Images of Huawei’s rumored Honor 8 Lite leak ahead of Mobile World Congress

Why it matters to you

Huawei might further its push into the minds and wallets of budget-minded folks with the Honor 8 Lite.

Xiaomi announced it will not make any product announcements during February’s Mobile World Congress, which gives fellow Chinese manufacturer Huawei the opportunity to cement its lead over Xiaomi. Based on recent leaks, Huawei might pull this off with the help of the rumored Honor 8 Lite.

As the name suggests, the Honor 8 Lite looks to be a less powerful version of the Honor 8 that precedes it. Based on leaked images, that certainly seems to be the case in terms of aesthetics. There are two key differences between the two phones, however — the Honor 8 Lite is rumored to feature one main camera and a Micro USB port, which seem like setbacks when compared to the Honor 8’s dual rear cameras and forward-thinking USB Type-C port.

More: Xiaomi won’t announce the Mi 6 — or any products — at Mobile World Congress

This brings us to the next reason why ‘Lite’ is part of the name: the Honor 8 Lite is rumored to cost around $300 when it launches at the end of February or early March, about $100 less than what the Honor 8 currently goes for. It is unknown whether the phone will launch in the U.S., but when it does, the phone will reportedly be available in blue, black, gold, and white.

Specifications are unknown, though the Honor 8 Lite also looks similar to the P8 Lite (2017). If internals also remain similar, expect the former to feature a 5.2-inch, 1,920 x 1,080 resolution display, Huawei’s in-house octa-core Kirin 655 processor, 3GB RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, and a 3,000mAh battery. Furthermore, the Honor 8 Lite might run Android 7.0 Nougat with Huawei’s EMUI 5.0 overlay out of the box.

Keep your eyes peeled once MWC is in full swing, however. During its MWC 2016 presentation, Huawei only announced the MateBook, the company’s first 2-in-1 tablet PC, alongside smaller announcements like the gold-colored Nexus 6P. Since MWC is mobile-centric, expect Huawei to announce at least a few mobile devices during its presentation.