Honor Magic 8 Lite is built to last forever, but one question remains

Honor is in the process of launching its next generation of devices in the Magic 8 family. It's one of those slightly confusing launches where some parts of the globe are out of sync with the other: the Honor Magic 8 Pro was announced in China on 15 October, but remains unreleased elsewhere, while Honor has also teased its Robot Phone which won't be formally shown off until March 2026.

Instead, the Honor Magic 8 Lite has taken the lead, getting almost a full reveal - with an essential detail missing. But I have the Honor Magic 8 Lite and what impresses me about this phone is how it's been built to last.

There are two sides to that: the Honor Magic 8 Lite comes with some really hardy protections that put even the toughest tough phone to shame. Yes, when introducing me to the Magic 8 Lite, Honor was keen to demonstrate that it could withstand being dunked in boiling water.

That might sound like a niche protection, but Honor has shifted the needle on IP ratings, ramping it up to IP69K. That sees it joining the likes of the Nokia XR21 and Galaxy XCover, and bizarrely, the new OnePlus 15.

That means that this phone is dust tight, it's protected against water immersion and high-temperature and high-pressure water jets to the scale that would be used for industrial cleaning. Back in the land of reasonable protections, it also has a Gorilla Glass Victus 3 display and drop protection.

I've not started throwing this phone into muddy puddles or letting it slip into my pasta water just yet, as I'm keen to test its actual performance before I challenge the rugged credentials.

But there's a good reason why I don't want to destroy this phone and that's because of the other thing that's going to make sure it lasts: the 7,500mAh battery. This is thanks to silicon-carbon battery tech, meaning that it's likely to deliver 3 days of battery life, while also offering 66W wired charging.

Even if you do drain this phone, it will be right back in the game in no time at all. Best of all, Honor says that the battery will retain 80% of its capacity after 6 years of use. Again, I'm not sure I'll be testing that claim, but it points to one thing: Honor wants this phone to last a long time.

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The Honor Magic 8 Lite is expected to get 6 years of updates (which is probably what defines the battery claim above) making it an interesting proposition, considering that this is Honor's "affordable" phone in its flagship series.

It's also not excessively bulky, considering the battery that it houses: it weighs 189g (lighter than the Galaxy S25 Ultra) and it's 7.8mm thick (the same as the iPhone 16), so you can hardly call this phone thick.

Which takes me back to the confusing launch. Honor has now revealed this phone - some reviews are appearing online - but the price hasn't been confirmed. That's apparently not coming until early 2026.

It's the infuriating missing detail, but considering that the Honor Magic 7 Lite is as cheap as £250, I think it could be the endurance bargain of 2026.