Home Hi-Tech Android World ,,,,, Let's try to answer the question of the subtitle in a review three months after its launch, after having intensively used the Honor 9 as the first smartphone. Is it still worth buying, after the release of the latest top of the range? Here is our answer.
Honor 9 has, first of all, the advantage of perfectly combining a rather traditional form factor, but with some new elements, which allows it to stand out from the mass of smartphones. Not only its rounded shapes on the back, which enhance the grip, but also the colors chosen by the manufacturer, and the almost mirrored effect, give the terminal a characterization, which nowadays it is rare to find on this stage always. more crowded with protagonists. Honor 9 inherits a lot, from an aesthetic point of view, compared to its predecessor Honor 8, so it will be appreciated by all those who loved the first model.
Slightly larger and thicker than its cousin, the Huawei P10, paradoxically, it holds better in the hand. It measures exactly 147.3 x 70.9 x 7.5 mm, for a total weight of about 155 grams, and has a 5.15-inch diagonal with Full HD resolution. Although the writer has begun to particularly prefer terminals with slightly elongated form factor, with 18: 9 display (read Mi Mix 2 and other similar products), Honor 9 still represents, in terms of size and weight, one of the preferable choices, which perfectly combines portability, easy one-handed use, with a large display, capable of enhancing all its smart and multimedia potentials.
Here is Honor 9 
the fingerprint reader passed on the front as on Huawei P10 
Good brightness and consistent colors even at high angles 
Speaker and audio jack on the bottom 
The socket is USB-C and the fast charging of Huawei is available with its power supply 
The side top with microphone and infrared emitter-receiver
Honor 9 does not have very small frames like the latest top of the range (for that you will have to wait for the presentation event of next December 5 or turn to the Mate 10 of Huawei's cousins), but in hand, as already anticipated, it holds really well . On the front it gains a hollow key, particularly similar to that of the P10, which houses a fingerprint sensor, and also acts as a multi-function key, so as to be able to avoid the soft touch keys on the screen, which are still available for those who prefer them. . This choice of the multifunction button outside the display is optimal, allowing you to avoid the annoying black band with the virtual buttons, which occupies part of the display.
In daily use, many of the considerations advanced at the time for the Huawei P10 are valid. The two terminals really seem to have been born from the same rib, albeit with obvious differences from the design point of view. The IPS display is great, it offers very vivid, bright colors, which make the contents easy to read in any light conditions. The fingerprint sensor installed on Honor (as well as on Huawei), we will reiterate until exhaustion, is among the best in the entire smartphone landscape, much more precise, fast and responsive than other top of the range. Do not miss a beat, and unlock the terminal in such a short time, close to zero.
It goes without saying that the technical configuration, HiSilicon Kirin 960 Octa-core (4 × 2.4 GHz Cortex-A73 & 4 × 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53) and Mali-G71 MP8 GPU, supported in our case by 6 GB of RAM, make the very fluid terminal, able to switch from one app to another in a very short time, without lag, jerks or problems of any kind. This is expected from a terminal with such a technical data sheet, but the applause comes spontaneously when it turns out that the price, at least the current one, which in some cases is close to 300 euros.
Level multimedia department
On a multimedia level, Honor 9 has a particularly similar configuration, almost identical to the P10. It loses the Leica brand, but if you don't care so much about the brand engraved on the rear body, the quality of the photos is absolutely comparable to those of the P10. It is a 20MP + 12 MP Dual camera, with f / 2.2 aperture, phase detection autofocus, 2x lossless zoom, dual-LED (dual tone) flash. Unfortunately, in addition to losing the Leica lettering on the back, it also loses electronic image stabilization, which certainly weighs on videos. From this point of view to have a generalized advantage, on almost the entire Android ecosystem is still always and only Apple.
In any case, the multimedia department is also among the best, especially in the price range within which the terminal fits. The presence of the two cameras gives quality Bokeh effects, able to capture exceptional detail for the subject in the foreground, and precisely blur the back.
Excellent Bokeh effect thanks to the dual camera. The outlines of the foreground subject are precise and the rendering on skin tones is also good. The photo can be enlarged to the original size of 3968 × 2976
Autonomy is entrusted to a 3200 mAh battery. We did not find big differences with the autonomy of P10, even if Honor 9 seemed to us to have a little more gear. Just that extra charge that allows you to arrive in the evening without worries, and without any “rabocco”, even when you use the phone more intensely. Supports fast charging, slower than P10's Super Fast, but still able to deliver
Software
The considerations made for the P10 are valid, considering that Honor 9 runs the same system. It is based on Android 7.0 with EMUI 5.1. Always valid as a UI, minimal in the menus, we have yet to recognize the hope for an improvement in terms of themes: of the hundreds present online and downloadable, very few are convincing. None of these offer that homogeneity sought by other productions.
Honor 8 Vs Honor 9
A dive into the past never hurts, especially to compare Honor 8 and Honor 9. Both terminals, as already mentioned at the opening, are based on a similar form factor, and on colors that recall similar play of light.
In gray Honor 9 and in blue Honor 8 
The lighting effects on multilayer glass are fascinating 
The bottom is almost identical but note the bevel on the side bands of the 9 which facilitates the grip 
evident the difference on the sides and obviously the presence of the fingerprint sensor on model 8 
Still a view of the back 
Double chamber on both models 
On the upper part of both we find in / out Inrarossi 
one more comparison 
Emui software updated on the new model
Conclusions
If you want to save something, really getting close to the quality of a Huawei P10, Honor 9 is the right choice. If you find it on offer at a price of about 300 euros, it is a practically obligatory purchase.
Also perfect for those looking for a bit of originality in the shapes and colors of a terminal, with light effects that stand out on the case, not visible in any other device. In short, it stands out from the sea of Android phones, but it holds really well in the hand, with a unique grip. The presence of a programmable IR transmitter / receiver will help you solve the problem of remote controls in the home with TV, set top box and air conditioners.
Pro
Against
Price to the public Honor 9 has an official cost in the configuration with 4GB of RAM of 449 euros ( with a tribute from the Honor Band 3), but on Amazon it is also available for around 399 euros. On other Chinese sites, as also reported by Macitynet, the offers reach 300 euros.
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