How is Huawei P9? | A Flagship Quality plus the Most Advanced Camera
Huawei announced its latest mobile phone, the Huawei P9, a few days ago. With its superb features, it can closely compete with other flagship phones such as Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and LG’s G5.
It has new amazing features that I don’t usually find in any of the latest smartphones that I have encountered. These features are unique and cool, so it’s really something that is worth looking at.
With that said, let’s see if the Huawei P9 will amaze you as well.
Device Type: Smartphone
Display: 5.2 inches (1080 x 1920 pixels)
Camera: 12MP (1080p)
Hardware: HiSilicon Kirin 955, Quad-core 2.5 GHz + Quad-core 1.8 GHz, 4GB RAM (64GB) | 3GB RAM (32 GB)
Battery: 3000 mAh
Price: US$650
Design: Lighter, Thinner, And An Aerospace-class Aluminum Body
The best smartphones are going metal these days for a more sturdy form and more elegant finish. The Huawei P9 features a beautiful aluminum body and not just a normal type of aluminum, but an aerospace-class aluminum.
But what is an aerospace-class aluminum?
Aluminum alloys are significantly used and are very important in aerospace manufacturing. This type of aluminum alloy has a high strength-to-density ratio and with a strength comparable to many steels.
Simply put, it is a more excellent type of material for a smartphone’s body.
It is also protected by a 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 4. The Gorilla Glass 4 is Corning’s latest glass display and Corning claims it to be twice more durable than other glass designs. It is also used by most flagship phones like Samsung S7 and S7 Edge.
Maybe you are wondering what exactly is 2.5D glass? It is a glass design where the edges are more rounded. It is not exactly curved like the screen of S7 Edge. It is only slightly curved.
The benefit from having a 2.5D glass is having a good feel on the edges of your smartphone unlike the sharp feeling with the flat glass designs. And it also looks a lot better, don’t you think?
The P9 is only 144 g in weight and only 7 mm thin. It is lighter than the 152 g 5.1-inch Galaxy S7, 159 g 5.3-inch LG G5. It is almost as light as the 143 g 4.7-inch iPhone 6s, considering that the P9’s display size is larger at 5.2 inches.
Who’s the thinnest of them all? The P9 still beats the 7.9-mm Galaxy S7 Edge and 7.7 mm LG G5, and 7.1 mm iPhone 6s. You got it, the P9 is lighter and thinner than the other latest flagship phones.
It comes in Ceramic White, Titanium Grey, Mystic Silver, Haze Gold, Rose Gold, and Prestige Gold. Seriously, that’s a lot of gold color choices. I personally like the Grey color. How about you?
Display: IPS-NEO display with Better Sharpness than an iPhone
The P9 uses IPS-NEO LCD display technology in its Full HD display with a pixel density of 423 ppi. You may have heard of IPS LCD display technology which has better viewing angles and has less power consumption compared to TFT display. But now, we have IPS-NEO LCD.
What is the difference between the IPS-NEO LCD in the P9 and the IPS LCD in the LG G5?
IPS-NEO LCD is the evolved technology of the IPS LCD. According to the manufacturer of both technologies, Japan Display, Inc., IPS-NEO LCD has “true-black” appearance for the black color. This may also lessen power consumption as it prevents light leaks.
A 423 ppi pixel density can already provide a very high level of display sharpness. It’s not as high as the 500+ ppi of LG G5 and Galaxy S7, but it’s way above the pixel density of iPhone 6s which is at 326 ppi.
According to Huawei, higher resolutions and pixel density will just consume more power. Apple, on the other hand, maintains a 326 ppi pixel density, the level where the individual pixels are already invisible to the human eye at a normal viewing distance.
So unless you like to watch a movie while holding your smartphone closer to your eyes, which I do sometimes, or you are using a phone-based VR gear, which I do most of the time, a 500+ pixel density may not be more often very useful.
Performance: Super Fast CPU and Higher Battery Capacity
The CPU speed and huge RAM are both marks of flagship quality. The P9 can definitely compete closer to LG G5 and Galaxy S7 in terms of processing power. It is another super fast phone that can provide one of the best Android experience. What I like most about super fast phones is that you can multitask a lot of applications.
However, graphics processing is a different aspect. The graphics may not be as good as the LG G5 and Galaxy S7 if you are playing 3D games based on benchmark tests.
It runs on the latest Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) and comes in 32 and 64 GB internal storage variants which can be expanded up to 128GB using a microSD card. It has a SIM2 slot which also functions as the microSD card slot.
You have to remember that the 32GB variant has a 3GB RAM while the 64GB variant has a 4GB RAM.
Huawei did not disclose the battery life in hours, but the battery capacity of the P9 is higher than the LG G5. It is the same with the Galaxy S7 which has a 30% battery life boost from the Galaxy S6. With this reference, you can expect a very long battery life for the P9.
Camera: Dual-Lens – A Leap in Mobile Camera Technology
The Huawei P9 features dual-lens cameras which other latest flagship smartphones should envy. There are a lot of rumors that the iPhone 7 to be released this year will also come with a dual-lens camera as one of its best features. So the question is, what’s the big deal with a dual-lens camera?
Huawei worked with Leica, a German camera manufacturer with a strong brand in photography, to integrate the dual-lens in the P9. Each lens has a 12MP resolution. One lens has an RGB sensor while the other has a monochrome sensor. It captures images and fuses the two images together.
THE EFFECT?
Professional quality images, superior performance in a low-light environment, better contrast, and a great-looking wide-aperture, dimensional photos. An excellent camera is one of the distinguishing features of a flagship phone and currently, the P9 certainly has the best.
Other Cool Features
The P9 has a fingerprint sensor which is located at the back. This is one of my most favorite features because it enhances the security of the device.
It is also LTE capable, can connect to Wi-Fi (802.11 a,b,g,n,a,c), and function as a hotspot. You can use the GPS with A-GPS for maps and the NFC functionality. Other cool features include an acceleration sensor, gyroscope, proximity sensor, and compass.
Conclusion
The Huawei P9 is one of the best smartphones and it is expected to be released in April 2016. It has an all-metal body, excellent display quality, superb processing power, and very high battery capacity.
The camera is the most interesting aspect. It has a dual-lens camera which is the most advanced smartphone camera around that can capture professional and stunning images.
What do you think of this new smartphone from Huawei? I would love to hear from you.