12AM EST - Eye comfort mode, good for 3 nits
06:12AM EST - Added in Histen technology - 3D immersive audio
06:12AM EST - Real-time headset monitoring
06:13AM EST - apparently this is a future software release, the headset monitoring stuff
06:13AM EST - updated pre-production quality testing
06:14AM EST - e.g. 10000 on/off cycles, 200k power button presses
06:14AM EST - 199 GBP
06:14AM EST - that's around 229 EUR
06:14AM EST - Available from Feb 9th
06:15AM EST - with select retailers
06:15AM EST - That was a super quick press event - looks like we're set for hands-on testing now
06:16AM EST - Andrei got the information early on the full specifications, which you can find here: https://www.anandtech.com/show/12400/honor-launches-the-honor-9-lite
26 Comments
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jabber - Tuesday, February 6, 2018 - link
Wow a phone....very much like many other phones.Why bother? All much of a muchness now.
peevee - Tuesday, February 6, 2018 - link
Nah, this one is specifically targeted at the morons. "updated software - making eyes pop and cheeks glow"... #beyourselfie...Amandtec - Tuesday, February 6, 2018 - link
Price is very much UNLIKE other phones. Is it really worth it to pay 4x for a Sumsung or iPhone when the features they add don't make much difference to the average user compared to a Chinese phone like this? Of course, a lot of users want the brand halo as a status symbol...so they must pay...Cliff34 - Tuesday, February 6, 2018 - link
Yes, this I agree. The price point for this phone is very attractive. It is comparable to any phone w/ SD625. We are living in the days where phones are going for 1,000+. A phone like this for average users and those who don't want to spend on the latest and greatest is a good deal.Wwhat - Thursday, February 8, 2018 - link
It's cheap. it has a good resolution screen, it has 4 cameras enabling DoF and maybe stereoscopic view.Those are some things set it apart from others, some others are cheap but have a low res screen, or only one camera et cetera.
Now if you are bored with the whole phone thing like many rightfully are you have the option to scroll to the next articles and save yourself the trouble of writing a comment stating the obvious, i.e.. that many people like you are bored with phones
Hurr Durr - Tuesday, February 6, 2018 - link
I find the "for the brave" slogan to be counterproductive when it is applied to the consumer mobile phone thing. Last thing I need from my communication device is to somehow challenge me.peevee - Tuesday, February 6, 2018 - link
Well, if you phone makes your eyes pop, you need to be very brave...Holliday75 - Tuesday, February 6, 2018 - link
Now I am worried about the glowing cheeks part.xype - Tuesday, February 6, 2018 - link
I’m always amazed how companies with billions of dollars in cash can’t afford a designer who knows not to put ultra thin white type on a bright turquoise background, or that it the same background might not be very helpful when trying to present new product colors like a bright grey and a shade of blue.Zingam - Wednesday, February 7, 2018 - link
You should see that presentation live first before commenting and not on some poorly shot, highly compressed fotos made with a mobile phone.