For the original German review, see here.

The Huawei Mate 9 is the direct successor to last year's Mate 8. The manufacturer advertises it with the slogan "A step ahead" and this is already confirmed by some points in the specification sheet. Huawei advertises the Kirin 960 as the fastest smartphone SoC for Android devices right now, and the Mate 9 is also one of the first devices that support LTE Cat.11 in practice. A new file system is also supposed to ensure a resource-friendly operation. The new UFS 2.1 flash storage promises new performance records, but the Mate 9 also includes more high-end specifications. The camera of the P9, which was developed in cooperation with Leica, has been further improved and now uses a 20 MP monochrome sensor. Huawei has also improved the quick-charge function, although the battery still has a generous capacity of 4000 mAh. Only the panel resolution is not high-end, but comparatively low at only 1080p.

The WQHD panel is reserved for the exclusive Porsche Design model. It is also slightly smaller at 5.5 inches and has rounded display edges. The fingerprint scanner is at the front and supports Smart Touch, which is already familiar from the Lenovo ZUK Z2, so the central home button can replace all three Android buttons by gesture controls. The memory equipment has been increased as well with 6 GB of RAM and 256 GB of flash storage (Mate 9: 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of Flash), however, there is no microSD-slot and it is also much more expensive: Huawei charges 1395 Euros (~$1521) for the Porsche model. Initially, it will only be available in Porsche Design stores at the end of the year.

The regular Huawei Mate 9 is much more affordable at 699 Euros (~$762/RRP), but still 50 Euros ($55) more expensive than its predecessor. The main rival of the Mate 9 fell to pieces this year, because the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was recalled after ongoing technical issues (we reported). This means that the Mate 9 is currently the only phablet larger than 5.5 inches with modern high-end components. Competitors such as the Galaxy S6 Edge+ or Lumia 950 XL are technically already outdated due to their age or were replaced by another model, such as the Nexus 6P. Therefore, we do not only use other phablets as comparison devices for this article, but also other modern high-end devices.

Information about the new firmware versions of the Huawei Mate 9 are available in the Updates section.