Did you know, based on data from the IDC (International Data Corporation), Huawei has been third in terms of smartphone shipment volumes for a while now, with the top two being Apple and Samsung. Most of the shipments are actually in their home market, which is why you don’t really see many people using their devices in Singapore. But with so many people buying them, it has to be pretty good right?
I was never a huge fan of Huawei devices, and a big part of it was down to its software, EMUI. It can best be described as the bastard love child of iOS and Android. If you have read reviews of Huawei devices in the past few years, the conclusions were largely along the lines of, “nice hardware, poor software”.
While that iOS-esque user interface seems pretty popular in the Chinese market, I prefer a more traditional look for Android. If I wanted iOS, I would have gone for an iPhone. From reviews I have seen from western regions, I don’t think I am alone in this. That was part of the reason I was never too keen on their devices.
Then came the Huawei Mate 9. A high end phablet, with top of the line specifications, with a unique dual camera setup, and a slightly cleaner looking EMUI. This got me really interested in the phone. Especially with the cancellation of the Galaxy Note7, there is now a space in the phablet market to be filled.
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The Huawei Mate 9 is a handsome looking phone. The grey version that I have here comes with an all black front, with a simple Huawei logo at the bottom. The sides are finished with a slightly shiny brushed-metal look with chamfered edges. Round the back there is a sandblasted finish which feels smooth to the touch. The design of the phone is clean, sharp, and understated, just how I like it.
There’s no getting away that this is a bulky phone, and I am reminded of that whenever I pick up the phone. For a phone this size, that heavier weight actually makes the phone feel more weighted in my hand when using it, compared to something like the LG V20.
Like most modern flagship devices, you have a fingerprint sensor to help make unlocking the phone easier. The sensor is placed on the back of the phone, and is one of the fastest fingerprint sensor I have used. A light tap unlocks the phone almost instantly.
Once the phone is on, you’re greeted by a gorgeous looking 5.9-inch display. It is of the LCD variety, and only has a resolution of 1920 by 1080, but this is still a really nice looking display (and I normally prefer AMOLED screens). Since the screen is bigger, I don’t have to use the phone as close to my eyes, so I still don’t see any pixels on the screen. The colour reproduction, the contrast, the deep blacks, and the outdoor visibility on the display is superb as well. So other than the use of VR (virtual reality) headsets, there is really nothing to complain about the display. If anything, that Full HD resolution probably helps with battery endurance.
(This is personal preference not really a flaw, but the display was a little too cool for my liking out of the box.
I just changed the temperature in display settings and I’m golden.)
With that nice looking display, I find myself watching more YouTube videos on it, even when my computer is right in front of me. But that’s only half the reason. The other half is down to the speakers on the Mate 9.
The phone has a stereo speaker setup that is orientation-aware. So in portrait, the call speaker provides the highs, while the bottom provides the bulk of the volume. In landscape, it distributes the sound a bit more evenly, but even then the bigger bottom speaker still does most of the heavy lifting. It might not sound as good as phones with a proper stereo speaker setup, but it’s definitely better than most of the phones I have tested recently. The audio is clear, and has great volume.
The Mate 9 still has a 3.5-millimetre headphone jack, but is placed at the top of the phone which isn’t my favourite position, especially on a phone this big. The sound it produces are decent as well.
Powering the Mate 9, is Huawei’s in-house HiSilicon 16nm Kirin 960 chipset. It uses the standard ARM Big.LITTLE configuration with four powerful A73 2.4GHz cores, and four power efficient A53 1.8GHz cores. It is accompanied by the newer Mali-G71 octa-core GPU. In comparison, the Exynos 8890 chipset employs the slightly older generation Mali T880. Pair that with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM, and 64GB of the newer UFS 2.1 storage, the Mate 9 is truly a beast when it comes to performance.
(The Mate 9 does support microSD card, but is sharing the slot with the second SIM card slot.)
From playing graphically intensive games, to simple tasks like opening and switching between apps, the Mate 9 absolutely flies. But we’ve all seen this before. A brand new phone with a fresh operating system performing like a dream, and then it all goes to shit a year down the road.
(I'm not really good at this.)
Huawei is actually saying that the Mate 9 will stay fast in the long run by using intelligent Machine Learning algorithm to optimise both the software, and hardware. I am really not in a position to judge this since I haven’t had the phone for nearly long enough, but let’s hope it’s true.
To me software is the most important thing when it comes to smartphones. The hardware can be amazing, but if the software is shit, it still stinks. The Mate 9 runs EMUI 5 based on Android 7.0 Nougat, and at first glance, things aren’t pretty. The phone has been themed pretty much from the top to bottom with Huawei’s own design language, and iOS-esque, squircle-shaped icons. And, there is no app drawer. The phone is also filled with a bunch of Huawei’s own applications, along with a folder filled with bloatware.
(Pre-installed apps)
After a bit of digging around, and cleaning up though, I finally saw the glimmer of hope that is hiding underneath the filth. Most of the unwanted bloatware can be uninstalled or disabled. The app drawer can be turned on for a more traditional looking Android experience. The out-of-place looking icons can be replaced with a more stock looking set of icons found online. All of these can be done without the need to install a third party launcher.
At this point in time, I started to enjoy the experience on the phone. The quick settings page might not look like stock Android, but works similarly, and I actually quite like the amount of toggles offered. Settings page is largely in a similar layout too, just with the additional EMUI features.
While I still dislike the implementation of the FAB (Floating Action Button) for default apps, I don’t use any of them regularly enough to annoy me.
EMUI 5 is still packed to the gills in terms of customisations and features. While I have most of them turned off, some of them are genuinely useful to have.
Like the ability to lock apps as a secondary layer of protection for apps with sensitive information. Or the ability to duplicate an app so you can use another account on it. Super useful if you have two numbers and need two WhatsApp account. Or using the fingerprint sensor to take a photo, bring down the notification shade, or just browse through photos.
Overall, despite EMUI 5 being on the heavier side for my liking, the overall performance of the user interface is still silky smooth and responsive. Visually, I think EMUI could use a lot more work to get it aligned with Google’s Material Design guidelines, but it’s no longer as intolerable as before. With a bit of work, I could get EMUI 5 to look and work the way I want it to, for the most part.
Before I conclude the software portion of the review, it is also worth noting that EMUI 5 has a lot of features relating to battery optimisations. It offers one of the most detailed battery usage data I have seen, and also some really granular controls over apps’ battery usage.
I can select apps that will be closed automatically when I lock the screen to prevent apps from running in the background. EMUI will also monitor and notify me when an app is using too much power, and I can choose to automatically close them. There is also the usual power saving mode, a more aggressive Ultra power saving mode that simplifies the interface and limit app use, and a setting to lower the screen resolution.
This makes sense when you consider that battery life has always been part of the appeal of the Mate series. When you combine the software optimisations, the lower resolution Full HD display, with the monstrous 4,000mAh battery, you get a phone with great battery endurance. A day of use is pretty much a given for me, no matter heavy use or not.
When it comes to charging the phone, Huawei has a new charging technology called SuperCharge. You’ll need to use the bundled cable and charger, but when you do, Huawei claims that their charging method is cooler than its competitors (Qualcomm’s QuickCharge). It charges at 4.5A/5V, and when battery is on the lower side, it charges up the phone really quickly, giving you a quick boost in a short period of time. However, similar to Oppo’s VOOC or OnePlus’s Dash charging, it’s a pity that you need proprietary charger and cable to utilise this feature. I would definitely prefer an open standard like USB Type C’s power delivery.
When using the Mate 9, it’s easy to see the improvements in EMUI 5 compared to Huawei’s past software efforts. While they might not be at the level that Samsung is at with TouchWiz in terms of design, they are making huge strides towards that. They already nailed the performance part, now they just need to nail the design.
Huawei’s collaboration with camera-maker Leica continues with the Mate 9. There is a main RGB sensor capturing colours, and a monochrome sensor for enhancing details. The main sensor is 12-megapixel with an f/2.2 lens and OIS (optical image stabilisation). The monochrome sensor is 20-megapixel, and also with an f/2.2 lens.
Other than complementing each other in normal shooting mode using the default 12-megapixel resolution, the dual lens setup with the higher resolution sensor brings with it two interesting features as well.
Firstly, it allows the Mate 9 to have an adjustable aperture mode. It is generally pretty fun to play around with, and can create some nice looking bokeh effect. I did notice that in dimmer lighting conditions, the effect can look a bit more artificial compared to in brighter conditions.
Secondly, it allows for a sort of zoom feature, using that higher resolution monochrome sensor to eke out a bit more details when shooting at the default 12-megapixel. The effect is noticeable, but not fantastic compared to having actual optical zoom. So I tend to avoid it as much as possible.
Image quality wise, I am actually pretty impressed with the camera overall. It’s not quite at the level that Samsung, Apple, or Google is at, but it’s not that far behind. Colour reproduction tends to veer more towards the realistic side most of the time, with good details and contrasts in most shots.
(One with HDR mode, the other on normal auto mode.)
In low light, the only caveat is that you have to hold the camera steady after taking the shot. If not the images are more prone to having camera shake in them. Do as you’re told by the camera app, and the images will turn out just fine.
The way to activate “Pro” mode is easy to access as well, almost like Huawei is urging you to use it more often. Just swipe up. While you can get some decent results if you have the settings right, it’s still too much work for what is essentially a smartphone camera sensor. To me the extra effort required simply doesn’t return you a proportionate amount of gain in quality. Unless all you’re looking for is some artsy light trail shots.
One mode that the phone excels in would be the monochrome mode, which is more fun than I expected it to be. The details that the sensor is able to capture is pretty remarkable.
(Crispy details)
(Zoomed in)
Full resolution images can be found here.
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I wasn’t really expecting much from the Huawei Mate 9 when I bought the phone for review. My past experiences with Huawei’s older EMUI has largely been rather underwhelming. However with the Mate 9, Huawei made great strides forward with EMUI 5, and provided a software experience that is finally able to let the hardware shine through.
And boy did it shine.
The hardware design is right up my alley, with performance that leaves no room for complaint. The media experience is top-notch too with a great display, and very nice sounding speakers. The best part is, with its 4,000mAh battery, you also get great battery endurance.
The software experience could use a lot more polishing in terms of its design, but is no longer a hindrance to the user experience of the phone. The camera performance is not quite at the top, but it’s decent enough for most situations, and can create some really stunning shots.
My only gripe with the phone would be a lack of any sort of water resistance on the phone, which again I preach, should be a standard feature for flagship devices going forward. Even Samsung’s new mid-range A-series devices are rated IP68.
That aside, if you are looking to get a new big screen Android device in the market today, the Mate 9 is definitely worth a look.
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