Honor has announced the Magic 8 Lite, and while the headline may be its enormous 7500mAh silicon-carbon battery, it’s the camera system that might make this new device an affordable photography contender.
The Magic 8 Lite arrives with a 108MP ultra-sensing main camera using a 1/1.67-inch sensor, backed by OIS and EIS to keep shots sharp in tricky lighting. Honor says this setup delivers “daylight precision and low-light refinement,” and given the company’s track record with punchy computational imaging, expectations are high.
The main sensor is joined by a 5MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera for landscapes and group shots, and on the front, there is a 16MP f/2.45 selfie camera with Honor's AI-enhanced beauty modes. It's not a comprehensive multi-lens flagship, but Honor's clearly hoping its clever AI tricks might mean it can punch above its low price.
It also leans into AI heavily for image editing. Features like AI Eraser, AI Cutout, and AI Outpainting bring some of Honor’s flagship-tier editing tools to a more accessible device, while the new 4K HD moving photo collage mode gives users an easy way to build more dynamic visual stories straight from the gallery. Honor Connection also now supports photo transfers to iOS, smoothing out a long-standing frustration for cross-platform users.
While the cameras get most of my attention, the rest of the hardware is ambitious for a Lite-series phone. The Magic 8 Lite’s 7500mAh silicon-carbon cell promises up to three days of use, with longevity rated at 80% capacity after six years. Although having tested the OnePlus 15 and Oppo Find X9 Pro with similarly sized batteries this year, on paper, three days seems ambitious. The phone also supports 66W wired SuperCharge and can act as a 7.5W power bank via reverse charging.
Durability is another major theme: the device carries SGS 5-Star Comprehensive Reliability Certification, IP69K water resistance, and reinforced Ultra-Bounce anti-drop construction rated for drops up to 2.5 metres. And the 6.79-inch 1.5K OLED displays 1.07 billion colours, with a 6000-nit peak HDR brightness, and a 120Hz refresh rate, surrounded by slim 1.3mm bezels.
The Honor Magic 8 Lite, powered by the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 with 8GB RAM and 512GB storage, launches in Forest Green, Midnight Black, and Reddish Brown. Final pricing will be revealed when the phone officially goes on sale in January, but with the Honor Magic 7 Lite launching at £399 / €399, I'd expect a similar price for the new model.
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