RealMe 1 vs Honor 9 Lite Overall Comparison

The RealMe 1 and Honor 9 Lite has a price difference of nearly ₹2,000 but their specifications are nearly similar and it encouraged us to put these two devices against each other. I have used Honor 9 Lite for more than 2 months and I am familiar with the device and its performance. The RealMe 1, on the other hand, is my daily driver since last 2 weeks and its performance is also commendable. So, all I want to say that this comparison is going to be tough.

RealMe 1 Specifications and Features

Display	6 inch IPS LCD Full HD+, 1080x2160px, 18:9 Aspect Ratio
SoC & GPU	Octa-Core MediaTek Helio P60 | Mali-G72 MP3
OS & RAM	Android 8.1 (ColorOS 5.0) | 3GB, 4GB or 6GB
Storage	32GB, 64GB or 128GB | Expandable up to 256GB via MicroSD
Rear Camera	13MP, f/2.2, PDAF, LED Flash
Front Camera	8MP (f/2.2)
Battery	Li-lon 3,410 mAh

 Honor 9 Lite Specifications and Features

Display	5.65 inch IPS LCD, 1080x2160px Resolution, 18:9 Aspect Ratio
SoC & GPU	HiSilicon Kirin 659 | Mali-T830 MP2
OS & RAM	Android 8.0 Oreo (with EMUI 8.0) | 3GB or 4GB RAM
Storage	32GB or 64GB | Expandable up to 256GB
Rear Camera	13+2MP, PDAF, LED Flash
Front Camera	13+2MP
Battery	Li-Po 3,000 mAh Battery

 

Design and Build Quality

• Both smartphones are entirely made of glass. The only difference between them is that Honor 9 Lite has a reflective rear panel whereas the RealMe 1 comes with crystal design.
• When compared to Honor 9 Lite, the RealMe 1 feels big as the 9 Lite is really compact (having smaller display) and easily fit in the hands and people with small palm can reach every corner of the screen easily.
• In terms of weight, they don’t have much difference. So, they don’t feel heavy in hands. Both smartphones also have same amount of bezels at the top and bottom of the display.
• As both have glass back and front, you should be careful or use hard cases to save them from shattering by accidental fall.

In this section, I am not declaring any winner as some people prefer bigger screen while some go with the compact phones.

Display and Software

• Both smartphones run on Android Oreo with their customized skin which offers several features.
• But I would prefer EMUI as the Color OS has some issues. I have seen occasional lags. Plus, you can’t delete notifications by swiping right or left. You will need to clear all notifications at once. If you want to delete a single notification, you will need to swipe left and then touch the “delete” option. It’s really annoying.
• Both smartphones have IPS LCD displays with full HD+ resolution and 18:9 aspect ratio. To be true, both smartphones reflect much under direct sunlight and I had to cover the display in order to use it.
• The RealMe 1 has a bigger 6 inch display whereas the 9 Lite has 5.65 unit. But as they have 18:9 aspect ratio, I am pretty much satisfied with both displays. However, I would prefer the RealMe 1 when watching something.
• Vibrancy of both displays is good. Colors look realistic and doesn’t pixelate.

In this section, the Honor 9 Lite wins in terms of UI. In terms of display, you will need to decide yourself as their display quality is same. If you want a big screen, go for RealMe 1. If you want a compact device, Honor 9 Lite is your toy.

Hardware, Performance and Gaming

• Starting with benchmark scores, the RealMe 1 has scored almost 3 times higher points than the Honor 9 Lite. In GeekBench too, the RealMe 1 is ahead of Honor 9 Lite with 500 and 1000 points on single and dual-core respectively.
• But as you know that we go with real-time performance, we did several tests on both handsets. From operating the devices normally to marathon usage, we have done every test to select the best among them.
• While both handsets are very good at handling normal tasks like social media and multimedia, the Honor 9 Lite started lagging when I was trying to switch between apps. It tends to restart the application if there are 8 or 9 apps running in the background. The RealMe 1, on the other hand, doesn’t lag at all.
• During mixed or heavy usage, the RealMe 1 left Honor 9 Lite behind with flying colors. I played 4 heavy games on both handsets for more than 30 minutes – Shadow Fight 3, PUBG Mobile, Gangster Vegas: the Mafia Game and Hopeless Land.
• While the RealMe 1 was able to handle every game smoothly, the Honor 9 Lite was struggling with PUBG and Gangster Vegas. It restarted the application several time while I was playing the game.
• If we talk about graphics, the performance of Honor 9 Lite is just average. Random frame drops and lag was too common on PUBG and Gangster Vegas. On the other hand, the RealMe 1 handled it nicely.
• It is worth noting that both smartphones heats a lot. As both are made of glass, they heat faster than the metallic body-equipped handset.

In this section, the RealMe 1 is the winner.

Camera

• Starting with daylight photos, I don’t see any difference between them other than the sharpness which is a bit better on the Honor 9 Lite. Rest the color accuracy, details and brightness on both handsets are identical.
• Turning on HDR mode doesn’t help that much, especially on RealMe 1. While the HDR mode just whitens the photos of RealMe, it brings more sharpness on the Honor 9 Lite.
• Coming to the Bokeh Mode, their algorithm is good but the Honor 9 Lite tends to bring little bit of oversaturation in every image. Images look slightly bluish. Rest, both handsets are able to effectively blur the background while keeping the primary object in focus.
• One more thing, the RealMe 1 comes with 2X zoom which works fine. I am not comparing it as the Redmi Note 5 doesn’t have it. In the image gallery below.
• Talking about lowlight photos, the RealMe 1 is better in terms of brightness and sharpness. The Honor 9 Lite, on the other hand, does produce dark images but the details is similar to RealMe 1.
• I turned on HDR mode to see whether it helps the Honor 9 Lite. Indeed, it helps but just to brighten and smoothen the image. Plus, it overexposes the light part. The HDR mode on RealMe 1, on the other hand, doesn’t do much but it is still better than the Honor 9 Lite. It doesn’t overexpose the light portion of the image.
• And now comes the selfie where it is really hard to tell the difference between their samples. Normal selfies taken from both smartphones look good. They have same amount of details and color accuracy however, RealMe’s samples are a bit brighter.
• The RealMe 1 comes with AI-powered beauty mode which is really effective however, it leaves no stone unturned to wipe out the natural tone. Same is the case with Honor 9 Lite too however if you set the beautification level to minimum, you are good to go.

Much like the previous section, the RealMe 1 gets the crown here too.

Battery

• While their battery power is nearly similar, their backup time isn’t. The Honor 9 Lite sucks more battery than the RealMe 1.
• While they last around a day on a single charge, the Honor 9 Lite utilizes more power if you do the moderate usage. It lasts around 11-12 hours during moderate usage. The RealMe 1, on the other hand, can last around 14-15 hours (data speculated according to their 1 hour performance).
• During heavy usage, the Honor 9 Lite doesn’t last more than 3 hours. Whereas the RealMe 1 can last up to 5 hours (data speculated according to their 1 hour performance).

The Oppo RealMe 1 gets the crown here too.

 

Our Verdict

The Honor 9 Lite was definitely one of the best choices for those having budget under ₹11k but now; the RealMe 1 is dominating this price range. It has already defeated the Redmi Note 5 and now the Honor 9 Lite too.

The RealMe 1 gets the crown in this comparison. It is better than the Honor 9 Lite in terms of performance, camera and battery. Another plus point with RealMe is that it is ₹2,000 cheaper than the Honor 9 Lite. It is worth noting that Oppo really has done a good job.