Comparison Huawei Mate 9 vs Huawei Mate 8

Just yesterday Huawei presented in Munich a new member of the phablet family of the Chinese company, the Huawei Mate 9 . A terminal that stands out for its large 5.9-inch screen and for the incorporation of the double camera that was already presented in the Huawei P9 . Today we wanted to put it face to face with its predecessor, the Huawei Mate 8 . Two terminals that have their biggest claim on the screen, but that offer much more: premium design , powerful hardware and reference cameras . What are the differences between the Huawei Mate 9 and the Huawei Mate 8? Let's find out.

Design and display

It is impossible to talk about the design of these two terminals without referring to the screen. And it is that a 6-inch screen  conditions the complete design of a terminal. Huawei has decided to keep in the Mate 9 a design very similar to its predecessor, that is, we have an aluminum unibody body with a screen that dispenses with the frames and uses 2.5D glass to achieve slightly curved edges . At the back, the double camera lens stands out clearly, placed in a vertical position, and just below we find the fingerprint reader . The full dimensions of the Huawei Mate 9 are156.9 x 78.9 x 7.9 mm , with a weight of 190 grams . The Huawei Mate 9 will be available in a wider color gamut than its predecessor, with 6 colors to choose from:  Mocha Brown (brown), Black, Ceramic White, Champagne gold , Moonlight silver (silver) and Space gray (gray) .

As we mentioned, the Huawei Mate 9 is practically identical to the Huawei Mate 8 , except for the double camera that the new model sports on the back. The Huawei Mate 8 has dimensions of  157.1 x 80.6 x 7.9 millimeters, along with a weight of 185 grams . Some measures not crazy for a terminal with such a large screen.

The rear of the Mate 8 is also fully metal, and it also incorporates the fingerprint reader just below the camera lens. As is logical, the objective stands out much less than that of the new model, since it is not double. The rear also slightly curves the edges for better grip. The Huawei Mate 8 is available in four different shades: gold, space gray, brown and silver .

As for the screen, the Chinese company has decided not to make too many changes. The Huawei Mate 9 incorporates a screen of 5.9 inches with resolution Full HD 1,920 x 1,080 pixels . At the moment the company has not decided to make the leap to QHD resolution, something it has reserved for the exclusive Huawei Mate 9 Porsche Design edition . The screen has a density of 373 dpi  and a contrast of 1,500: 1 , with an NTSC color saturation of 96% . As for the Huawei Mate 8 , we have very similar data, with a 6-inch screen with a Full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixelsand a density of 368 dpi . The contrast is the same, 1,500: 1 and the NTSC color saturation is 95% .

Camera and multimedia

In the photographic section is where we find the big difference between the Huawei Mate 9 and the Huawei Mate 8 . The new smartphone of the Chinese company inherits the dual camera system developed by Leica that was incorporated in the Huawei P9 , although the company assures that it is an improved version. This generation has modified the size of the lens sensors , both monochrome and color , although the technical data is maintained. The target RGB color incorporates a 12 megapixel sensor , while the monochrome target uses a20 megapixel sensor . Both sensors have an f / 2.2 aperture and are accompanied by an optical image stabilization system , plus a 4-in-1 hybrid autofocus system ( laser focus , phase detection focus, depth focus and contrast focus ). . All this technological display is complemented by a 2x optical zoom and a dual-tone LED flash . As for video, the Huawei Mate 9 camera is capable of recording video with 4K resolution by using the  H.265 video codec..

At the front of the Huawei Mate 9 we found a target sensor 8 megapixels and aperture f / 1.9 . The company has also included an autofocus system so that our selfies do not come out shaken, in addition to its usual software-level beauty modes.

The Huawei Mate 8 does not incorporate the double camera signed by Leica , but it still offers a camera that in our in-depth test achieved very good results. The Mate 8 incorporates a sensor signed by Sony with maximum resolution of 16 megapixels . This lens offers an aperture of f / 2.0 and is BSI CMOS type . Along with this sensor we find an optical image stabilization system and a 2-in-1 autofocus system , by phase and contrast detection; plus a dual-tone LED flash . As for video, the Huawei Mate 8 is capable of recording with resolutionFull HD 1080p at 60 fps . At the front of the Huawei Mate 8 found sensor 8 megapixels opening f / 2.4 .

At the multimedia level, both teams incorporate a stereo speaker system which, in our test of the Huawei Mate 8 , achieved excellent results, with clear, clean and powerful sound. The Huawei Mate 9 also incorporates four noise-canceling microphones to achieve crystal clear sound recordings.

Processor, memory and operating system

Huawei maintains its commitment to incorporating self-made chips in its high-end terminals. The Huawei Mate 9 incorporates a Kirin 960 processor , an eight-core chip , four of them are Cortex-A73 running at 2.4 GHz and the other four are Cortex-A53 running at 1.8 GHz . The set is complemented by an i6 co-processor and an eight-core Mali-G71 GPU . Accompanying this powerful processor we find 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage, which can be expanded by using microSD cards of up to 256 GB .

Although the company has taken the opportunity to improve its processor, that does not mean that the previous model is already out of date, far from it. The Huawei Mate 8 incorporates one of the most powerful processors on the market, the Kirin 950 . It is a chip with eight cores , four of them are Cortex-A72 running at 2.3 GHz and the other four are Cortex-A53 running at 1.8 GHz . The set is complemented by an i5 co-processor  and a Mali-T880 GPU . This processor is accompanied by 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. A set that, in our tests, performed flawlessly even with the most demanding games.

At the software level we will also find quite a few differences between these two terminals, since the Huawei Mate 9 will arrive with Android 7.0 Nougat as standard, while the Mate 8 incorporates Android 6.0 Marshmallow . To this we must add the new EMUI 5.0 customization layer , which sports a new design somewhat different from the EMUI 4.0 layer that incorporates the Huawei Mate 8 . However, this difference could not be a great handicap, since, if Huawei wants, the Mate 8 could receive these software updates without any problem.

Connectivity and autonomy

We are facing two terminals aimed at the high end, so both include the latest in connectivity. The Huawei Mate 9 takes a bit of an edge, simply by being more current. The new equipment of the Chinese company incorporates 4G LTE category 12 connectivity , which achieves a speed of up to 600 Mbps . In addition, the connection port has been changed to the current USB Type-C , while the Mate 8 went on the market with the usual MicroUSB . As for the rest, both incorporate Bluetooth 4.2 , WiFi 802.11a / b / g / n / ac with support for WiFi Direct and NFC .

And if we talk about autonomy, both devices incorporate a 4,000 milliamp battery . In our in-depth test of the Huawei Mate 8 we could see that this great battery gave us a range of two full days. We will have to wait to see how the new Huawei processor treats the battery , but we assume that the autonomy of the Huawei Mate 9 will be very similar to that of its predecessor .

However, the Huawei Mate 9 incorporates a new fast charging system that the company has called SuperCharge . According to the company, this system can load 50% faster than the Mate 8 and only needs 30 minutes of charging to add 58 percent of the battery , which Huawei  ensures a full day of use .

Conclusions

Of course, the Huawei Mate 9 substantially improves what we already saw in the Huawei Mate 8 . The company's new flagship maintains the same design, and even some features, like the battery, but improves on everything else. The new Kirin 960 processor is an evolution of the Mate 8 processor , an evolution that we will notice especially in the graphics section, since the new GPU is compatible with Vulkan graphics . It also increases the RAM, although the difference between 3 and 4 GB should not be too noticeable in normal use of the terminal.

The biggest difference we have found between the Huawei Mate 9 and the Huawei Mate 8 , which could even be enough to consider a change of terminal, is the camera . While it is true that, as we have mentioned, the Huawei Mate 8 camera is really good thanks to the Sony sensor it incorporates, the Huawei Mate 9's dual camera takes Huawei's mobile photography to another level .

Comparative sheet

screen 

Design 

Camera 

Multimedia 

software 

Power 

Memory 

Connections 

Autonomy 

+ info