Honor 10X Lite review

2+2 cameras on the back

The Honor 10X Lite comes with a quad-camera setup on its back, though as is common practice in the lower market segments, only two of them are 'real' cameras.

The main module uses a 48MP Quad Bayer sensor - what has become the go-to option for even the lower mid-tier devices. A non-stabilized 26mm equivalent lens with an f/1.8 aperture sits in front of it.

The ultra wide-angle cam has an 8MP sensor with a lens that has the field of view of a 17mm lens on a 35mm film camera. The aperture on this one is f/2.4.

Then there's the 2MP fixed-focus 'macro' camera that works best at a focusing distance of 4cm. Another 2MP unit for depth detection completes the list.

The Honor uses Huawei's camera app that is more or less the same among all lineup models. The zoom selector complaint we've been having with it is less of an issue on this one, simply because of the phone having fewer cameras, but its placement remains sub-optimal.

UI navigation is otherwise standard - you change modes by sliding the mode selector to the side (but not by swiping in the viewfinder). There's a toggle for changing between the front and rear cameras (but not by swiping in the viewfinder).

There's a Pro mode too, which is also the same as on the flagships - you don't get that approach with every brand. Here you can adjust parameters yourself - ISO (50 to 3200), shutter speed (1/4000s to 30s), exposure compensation (-4 to +4EV in 1/3 stop increments), and white balance (presets and specific light temperature). You can also choose the metering mode (matrix, center-weighted, and spot) and the focus mode (single, continuous, and manual). If the phone thinks you messed up the exposure, an icon will pop up to warn you.

Huawei/Honor's approach to faux bokeh has been two-fold for years - there's both a Portrait mode and an Aperture mode. In Aperture, you can choose the simulated aperture in the range from f/0.95 to f/16. Post shot, you can change the aperture and the desired focus point within the Gallery.

In Portrait mode, you can enable and disable the background blur, but you can also choose the bokeh shapes - circles, hearts, or discs. You can add some beautification on a scale from 0 to 10, but the simulated lighting we last saw on the Mate 40 Pro isn't available on the P smart 2021.

Camera UI

Image quality

While we weren't impressed with the P smart 2021's picture quality, we noted it took okay photos with its main camera. The Honor 10X Lite, despite packing seemingly identical hardware, doesn't produce the same level of output.

Even in daylight, Honor 10X Lite's photos disappoint in terms of sharpness and detail, though noise performance is fairly decent if that's any consolation. On a positive note, colors are more vivid than the relatively dull reproduction the P smart 2021 delivered. We wouldn't go as far as calling them pleasing. Dynamic range is limited, though it's perhaps a minor improvement over the P smart 2021's.

Daylight samples, main camera

Master AI works subtly. We found it to deepen the blue in the skies when it detects a 'blue sky' scene. On the other hand, ' Greenery' didn't make much difference with the greenery in our test scenes.

Daylight samples, main camera, Master AI

The native 48MP resolution is accessed from the 'More' pane in the mode selector, so it's a few swipes and a couple of taps away. That's where it belongs on the Honor 10 Lite, as the mode produces fuzzy and noisy shots without practical benefits in terms of detail.

Daylight samples, main camera, 48MP

The ultra-wide cam of the Honor 10X Lite is an unpretentious 8MP unit. Surprisingly, it delivers slightly better pictures than what we got out of the P smart 2021's ultra-wide. We see a bit more detail here, and improved sharpness and dynamic range are actually decent for a camera in this class. Having said that, the 13MP ultra-wide camera of the Poco X3 NFC remains vastly superior.

Daylight samples, ultra wide angle camera

In low light, the Honor 10X Lite again falls short of the not-particularly-high standard already set by the P smart 2021. While with similarly limited dynamic range, Honor's shots are softer and less detailed.

Low-light samples, main camera

Things do improve in Night mode. That's where you want to be when shooting in low-light to get a wide dynamic range and good development in both shadows and highlights. You'll also get much-improved color saturation. The trade-offs include increased noise levels and the fact that Night mode images are captured at 8MP - trade-offs we'd easily live with.

Low-light samples, main camera, Night mode

There's no Night mode for the ultra wide-angle cam, however, and that's close to unusable in the dark. It produces soft images with a very narrow dynamic range that are more often than not underexposed.

Low-light samples, ultra wide angle camera

Once you're done with the real world samples, head over to our Photo compare tool to see how the Honor 10X Lite stacks up against the competition.

Honor 10X Lite against the Poco X3 NFC and the Realme 7 (Global) in our Photo compare tool

Portraits

As we mentioned, 10X Lite has a Portrait mode for people only and an Aperture mode for people and other subjects. In both modes, the phone does reasonably well in terms of subject separation, though you could spot imperfections in the border areas when looking up close. The f/2.0 simulated aperture we picked for our Aperture mode samples makes for a bit of an exaggerated bokeh effect, while the default blur level in Portrait mode looks more natural. Dynamic range is similarly narrow in both modes - there's not enough computing power for bokeh and HDR calcs at the same time, we gather.

Portrait samples

Aperture samples

You can shoot non-humans in Aperture mode too, to a mixed level of success. We see different behavior on the Honor compared to what we got out of the P smart - for example, where the Huawei-branded phone did a very natural-looking blurred rendition of the building outline in the background, the Honor draws in a more fake way with almost sharp edges. Also, we couldn't get one sharp photo of the trash can in the third sample.

Aperture samples, non-human subjects

The Honor 10X Lite's macro cam takes low-res 2MP close-ups that still manage to capture decent detail. On this particular phone, where the main can doesn't impress with sharpness in either 12MP or 48MP mode, the macro might actually be useful.

Close-up samples

Selfies

While we were quite pleased with the unassuming 8MP selfie shooter of the P smart 2021, the Honor's 8MP front-facing camera isn't quite as good. Its images are not as sharp and quite noisy, and the colors are somewhat anemic. Dynamic range, on the other hand, is relatively wide - nice.

Selfie samples

It's not so in portrait mode. HDR goes out the window, so backlit shots will inevitably result in blown highlights as the phone tends to expose for the subject - generally a good thing since that's you, after all. Subject separation is hit or miss - we did lose a cheek in the last sample.

Selfie portrait samples

Video recording

The Honor 10X Lite isn't too well equipped to record video. It maxes out at 1080p resolution, where it can capture at 60fps or 30fps on the main cam and only 30fps on the ultra-wide. There's no 4K recording capability. There's also no video stabilization, which feels properly pre-historic. You do get to choose between the default h.264 codec or the more storage-efficient h.265, for what that's worth.

Video quality is barely okay in 1080p at 30fps from the main cam - we're talking relatively nice colors, average detail, and limited dynamic range. 1080p at 60fps suffers from poor focus - it will hunt to acquire, miss, and stay out of focus.

Ultra wide footage is soft and comes with dull colors and an additional drop in dynamic range.

With no EIS available, hand-held footage is quite shaky. We'd go ahead and say that shooting while walking is a no-go.

Here's a glimpse of how the Honor 10X Lite compares to rivals in our Video compare tool. Head over there for the complete picture.

Honor 10X Lite against the Poco X3 NFC and the Realme 7 (Global) in our Video compare tool