Spec Sheet: Huawei P9 vs. Samsung Galaxy S7 vs. Xiaomi Mi 5 vs. Other Flagship

Weeks before the Huawei P9 and P9 Plus were officially announced, the Chinese company has built up a lot of anticipation; it’s evident that Huawei is very proud of these two smartphones. This is partly because the P9 and P9 Plus’ dual-camera setup was co-engineered by legendary camera manufacturer Leica; it was only back in late February when Huawei and Leica’s partnership was officially revealed.

While the unique camera setup of the P9 and P9 Plus is definitely one of the main selling points of these devices, their other hardware are quite appealing as well. With that in mind, let’s compare the specifications of the Huawei P9 and P9 Plus against other flagship devices.



In terms of specifications, the P9 and P9 Plus are rather similar to Huawei’s other flagship smartphone, the Mate 8. At least, in terms of processing power. Packed with a HiSilicon Kirin 955 processor, the P9 and P9 Plus are essentially equipped with a higher-clocked Kirin 950, which should see a modest gain in processing power.

However, as AnTuTu’s ranking has revealed, the Kirin 950 processor is clearly outclassed by other high-end processors, such as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor and Samsung’s Exynos 8890 chipset, which powers the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. Chances are, the Kirin 955 isn’t as powerful as these processors, although it’s debatable how much benchmark scores really matter in real life usage.

Looking back at the table, the P9 Plus is the only device in the table that has a pressure-sensitive display; Huawei dubs this technology “Press Touch.” Although a similar technology was also equipped on the limited edition Huawei Mate S, the device – as its name suggests – was not easy to come by. Hopefully, the P9 Plus will see a wider availability, especially here in Malaysia.


As the main focus of the P9 and P9 Plus is the devices’ unique “Leica-certified” dual-camera setup, it’s only fair to compare these smartphones against one of the best mobile shooters in the market now, the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. On paper, it appears the S7 duo have better autofocus speeds, thanks to the dual-pixel camera sensor. On top of that, the P9 and P9 Plus also lack any form of optical image stabilisation, which is featured on the S7 and S7 edge.



That being said, Huawei is very confident of the P9 and P9 Plus’ unique camera setup: it consists of a standard 12MP sensor that is complemented by a 12MP black-and-white sensor. According to Huawei, this dual-camera can supposedly capture more light than a conventional shooter, which should result in some great-looking shots. This is actually promising, especially when we look at thesample images taken with the P9 and P9 Plus.



Without a doubt the Huawei P9 and P9 Plus are interesting flagship devices. They have a capable processor (although it isn’t necessarily the best), a premium design, and most of all, a unique camera setup that could prove to be a gamechanger, if we were to take Huawei’s words for it. Until we actually have either of these two devices in our hands, it remains to be seen just how good the P9 and P9 Plus’ dual-camera is.