Huawei Mate 9
‘Same Same’, but Different
Huawei has found a winning aesthetic for its Mate series and they’re stick with it. Place them side-by-side, and from the front, you will realise that both the Mate 8 and Mate 9 could be doppelgangers. If you don’t look hard enough, you could very easily mistake them for one or the other. A tell-tale sign is the camera.
Double the Fun
Speaking of the camera, the Mate 9 now houses a dual camera, which is the result of Huawei’s hallmark partnership with Leica. Unlike its first rendition of the dual cameras in the P9 series, the phablet-sized device features vertically stacked lenses, with better monochrome resolution to boot.
Still a Handful
As a person with small hands, the 5.5-inch P9 Plus was just about pushing my grip threshold. The 5.9-inch Mate 9 is still a behemoth in hand. Comparatively to the Mate 8, the dimensions and weight are almost similar – the Mate 9 is smaller and lighter but the difference is negligible.
On the Inside
The Mate 9 still features a full HD display; a stark difference between the latter and its predecessor is that the Mate 9 doesn’t sport an IPS-NEO LCD panel. The display was crisp and bright, watching videos and playing games on the Mate 9 certainly gives off a premium feeling. It also offers users more power and better performance as it houses the latest Kirin 960 chipset and Mali G71 GPU. Performance was snappy, with any form of multi-tasking not weighing down the device at all. For reference, I usually run about 7 to 8 apps in the background at the very minimum.
Fast Charging Made Faster
It houses a huge 4,000mAh battery andd further enhanced by its fast charging (SuperCharge) capabilities and newly added USB-C connectivity.
New Ecosystem
The Mate 9 comes stock with the new Android 7.0 (Nougat) and Huawei’s newly improved EMUI 5.0. The updated user interface offers users easier navigation and usability, while maintaining a cleaner design.
Specs
Price: RM2,699
Dimensions: 156.9 x 78.9 x 7.9 mm
Weight: 190 g
Display size: 5.9-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Resolution: 1080 x 1920 pixels
Camera: Front – Dual 20 MP +12 MP, f/2.2, 27mm, OIS, 2x zoom, Leica optics, phase detection & laser autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash. Rear – 8 MP, f/1.9, 26mm, 1080p
OS: Android OS 7.0 (Nougat) with EMUI 5.0
Chipset: HiSilicon Kirin 960
CPU: Octa-core (4×2.4 GHz Cortex-A73 & 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A53)
GPU: Mali-G71 MP8
Memory: 4GB RAM
Storage: 64GB (internal). Additional microSD up to 256GB (uses SIM 2 slot)
Benchmark
Antutu: 127,207 (3D: 40,071)
3DMark: 2109
PCMark (Slingshot Extreme): 2265
PCMark (Work 2.0: Performance – 6431, Battery Life – 6 hours 45 minutes
Rating
Value – 9
Performance – 10
Design – 9
Features – 9
Usability – 10
Total score: 9.4
Verdict: Though gigantic in hand, the 5.9-inch makes all the difference in experience.
Byline: By Nur Atifi
