After a buildup lasting several months, with leaks and rumors coming in almost daily, the Huawei P9 is now finally official, announced at a dedicated event in London.
And alongside the P9, we also got to see the P9 Plus, which is the phablet variant of the series.
Image credit: Android Authority
Here is how this device fares against the iPhone 6S Plus and the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, the two handsets that Huawei is aiming to battle with for the next two-quarters.
Design
Starting off with the P9 Plus, it features a metal unibody design with a camera bump that is quite reminiscent of the Nexus 6P. However, instead of the single camera setup on the Nexus 6P, there is a dual camera setup on the device. The P9 Plus is 6.99mm thick.
As for the iPhone 6S Plus, it also sports a metallic unibody design that is the same as that of the iPhone 6 Plus. It is 7.3 mm in thickness and weighs 192g.
Lastly, the Note 5 features a glass back design, quite similar to the Samsung Galaxy S6. It is 76.mm thick and weighs 171g.
In all the three devices, the P9 is the thinnest. The margin is also big enough to be noticeable.
Display
The P9 Plus features a 5.5″ AMOLED Press Touchscreen with 1080p resolution (401ppi).
The 6S Plus packs a 5.5″ IPS LCD panel with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels (~401 ppi pixel density).
Samsung’s Note 5 boasts a 5.7″ Super AMOLED Touchscreen with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels (~518 ppi pixel density).
In this comparison, without any doubt, the Note 5 is the clear winner.
Specs
The P9 Plus comes with HiSilicon Kirin 955 chipset (16nm) which has a total of four Cortex-A72 cores clocked at 2.5GHz and four Cortex-A53 clocked at 1.8GHz, coupled with 4GB of RAM and Mali-T880 GPU for graphics processing. It has 64GB of storage, which is expandable via an external microSD card slot.
Cupertino’s iPhone 6S Plus features the company’s own A9 chipset, which is a dual-core processor clocked at 1.84GHz. The device has 2GB of RAM and comes in three internal memory options of 16, 64 and 128GB. For graphical processing, the 6S Plus features a PowerVR GT7600 (six-core graphics).
Finally, the Note 5 runs on an Exynos 7420 Octa processor along with 4GB of RAM, 32/64/128 GB of internal memory. For graphics processing, it features a Mali-T760MP8.
At present, we cannot comment much on the actual performance of the Kirin 955 when compared to the A9 or the Exynos 7420, still, we can be sure that the device will do good in day to day use and gaming as its predecessor, the Kirin 950, that was seen in the Mate 8, is an adequately capable processor to handle the load that you put on your smartphone.
Camera
The camera module on the P9 Plus is quite interesting as it features dual 12MP camera rear with Hybrid autofocus, – made by premium camera maker Leica – dual-LED flash; 1080p video and an 8MP selfie camera (with AF).
The Apple iPhone 6S features a 12MP rear camera and a 5MP front camer, whereas the Note 5 sports a 16MP rear and a 5MP front camera.
We have seen that dual cameras are able to add more details and depth to the photo, however, the larger megapixel count on the Note 5 does make a difference as far as size of the photo is concerned.
Battery
The P9 Plus is backed by a 3,400mAh battery with dual-IC Rapid Charge whereas the iPhone 6S Plus and the Note 5 come with a 2,750mAh and 3,000 mAh battery respectively. The Note 5 also supports fast charging.
Out of three devices the P9 Plus comes with the largest battery and as past Huawei smartphones have exhibited a solid battery performance, we can expect a similar result from the just announced device as well.
Pricing and Availability
The Huawei P9 Plus is priced at 749 Euros (approximately $855) and is expected to hit U.S. and European shelves in the coming weeks. Note 5 is priced at $680 and the iPhone 6S Plus will set you back $880 for the 16GB model, $990 for the 64GB model and $1,115 for the 128GB model – unlocked variants.
When it comes to the old boys, the Note 5 is priced at $680, while the iPhone 6S Plus will set you back $880 for the 16GB model, $990 for the 64GB model and $1,115 for the 128GB model – unlocked variants.
The Verdict
For the price, the Note 5 is still a solid bang for the buck. It features a better display, an excellent camera, and a very good performance.
However, if dual camera setup excites you and you want the latest hardware along with a larger battery, you can definitely go with the P9.