Huawei P20 Lite, we have tested it

The new Huawei P20 Lite has a large, borderless screen, a dual camera with blur effect (bokeh) and a long-lasting battery for the most demanding users.

The smartphone is for sale in Spain for around 380 euros and brings several interesting new features, such as an artificial intelligence system for detecting faces to include stickers and masks in photos.

We tell you our impressions and in-depth analysis after ten days of using the Huawei P20 Lite.

The dual camera reaches Huawei's Lite range

The Huawei P20 Lite smartphone is the first in this range of the Chinese Chinese brand that incorporates a dual main camera. This offers several advantages for taking pictures, such as the ability to use the bokeh (blur) effect.

In the Huawei P9 and Huawei P10, the double lens was reserved for the standard and premium versions: Huawei P9, P9 Plus, P10 and P10 Plus.

The new Huawei P20 Lite has a 16-megapixel RGB sensor, which is supported by another 2-megapixel lens to make the bokeh effect (blur).

For its part, the secondary camera is 16 megapixels and also incorporates many of the functions of the main lens, such as the bokeh effect and recording of photos in motion. This secondary camera uses only flash on the screen, but it must be recognized that the quality of the selfies is very good, even in low light conditions.

As for the videos, both the main and secondary cameras record in FullHD quality.

After several days of testing, we confirm that the camera allows us to obtain quite good results, although in night photography it will be necessary to use a tripod if we do not want blurry photos.

In conclusion, the Huawei P20 Lite has a good camera for a terminal of its range, although it does not come as great surprises if we compare it with other dual cameras on the market. Its strong point is, without a doubt, the quality of the selfies.

Camera modes and functions on the Huawei P20 Lite

AR mode (augmented reality) with artificial intelligence

The Huawei P20 Lite has an artificial intelligence system that detects the faces in real time and applies augmented reality on them.

With the AR mode activated (in either of the two cameras) we can place fun accessories on the faces, such as cat or dog ears, heart-shaped eyes...

This augmented reality modality is integrated into the camera, so it is not necessary to download any extra application to achieve creations of this type.

Huawei P20 Lite screen: borderless and notch

The screen is one of the main attractions of the Huawei P20 Lite. It is a large panel (5.84 inches), LCD type and FullHD + resolution (2,244 X 1080 PIXELS). The format is 18.7: 9 and shows sharp and bright colors, of very good quality to enjoy videos, series and movies.

In addition, the screen has no borders on the sides, and only minimal borders on the top and bottom. But we must mention a detail that for many users is a downside: the earpiece and the camera lens form a "notch" and the notification bar is distributed on both sides.

Luckily, this detail can be changed with a phone software update. From Settings > Screen we can access the notch section to activate or deactivate it.

Performance, operating system and SIM cards

Inside the smartphone we find a Kirin 659 processor that is supported by 4 GB of RAM. The available internal storage space is nothing more and nothing less than 64 GB, although we can expand it with an external microSD card if necessary.

Overall performance is pretty smooth, although some apps take a while to open. It could also improve the speed of screen animations (such as the loading of icons when moving from one page to another in the list of applications).

The Huawei P20 Lite is a DualSIM phone, although if we want to use two nanoSIM cards we will have to give up the microSD to expand storage. Of course: 64 GB goes a long way, and we can also use the Huawei account to store files in the cloud and thus reduce occupied storage.

The standard operating system is Android 8 Oreo –the latest version of Android available so far– with the manufacturer's own customization layer, EMUI 8.

It seems that the new EMUI version has been designed with the most demanding users in mind with the “cleanliness” of Android. The Huawei P20 Lite comes with few standard applications, and almost all of them are useful or can be uninstalled.

The customization layer also allows you to select smart wallpapers (which change from time to time), create users with different levels of permissions to use the smartphone, etc.

Huawei P20 Lite

Battery guaranteed for the whole day

Huawei's P20 Lite smartphone has a 3,000 mAh battery , but the phone is prepared to save energy and offer the whole day of autonomy without problem. At rest, the terminal can last more than 6 days without charging, and with intensive use it completes the day without difficulty.

EMUI customization also has an integrated phone optimization system and two battery saving modes that reduce power consumption to a minimum to further extend battery life.

It is worth highlighting the excellent result of the Huawei P20 Lite in the AnTuTu Tester autonomy tests: it achieved 7136 points and placed third in the AnTuTu ranking.

Interesting connections and functions

A detail that is appreciated in the P20 Lite is that it comes with an NFC (Near Field Communications) connection, an increasingly necessary system that all mid-range terminals are beginning to incorporate .

The smartphone also has a miniJack port for headphones, an FM radio chip and a fingerprint sensor on the back.

One of the most outstanding functions in the Huawei P20 Lite (as in other terminals of the brand) is the Manager application, which allows you to manage the necessary parameters to optimize the phone in a few steps.

From the Manager we can, for example, delete junk files and cache, close applications that consume a lot of battery or perform security searches to detect viruses and other threats.

Conclusions and price

Is it worth buying a Huawei P20 Lite for around 380 euros in Spain? Probably yes. And it is not only for value for money, but for some specific advantages of this terminal.

The most interesting thing about the P20 Lite is the battery life. It is very easy to find mid-range or high-end terminals with 3,000 mAh capacity, but they do not always guarantee a day of use without charging. In the Huawei mobile, there is no doubt that the battery is optimized to the maximum so that we do not have to worry about looking for a plug.

On the other hand, the screen is wonderful to enjoy videos on mobile. In addition, there is the option to eliminate the notch at the top according to the tastes of each user, so the main "hatch" of the panel design is eliminated.

The Huawei P20 Lite could improve in performance. The mini-lapse of time it takes to open apps can be annoying, and a slightly more powerful processor could have been used.

As for the camera, the highlight of the smartphone is the quality of the selfies, even in low light conditions. The main camera offers good results and has interesting functions such as the bokeh effect.

Considering all these details and the price, we can say that the Huawei P20 Lite is a good option in the current mid-range, with good features and under 400 euros.