With its premium design, its triple rear photo module and its interesting technical data sheet, the P30 Lite arrives on the market with ambitions.
Presentation
After excellent P30 and P30 Pro, Huawei is back with a lighter version. Less ambitious, this P30 Lite is distinguished by a solid technical sheet supported by a premium design. Enough to make it a particularly interesting terminal on paper. Especially since it seems to display some pretensions on the photo side with its triple rear module, led by the famous 48 Mpx sensor.
The good grip of the P30 Lite.
Launched at €369, this P30 Lite faces the Galaxy A50 from Samsung and the Mi 9 SE from Xiaomi, but also the Pocophone F1. Three strong competitors.
Ergonomics and design
With its P30 Lite, Huawei refused to make aesthetic concessions. The terminal thus benefits from a finish that is as exemplary as it is pleasing to the eye. His back is the most beautiful effect. At the front, the 6,15-inch LTPS panel takes up 84% of the panel. On the upper edge, the teardrop notch is slightly smaller, allowing the screen to gain a few square millimeters.
The very aesthetic finish of the P30 Lite.
Once in hand, the P30 Lite offers a completely satisfactory experience. The side buttons, located on the right edge of the smartphone are easily accessible, whether you are left or right-handed. The same goes for the fingerprint sensor on the back. While it's as reliable as other P30s, it might be a bit slower.
On its lower edge, the P30 Lite houses a USB-C connection, but also a 3,5 mm mini-jack socket. A significant presence because these sockets tend to disappear in favor of USB-C. The terminal offers 128 GB of internal memory. Note that it is possible to give a little more space to all this, thanks to the port that can accommodate microSD cards of up to 512 GB. Dual SIM, the P30 Lite is compatible with NFC, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2 and 4G+ (cat.13).
The shrinking notch of the P30 Lite.
Unfortunately, the P30 Lite isn't waterproof, but it's hard to fault it, few of its competitors in its price bracket are.
Screen
The P30 Lite offers a 6,15-inch LTPS panel, in 19:9 format, displaying in 2 x 312 px for a resolution of 1 dpi. This appears to be of good quality. However, it is necessary to take a little tour in the parameters to get the best out of it. Once inside, click on "Display", then "Mode & Color temperature" before choosing the "Normals" profile and position the cursor yourself in the yellow.
How to get better colorimetry on the P30 Lite.
This done, the P30 Lite panel offers impeccable colorimetry. Thanks to uniformly controlled hues, its average delta E is excellent (2,3) while the color temperature is positioned at 6 K, flirting with the video standard of 546 K. Unfortunately, this beautiful picture is spoiled by a rate quite low contrast (6:500), IPS requires.
In terms of pure performance, the screen of the P30 Lite is one of the good students, with a maximum brightness of 472 cd / m² and minimum of 1 cd / m². Enough to remain readable in all circumstances. A comfort well helped by the low reflectance of the slab (8%). Finally, its persistence time (18 ms) is satisfactory while its tactile delay (77 ms) places it slightly above average.
performances
It's a Kirin 710 SoC based on eight ARM cores (4 x A73 at 2,73 GHz and 4 x A53 at 1,7 GHz) that powers the P30 Lite. A chip more than enough to run Android Pie. Enough also to juggle between applications without too many problems. In any situation, the smartphone manages to keep its cool and barely reaches 36,3°C after intensive use.
The P30 Lite after filming in FHD for 10 minutes.
When launching a game, the Mali-G51 MP4 iGPU chip takes over. It manages, in the face of greedy 3D games, to maintain a correct fluidity, without being transcendent on the graphics side.
Audio
Regarding audio, the P30 Lite comes with good news and bad news. The good thing is that it accommodates a 3,5 mm mini-jack connector. The bad news is that it turns out to be very average. If it benefits from a fairly wide dynamic range and confines its distortion to a minimum, this is unfortunately not the case for crosstalk. The stereo scene is therefore poor on the side of the P30 Lite. On top of that, the outlet's power output is quite low, and it will be challenged by even the slightest bit of power-hungry headphones.
Located on the lower edge, the speaker of the P30 Lite is just average. Its output power is low while the sound delivered is tight.
Photo
Like its brothers, the P30 Lite has a triple photo module on its back. However, it is arranged differently. Exit the 8 Mpx telephoto lens, instead, it is a module dedicated to the depth of field (2 Mpx), for the portrait mode, which makes its appearance. The sensors are also different. There is thus a main sensor of 48 Mpx and an 8 Mpx sensor for the very wide-angle. A slightly less hybrid configuration, but carried by an application that is still just as fluid. This module combo places it as a direct competitor to the Mi 9 SE.
The triple rear photo module of the P30 Lite.
Module principal : 48 Mpx, 27 mm, f/1.8
With the smartphone's default settings, the main module and its 48 Mpx sensor take 12 Mpx shots using the Pixel Binning technique. The goal is to combine pixels to capture more light. A process that we have already come across on Xiaomi's Mi 9 SE or on Honor's View 20. Huawei's photo application also allows you to take pictures directly in 48 Mpx. This allows for a slight gain in detail and provides some leeway when cropping a photo.
During the day, the main module of the P30 Lite takes shots that are a little too limited. The whole lacks sharpness, but above all contrast. Luckily, there is no deterioration in the periphery.
It is at night that the shoe pinches. The shots are drowned in electronic noise and the colors, already dull by day, disappear. We therefore end up with a photo that is certainly readable, but not very usable, with areas that are downright blocked. Note, however, that it tops out at 3 ISO, where Xiaomi's Mi 200 SE hovers at 9 ISO. Anyway, in these conditions, the Galaxy A11 or the Pocophone F569 are doing better.
Very wide-angle module: 8 Mpx, 17 mm, f/2.4
It is when the landscape protrudes from the frame that the very wide-angle module comes in handy. With its 17mm equivalent focal length, its lens opening at f/2.4 and its 8 Mpx sensor, it unfortunately offers very average quality photos. During the day, the amount of detail and the contrast ratio are further reduced. There is also a real loss of quality on the outskirts. Enough to position it well below a Mi 9 SE.
At night, the result is this time close to catastrophic. Faced with only 3 lux, the very wide-angle of the P30 Lite lets go and offers a rendering buried under electronic noise, with a total loss of detail. It's simple, you won't have to rely on its wide-angle in the light of a candle.
Portrait mode, front module and video
A portrait mode is available on the P30 Lite photo application. Unfortunately, it turns out to be rather limited. Its impact is mainly felt on the dorsal camera where the 2 Mpx module, dedicated to the depth of field, makes it possible to obtain a fairly successful progressive bokeh. On the other hand, this famous blur effect which puts the subject forward is almost non-existent on the front module. Too bad since this one, with its 24 Mpx sensor and its lens opening at f / 2.0, is quite good. The exposure is often well controlled and the backlights are fairly well managed.
Autonomy
With its 3 mAh battery, the P340 Lite has average performance in terms of autonomy. During our home autonomy test, which simulates normal smartphone use, the Chinese terminal lasted 30 h 15 min. In real conditions, this corresponds to just over two days of use. A good score in itself, but tarnished by those of direct competition. The P48 Lite pales in comparison to the Galaxy A30, Mi 50 SE or Pocophone F9 which offer much better autonomy.
Note that 1 h 30 min is enough to fully charge the P30 Lite.
Sustainability
Our sustainability score helps determine the sustainable aspect of the smartphone for both the consumer and the environment. It is based on the repairability index, durability criteria (protection index, standard connectors, warranty period and updates, etc.) and an assessment of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) policies. . You will find all the details of the analysis in our article presenting the sustainability score.
Highlights
An exemplary finish.
An IPS panel but well calibrated.
Good performance.
Weak points
A very average mini-jack connection.
Photo modules that are too fair.
Autonomy below the competition.
Conclusion
Note globaleWith its P30 Lite, Huawei offers a frustrating smartphone. Its finishes are exemplary, its panel, although IPS, is of good quality, and its performance remains sufficient for most uses. Unfortunately, the smartphone stumbles on the key sectors of autonomy and photography. He quickly shows his limits, and that's a shame.
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