Kirin 960 Goodness at an Affordable Price
Back in February, Huawei unveiled the Kirin 960 powered Honor V9; a phone that packs the same processing package as the Huawei P10 Plus with a slightly bigger display. Our review unit finally arrived at Unbox HQ, so it’s time to take it out of its packaging and give it a quick whirl before we take it out for its full review. Before that, let’s have a look at its spec sheet.
Huawei Honor V9
- 2.4GHz HiSilicon Kirin 960 octa-core processor
- 6GB RAM
- 5.7-inch QHD display, 2560 x 1440 resolution
- 64GB of expandable storage (up to 128GB)
- 4G, LTE, VoLTE
- Dual SIM (Hybrid Tray)
- twin 12-megapixel rear cameras, f/2.2 aperture, PDAF, Laser AF, Dual Tone LED flash
- 8-megapixel front camera
- WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC
- GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
- Fingerprint sensor
- USB Type-C
- 4000mAh battery
- Android 7.0 Nougat (EMUI 5.0)
What’s In the Box?
You may have noticed that the branding on the box is in Chinese and that’s because the device is not officially available in the country, but has made its way here though various online retailers, but I digress.
Opening up the packaging reveals the Huawei Honor V9; our review unit came in the gold color variant.
Lift that up and you’ll find the usual suspects, such as: the USB wall charger, USB Type-C cable, SIM tray ejector tool, and documentation. The box also doubles up as a VR headset ala Google Cardboard, so there are a pair of lenses in the box as well. Huawei has also made softer portions on the box, so you can still toggle the volume rocker even if you are consuming VR content.
Initial Impressions: Buttery Smooth Performance
The Honor V9 has a unibody metal design that is pretty common nowadays. Nonetheless, the device feels good in the hand and is easy to grip despite its larger dimensions, which measure in at 157 x 77.5 x 6.97 mm. Weighing in at 184 grams, there’s also a bit of heft to the device, but it’s just right for a device with a 5.7-inch screen.
Speaking of its screen, it has a resolution of 2560×1440 (QHD), which gives it an overall pixel density of 515 pixels per inch and it’s pretty awesome. It’s a leg up over the Mate 9 and performance just as well as the brand’s current plus-sized flagship, the P10 Plus, so we’re pretty psyched to be using the device over the course of our review process.
Time for a tour around the device.
You have the volume rocker on the right side of the device with the power button right below it.
On the left side is the SIM tray, which houses a hybrid slot, so you’ll have to choose between more storage or a second number.
On the bottom of the device are the 3.5mm jack, USB type-C port, and the speaker grille.
You also have an IR blaster on top of the Honor V9. The fingerprint scanner is located behind the phone and requires a bit of an adjustment to reach, though it is fast and accurate.
For its cameras, the Honor V9 has twin 12-megapixel rear shooters at an f-stop of f/2.2. It’s equipped with PDAF and Laser AF to help lock on to subjects faster.
The cameras on the Honor V9 don’t have the backing of Leica but, with the quick sample photos we’ve snapped up, pictures look pretty good and you’ve got the same creamy bokeh effect that we’re accustomed to seeing from Huawei. For selfies, you’re going to be working with an 8-megapixel front camera. We haven’t had a chance to take a selfie just yet, so stay tuned for the full review; if that happens to be one of your criteria for choosing a smartphone.
Under the hood of the Honor V9 is a 2.4GHz HiSilicon Kirin 960 processor that’s paired with 6GB of RAM, and 64GB of expandable storage. Initial navigation through the device is smooth and it transitions well from app to app. As we mentioned above, it’s the same processing package as the Huawei P10 Plus, so it’s pretty much expected to be buttery smooth. Running the show is Android 7.0 Nougat with EMUI v5.0 and powering the device is a 4000mAh battery.
That’s pretty much it for this unboxing and quick review. We’ll be taking the Huawei Honor V9 with us for the next few days, so expect its full review soon. The Huawei Honor V9 is available via Widget City who has it listed at Php 24,500.
