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The technical characteristics of the new Honor 9 have recently been announced, but today they have revealed two relevant unknowns: when and for how much. Of course, the tuexperto.com team has been at the event to give you more details about this Chinese beast that promises a lot in the upper-middle range.
Price and launch of the new Honor 9
The good thing about this mobile is, without a doubt, that it is cheaper than the big stars of the leading brands (Samsung and Apple). The Honor 9 is priced at 450 euros, a very competitive figure considering what this device brings. Of course, compared to the price, it must be said that this Honor 9, of course, is far from the level of quality and benefits that the Samsung Galaxy S8 or the iPhone have. Rather, we could say that this new Chinese mobile is closer to Asian phones like the Xiaomi Mi 6.
Being an e-brand we will not find the smartphone in physical stores. If we want to buy it we will have to enter vMall, its official online store for Spain or try it in any of the already classic Internet shops. As for the release date, the Honor 9 has just landed, so you can buy it starting today (Tuesday, June 27, 2017). It is available in two colors, sapphire blue (Sapphire Blue) and gray (Glacier Gray).
An interesting detail is that the price includes the Honor 9, but it also comes with the Free Black Band 3 bracelet. This wearable syncs with the smartphone and has useful features for sports and everyday life. It is waterproof (submersible up to 50 meters) and has a range of up to 30 days on a single charge.
As found in other bracelets like this, provides functions to monitor sleep and heart rate. Of course, it is capable of sending notifications and alerts to the device so that we are aware of our vital signs.
The Honor 9 boasts of hardware
The firm has opted to raise the bar when it comes to hardware. Under the hood, it mounts a powerful 8-core Kirin 960 processor running at 2.4 GHz and a Mali-G71 MP8 GPU that provides good graphics performance.
There are two variants depending on the RAM memory; one of 4 GB and another of 6 GB. The internal storage can be 64 GB or 128 GB, with the addition that it is expandable via microSD card (up to 256 GB).
A 3,100 mAh battery with a fast charging system is responsible for making this hardware work, which is appreciated with the use we currently make of our devices. It comes with Android 7.1 Nougat as the operating system, but under the EMUI custom layer in version 5.1.
First impressions are positive, as the Honor 9 provides smooth and very fast performance. At the end of the day, it is what we notice the most when using a smartphone in our day to day life. We all run out of patience when a terminal takes too long to respond, and it seems that with the new Honor 9 that does not happen.
Continuous design
Why change something that works? It is obvious that almost identical design lines are maintained to the previous models. However, we find some changes that make the Honor 9 a more attractive terminal. The one that draws the most attention is undoubtedly the home button, which has been moved to the front as in the Huawei P10. In this way, we have the fingerprint reader on the front, something that seems to appeal to more users due to the comfort it offers.
The screen is very similar to the previous generation, with slightly curved edges. It is 5.15 inches with Full HD resolution (1,920 x 1,080 px), so it manages to offer a density of 428 pixels per inch, which is not bad at all. This panel occupies approximately 70% of the front, which could be more used.
With materials such as glass and metal, there is no doubt that the Honor 9 is a beautiful terminal with a design worthy of the upper-middle range. The feeling in hand is nice, with a good grip. Perhaps as a negative point is that the tracks are too marked in the case of the gray model, and it is an aspect that makes it look a bit dull.
Honor 9
| screen | 5.15, FullHD 1,920 x 1,080 pixels (428dpi) | |
| Main chamber | 12 megapixels color / 20 megapixels monochrome | |
| Camera for selfies | 8 megapixels | |
| Internal memory | 64GB / 128GB | |
| Extension | microSD up to 256GB | |
| Processor and RAM | Eight cores at 2.4 GHz, 4 or 6 GB of RAM | |
| Drums | 3,100 mAh, fast charge | |
| Operating system | Android 7.1 Nougat / EMUI 5.1 | |
| Connections | BT 4.2, GPS, USB Type-C, NFC | |
| SIM | nanoSIM | |
| Design | Metal and glass, fingerprint reader on start button | |
| Dimensions | 147.3 x 70.9 x 7.5 mm mm | |
| Featured Features | Infrared control, Bokeh effect | |
| Release date | June 27, 2017 | |
| Price | 450 euros |
In short, the Honor 9 arrives to fight in the upper-middle range. Its hardware and design are interesting in the Android catalog, but its most attractive point is an adjusted price that encourages the market in the center of the table.
