Huawei P9 handsHuawei P9 and P9 Plus -on
Huawei crafted some beautiful handsets for the Mate lineup, but this is the continuation of the industrial design of the P-series. The only major difference is that the camera - and the P9 hasa lot of camera - is moved up on a decorative strip at the top of the back instead of sitting on the centerline.
Huawei P9 hands-on
The Huawei P9 is clothed in 2.5D glass and aerospace-class aluminum, which comes in two special forms. The 64GB version of the P9 features the Haze Gold finish, which uses micron-level polishing to create a translucent surface.
The other option is Ceramic White, which Huawei claims is "smoother than the painted bodywork of premium cars." It bends light to create an ever-changing show of color as ambient light changes. Standard colors include Prestige Gold, Rose Gold, Titanium Grey and Mystic Silver.
When you hold it in your hand the P9 feels impressively light, but the grey version we played with was also rather easy to smudge and become a mess. The screen looks very pleasantly and the whole thing feels very snappy.
Below the cameras is the fingerprint sensor, which protects the phone from illegitimate access. It works like a customizable button as well, you can answer a call or take a photo with it or configure it to work as a navigation button (Back, Home or App switcher).
Fingerprint reader with extra options
The Huawei P9 is a dual-SIM phone with a hybrid slot, giving you a choice between more storage or an extra phone line. It has a single loudspeaker (unlike its bigger sibling).
The only loudspeaker • No IR blaster on top • The SIM/microSD card slot • Side keys
Huawei P9 camera samples
This is where it gets even more interesting - The Huawei P9 camera is loaded with innovation - it was co-designed with Leica and the renowned camera maker helped create something unique.
The Huawei P9 features two 12MP sensors, one is fairly standard and captures color photographs while the other is black & white only. It lacks a Bayer filter which is used in color cameras (but reduces the light that reaches the sensor, damaging low-light performance). Leica designed three modes - Standard, Vivid Colors and Smooth Color, which promise to recreate the Leica film camera experience (you even get a Leica shutter sound).
The P9 can also shoot in monochrome. This is true monochrome too, not just desaturated color photos like all other smartphones shoot.
The photos shot by the monochrome camera look the part
This second camera is used for more than just the occasional dramatic B&W shot, though. It has superior low-light performance, as the lack of an RGB filter on top of the sensor has allowed for an f-stop worth of extra light to be captured for the same scenes.
Additionally, both cameras can be used to calculate the distance to objects, which is part of Huawei's Hybrid autofocus (which also includes Laser AF). You can also leverage on the two sensors to create bokeh and other depth-of-field effects.
You can adjust the strength of the blur
The Huawei camera app offers manual mode, which offers RAW shooting, manual focus, shutter speed and ISO and a few other options.
The Huawei P9 is the first to offer a live bokeh preview (usually, phones render it after the fact, which takes a few seconds). You can still change the focus point after the fact.
Huawei P9 camera allows for a live bokeh preview
Here are a couple of photos we snapped with the P9 right after the event in relatively good light:
Huawei P9 camera samples
And here are a few more we were able to capture a few hours later around London:
The Huawei P9 has an 8MP selfie camera, which we also tried.
Unfortunately, the new Kirin 955 chipset retains the flaw of its predecessor - namely, it can't record 4K 2160p video. That's not what you want to hear about a €600 flagship phone, let alone the €750 P9 Plus (which shares this limitation).
Camera UI • No 4K 2160p video option
Huawei P9 Plus camera samples
We managed to snap a few samples with the Huawei P9 Plus dual 12MP camera. Since the lighting wasn't particularly favorable and the software of the units at the venue wasn't finalized we will reserve judgement for later.
What we can say at this stage though is that the samples shows plenty of promise and we really hope Huawei is able to extract as much of it as possible by the time a retail units comes to our office for a full review.
Huawei P9 Plus camera samples
We also tested the bokeh feature, which allows you to apply selective focus. This is to say it blurs the background, while maintaining your subject in focus for a more dramatic effect. It's a thing that small sensor smartphone cameras have always struggled to achieve, but that can be achieved by leveraging on the two sensors to measure the distances to all objects and the frame and applying selective blur.
The P9 Plus does a decent job - notably better than the HTC One M8, which debuted the feature with its dual camera two years ago. However, things are far from perfect and the edges of objects that should normally stay sharp do get blurred a bit.
You can adjust the strength of the blur
The best part about the feature is that the phone retains all the info from the two cameras, so you can return to the gallery later on and readjust the focus as you please.
Switching the focus point is possible at any time
Huawei TalkBand B3
At the Huawei P9 and P9 Plus premiere today, the company also revealed the TalkBand B3 band and we got to spend some time with the refreshed accessory. Just like on its predecessor, the band is passive and is a holder for the Bluetooth earpiece, which sits on top of it. The earpiece itself is the smart part, while the band is merely a stylish way for carrying it around while not using it.
Huawei TalkBand B3 Active version
Huawei touts it to be more ergonomic and has a high-grade chipset resulting in better audio performance, but unfortunately there was no way for us to verify that. We could see the improved design though as the Corning Gorilla Glass-covered curved band really looks better than its predecessor.
Huawei TalkBand B3 Classic version
The bracelet itself is available in three different version - the sporty Active rubber version available in black and white and featuring a simple clasp, the leather Classic (Brown, Gold) with its more stylish buckle and the full metal Elite (Rose Gold).
Huawei TalkBand B3 worn on the hand
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