I already finished with might be one of the barometers this year in terms of midrange phones, the Huawei GR5 2017. For this article, I did not miss the chance for quick hands-on treatment of the Huawei Mate 9 from their media launch last night.
Front: 5.9 inch IPS Full HD LCD display, 8 MP front camera with f/1.9 aperture, earpiece, Huawei branding
Back: Dual 12 MP RGB camera + 20 MP monochrome camera with PDAF, Laser AF, OIS, Leica optics, f/2.2 aperture, dual LED, dual tone flash, fingerprint reader, Huawei branding, non-removable back cover
Internals: 2.4 GHz Kirin 960 octa-core processor, EMUI 5.0 based on Android 7.0 Nougat, 4 GB RAM, 64 GB ROM, LTE, Bluetooth, WiFi, NFC, GPS, 4,000 mAh built-in battery
At left, you can locate the hybrid dual SIM tray (either 2 nano SIM cards or 1 nano SIM and micro SD up to 256 GB). At the right, you can see the volume rocker and power/unlock button.
At the top, there's an IR blaster which is good for some of your electronic devices and 3.5 mm. audio jack. The bottom has single speaker, pin hole mic hiding there and USB Type C port. The travel has 4.5V 5A output so it guarantees that you can fully charge this phablet so fast.
I had a little time for this device so I jumped right in the camera section. They claim that because of the 12 MP RGB camera and 20 MP monochrome camera, you will have more detailed photos plus the continuing collaboration on co-engineering with Leica. Not sure but looks like it has more photo settings to play with compared to Huawei P9. This phablet has lotsa tricks as expected in the pro section. I also love the jampacked options in the pulldown menu.
And the camera samples. I am bit surprised that you can shoot up to 20 MP in auto mode. The same seat that I did for the selfie with GR5 2017, I got a brighter low light selfie with the Mate 9, thanks to it's f/1.9 aperture
Huawei Mate 9 12 MP rear camera sample
Huawei Mate 9 20 MP rear camera sample
Huawei Mate 9 rear camera sample with bokeh effect set at f/0,95 aperture
Huawei Mate 9 front camera sample.
I never had a chance to play with Huawei Mate 8 but Huawei Mate 9 is definitely on top of the list this year for me if you have the budget and looking for a do-it-all flagship phablet
Just like what they did in Huawei P9 series, the Philippines is lucky that the Huawei Mate 9 is priced lower at Php 31,990 (compared to US$ 599 international price) plus for Globe Postpaid, you can get this high-end phablet for free at Plan 1999 or add Php 4,800 cashout for Plan 1499. Both postpaid plans mentioned have free 6 months of Netflix subscription, 1 GB Spotify Premium for 3 months and 1 GB of HOOQ access for 6 months.
