Honor 400 Lite review: premium iPhone styling & excellent battery for under €300

Irish Daily Mirror

3 days ago

Back in my halcyon days of DJing, there was nothing more exciting than having a new record before anyone else.
The same applies to being a tech reviewer - it's a massive privilege and pleasure to get to test new products before they go on sale in Ireland, especially when it is before other reviewers too.
Honor 400 Lite is one such piece of kit. I've been having fun with this incredible phone for a couple of months ahead of its arrival in Harvey Norman and Three this month.
It's an incredible device because of the refined and elegant experience you get for your money, starting with the stunning 6.7in full HD+ AMOLED display with a superfast 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 3,500 nits that is unusually high for a handset in this price range.
The superslim Honor 400 Lite lives up to its name by weighing just 171g and it is comfortable to hold and use. The review unit was matte black in colour but it's also available in green and grey.
Honor 400 Lite has just one rear camera of note to shout about, a 108MP wide angle shooter that delivers especially pleasing shots in decent lighting. It comes with a dedicated AI camera button similar to iPhone 16's Camera Control and it works efficiently as both a zoom controller and shutter button. You can also record video by pressing the button for longer and you can set it to shoot photos in burst mode which is handy for capturing fast moving subjects.
The main camera works superbly as a macro camera, capable of sharp close-up shots at 2x and 3x that include impressive bokeh.
Within the app you can turn on an iPhone-style Live Photo feature to automatically record a short three-second video and then select the best frame as the still image.
Another handy tool is Highlights Capture which can detect smiles, people jumping or running and pets and instantly grab an image. It's useful for grabbing hands-free selfies from the 16MP front camera just by smiling.
You will get decent results from the main camera's Portrait mode and Night mode.
To use the full 108Mp resolution, you need to switch on High-Res mode which is found under the More tab in the camera app. There's also a Pro mode that offers a decent amount of customisation but it does not shoot in 108MP.
However, there is no RAW capture.
Honor 400 Lite is driven by a MediaTek Dimensity 7025-Ultra processor coupled with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage.
The software is the firm's own MagicOS 9.0 atop Android 15. It is sleek and easy to navigate with plenty of customisation options. The OS is not quite as flawless as, for example, Oppo's ColorsOS but the user experience on the 400 Lite is without hiccups.
Performance is top notch for everyday use. Like other phones in this price range, it's not powerful enough for serious gaming but aside from that you'll find it fast and fluid.
When not in camera mode, a long press of the camera button opens Google Lens by default. This enables you to search images or translate text almost instantly.
Honor 400 Lite has a relatively large 5,230mAh power pack and most people who buy this device will get up to two days out of the battery from a single charge.
There is support for 35W charging which is not lightning fast but this is a budget phone and those speeds are not far off the flagships from Samsung and Apple.
Honor has included iPhone-esque styling elements such as the Magic Capsule display at the top of the screen, rounded corners, and completely flat and metal-coloured edges. This gorgeous handset does not feel like a €299 phone.
The IP65 rating means it is dustproof and splashproof and can withstand an occasional dash of water during everyday use. The unit also boasts Wet-hand Touch technology that means the screen is responsive even in the rain.
There is an under-display fingerprint sensor that is reliable but not as fast as the ultrasonic sensor on Honor's flagship devices. You also get NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, dual speakers and support for Wi-Fi 2.4GHz and 5GHz up to the 802.11ac standard.
Honor 400 Lite does a great job of delivering premium iPhone-style features on a budget-priced phone. In 2025, this is a competitive price point with options from Nothing and Samsung offering plenty of competition. But anyone who buys this Honor unit should be pleased by the value-for-money feature set.
Honor 400 Lite costs €299 sim-free and is available from Harvey Norman and Three. You can also buy it from Amazon.