This post is brought to you by the Huawei P9 Plus
Huawei really hit a homerun when they launched their 2016 flagship P9 smartphone. It seemed to hit all the right notes for a well-rounded flagship smartphone device with the added benefit of having a pair of Leica-certified cameras.
But, the company wasn’t done yet. Simply producing a good flagship smartphone for 2016 wasn’t enough — they needed to dominate the competition. From that need, comes the P9 Plus, which is essentially a P9 on steroids.
1. Great display and specs
Undoubtedly, the first thing that you’d notice with the P9 Plus is the larger 5.5-inch Full HD display. Besides the larger size, it is also now an AMOLED panel which gives you much nicer contrast, colour and the deepest blacks on any display type. This means that the P9 Plus is much more satisfying to look at for video, photo or even gaming.
Huawei has also beefed up the internals, giving the P9 Plus 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Paired to the already powerful Kirin 955 processor, you’re guaranteed to get a buttery performance no matter the task.
2. Premium stereo audio
Admittedly, the Huawei P9’s speakers were not the best speakers in the world. Fortunately, the P9 Plus packs an entirely new stereo speaker setup.
At first glance, the P9 Plus looks like it should only have one speaker, but it’s actually much cleverer than that. In addition to the single bottom firing speaker, the P9 Plus also utilises the device’s earpiece for stereo playback when the device is in landscape mode.
When the smartphone is in portrait mode, however, the characteristics of the speakers change. The earpiece speaker becomes dedicated to higher frequency audio while the bottom one fills in the low end. This gives you a unique tweeter and woofer-like experience that you won’t find on many other smartphones.
3. Excellent battery life
With a larger form-factor, bigger display and better performance, Huawei is continuing the upward trend by packing a larger 3,400 mAh battery into the P9 Plus which is 400 mAh more than the P9. A bigger battery means you can go harder for longer on a single charge. The P9 is already a great performer in the battery department, thanks to the frugal Kirin processor, and the P9 Plus takes that to the next level.
4. Fast Charging with USB Type-C
Alongside a bigger battery, the P9 Plus also comes with support for fast charging and a fast-charger power brick out of the box. This translates to dramatically faster charging times which is incredibly useful if you’re in a hurry or if you’ve forgotten to charge it the night before.
Besides that, the P9 Plus also comes with a USB Type-C port. With this new port, not only will the P9 Plus be future proof, it is also reversible. That means you won’t have to fumble around when you’re trying to plug a cable into your smartphone.
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5. Infrared blaster
Here’s a feature that many manufacturers have abandoned on their flagship devices — the infrared blaster (IR blaster). This particularly nifty feature lets you control home appliances like your air conditioning, television, DVD player and camera among other things.
Plus, if you’re feeling particularly cheeky, you can also use it to mess with the public television sets in your local mamak stall, though this is definitely not something we encourage.
6. Press Touch
Regular smartphone screens are great, but you can only interact with them through touch. Huawei’s P9 Plus, on the other hand, is a little different as they’ve included a pressure sensitive display. This enables Huawei’s Press Touch technology which lets you hard-press for more options. It’s particularly useful on applications as you can use it to interact with the app without needing to launch it.
7. Fingerprint scanner
Huawei’s P9 Plus has easily one of the best fingerprint sensors in the market right now. Not only does it unlock your smartphone in a heartbeat, it’s also incredibly accurate, learns your fingerprint the more you use it and can be unlocked from any orientation. What’s more, the sensor on the P9 Plus is the most advanced one Huawei makes.
This new sensor can identify the 3D ridges in your fingerprint. What this means is that it will be able to identify your fingerprint even if it’s a little dirty or wet – something many other flagship smartphones continue to struggle with.
8. Fantastic build
Every single component in the P9 Plus is wrapped up in a premium metal body that represents Huawei’s next step into the big leagues. The P9 Plus is easily one of the best built smartphones in the market right now with brilliant glossy brushed back that absolutely shines.
The RM 2,599 P9 Plus feels incredible in your hand thanks to an ergonomic design with nice round edges and 2.5D glass for some sexy curvature. The attention to detail is bordering on obsessive and you will certainly feel how much time and effort went into making this particular handset.
9. World-class camera
Ask anyone what the first thing that comes to their mind when they think of the Huawei P9 is, and the answer would probably be the camera. Why? Because the twin 12-megapixel f/2.2 cameras at the back have been certified by one of the most prestigious names in photography — Leica.
What’s more, it’s not all bark and no bite either. The P9 Plus has a truly unique camera experience thanks to its dual cameras at the back. What makes it special is the fact that the sensors are not identical. Instead, one is a monochrome sensor while the other is an RGB sensor. When shooting colour photos, the two sensors work together piecing vibrant colour information from the RGB sensor with the light and contrast information from the monochrome sensor to form a truly stunning image.
But, the P9 Plus really comes to life when you shoot in black and white. Using the dedicated monochrome sensor, the P9 Plus can give you excellent detail in contrast for incredibly rich black and white images. One shot and you will be hooked.
