Huawei is on a roll in India launching four smartphones in the country over the last two months. More recently, the company launched the Honor 9 Lite in the country which comes with four cameras — two at the front and two at the rear. The price of the handset also ends up making it compete with another offering from Huawei: the Honor 7X.
It is very rare to see an OEM release two overlapping products at the same price point. Huwaei, however, believes that the Honor 7X and Honor 9 Lite are unique in their own right and can easily be sold alongside each other. This move has created a confusion among Indian consumers looking for a mid-range smartphone within Rs 15,000. With Motorola, Xiaomi and other companies yet to unveil their 2018 mid-range phones, Honor’s 7X and Honor 9 Lite are the best phones on the market in the 15k price segment.
However, what are the differences between these two phones? And how similar are they? Let’s have a look at their detailed specifications below to know.
| Differences | Honor 7X | Honor 9 Lite |
| Dimensions | 156.5 x 75.3 x 7.6 mm | 151 x 71.9 x 7.6 mm |
| Weight | 165g | 149g |
| Display | 5.93-inch 1080 x 2160 IPS LCD, 2.5D curved glass | 5.65-inch 1080 x 2160 LCD, 2.5D curved glass |
| Chipset | HiSilicon Kirin 659 clocked at 2.36GHz | HiSilicon Kirin 659 clocked at 2.36GHz |
| GPU | ARM Mali T830-MP2 | ARM Mali T830-MP2 |
| RAM | 4GB | 3/4GB |
| Storage | 32/64GB, microSD card slot | 32/64GB, microSD card slot |
| Camera | Primary: 16MP PDAF, LED flash, 1.25um pixel size, Full HD video recording; Secondary: 2MP depth camera | Primary: 13MP PDAF, LED flash, 1.25um pixel size, Full HD video recording; Secondary: 2MP depth camera |
| Front camera: 8MP, 77-degree wide-angle lens, Full HD video recording | Front camera: 13MP + 2MP depth camera | |
| Sensors | Fingerprint, Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Proximity, Ambient light sensor | Sensors: Fingerprint, Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Proximity, Ambient light sensor |
| Connectivity | LTE, Hybrid dual-SIM, GPS, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, microUSB, FM Radio | Connectivity: LTE, Hybrid dual-SIM, GPS, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, microUSB, 3.5mm jack |
| Battery | 3340mAh non-removable | Battery: 3000mAh non-removable |
| Others | Android 7.1 with Emotion UI 5.1 | Others: Android 8.0 Oreo with Emotion UI 8.0 |
Honor 9 Lite vs Honor 7x: What’s the Difference
In a nutshell, Honor 9 Lite and Honor 7X differ from each other in three major aspects: build quality/material, camera, display, and software. While the Honor 7X is made from unibody aluminum, the Honor 9 Lite makes use of 2.5D curved glass at the front and rear. This does make the latter less durable than the 7X, though it also makes it stand apart from a hoard of other mid-range Android phones featuring a unibody aluminum design.
When it comes to the camera, the Honor 7X features a 16MP + 2MP dual-camera setup at the rear and an 8MP selfie shooter at the front. The Honor 9 Lite, on the other hand, features a 13MP + 2MP dual-camera setup at the rear as well as the front. The Honor 9 Lite is able to capture slightly better photos than the Honor 7X, though the difference is not that perceptible.
As for the display, both phones come with an 18:9 Full HD+ display. However, the Honor 7X packs a larger 5.93-inch display while the Honor 9 Lite comes with a smaller 5.65-inch display. This makes the phone slightly smaller and lighter than the 7X as well.
Lastly, the Honor 7X runs on Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box with Emotion UI 5.1. The Honor 9 Lite, on the other hand, runs on Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box. Huawei has already confirmed that the Honor 7X Oreo update will land towards the end of Q1 2018. This might be a non-issue between the two handsets a couple of months from now, but for now, the lack of Oreo on the Honor 7X is definitely a bummer.
Between the Honor 7X and the Honor 9 Lite, which phone do you like more? Drop us a comment and let us know!
