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Honor Magic 7 Lite review

Honor delivers a unique 'budget flagship' with a beast of a battery and an exterior to withstand the elements, yet remains gentle on the wallet.
Ernest Doku author headshot
Written by Ernest Doku, Broadband and mobiles expert
Updated on 7 January 2025
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Rear of the Honor Magic 7 Lite, covered in water.

Honor Magic 7 Lite pros and cons

  • Redefining toughness in a mid-tier device.

  • Phenomenal three-day battery life.

  • Great value price point at £399.


  • IP64 rating stops short of device being fully waterproof.

  • Earlier processor delivers good - but not stellar - performance.

Design and specifications

The Honor Magic 7 Lite is an incredibly interesting device from the outset - flirting with premium looks and features, but keeping firmly within in the bounds of a budget price point.

Not content with confidently shaking up the foldables game with the Magic V3, and proving cool doesn't need to break the bank with the 200 Pro, Honor introduces the Magic 7 Lite - a device firmly positioned in their flagship model tier, yet is miles cheaper - and tougher - than its contemporaries.

This Swiss army smartphone is touted to be one for the more adventurous among us, marrying rugged durability with head-turning looks, as well as a whopping great battery for good measure...but remains behind the curve - literally - in some crucial areas.

So does it live up to these lofty aspirations, or crack under pressure? Let’s find out.

With its titanium-inspired finish and duo of distinguished colour variants (purple and black), this phone immediately evokes the look and feel of a flagship smartphone.

At a slender 7.98mm thick and tipping the scales at 189g, it’s sleek of stature, but remains a phone with heft and presence - giving a hint to the sturdiness that Honor has aimed for in the 7 Lite.

The curved design is decidedly attractive - albeit a little 'last season' - in terms of looks, with many manufacturers now aping the flat display and angular lines of a certain fruit-based phone. Nevertheless, it's a great form factor for both comfort and durability.

Screen display and audio

The Magic 7 Lite's 6.78-inch AMOLED display is an impressive effort at this price - make no mistake.

This curved display offers vivid, lifelike images that make everything from scrolling social feeds to streaming your favourite shows an absolute joy.

Its 2700 x 1224 resolution is pin-sharp, and a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate ensures smooth scrolling, gaming, and animations throughout daily use.

Brightness is another standout feature; with a peak HDR brightness of 4000 nits, this display makes viewing in harsh sunlight easy, a welcome addition on the rare occasion of balmy British days.

The Magic 7 Lite also features stereo speakers, delivering balanced audio quality that’s ideal for casual media consumption, with the earpiece acting as a second speaker on those occasions of playing music or audio without headphones.

On the topic of headphones, early adopters can claim a free pair of Earbuds Open earbuds as part of a promotional offer when purchasing the device during a month-long launch window, worth £149 in their own right - a bit of a bargain.

Processor and performance

Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, the Magic 7 Lite strikes a smart balance between power and efficiency - a clear compromise by opting for the brains that powered prior Magic devices, but a deliberate one to bring the device in an such an affordable price point.

It still handled everyday tasks like web browsing, music streaming and social media capably - and also didn't flinch at the occasional gaming session - my daughter's new favourite game Infiniti Nikki ran fairly well at medium settings and 30fps, without making a material dent in the battery.

More demanding apps and multitasking scenarios are handled with confidence, thanks to Honor’s software optimisations that ensure an overall smooth, responsive experience.

The inclusion of AI-powered enhancements adds a layer of intelligence to operations, whether it’s a dedicated set of icons bubbling to the fore to predict your most frequent app usage, or adjusting performance such as display frame rates depending on the task for optimal efficiency.

Under the bonnet is a healthy 8GB of RAM paired with a generous - if non-expandable - 512GB of storage, which should suffice for even the most app-happy device drivers.

The device runs on Honor's MagicOS 8.0 operating system, a highly customised fork of Android 14 - rather than Google's latest and greatest - out of the box.

It offers thoughtful tweaks through features like Magic Capsule (Dynamic Island-esque clever contextual shortcuts at the top of the display) and Parallel Space, which allows an all-important separation of the personal and professional when it comes to apps, with both enjoying their own dedicated areas on the device.

So whilst it's not going to break any land speed records, but the 7 Lite delivers on all fronts where it counts.

Camera capabilities

The camera setup on the Magic 7 Lite is a pleasant highlight - once again forgetting that it's a firmly mid-range device by offering a decent sensor array.

Its main 108MP Ultra-sensing Camera is a powerhouse, capturing stunningly detailed shots even in challenging lighting conditions.

It boasts 9-in-1 pixel binning technology ensures brighter and clearer photos in low light (but a necessary compromise given the lack of optical zoom on this device, just 10x digital here), while the large sensor delivers impressive depth and dynamic range.

Looking past the spec sheet, it genuinely delivered a quick shutter speed, as well as crisper images in low-light than expected.

The secondary 5MP ultra-wide lens expands your field of view, ideal for capturing landscapes or group shots.

Those with a penchant for portrait photography will find three focal length options a welcome addition, giving texture and a vividness to images at a range of distances, and was easy to set up and get decent images out of, with minimal loss of clarity and detail of subjects.

Factor in the introduction of Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) to reduce blur on the 7 Lite, and you’ve got a device which is more than handy for casual snaps, although the noise generally means your DSLR still has some life in it when it comes to more serious photography.

The ever-present AI-powered features like Motion Sensing and Eraser make both capturing and editing on device a joy, meaning the Magic 7 Lite is a capable all-round snapper.

When it comes to video, the Magic 7 Lite supports up to 4K at 30fps video recording, making it a solid option for capturing action scenes and quiet family moments alike.

Durability

Whilst not a section that every phone has bestowed upon it when reviewed at Uswitch, but for Honor have the confidence to challenge us to scratch it with a bottle opener, drop from a great height and stick it in the freezer, it showed just how confident Honor were in having us put the 7 Lite through its paces!

An Anti-Drop Display shrugs off falls from up to 2 metres, while a three-layer waterproof structure ensures the phone can handle splashes with ease, complete with a display which doesn't go crazy when drenched in water.

Its IP64 rating might not make it a candidate for underwater photography, but it’s more than capable of surviving the odd rainstorm or accidental spill.

The display stood up well to bumps and scrapes - both accidental and intentional - with only a minor dink to the pre-installed screen protector when pushed to its limits.

This ruggedness extends to temperature resilience, with Honor claiming resilience from  -30°C to 55°C. Whilst we didn't quite push it to those extremes during our testing, it stood up to ten minutes in cold storage without missing a beat!

Battery life

Battery life is where the Magic 7 Lite truly shines. Its 6600mAh battery is an absolute monster, capable of lasting up to a genuine three days with normal use.

A winter break of taking photos in the highlands, gaming and streaming music saw the Honor Magic 7 Lite barely break a sweat, frequently ending each day with less than 50% of battery used...a truly impressive feat.

Charging is equally a strong suit, with a 66W HONOR SuperCharge topping up the battery from 0 to 50% in under half an hour...albeit this device doesn't come with a charger in the box, so that's an additional cost to consider.

All in all, the 7 Lite is perfect for users who are always on the go...and in the unlikely event of running out of juice, a quick power boost is all you need.

Check out the latest mobile deals on Uswitch

UK pricing and availability

Priced at £399, the Magic 7 Lite offers fantastic value, especially considering its array of features.

Available from 15th January 2025, you can find it through major UK networks and resellers including EE, Vodafone, and Currys.

As mentioned, those quick off the mark can also claim a free pair of Honor earbuds worth £149...not too shabby.

Verdict

The Honor Magic 7 Lite is a truly novel take on the 'budget flagship', placing aesthetics, durability, longevity first in a package that puts many more costly devices to shame.

While the splash-proof rating and processor choices might not sway everyone, the phone’s slick daily performance, fantastic battery life and rugged build - without looking like a phone for the building site - more than make up for it.

At £399, it delivers a well-rounded experience for everyday users, adventure-seekers, and anyone in between.

If you want a device that’s equal parts resilient, robust and radiant, the Magic 7 Lite stands out as a smart, affordable choice.