Dubbed as Huawei Nova 3e in China, this worthy successor to the Nova line or a lighter but still premium version of the P20 is going to be a huge treat to Huawei fans in the Philippines. The device boasts an impressive cast of specifications and features that will delight the fans of the brand and even mobile photography lovers.
Let’s go ahead and unbox this P20 Lite! Note though that this is not yet a retail unit.
I’m not actually sure if this is going to be the retail box once this become available. It isn’t as fancy as the boxes of Nova 2 Lite, Nova 2i and even the previous P10 series. One thing is for sure, they are going to sell this as P20 Lite in the Philippines based on the model number on its box: ANE-LX2J. This is the same model name used in other countries. It comes in various colors: Klein Blue, Sakura Pink, Midnight Black and Platinum Gold. I received a Klein Blue variant and I think it looks fantastic.
- Huawei P20 Lite 8
- Huawei P20 Lite 4
You’ll see pretty standard stuff inside the box. There’s an included sim ejector tool to remove the hybrid SIM tray. Tucked inside are USB Type C cable, a Huawei Quick Charge compatible charger and and a standard 3.5mm headphone.
The Huawei P20 Lite bears subtle similarities to the P20 and P20 Pro. It has a 5.84” Huawei Fullview 2.0 display with insane bezel edges and cutout. Sleep/wake button and volume rockers are on its right side, and the hybrid sim tray is located on the left side. Let me remove the sim tray for you to have a closer look at it.
Huawei decided not to get rid of the 3.5mm headphone jack. It’s located just beside the USB Type C port, microphone and speaker grills. There is another microphone located at the top of the phone for noise-canceling purposes.
The phone looks amazing in my honest opinion. At first look, if you’re familiar with the design of the Huawei P20 and P20 Pro, P20 Lite does really look like its part of the family. The placement of the dual camera is pretty on point as well. You will not find a Leica branding here since this phone doesn’t have any Leica lens or image processor.
There is, of course, a fingerprint sensor, which is the only thing that’s drastically different from the P20 series. P20’s and P20 Pro’s fingerprint sensors are located just below its screen. In the case of P20 Lite, it is at the back to maximize its screen real estate.
The upcoming smartphone by Huawei has a notched 5.94″ display with 19:9 aspect ratio. P20 Lite’s notch is thinnest among the competition. It measures around 18.5mm at its thickest point. OPPO’s and VIVO’s latest smartphones have notches that measure 20mm. If you don’t want the notch to be seen, P20 Lite’s notch may be hidden by sandwiching it with overlay black bars. This may be done at will via the phones settings menu. This is something that – at the moment – Huawei can do with their smartphones with notched displays.
Another thing to point out is the Kirin 659 that sits at the core of the smartphone. This is the same processor that powers the Nova 2i, and that’s something worth looking at. Performance bump may not be as significant when compared to Nova 2i, but we’re still taking everything with a grain of salt as it’s still very early to give a verdict.
That’s everything for now. We’ll be posting more of our thoughts in the following days. Be sure to read our full review soon!
Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.
