Huawei looks poised to launch the P20 Lite/Nova 3e in Malaysia soon

If you’ve been looking for an affordable version of the Huawei P20 and the upcoming honor 10 is still out of your budget, there’s good news because a brand new Huawei smartphone has made an appearance on SIRIM. A phone that could very well be what you’ve been waiting for.

According to this new entry in the SIRIM database, it appears that a Huawei smartphone bearing the model name ANE-LX2 has just received approval from the certification agency. This model name belongs to the third sibling in Huawei’s P20 series of smartphones — the Huwaei P20 Lite — which we found out already went on sale in Europe before the global launch of the P20 and P20 Pro.

Does this mean that Huawei’s launching the P20 Lite in Malaysia soon? Well, it looks like the answer is a little bit of a yes and a no. This is because the Huawei P20 Lite also goes by another name: Huawei Nova 3e, a device that was just launched in China back in March, also before the official launch of the P20 and P20 Pro.

Essentially, it’s the country’s version of the Huawei P20 Lite. It’s got a 5.84-inch Full HD+ display in front, a Kirin 659 octa-core processor inside, 4GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of internal storage that you can further expand with a microSD card. Keeping the lights on is a 3,000 mAh battery with support for 9V2A fast-charging.

Additionally, the Huawei Nova 3e comes with a dual-camera system at the back that combines a 16MP f/2.2 aperture main camera with PDAF with a 2MP secondary camera for depth effects. In front, you’re getting a 24MP selfie shooter. There’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack so you can breathe easy.

At the back, you’ll also find a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, which is the most significant differentiating feature between it and its more expensive P20 sibling.

Right now, one of the biggest questions is if the device will come as the Huawei Nova 3e or as the Huawei P20 Lite. Considering the strength Huawei’s Nova branding already has in Malaysia, it seems pretty likely that the device will launch here as the Nova 3e — especially since that would eliminate any dilution of the Huawei P series name.

Regardless of the name, the key thing for any mid-range handset is its price. Last year’s P10 Lite was priced at RM1,299 on launch so we’re expecting the P20 Lite/Nova 3e to hover around that price bracket too. We’re not sure which storage option we’ll be getting locally, but the Nova 3e in China retails for CNY1,999 (around RM1,252) for the 64GB variant and CNY2,199 (around RM1,377) for the 128GB variant. This likely means that the P20 Lite/Nova 3e will retail for below RM1,500.

Either way, it looks like the local launch of the Huawei P20 Lite/Nova 3e is imminent. Is this something you’re looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below.