Three months on since the Huawei P9 launched, I’ve been using the handset as my main phone day in and day out. It’s meant I’ve gotten a real feel for the good and bad parts of Huawei’s current flagship smartphone.
The camera is still the best part of the package, even if Huawei has been caught being rather misleading in just how good it is. I’ve taken photos that have rivalled the best handsets out there. I haven’t used the monochrome-only mode as often once the novelty wore off, but the added contrast and punch is certainly still welcome. I’ve also rarely ever had the patience to use the Pro shooting modes, but the regular Auto setting has served me well enough.
While the P9 survived Alastair’s initial drop test, it didn’t fare quite so favourably for me when dropped onto the hard tile surface of a swimming pool changing room. A chip across the chamfered bottom corner now acts as a reminder of my clumsiness. Aside from the cosmetic damage, the P9 was otherwise fine.
I’ve noticed some performance degradation over the past few months. Apps can be noticeably slower to load than when the P9 was fresh out of its box, which can be frustrating. Worse is when it happens with the Camera app as it’s resulted in some missed opportunities.
Huawei’s slightly intrusive power firewall also hasn’t seemed to help with performance issues nor with battery performance, either. I’m a heavy WhatsApp user throughout the day, as well as checking in on what’s happening with Twitter and Instagram probably more often than I should. I also stream music on Spotify during my commute. Under that usage scenario the P9 still does get me to the evening but it can cut it very fine.
Huawei’s EMUI Android customisation is still one of the phone’s biggest weaknesses, as such I’ve been using the Google Now launcher in its place. Even with an alternative launcher, you still can’t escape some of the more niggling aspects of Huawei’s UI, such as the notification pane and lockscreen. You get used to many of the P9’s oddities over time, but it’s still not ideal.
Three months on, the P9 remains Huawei’s best phone to date. It’s still a generally lovely smartphone and a good candidate for those not wanting to stretch to the higher flagship prices, but it is unfortunately still hampered by shoddy software.
