Huawei launches P9 and P9 Plus with special dual-camera Leica lens

In an event in London today, Huawei announced its latest device in the P series – the Huawei P9 and P9 Plus. Huawei have been launching premium looking devices that might just give Samsung and Apple the shivers, and with the latest P9, we can see how that could be. 

Although it looks a little similiar to its predecessor in terms of design, with everything else, the P9 is different. Sporting a full metal unibody with curved edges, the Huawei P9 features a 5.2-inch display with a 1920×1080 resolution. On the inside, the P9 comes with the Kirin 955 2.5GHz 64-bit ARM-based processor, which is a slight boost from the Kirin 950 found in the recently launched Mate 8. The GPU looks good as the P9 offers the Mali-T880 MP4, so far being the best graphics processor in all of Huawei’s devices to date. As for memory options, you have two choices including a 3GB RAM with 32GB storage variant, and a 4GB RAM with 64GB variant. 

Should you prefer a device with a larger display, then check out the Huawei P9 Plus, also announced at the same event. It features a 5.5-inch display and sports an AMOLED screen instead of the LCD found on the P9. This model will only feature one variant which is a 4GB RAM with 64GB storage variant. All three devices come with microSD card support. (Hurray!)

So, let’s move on to the main highlight of the P9 and P9 Plus. The camera. There have been lots of rumours and leaks as we have covered just yesterday and looks like much of the rumours were true. The Huawei P9 boasts a dual-camera design, and by partnering with a renown maker of camera lenses – Leica, there is just so much to shout about. The rear camera is fitted with a 12MP Leica lens with f/1.1 aperture, while the front sports a 8MP camera for selfie lovers. 

What is truly interesting is the way Huawei has incorporated its dual rear camera. Both cameras are actually different. One of it is a monochrome camera while the other is an RGB camera. Why the difference? Well, the monochrome camera is to capture better photo details as the sensor can capture 300% more light and 50% more contrast, and then the image is processed by the RGB camera to produce an image that looks much better in terms of clarity and colour. On top of that, if you love taking monochromatic photos, then with the P9, you would be taking photos like you would with a true monochrome camera. Since Leica has a hand in the phone camera, it is also great that Huawei has added a manual camera mode and can output photos in RAW format. We really can’t wait to get our hands on it to test how this works in real life.

Just like its other latest variants, Huawei has also included a fingerprint scanner that has been improved and repositioned, and while the P9 comes with 3,000mAh battery, the P9 Plus comes in a slightly larger 3,400mAh battery. All variants also come with reversible USB Type-C connectors at the bottom that features fast-charging. 

The Huawei P9 and P9 Plus comes with a whooping choice of 6 colours – Ceramic White, Titanium Grey, Mystic Silver, Haze Gold, Prestige Gold, and Rose Gold. Don’t be too excited yet as we won’t know what colours are available in which region, so you got to check at your home country when it goes on sale. The first wave launch markets include Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, Denmark,Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.

Price of each Huawei P9 is as follows:

The spec sheet for both the P9 and P9 Plus are as below:

To complement the launch of the devices, Huawei also announced its TalkBand B3, which is available in 3 different styles – Active, Classic, and Elite. The curved touchscreen features an anti-fingerprint coating in order to keep the screen pristine and spotless. Looks-wise, the TalkBand B3 sports premium materials of genuine Italian leather and high-grade stainless steel straps. 

The pricing of the watch is as follows:

Check out more photos of the Huawei P9 below: