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The HONOR 9 looks very similar with the HONOR 8 at first glance. What changes has the HONOR 9 made, besides the number on their name?
Now let us observe the following table and evaluate this upgrade.
Specs | HONOR 9 | HONOR 8 | |
---|---|---|---|
NETWORK | Technology | GSM / HSPA / LTE | GSM / HSPA / LTE |
2G bands | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 (dual-SIM model only) | |
3G Network | HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 | HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100 | |
4G Network | LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 20(800), 38(2600), 40(2300), 41(2500) | LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 7(2600), 8(900), 20(800) | |
Speed | HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A (3CA) Cat12 600/150 Mbps | HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A (2CA) Cat6 300/50 Mbps | |
GPRS | Yes | Yes | |
EDGE | Yes | Yes | |
LAUNCH | Announced | 2017, June | 2016, July |
Status | Available. Released 2017, July | Available. Released 2016, July | |
BODY | Dimensions | 147.3 x 70.9 x 7.5 mm (5.80 x 2.79 x 0.30 in) | 145.5 x 71 x 7.5 mm (5.73 x 2.80 x 0.30 in) |
Weight | 155 g (5.47 oz) | 153 g (5.40 oz) | |
Build | Front/back glass, aluminum frame | Front/back glass & aluminum frame | |
SIM | Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) | Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) | |
DISPLAY | Type | LTPS IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors | LTPS IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
Size | 5.15 inches, 73.1 cm2 (~70.0% screen-to-body ratio) | 5.2 inches, 74.9 cm2 (~72.5% screen-to-body ratio) | |
Resolution | 1080 x 1920 pixels, 16:9 ratio (~428 ppi density) | 1080 x 1920 pixels, 16:9 ratio (~423 ppi density) | |
Multitouch | Yes | Yes | |
Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | |
Firmware version | EMUI 8.0 | EMUI 8.0 | |
PLATFORM | OS | Android 7.0 (Nougat), upgradable to Android 8.0 (Oreo) | Android 6.0 (Marshmallow), upgradable to Android 8.0 (Oreo) |
Chipset | HiSilicon Kirin 960 | HiSilicon Kirin 950 | |
CPU | Octa-core (4x2.4 GHz Cortex-A73 & 4x1.8 GHz Cortex-A53) | Octa-core (4x2.3 GHz Cortex-A72 & 4x1.8 GHz Cortex A53) | |
GPU | Mali-G71 MP8 | Mali-T880 MP4 | |
MEMORY | Card slot | microSD, up to 256 GB (uses SIM 2 slot) | microSD, up to 256 GB (uses SIM 2 slot) |
Internal | 64/128 GB, 4/6 GB RAM | 32/64 GB, 4 GB RAM | |
MAIN CAMERA | Modules | 12 MP, f/2.2, 27mm (wide), PDAF, 2x lossless zoom | 12 MP, f/2.2, 35mm (standard), 1/2.9", 1.25µm, PDAF & laser AF |
20 MP B/W, f/2.2, 27mm (wide) | 12 MP B/W, f/2.2, 35mm (standard), 1/2.9", 1.25µm, PDAF & laser AF | ||
Features | Dual-LED dual-tone flash, HDR, panorama | Dual-LED dual-tone flash, HDR, panorama | |
Video | 2160p@30fps, 1080p@30fps (gyro-EIS), 1080p@60fps | 1080p@60fps, 1080p@30fps, 720p@120fps | |
SELFIE CAMERA | Modules | 8 MP, f/2.0 | 8 MP, f/2.4, 1/3.2", 1.4µm |
SOUND | Alert types | Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones | Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones |
Loudspeaker | Yes | Yes | |
3.5mm jack | Yes | Yes | |
DTS sound | No | Yes | |
Noise cancellation | Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic | Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic | |
COMMS | WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, hotspot | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, hotspot |
Bluetooth | 4.2, A2DP, LE | 4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE | |
GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS | |
NFC | Yes | Yes | |
Infrared port | Yes | Yes | |
Radio | No | No | |
USB | Type-C 1.0 reversible connector, USB On-The-Go | 2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector, USB On-The-Go | |
FEATURES | Sensors | Fingerprint (front-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass | Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
Messaging | SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM | SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM | |
Browser | HTML5 | HTML5 | |
Java | No | No | |
Charging | Fast battery charging: 40% in 30 min | Fast battery charging: 47% in 30 min (Smart Power 4.0) | |
Player | MP4/H.264 player | MP4/H.264 player | |
MP3/eAAC+/WAV/Flac player | MP3/WAV/eAAC+/Flac player | ||
Features | Document viewer | Document viewer | |
Photo/video editor | Photo/video editor | ||
BATTERY | Battery | Non-removable Li-Po 3200 mAh battery | Non-removable Li-Po 3000 mAh battery |
MISC | Colors | Glacier Grey, Sapphire Blue, Midnight Black, Gold, Blue Bird, Robin Egg Blue | Pearl White, Midnight Black, Sapphire Blue, Gold |
Price | HONOR 9 price in your country | HONOR 8 price in your country |
Design: The HONOR 9’s and the HONOR 8’s designs look very similar, for both of them have a glass body with aluminum frame, and their dimensions are near-identical. But there are some subtle differences between their designs.
The HONOR 9’s fuselage uses 3D curved glass while the HONOR 8’s body is made of 2.5D glasses. For appearance, compared the 2.5D glass surfaces, the 3D glass is curved. So the HONOR 9 looks more novel. But its physical characteristics has more advantages over the HONOR 8, such as anti-fingerprint, anti-glare and weather resistant. And its body radian will bring a more comfortable grab feel.
Display: For the display, surprisingly, the HONOR 9 is a bit smaller than the HONOR 8 and the screen-to-body ratio is also smaller. With both handsets packing a 1080 x 1920 resolution, for a pixel density of 428ppi on the HONOR 9 and 423ppi on the HONOR 8. The HONOR 9 has slightly more ppi density than the other. Naturally, the differences are very little.
Performance: The HONOR 8 comes 4GB of RAM and an octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 950 chipset, which has four cores clocked at 2.3GHz and four at 1.8GHz. And the HONOR 9 comes with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM and a newer and faster Kirin 960 chipset, which has four cores running at 2.4GHz and four at 1.8GHz. Apparently, this delivers 18% better CPU performance than the previous model. What’s more, the HONOR 9 supports more storage capacity, which allows you to store more songs, videos, photos and install more applications, and it will bring a smoother experience.
Camera: The dual-lens camera was one of the highlights of the HONOR 8. The phone paired a 12MP color lens with a 12MP monochrome one. And the HONOR 9 builds on that promise, with a 12MP color lens and a 20MP monochrome one, getting more megapixels. Besides, the camera also has more tricks up its sleeve, allowing you to just use the monochrome lens for true black and white shots, which isn’t an option with the HONOR 8. And the HONOR 9 can shoot video in 4K, which is more high-resolution than the HONOR 8 capped at 1080p.
Battery: The HONOR 9 also has a 3,200mAh battery while the HONOR 8 has a 3,000mAh battery life, so the HONOR 9 with larger battery will be more long-lasting.
In brief, the HONOR 9 seems to be a solid upgrade. Are you satisfied with it?