Review Huawei Honor 9: specifications, comparison with Honor 8 and Xiaomi Mi6, release date, price

Last year, Huawei introduced a very interesting and beautiful smartphone Honor 8. The device received a body from glass and metal. Many people called it the most attractive smartphone ever produced from company Huawei.

After Honor 8, another device called Honor 8 Pro appeared on the market. The new model does not have a glass on the rear panel, as it received full metal case. However, this is a matter of taste and everyone chooses something that he likes.

Anyway, now almost all smartphones are similar to each other, which can not be said about the new Honor 9. New smartphone appears in certification center TENAA. Thanks to this, we know specifications and design in all details.

Honor 9 smartphone will have a sandwich of glass and metal, while it clearly traces the design of Xioami Mi5. In general, leaked photos of Honor 9 show that the smartphone again can claim the title of a very attractive gadget.

In today’s article, we will talk about Huawei Honor 9, and compare it with the predecessor Honor 8 and flagship Xiaomi Mi6.

If we believe the certification center TENAA, Honor 9 will have a very interesting hardware and cameras – yes, there are two of them. Probably, soon Huawei will stop producing single-camera smartphones, except for very cheap devices.

Honor 9 Specifications

Colors: champagne, dark blue, white, black;
Case: tempered glass on both sides Low Temperature PolySilicon, metal frame;
Screen: diagonal 5.15″, resolution 1920×1080 pixels, density 428ppi, matrix IPS, technology 2.5D;
Processor: HiSilicon Kirin 960, technical process 16nm FinFET Plus, 8-core (4 cores ARTEMIS with frequency up to 2.4 GHz + 4 cores Cortex-A53 with frequency up to 1.8 GHz), coprocessor i6, 64-bit;
Graphics: Mali-G71 MP8 with a frequency of up to 900 MHz;
RAM: 4/6 GB of LPDDR4 type, two channels at 1866 MHz;
Storage: 32/64 GB + microSD up to 256 GB;
Camera: color 12 MP sensor + monochrome 20 MP sensor, hybrid AF, OS system, aperture f / 2.2, lens from Leica 2.0, optical zoom 2x;
Front camera: resolution 8 MP, aperture f / 2.0, video recording in FullHD;
Support for two SIM cards;
Modem LTE Cat.12 – download up to 600 Mb / s, 150 Mbps return;
Fingerprint scanner (front);
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou;
Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n / ac 5 GHz, Bluetooth 4.2, USB Type-C version 2.0, infrared;
Battery: 3100 mAh + fast charging Huawei Super Charge 3.0 (0% to 57% for 30 minutes);
Android OS 7.0 Nougat, EMUI 5.1;
Antutu: 148,000 points;
The price: 335 dollars for the version 4/64 GB, $ 378 for 6/64 GB.

It should be noted that Honor 9 almost completely repeats the specifications of Honor 8 Pro (Honor V9 in China), except for the diagonal and screen resolution, as well as camera specs.

Honor 9 Performance and Memory

The leak does not say about processor Honor 9, but we know the frequency and cores. It seems that chipset could be Kirin 960. The processor itself is very interesting and powerful enough, which proves the same Antutu Test.

If earlier we have questions to Kirin chips about the graphics, now the company Mali made a big step forward thanks to Mali-G71 graphics. Now you can play powerful games without heating, slow down, or significantly reducing FPS. Moreover, the Mali-G71 is twice as productive as the most powerful predecessor of Mali-T880.

If we talk about the speed of applications, then Kirin 960 provides a high and stable operation of operating system. Also Honor 9 will have from 4 to 6 GB of very fast RAM memory of the standard LPDDR4. So there is no problem with the speed of launching apps.

Honor 9 shows about 150000 scores in AnTuTu tests. It is about the same level of Snapdragon 821.

Honor 9 cameras

We really like two camera modules on the rear panel of Honor 9. We are promised the resolution 20 MP for one module, and 12 MP for another. It means Honor 9 will use the same combination, as Huawei P10 (for a second, it is a flagship phone from Huawei).

What we get in practice? First, high definition images due to high resolution and a minimum of noise due to the use of additional b/w matrix. Secondly, bokeh effect when shooting in portrait mode. It is very fashionable feature among mobile cameras. Thirdly, optical stabilization will allow you to shoot high-quality video with a smooth picture. Finally, double optical zoom like iPhone 7 Plus, Huawei P10 or Xiaomi Mi6 will make it possible to increase the objects in the frame without losing quality. Everything looks great!

Huawei Honor 9 design

As already mentioned, Honor 8 is considered one of the most beautiful devices of both Huawei itself and the mobile phone market in general. As for Honor 9, the smartphone will receive almost the same design as its predecessor, but in some moments it will be different.

An important innovation is moving the fingerprint scanner to the front panel under the screen. Also, it is important to note the roundness of the rear screen on the sides like Xiaomi Mi5, and not flat, as Honor 8. Anyway, Honor 9 looks great, although it may seem impractical to use glass instead of metal.

Honor 9 comparison with Honor 8 and Xiaomi Mi6

Of course, it is not entirely correct to compare new Honor 9 and Xiaomi Mi 6, since they are representatives of different categories, but they have some common features. First of all, both smartphones have almost the same official price – about $350. So the table below shows the main differences between Honor 9, Xiaomi Mi6 and Honor 8.

As you can see, with almost the same price tag, different manufacturers offer different specifications. Undoubtedly, Xiaomi Mi6 has more powerful performance, since it is packed with the most modern hardware. But Honor 9 is not a flagship smartphone, so it can be not the most powerful, but offers interesting features.

Huawei Honor 9 release date, price, buy

The presentation of the new smartphone Honor 9 is awaited in June, 2017. The exact price Honor 9 is not yet known, but we think it will vary from $335 to $378, depending on configuration.

Should you wait for new smartphone from Huawei? Yes, it’s worth it, since Honor 9 is a very interesting and beautiful smartphone with excellent hardware and cameras.

Source: xda-developers