Honor 200 Lite is the affordable iPhone with dynamic island and 108 MP camera? | Hands-On Video

With Honor starting to officially launch its products here in Brazil, TudoCelular has expanded its coverage of the Chinese brand’s devices.

This week, the company launched the new Honor 200 Lite on the European market and, in partnership with HDBlog, we had access to the affordable smartphone.

This device has an attractive design, a dynamic island in the best Apple iPhone 15 style and also more basic specifications to deliver a “friendly” price.

Is it worth keeping an eye on this intermediate/basic one? That’s what we’re going to know now in this hands-on.

The Honor 200 Lite is a smartphone that fits perfectly into the value-for-money device segment and has a premium device feel.

It is a well-built smartphone and features a screen with thin, symmetrical bezels. In other words, without that traditional “chin” of some more affordable devices.

Furthermore, it is undeniable that the curvature in the corners of the panel gives that feeling of a more expensive device, and the straight sides are also another positive highlight.

And despite being 6.7 inches, the Honor 200 Lite isn’t too difficult to hold. The design of the device makes life easier for those with small hands, with the thickness of just 6.78 millimeters and the weight of 166 grams helping with grip.

An interesting detail is that Honor makes a point of highlighting that this cell phone has a drop-resistant display with SGS certification.

On the back, we have a matte finish to avoid fingerprints, but perhaps what clashes most in the design is the camera module, which is exaggeratedly large and accommodates three sensors, in addition to the LED flash.

On the side, we still have the very responsive fingerprint reader, but you can opt for facial unlocking like we have on the iPhone. In initial tests, the recognition proved to be competent and accurate, even recognizing users with glasses or in poorly lit environments.

Finally, in the box, Honor sends the device, charging cable, chip removal key and manuals. The charger, at least in Europe, is sold separately.

The Honor 200 Lite features a 6.7-inch AMOLED panel, with Full HD Plus resolution, support for a refresh rate of up to 90 Hz and a maximum brightness of 2,000 nits.

In everyday life, we can say that this panel has well-calibrated colors and that this brightness is more than enough for you to view content in outdoor or well-lit places. Perhaps the only negative point is the lack of a 120 Hz refresh rate.

In multimedia, we have another cost cut. The sound is just mono, with output at the bottom of the device, which is “ok” and can distort a little at higher volumes.

The Honor 200 Lite has a MediaTek Dimensity 6080 chipset, 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage by default, something that is very positive.

You can also virtually expand the RAM with another 8GB to reach 16GB. In practice, we can say that this MediaTek processor is not extremely powerful.

In fact, it is ideal for everyday activities. In other words, browsing social networks, responding to messages, taking a photo, watching TudoCelular on YouTube or playing that more casual game.

In terms of connectivity, this smartphone has a 5G connection, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC for contactless payments with Google Wallet and a USB-C port.

The battery has a capacity of 4,500 mAh and supports fast charging of up to 35W.

In initial tests, it is possible to see that, despite the battery not reaching 5,000 mAh, the Honor 200 Lite can deliver a day and a half or even two days of moderate use.

That’s because Honor’s interface has great power management.

• 6.7-inch AMOLED screen with Full HD+ resolution
• Display with notch, 2,000 nits brightness and 90 Hz refresh rate
• MediaTek Dimensity 6080 Platform
• 8GB RAM
• 256GB of internal storage
• 50 MP front camera (f/2.1)
• Three rear cameras:
  • Main lens with 108 MP sensor (f/1.75)
  • Ultrawide lens with 5 MP sensor (f/2.2)
  • Macro lens with 2 MP sensor (f/2.4)
• 5G connection, Dual Band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.1 and USB-C
• Fingerprint reader on the side
• 4,500 mAh battery with 35 W charging
• Android 14 with MagicOS 8.0
• Dimensions: 161.05 x 74.55 x 6.78 mm
• Weight: 166 grams

The Honor 200 Lite comes out of the box with Android 14 and the MagicOS 8.0 interface, and it already has the latest Android security package.

In other words, something commendable for a more basic smartphone. In general terms, the system is very mature and is quite customizable.

Furthermore, it is noticeable that MagicOS 8.0 is agile in transitions and animations, giving that feeling of a much more expensive device.

And, if you want, you can still use performance mode, where the system forces the chipset to run at maximum speed and locks the refresh rate at 90 Hz.

This works very well, but sacrifices some autonomy. Still, for those who need to boost a game or just want an even faster smartphone, it’s an option worth considering.

Talking now about the dynamic island, it is here to display notifications, for you to see the available charge on headphones, to minimize the Spotify player or even to display details of native applications.

Furthermore, although Android is not adapted for this type of interaction, Honor knew how to develop the feature well to the point where you can have more than one application taking advantage of the dynamic island at the same time. Something that doesn’t happen on the iPhone.

Finally, in terms of updates, Honor guarantees two versions of Android and 3 years of security updates.

In cameras, the Honor 200 Lite has a 108 MP main sensor, with an aperture of f/1.75, a 5 MP ultrawide sensor and a 2 MP macro sensor.

Leaving aside the much weaker macro sensor, it is worth highlighting that the main rear camera manages to deliver good results and surprises thanks to well-calibrated software to make photos more vivid.

In general, you will be able to take good records with this camera, even in darker environments. The 108 MP mode also helps to capture more details, and you can take advantage of the 2x or 3x zoom available via software. There is also a competent HDR mode.

Honor’s interface also offers a “Pro” mode where you can make more complete manual adjustments and experiment with the sensor.

On the other hand, the ultrawide camera is decent, but only for well-lit environments. That is, for photos during the day. In night or dark environments, this sensor will deliver grainy photos with a lack of detail.

Selfies are recorded by the 50 MP front sensor, which can take good photos in different environments, but post-processing tends to make the recordings more artificial and with washed out colors.

But overall, these are acceptable selfies for social media. Unfortunately, due to cost cutting, the camcorder only allows you to shoot videos in 1080p at 30 fps.

There was about 60 fps left to make things more fluid here, especially when we are talking about a smartphone launched in 2024.

If the Honor 200 Lite arrives in Brazil, is it worth buying? We believe so. This smartphone has an eye-catching design and this dynamic island will certainly capture those people who want to have the feeling of using an iPhone.

Many may criticize, but the reality is that many people do want to have that taste of an Apple cell phone. And it is precisely for this audience that the Honor 200 Lite ends up becoming a very attractive option when on a tight budget.

It has a screen with excellent brightness, good performance for its category, very well resolved software and autonomy within the standard.

The negative points are the camera with limited recording and the only mono sound, but, in general, the Honor 200 Lite is pleasing and performs very well. Abroad, it costs the equivalent of R$1,577, delivering 8 GB of RAM with 256 GB of internal storage.

During promotions, it will certainly be even cheaper and will be a well-selling smartphone. Now, it remains to be seen whether Honor will bring the 200 Lite to Brazil and for what price.

Did you like the Honor 200 Lite proposal? Tell us your opinion here in the comments field.