P9 to be the first Huawei device with Leica lenses?

Huawei‘s upcoming P9 flagship has been a hot topic in the rumour mill with previous rumours suggesting that the device could feature up at least 4 different variants ranging from a budget “Lite” to a high end “performance” device and even a larger “Plus” variant. There were even rumours of a dual camera setup adorning the back of the device.

Thanks to serial leakster @evleaks, who shared several hands-on pictures of the upcoming device on VentureBeat, we have confirmation of at least one of those rumours. Care to guess which one?

According to the VentureBeat post, the images are that of the standard P9 variant and are courtesy of an unnamed individual who was given some hands-on time with the smartphone. Although the individual refused to be named, @evleaks has been rather accurate in the past with his leaks obtained from anonymous sources.

Either way, if the images are really that of the P9, they confirm that the upcoming flagship device will indeed sport a dual-camera setup at the back of the device. From the looks of things, both cameras seem to be sporting the same sensor, which lends credence to an earlier leak stating that it would have two 12-megapixel shooters. The overall look and placement of flash plus laser autofocus also lines up with earlier leaked renders of the device, though the smartphone’s design, in general, looks a lot more polished than in the renders.

Huawei first debuted their dual-camera setup on the honor 6 Plus — of which the dual-sensors offered useful features like post-capture refocus and simulated aperture adjustment — and are looking to refine that with the P9. Dubbed the second-generation of the honor 6 Plus’ dual camera setup, the P9’s snappers are two 12-megapixel sensors paired with Leica lenses that should enable even more unique capabilities.

It is rather curious, that if those lenses are indeed Leica-made, why the P9 doesn’t feature any Leica branding at all. You’d think that Huawei would want to highlight that as a big feature considering their high profile collaboration with the camera-maker.

That said, this may not be the final product as it is completely devoid of any branding, not even Huawei’s own, or markings at all.

Worth noting is that these images do line up with a previous leak on Weibo where the P9 was also caught on camera, only that time there was a case over it to mask any design features. They did reveal the placement of key features such as the camera module and fingerprint scanner.

As they line up rather perfectly, it is very likely that this leak by VentureBeat is the real deal.

Besides images, the source also revealed some specifications of the device. Apparently, the smartphone will feature a 5.2-inch full HD display on the front and be powered by Huawei’s Kirin 950 processor mated with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. Giving the smartphone juice is a large 3,900 mAh battery — a rare sight especially in such a thin smartphone with a small screen size.

The handset is also said to come with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box, which is unsurprising considering the Mate 8 also comes with Marshmallow with an EMUI 4.0 skin on top. Pictures also reveal that the P9 will be Huawei’s first flagship that isn’t a Nexus to sport a reversible USB Type-C port. Other goodies include a fingerprint sensor mounted on the back, something that has become a staple on Huawei flagships.

[SOURCE, 2, VIA, 2]