Huawei P20 Lite vs Nokia 7 Plus Overall Comparison in Detail

Both, Nokia and Huawei, have been making phones over the last two decades but we never got a chance to compare their phones with each other as they had a huge price difference. But now, finally, we have Huawei P20 Lite which is a mid-range smartphone and maybe a good rival of Nokia 7 Plus. So, we are putting these two handsets against each other to see which one will prove to be a better choice.

I have been using both smartphones for more than 3 weeks and I can definitely say that I liked them. Both smartphones are good mid-rangers. The Nokia 7 Plus costs ₹25,999 whereas the Huawei P20 Lite is priced at ₹19,999.

Nokia 7 Plus Specifications and Features

Display	6 inch IPS LCD, 1080x2160px HD+, Gorilla Glass 3
Processor & GPU	Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 | Adreno 512
OS & RAM	Android 8.1 Oreo | 4GB RAM
Storage	64GB ROM | Expandable up to 256GB (No Dedicated Slot)
Primary Camera	Dual 12MP (f/1.8) + 12MP (f/2.6), Gyro EIS, Dual Pixel PDAF, 2x Optical Zoom, Carl Zeiss Optics, Dual LED Dual Tone Flash
Secondary Camera	16MP (f/2.0), Carl Zeiss Optics
Battery	Li-lon 3,800 mAh Battery with Fast Charging (18W, 9V/2A)

 

Huawei P20 Lite Specifications and Features

Display	5.84 LTPS IPS LCD, 1080x2280px, 19:9 Aspect Ratio
Processor & GPU	Octa-Core HiSilicon Kirin 659 | Mali-T830 MP2
OS & RAM	Android 8.1 Oreo (MIUI 9.5) | 4GB RAM
Storage	32GB or 64GB | Expandable up to 256GB
Primary Camera	Dual 16MP (f/2.2) + 2MP, PDAF, LED Flash
Secondary Camera	24MP (f/2.0)
Battery	Li-Po 3,000 mAh Battery, Fast Charging 9V/2A

 

Design and Build Quality

• Both smartphones are beautifully crafted. The Nokia 7 Plus a metal body made out of Aluminum 6000 series whereas the P20 Lite is entirely made of glass.
• While the Nokia 7 Plus is sturdy and strong, the P20 Lite is fragile but beautiful.
• The P20 has notched display which makes it even more beautiful. The Nokia 7 Plus, on the other hand, doesn’t have a notch.

In this section, you will need to choose yourself whether you want a beautiful phone or the sturdy one.

 

Display, UI and OS

• Both have IPS LCD display however Nokia 7 Plus’ display size is a bit bigger.
• Both smartphones’ display is bright, sharp and shows realistic colors.
• With full HD resolution, both smartphones’ display does reflect under direct sunlight.
• What’s the major difference between their displays is that the P20 Lite has notch and that’s why it has 19:9 aspect ratio display. The Nokia 7 Plus, on the other hand, has 18:9 display.
• Talking about OS, both run on Android Oreo however, the Nokia 7 Plus has stock Android so it gets updates faster than the P20 Lite.
• In terms of UI, the Nokia 7 Plus is simple. The P20 Lite, on the other hand, has customizes skin which might be confusing for few people.

In this section, the winner is Huawei P20 Lite in terms of display and Nokia 7 Plus is winner in terms of UI and OS.

Gaming and Performance

• Both smartphones have different processors with different graphics setup.
• Starting with benchmark scores, the Nokia 7 Plus left the P20 Lite behind with flying colors.
• On 3DMark benchmark, the score of Nokia 7 Plus was 3 times greater than the P20 Lite’s.
• Even on the GeekBench, the Nokia 7 Plus scored almost double of that on P20 Lite.
• Both smartphones work smoothly if you’re doing multi-tasking or using normal social media apps but when it comes to switch between heavy apps, the P20 Lite stuttered here and there.
• There were no issues whatsoever while playing Shadow Fight 3, PUBG Mobile, Asphalt Nitro and FZ9: Timeshift – Legacy of War on both handsets.
• But in terms of graphics, I am not happy with P20 Lite. Graphics rendering is just average and I often saw frame drops. The Nokia 7 Plus, in contrast, is way better than the P20 Lite and handles the graphics well.
• Both smartphones heat very quickly. The temperature rose several degrees up while 30 minutes of gaming.
• 30 minutes of continuous gaming took 14% of battery on P20 Lite while it took just 10 percent on Nokia 7 Plus, thanks to its BIG.LITTLE technology.

In this section, the winner is Nokia 7 Plus

Camera

• In terms of daylight photography, both smartphones are good. Both capture photos with good color accuracy, details and sharpness.
• But as soon as you turn the HDR mode on, you will start seeing differences between them. While the HDR Mode on Nokia 7 Plus brings more details and color accuracy, it doesn’t do much on P20 Lite other than sharpening the images.
• And now comes the bokeh mode where both smartphones perform more or less similar. They effectively blur the background while keeping the primary object in focus.
• Coming to the lowlight performance, the Nokia 7 Plus is definitely better than the P20 Lite. Samples taken from Nokia 7 Plus have better sharpness, details and color accuracy than those on P20 Lite.
• Even HDR mode in lowlight condition doesn’t help P20 Lite that much. HDR samples from P20 Lite with bright but lacks details and light part is overexposed. The Nokia 7 Plus, on the other hand, maintains sharpness, details and color accuracy.

In this section, the winner is Nokia 7 Plus.

Battery

• While the Huawei P20 Lite packs 3000 mAh battery, the Nokia 7 Plus has a bigger 3,800 mAh battery.
• Both smartphones support fast charging however, the Nokia 7 Plus’ fast charging seems to be working better than that on P20 Lite.
• It took me few minutes over 2 hours to completely charge battery of P20 Lite whereas the Nokia 7 Plus just takes few minutes over 1 hour to fully charge the battery.
• Talking about usage, the P20 Lite easily lasts a day during normal usage. The Nokia 7 Plus, on the other hand, stays alive for more than 36 hours.
• During moderate usage, the P20 Lite doesn’t last more than 14-15 hours whereas the Nokia 7 Plus lasts 24 hours.
• But when you are doing heavy usage, the lasting time reduces to 4-5 hours on P20 Lite. The Nokia 7 Plus, in contrast, stays alive for up to 7 hours.

Much like the previous section, the Nokia 7 Plus is winner.

 

Our Verdict

First of all, I would like to say that both smartphones worth their price. They are simply the best in their price segment. But in this comparison, the winner is Nokia 7 Plus. It has been dominating the P20 Lite in almost every section. Whether we talk about camera, performance or battery, the Nokia 7 Plus defeats the P20 Lite.

Now, as I have already said above, the Huawei P20 Lite does worth its price. For a price of ₹19,999, the P20 Lite offers you pretty much everything. So if your budget is 20k, you can go for it but if your budget is higher; the Nokia 7 Plus is your toy.