Huawei is the world’s third largest smartphone brand in the world, accounting for 9.5% of smartphone sales in Q4 2016. Spearheading their assault on Samsung’s position as the top Android smartphone brand in the world is their Leica c0-branded Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) smartphone.
In this review, we will check out the Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) in great detail, including its Leica branded dual-lens camera. Find out why we awarded it our coveted Editor’s Choice Award!
The Huawei Mate 9 Specifications Comparison
In case you are wondering how much of a difference the Huawei Mate 9 brings to the table, here is a detailed comparison of its specifications to its predecessor, the Huawei Mate 8 (Amazon | Lazada). We also added the bespoke Huawei Mate 9 Porsche (Amazon).
| Specifications | Huawei Mate 9 Porsche Design | Huawei Mate 9 | Huawei Mate 8 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating System | Android 7.0 Nougat | Android 7.0 Nougat | Android 6.0 Marshmallow |
| Display | 5.5" AMOLED display - 1440 x 2560 pixels (534 ppi, 73.2% screen to body ratio) | 5.96" IPS-NEO LCD display - 1080 x 1920 pixels (368 ppi) | 6.0" IPS-NEO LCD display - 1080 x 1920 pixels (368 ppi, 78% screen to body ratio) |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | Corning Gorilla Glass 4 |
| System Platform | HiSilicon Kirin 960 | HiSilicon Kirin 960 | HiSilicon Kirin 950 |
| Processor | 4 x ARM Cortex-A73 (2.4 GHz) 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.8 GHz) | 4 x ARM Cortex-A73 (2.4 GHz) 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.8 GHz) | 4 x ARM Cortex-A72 (2.3 GHz) 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.8 GHz) |
| Graphics Processor | ARM Mali-G71 MP8 (900 MHz) | ARM Mali-G71 MP8 (900 MHz) | ARM Mali-T880 MP4 |
| Memory | 6 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM | 4 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM | 4 GB LPDDR3 SDRAM (NXT-L29) 3 GB LPDDR3 SDRAM (NXT-L09, NXT-L19) |
| Storage | 256 GB internal flash storage NO microSD card slot | 64 GB internal flash storage microSD slot (supports up to 256 GB) | 64 GB internal flash storage (NXT-L29) 32 GB internal flash storage (NXT-L09, NXT-L19) microSD slot (supports up to 256 GB, shared with SIM2) |
| Front Selfie Camera | 8 MP sensor with f/1.9 lens | 8 MP sensor with f/1.9 lens | 8 MP sensor with f/2.4 lens |
| Main Camera | Dual-lens camera with f/2.2 Leica lens - 20 MP monochrome + 12 MP RGB sensors - 2X hybrid zoom, OIS support - PDAF and laser autofocus - dual-tone LED flash | Dual-lens camera with f/2.2 Leica lens - 20 MP monochrome + 12 MP RGB sensors - 2X hybrid zoom, OIS support - PDAF and laser autofocus - dual-tone LED flash | 16 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens - PDAF autofocus, OIS - dual-tone LED flash |
| Connectivity | WiFi : 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band Bluetooth : v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE USB : USB 3.0 Type C port | WiFi : 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band Bluetooth : v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE USB : USB 2.0 Type C port | WiFi : 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band Bluetooth : v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE USB : microUSB port |
| SIM Support | Single nano SIM Dual nano SIM, Dual Standby | Single nano SIM (MHA-L09) Dual nano SIM, Dual Standby (MHA-L29) | Single nano SIM (NXT-L09) Dual nano SIM, Dual Standby (NXT-L29) |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS and BDS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS and BDS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS and BDS |
| NFC | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fingerprint Sensor | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Battery | 4,000 mAh lithium polymer battery (non-removable) | 4,000 mAh lithium polymer battery (non-removable) | 4,000 mAh lithium polymer battery (non-removable) |
| Dimensions | 75 mm wide 152 mm tall 7.5 mm thick | 78.9 mm wide 156.9 mm tall 7.9 mm thick | 80.6 mm wide 157.1 mm tall 7.9 mm thick |
| Weight | 169 g | 190 g | 185 g |
| Available Colours | Black Graphite | Black Graphite, Space Grey, Moonlight Silver, Champagne Gold, Mocha Brown, Ceramic White | Space Grey, Moonlight Silver, Champagne Gold, Mocha Brown |
Unboxing The Huawei Mate 9
As a premium smartphone, the Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) comes in a premium black box. Let’s take a look at what’s inside!
Inside the box, you will find the following items :
- One Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) smartphone
- One Huawei Mate 9 protective case
- One Huawei Mate 9 quick start guide
- One 22.5 W Huawei SuperCharge power adaptor
- One USB Type C cable
- One micro USB to USB Type C adaptor
- One pair of Huawei earphones
- One SIM card tray ejector pin
The inclusion of the Huawei Mate 9 protective case in the package is most welcomed, even though it only protects the back and the four corners of the Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada). At least it offers some protection out of the box, until you get a better case.
Next Page > The Huawei Mate 9 Key Features
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The Huawei Mate 9 Smartphone
The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) is a 6″ phablet (officially 5.98″) with an IPS-NEO display. There was some confusion about its display and protection. Let us be clear – the Huawei Mate 9 Porsche (Amazon) has an AMOLED display, while the “regular” Huawei Mate 9 uses an IPS-NEO display. They are both protected by Gorilla Glass 3, not Gorilla Glass 5.
The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) runs on the octa-core Kirin 960, with 4 GB of LPDDR4 SDRAM and 64 GB of internal flash storage. It is powered by a large 4,000 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery. All that is packed into a metal unibody chassis less than 8 mm thick.
The Huawei Mate 9 has a two-slot SIM tray on the left side. Depending on region, this may support a single nano SIM and a microSD card, or a hybrid SIM tray in which a second nano SIM can be used in lieu of the microSD card.
Like many premium smartphones, the Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) uses the new bidirectional Type C USB port. To support users with existing micro USB cables and OTG drives, Huawei threw in a micro USB to USB Type C adaptor.
Somehow, Huawei managed to squeeze in the 3.5 mm audio port at the top. This will please people who enjoy using their smartphones as music players, but may prevent the use of external microphones.
Hybrid SIM & Fingerprint Sensor
The MHA-L29 version of the Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) has Dual SIM, Dual Standby capability. However, only the SIM1 supports 4G calls and data, while SIM2 can only support 3G calls. The SIM card tray is located along the left edge, and supports two nano SIM cards.
The second SIM card tray is a hybrid SIM tray, which allows you to install a microSD card instead. In other words, it supports either a second nano SIM card, or a microSD card, but not both at the same time. In the MHA-L09 version, the tray only supports one nano SIM card with the second slot dedicated to the microSD card.
The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) uses a fingerprint sensor that is located at the back, just under the main camera. This is an all-aspect fingerprint sensor that unlocks the smartphone with just a touch. Huawei promises that it is 20% faster than the Huawei Mate 8’s fingerprint sensor.
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The Huawei Mate 9 Cameras
The Huawei Mate 9’s killer feature is its second-generation Leica-branded dual-lens camera. The camera uses a 12 MP RGB sensor to capture colour, and a 20 MP monochrome sensor to pick up the finer details. Their output are then combined to produce the final image.
The dual-lens camera features f/2.2 Leica Summarit-H lenses with optical image stabilisation. The camera’s ability to reduce handshake in low light condition is further enhanced by the pixel binning ability of the dual lenses.
Its front camera though is more run-of-the-mill. It has an 8 MP front camera with autofocus capability. The wider than average f/1.9 aperture though allows for better low light selfies. That is important because the Huawei Mate 9 does not come with a front LED flash, or even support screen flash.
Next Page > Setting It Up, Ergonomics, Available Memory & Storage
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Setting Up The Huawei Mate 9
The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) runs on Android 7.0 Nougat, and is very easy to set-up. If you are setting it up as a new device, it should take you only 5 minutes to finish the setup process.
The Ergonomics
The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) is a large 6″ phablet that is almost 8 cm wide, so it is definitely a two-handed device. While it does not boast a QHD AMOLED display of the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge and the Huawei Mate 9 Porsche (Amazon), its Full HD IPS-NEO display still looks great. No complaints here.
The anodised aluminium chassis is smooth to the touch, with a nice satin finish that imparts a nice shine and yet is resistant to fingerprint smears. If you feel that it lacks grip, slap on the provided clear case – it will give you more grip while protecting the back against scratches.
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Available Memory & Storage
The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) comes with 4 GB of LPDDR4 memory, of which 2.3 GB (57.5%) is available for use. That’s plenty of free memory to run multiple apps at the same time.
As befits a premium smartphone, the Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) has 64 GB of internal flash storage. Of that, 59.29 GB is available to use, which is just awesome. If that’s not enough, you can top it up with a microSD card (up to 256 GB).
Next Page > Camera Performance – Photos & Videos
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Camera Performance – Photos
The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) has an impressive dual-lens camera that Huawei co-designed with Leica. It boasts two separate RGB and monochrome sensors, both with Leica Summarit-H lenses. The full 20 MP resolution is attained with the 4:3 aspect ratio. Each picture has a resolution of 5120 x 3840 and a file size of between 4.5 to 6.5 MB.
Here are 8 high-resolution samples for you to check out. Click on them to load the full-sized photos, which you can also download to examine.
As these samples show, the amount of detail captured by the Leica dual-lens camera was quite astounding. Even the darker areas showed an amazing amount of detail. Even the night shot of Disneyland showed a surprising amount of detail, and very low noise. Simply amazing.
If there is a word of caution though, we have to point out that the Leica Summarit-H lens has an aperture of f/2.2. This is not as fast as the lenses on other premium smartphones, so low light conditions may result in blurry photos. The optical image stabilisation helps some, but the pixel binning capability only works if you take photos at 12 MP or less.
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Camera Performance – Video Recording
The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) is capable of recording 1080p and 4K videos. They are also encoded using the H.265 standard, which allows for much smaller file sizes. It also supports optical image stabilisation, although it does not seem to support electronic image stabilisation. To test out these capabilities, we took some sample videos.
Test #1 : Piano Recital
In this piano recital, the image resolution is so high you can see the sweat glisten off Mr. Yang I-Deun’s forehead. We also liked how clear the recorded sound was. The distinct lack of background noise was very impressive. The Huawei Mate 9’s control of the bright highlights was also pretty good.
Test #2 : Food Trucks
We did this short take of some food trucks to test out the image stabilisation capability. It did a pretty decent job of removing most of the shaking, but the jerking as I walked was rather pronounced. Some electronic image stabilisation capability would have been useful in reducing that.
Test #3 : Night Dancing
I think the first thing you will note is how clear the audio recording is. There is some colour noise from the low light areas like the floor, but the amount of detail you can pick out is still amazing. There is also very good control of the highlights in the background.
Next Page > Work Performance, Battery Life & Recharging Speed
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Work Performance – PCMark
We tested the Huawei Mate 9’s performance using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.
| Huawei Mate 9 | ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra | HTC 10 | honor 8 | |
| Work Performance Score (Average) |
7593 | 6313 | 6105 | 6350 |
| Web Browsing | 8717 | 6257 | 5782 | 8073 |
| Video Playback | 4987 | 4287 | 3321 | 4396 |
| Writing | 7883 | 7166 | 7463 | 6231 |
| Photo Editing | 9702 | 8262 | 9694 | 7352 |
The Kirin 960 is a surprisingly speedy processor. It beat the ZenFone 3 Ultra‘s Snapdragon 652, and even the Snapdragon 820 in the HTC 10!
Battery Life – PCMark
We then tested the Huawei Mate 9’s battery performance using PCMark. It basically ran the PCMark work tests until its battery capacity dropped to 20%.
Amazingly, the Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) lasted 13 hours! That’s 40% longer than the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, which has the same battery capacity; and a full 1.5 hours longer than the ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra with a larger 4,600 mAh battery. This is truly fantastic performance!
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Battery Recharging Performance
The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) comes with a SuperCharge adaptor with a power output of 22.5 W. Take a look at how fast it recharged the large 4,000 mAh battery.
It took the Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) an astoundingly bad 401.5 minutes (6 hours 41.5 minutes) to recharge its battery from 19% to 100%. This is a battery life : recharging ratio of about 2 : 1 – a truly abysmal performance.
The SuperCharge capability does not seem to be working in our review sample, because the chart shows a linear increase in battery capacity over time. We would have expected a large boost in battery life that would taper off as the battery reached its maximum capacity.
Next Page > Gaming & Overall Performance, Verdict, Award
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Gaming Performance – 3DMark
We tested the Huawei Mate 9’s gaming performance using 3DMark, using the Ice Storm Unlimited test.
| Huawei Mate 9 | ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra | HTC 10 | honor 8 | |
| Gaming Score | 27853 | 17719 | 23171 | 18659 |
| Graphics | 36605 | 21124 | 27512 | 19993 |
| Physics | 15164 | 11328 | 14925 | 15127 |
| Graphics Test 1 | 202.5 fps | 115.2 fps | 136.6 fps | 122.5 fps |
| Graphics Test 2 | 131.1 fps | 76.3 fps | 106.4 fps | 67.4 fps |
| Physics Test | 48.1 fps | 36.0 fps | 47.4 fps | 48.0 fps |
The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) did very well in this test, coming in 20% faster than the HTC 10, and 57% faster than the ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra. It should have no problem handling any 3D game you throw at it.
Overall Performance
AnTuTu is a nice benchmark for testing various performance aspects of Android devices.
| Huawei Mate 9 | ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra | HTC 10 | honor 8 | |
| TOTAL SCORE | 123167 | 76096 | 113813 | 90737 |
| 3D SCORE | 40114 | 18816 | 50700 | 17706 |
| – 3D (Marooned) | 23313 | 10861 | 34778 | 9829 |
| – 3D (Garden) | 16801 | 7952 | 15922 | 7877 |
| UX SCORE | 39975 | 26794 | 30890 | 34550 |
| – UX Data Secure | 7943 | 5077 | 6319 | 7338 |
| – UX Data Process | 6985 | 4198 | 3379 | 5513 |
| – UX Strategy Games | 11860 | 7503 | 5433 | 9745 |
| – UX Image Process | 5580 | 6879 | 9521 | 5017 |
| – UX I/O Performance | 7607 | 3137 | 6238 | 6937 |
| CPU SCORE | 31992 | 23689 | 21915 | 32255 |
| – CPU Mathematics | 9680 | 6950 | 8494 | 10483 |
| – CPU Common Use | 11139 | 6311 | 5931 | 8543 |
| – CPU Multi-Core | 11173 | 10428 | 7490 | 13229 |
| RAM | 11086 | 6797 | 10308 | 6226 |
The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) did well in this test, edging out the Snapdragon 820-powered HTC 10. It did particularly well in the CPU tests, and less so in the 3D tests. However, it was still overall a very powerful smartphone.
Our Verdict
The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) was everything we expected of it, and then some. Its headline feature – the Leica-branded dual-lens camera – was more than just marketing fluff. It actually delivered really impressive photos and videos, even in poor light conditions. That’s quite impressive since it uses relatively slow f/2.2 lens.
The Kirin 960 SoC that powered it did not disappoint either. It delivered great CPU and graphics performance in every test we put it through. It also comes with plenty of memory and storage space. You will never need to worry about the Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) not being able to handle any app or game.
The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) also had a very impressive 13 hours of battery life in our test. The only downside though was its abysmal battery recharging performance. You will need at least 6 hours to fully recharge its battery. That, fortunately, seems to be its only major flaw.
Overall, we are most impressed with the Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada). In fact, we like it so much, we think it deserves no less than our Editor’s Choice Award. Congratulations, Huawei!
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