After months of speculation, rumors, leaks, Chinese electronics giant Huawei has finally lifted the lid on its latest flagship smartphone: the Huawei P9. But the company had a nother device to announce too — the slightly bigger P9 Plus.
There would be a packed assembly at London’s Battersea Park today, where Huawei has elected to host its global launch event for its new Android device. There perhaps should be little surprise that Huawei has chosen the U.K. capital for the global launch event, given it has chosen the conurbation in the past too — including the P8 and P8 Max phablet last April.
As with its P8 predecessor, Huawei no longer uses the Ascend branding from its latest family of phones. And while many of the specs that were leaked ahead of today’s announcement proved to be correct, we can now bring you final confirmation of exactly what Huawei has lined up.
Above: Huawei & Leica
Image Credit: Paul Sawers / VentureBeat
The need to knows
Running Android 6.0 (Marshmallow), the Huawei P9 sports a 5.2-inch full HD (1920 x 1080) screen, while the P9 Plus comes in has a 5.5-inch incarnation. Both devices is powered by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon’s custom octa-core Kirin 955 system-on-chip (SoC), a slightly improved version of the 950 chipset unveiled last November.
And yes, just as pretty much all the leaks indicated ahead of today’s launch, the device comes replete with dual Leica camera lenses on the back designed to help snap better quality photos. It’s worth noting here that Huawei has previously offered dual-lens device in the form of the Honor 6, but Leica has a long and distinguished history in the lens-making realm so things are being ramped up a notch or two this time around.
Both the P9 and P9 Plus sport metal bodies, with a tiny 1.7mm bezel and both are only 6.95mm thin. It also has no camera bump — it’s completely flush.
In terms of power, the P9 is powered by a 3,000mAh battery and the P9 has a slightly bigger 3,400mAh battery.
6.95mm thin
Founded out of Shenzhen, China, in the 1980s, Huawei has emerged as one of the giants of the telecommunications realm, producing networking equipment, software, and services to enterprises and governments globally. But it has also entered the consumer electronics fray, offering everything from tablets and smartphones to fitness trackers and pocket Wi-Fi devices. Indeed, Huawei’s credentials as a mobile phone maker were given a major boost last year when Google unveiled its new Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P smartphones, with Huawei on board as the manufacturer.
According to a recent Canalys report, Huawei recently usurped Xiaomi as China’s biggest smartphone vendor, and although there isn’t much daylight between the two companies, it’s clear which of the two companies have the biggest global ambitions. While Xiaomi continues to ignore the West with its smartphones, Huawei has been flirting with the global masses not only with its launch markets, but in terms of marketing — it has partnered with big-name brands in the soccer realm including Arsenal, and a number of other teams and leagues across Europe and elsewhere.