Introduction

Ease of Use

Despite the Huawei P30 Lite coming very much under the “budget” umbrella, it still has an attractive outward appearance. We’ve been using the “Peacock Blue” colour, which has an ombre type effect between blue and purple and is very distinctive. The other two colours available are Midnight Black and Pearl White.

The P30 Lite is slightly smaller than the P30 Pro, with a screen size of 6.15-inches. Although you do sacrifice some screen space, arguably it makes it better suited to one-handed operation and makes it less cumbersome to use, too.

Front of the Huawei P30 Lite

There are a number of ways to unlock the P30 Lite’s screen. You can use face recognition, a PIN or pattern code, or you can use the fingerprint scanner on the back of the phone. Unlike the P30 Pro, the P30 Lite uses a cheaper LCD screen, so it’s not possible to have a scanner built in to the screen itself.

Alternatively, if you only need to access the camera, you can drag up from the bottom right hand corner of the screen for direct access. If you do this, you’ll only be able to view images you’ve taken during that shooting session - you’ll need to unlock the device properly to access any images taken prior to that.

If you’ve used any of Huawei’s (or Honor’s) phones before, you’ll be familiar with the native camera app. If you haven’t, it’s one of the best camera apps on the market, giving you a huge degree of control and options - even with the more basic model like the P30 Lite.

Rear of the Huawei P30 Lite

By default, the app will launch in standard “Photo” mode. You can jump straight into taking photos with the “1x” or ordinary camera. If you tap a circle with “1x” written in it, you will immediately jump to “2x” (digital zoom), or if you tap again the “Wide” camera will be activated. An alternative method to access the wide angle camera is by pinching inwards on the screen. If you pinch outwards, you can zoom past the default 2x option, too, all the way up to 6x.

Along the top of the screen (or on the left if you hold the Huawei P30 Lite in landscape orientation), you’ll see a number of options. There’s a flash icon for switching on or off the inbuilt flash, an option to turn on and off “moving picture” - whereby a short video clip is recorded with every image, the option to switch AI on or off, and a cog icon which takes you through to additional settings.

Having the AI icon directly on the camera screen is great. If left switched on, the P30 Lite will recognise a wide range of subjects, including pets, flowers, blue skies, overcast skies and so on. Once detected, it will apply settings which it feels are most appropriate to the shooting situation - but occasionally it can go overboard and make images look unnatural - being able to quickly switch it off can be very useful in such situations.

Front of the Huawei P30 Lite

In the expanded settings, you’ll find a range of different options - including resolution, GPS tagging, the option to add a watermark and so on. The options vary slightly depending on the shooting mode that you’re in. For example, if you switch to Pro mode, you’ll find additional options in the settings menu, such as the option to switch on a Horizontal level - but note that raw format shooting is not available as it is with other phones like the P30 Pro.

Along the bottom of the shooting screen, or to the right if holding the Huawei P30 Lite in landscape mode, you’ll see a variety of different shooting modes. There’s the default Photo mode, but you can select others by tapping to the left or right. To the left, there’s AR Lens, Night and Portrait. AR Lens allows you to record selfies of yourself as different characters or with different effects.

Night mode is something we’ve seen on previous Huawei phones - it recreates the effect of using a slower shutter speed by merging together several short exposures. Portrait is used for taking people pictures, and again is something we’ve seen in previous Huawei phones. With it you get the option to choose different lighting effects, as well as different bokeh shapes for the out of focus areas.

The Huawei P30 Lite In-hand

To the right of Photo mode, you have Video mode. As this is a cheaper model, you can only record at Full HD, rather than up to 4K. Finally there is a More tab which reveals a host of other shooting options - including Panorama mode, HDR shooting, Pro mode, Time-lapse and Aperture. Pro mode gives you the option to change a variety of different parameters, while the Aperture mode works in a similar way to Portrait mode but can be used for any subject - human or otherwise. With aperture mode, you can also adjust the aperture after you’ve taken the shot in playback.

To take a photo, you can either use a virtual button on the display, or you can use one of the physical volume buttons on the side of the Huawei P30 Lite. The phone will choose an autofocus point for you, but if you want to select a different subject, all you need to do is tap on the screen in the relevant place. When you tap, you’ll also see you’ll be able to adjust brightness by swiping your finger up and down on the screen - which can be useful when shooting in very high contrast areas.

On the whole, focusing is pretty quick and generally accurate - it’s worth keeping an eye on which focus point the Huawei P30 Lite selects when shooting quite close up, tapping to change it if it selects the wrong subject.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 12 megapixel JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 4Mb.

While image quality is not on a par with the P30 Pro, the Huawei P30 Lite still puts in a very good performance.

Colours are bright and punchy directly from the camera, with a good degree of saturation that manages to retain realism. Artificial intelligence does a good job of applying the correct settings without seeming to go as overboard as it might have done once upon a time - for example, skies don’t appear quite so overly saturated as earlier iterations of Huawei phones did at one time.

Having the wide-angle lens available is great news for flexibility, and it’s great to see some of the technology appearing from other Huawei phones at this price point. A super wide angle lens is appealing for lots of reasons, including shooting landscapes and inside buildings. Images from the super wide angle camera don’t display quite as much detail as from the main camera, but for social sharing and small printing it’s still adequate.

It’s a shame not to have an optical zoom lens, but digital zooming puts in a decent performance, and again is fine for social sharing and the like.

Huawei’s famed “Night mode” makes an appearance on the P30 Lite. It combines together a set of short exposures to make the most of available light. Here on the P30 Lite, the finished results are not quite as impressive as we see on the P30 Pro, or even older models like the P20 Pro, but the results are acceptable for sharing on social media and the like. You can see a significant loss of detail if you zoom in very close to images - so if you’re somebody who is particularly drawn towards night -time shooting, there are better options available on the market. Interestingly, you can’t shoot in Night Mode with the super wide-angle lens.

Noise

The Huawei P30 Lite has 7 manually-selectable ISO sensitivity settings available at full resolution, ranging between ISO 50 and ISO 3200.

ISO 50 (100% Crop)	ISO 100 (100% Crop)
ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)
ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (100% Crop)
ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The Huawei P30 Lite's fixed focal length lens is equivalent to 28mm in 35mm camera terms. It also offers an ultra-wide-angle lens and a 2x and 6x digital zoom.

Ultra-wide-angle

1x

2x Digital

6x Digital

Macro

The Huawei P30 Lite is able to focus as close as 5cm from a subject.

Macro

Flash

The Huawei P30 Lite only uses a single LED flash, and as usual for this technology, it gives a weaker flash burst than a standard xenon camera flash.

Wide-angle Lens - Flash Off

Wide-angle Lens - Flash On

Standard Lens - Flash Off

Standard Lens - Flash On

Rear Camera - Flash Off

Rear Camera - Flash On

Night

Thanks to its clever handheld night mode, the Huawei P30 Lite performs well at night. This image was taken handheld at the camera's ISO 640 sensitivity using a shutter speed of 5 seconds.

Night

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Huawei P30 Lite camera, which were all taken using the 12 megapixel JPEG setting setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movies & Video

Product Images

Conclusion

One of the best things about the state of the current smartphone market is the amount of variety and choice available. Those who don’t have a huge budget are still well-catered for by several phones which offer some of the best functions of their higher-end siblings, but at a much more affordable price.

Here with the Huawei P30 Lite, you get some of the key features of the P30 and even the P30 Pro, but without a huge price tag to match. A good example is the inclusion of a super-wide angle lens which is great for landscape and architectural photography - a great bonus for those travelling or on holiday.

You also get an extremely well-featured camera app which gives you lots of shooting options, including Night mode, Portrait mode and the option to use a “Pro” mode which gives you plenty of control over a number of different shooting parameters.

There are of course some sacrifices to be made for opting for the cheaper model - whether you’re bothered by those likely depends on your own personal needs. For example, the Huawei P30 Lite can only shoot at Full HD, rather than 4K - but for simple home movies and so on, that’s unlikely to be too much of a deal breaker for most people. You also can’t shoot in raw format in the Pro mode, while there’s no telephoto optic.

Despite the fact that the Huawei P30 Lite is a cheaper model, the build quality still seems pretty good and it still looks attractive, too. The screen being an LCD construction is another price saving, but in isolation it is perfectly adequate to use.

Overall, if you’re looking for something affordable to replace your current phone but don’t have the budget - or don’t want to spend big - then the Huawei P30 Lite is definitely worth a look. Particularly for the super wide-angle lens it comes highly recommended.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4
Features	4
Ease-of-use	4
Image quality	4
Value for money	4.5

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Huawei P30 Lite.

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Huawei P30 Lite from around the web.

Specifications

News

The Huawei P30 Lite is a new smartphone with an AI-enhanced triple camera, including an 8MP Ultra-Wide angle lens.

The P30 Lite is equipped with a high definition 48MP (f/1.8) Wide Angle lens, an 8MP Ultra-Wide Angle lens (f/2.4) and an 2MP dedicated bokeh lens, plus a Handheld Super Night Mode to ensure photos have exceptional detail, colour and clarity in low light scenarios.

The Huawei P30 Lite will be available to purchase from 10th May priced at £329.

Huawei Press Release

NEW HUAWEI P30 LITE FEATURES AN AI TRIPLE LENS CAMERA WITH ULTRA WIDE-ANGLE LENS

Latest addition to the new HUAWEI P30 Series features a 48MP AI triple camera to deliver a flagship experience at an affordable price

London, UK – 15TH April 2019 – Huawei, the global technology leader, has today announced the new HUAWEI P30 lite, the latest addition to the HUAWEI P30 Series. Equipped with an AI-enhanced triple camera, including an 8MP Ultra-Wide angle lens, the HUAWEI P30 lite combines an advanced photography experience with a sleek design and high-performance hardware, offering value to every customer.

Walter Ji, President of Huawei's Consumer Business Group for the Western European Region, said:

“Last year we launched an industry first triple lens camera on our flagship phones which included an ultra-wide angle lens. Today we launch this with the HUAWEI P30 lite giving people even more tools to explore creative possibilities. This is our next step in providing consumers with the best possible smartphone camera experience and bring meaningful innovation to every person in the world.“

Advanced Photography Experience

On the rear, the HUAWEI P30 lite is equipped with a high definition 48MP (f/1.8) Wide Angle lens, an 8MP Ultra-Wide Angle lens (f/2.4) and an 2MP dedicated bokeh lens. The camera upgrades provide people with the tools to shoot photographs with incredible detail, breathtaking 120° wide-angle photography or portraits with beautiful bokeh effects, all from one smartphone.

The HUAWEI P30 lite also offers Handheld Super Night Mode which harnesses AI image stabilisation, as well as improving multi-frame and long exposure photography at night, to ensure photos have exceptional detail, colour and clarity in low light scenarios.

Ultimate Viewing Experience

The HUAWEI P30 lite features the stunning 6.15-inch FullView screen with the HUAWEI Dewdrop Notch, a minimal, unobtrusive notch that houses the front camera. Combining these two technologies, users can expect a vibrant and crystal-clear viewing experience, all at a resolution of 2312 x 1080 (FHD+). With an aspect ratio of 19.3:9, the FullView display provides a wider perspective as well as a more immersive multimedia experience, all wrapped up in a slimmer form. The near bezel-less front glass houses a selfie camera that supports fast and convenient Face Unlocking, which unlocks in less than a millisecond. 

Stylish Design

The HUAWEI P30 lite features a slim 3D Curved Design built with cutting-edge technology for a stunning design and bold, iconic colours that take inspiration from nature. The HUAWEI P30 lite is available in three colour variants: Peacock Blue, Pearl White and Midnight Black.

Powerful Performance Partner

The HUAWEI P30 lite includes an impressive 4GB RAM and 128G ROM as storage, as well as being equipped with a 3340mAh battery and 9V2A Quick Charge. Housing the octa-core Kirin 710 processor, this powerful and intelligent technology ensures smooth performance and maximum power efficiency for a longer battery life.

Pricing and Availability

The HUAWEI P30 lite is available to purchase from 10th May at all major retailers including Carphone Warehouse, EE, Three, O2, Vodafone, John Lewis and Argos for £329.

You can find out more here: https://consumer.huawei.com/uk...

Preview Images

Ahead of our full review, here are some sample JPEG images and videos taken with the new Huawei P30 Lite smartphone. The Huawei P30 Lite is a new mid-range smartphone with a 48 megapixel ultra-wide triple camera and powerful AI scene recognition.

A gallery of sample images taken with the Huawei P30 Lite smartphone.

Huawei P30 Lite Sample Images

Sample Movies & Video

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