There’s no hiding the fact that Huawei P9 does a wonderful job when it comes to photography. It has what it requires to take pictures with perfect color output, and the extra features like the bokeh effects and monochrome shots add to the camera experience. But then, has Huawei done enough to keep the phone equally good at other departments, or has put this up as a camera smartphone that can do only good with its dual-lens camera?
After over a month’s usage, one can say that the Huawei P9 is appealing, both inside out. There’s so much inside, as much as it is outside of the phone. A perfect design, a wonderful camera on the exterior, and these are complemented by the matching hardware internally. Let’s find out why the Huawei P9 is a complete impressive package.
Classy, flat and bold
Huawei has been emphasising on the marvel of its cameras, and that makes the design an underdog though it fights a strong battle against the competitors, not just with the looks but with also the comfort it offers.
A 5.2-inch screen keeps it quite comfortable in most of the hands, and the curvy edges never point into your palm. Huawei has also done well with the screen-to-body ratio, keeping it at over 70%. The back has a metal frame and the camera part is given a different color with the glass frame extending from one side to the other. That was much needed as the frame houses not just the two lenses but also the dual-LED flash and the laser autofocus system.
When you talk of smaller screen, it is not just about how easy is it to hold but also about how far can you reach with the same hand on the screen, and not have to always use the second hand to operate the device.
Flat? That is very important as a factor for rough users. How much ever protection is given on the camera lens, having a raised camera bump on the back affects not just the protective glass but also makes the phone rocky on a flat surface. The Huawei P9 has a flat back, thanks to the design thought and the camera combination used.
Dual Leica camera
Some camera advancements in smartphones are well worthy of a praise, but what Huawei has managed to do here deserves much more. It might give you a feel of a gimmick in the beginning, given how there have been a few smartphones with two cameras not being able to do much. But here, there is a practical difference, as the two cameras service particular purposes and the combination of both is meant to deliver a better picture.
The two 12MP lenses come with different sensors – one is an RGB sensor that you’d see on every camera, while the other one is a monochrome sensor. Yes, the second sensor can take only Black and White photos, but it isn’t what you are thinking. Huawei and Leica have worked together to take advantage of the monochrome sensor for more light to pass through and to take the details, while the RGB sensor accurately records the colors, and thus, you see the two sensors working together with some software support to come up with a better capture that what it’d have been with only one camera.
Software experience
A good hardware needs to be complemented by a software that helps you get the most through and that doesn’t hurt the experience. Huawei’s P9 runs EMUI, it’s custom interface that is based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and the interface is easy, smooth and loaded with enough, and Huawei has also managed to keep the bloatware away, which otherwise would’ve just pulled in some complains from users for eating up the storage and not serving anything helpful.
Quick settings in the notification panel, user management, status bar changes, home screen style change, smart assistance features like floating dock, motion control, one-handed UI, voice control, glove mode, and a lot more features are a part of the UI but they don’t overshadow the neat UI that keeps the user free of any issues. What would you prefer? A feature-loaded UI that gives up with one or the other at times, or a neat one that has all the important inclusions of useful features?
A long-lasting battery
Battery capacity, if not the only factor, is an important one when wondering how well does the device last on a full charge. The Huawei P9 has a 3000 mAh battery, which the company has been able to pack within the 7mm slim frame.
It’d make some wonder about how long will the battery be able to offer the usage if you subject the phone to some good camera usage and multimedia viewing. The P9 lasts for over 18 hours on heavy usage, that includes a lot of camera usage as well. Fair to say that Huawei has done a good job in optimizing the UI as well to not kill the battery when the device is at rest, which is not the case with several other phones.
Powerful performance with Kirin 955
Last, but not the least, the Huawei P9 is powerful. Even if it is the Kirin chipset that might not impress you with the name, there should be a reason why Huawei chooses its own Hisilicon Kirin processors for the top-end and flagship smartphones. The reason is, they perform as expected.
Let’s talk about benchmarks – The chipset scored better than the top flagships this year, including the Samsung Galaxy S7, the OnePlus 3, and even the Xiaomi Mi 5. That is not one random benchmark test but most of them that had a focus on the graphics performance.
Now, the actual performance – The Huawei P9 is a good performer. It was rarely a time when we saw the device to be giving up on multitasking and while playing graphic-loaded games.
These aren’t the only things that make it a complete phone, but the Huawei P9 banks on these as the important ones, and thus, the device can well challenge any flagship in the market to beat them in the game.
Note: This is a sponsored story.
Cool phone. with AWESOME camera! 🙂