Huawei has updated its flagship smartphone lineup with the addition of Mate 9. The smartphone features a new design and runs on Android 7.0 Nougat with the new EMUI 5.0 skin. There is no clue about what’s new in EMUI 5.0 so we are expecting a minor home screen interface improvements and smoother UI than before. Let’s compare this smartphone to some flagship smartphones which are already present in the market. We decided to compare a hit flagship from Samsung to see if Mate 9 can beat it, Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.
Huawei Mate 9 vs Galaxy S7 Edge: Design
The Huawei Mate 9 is a bigger smartphone than Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and a little thick too which you might not notice because the difference in thickness is approximately 0.2 mm which is almost negligible. Huawei Mate 9 also weighs more than Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge; it’s probably because of the increased display size and the form factor. More weight isn’t a con; I like a bit heavy phones but with small form factor and screen. So, you can easily make your choice here and choose the right one for you.
Huawei Mate 9 vs Galaxy S7 Edge: Display
Huawei Mate 9 features 5.9 inches full HD IPS LCD where Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge comes with 5.5 inches Quad HD Super AMOLED display. Here, the difference is clear which makes the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge a better smartphone than Huawei Mate 9. I’m not going much deeper into both technologies, but I’ll try to tell you some of the advantages of Super AMOLED over IPS LCD.
- Super AMOLED is bright than the IPS LCD and visibility in the sun is better in Super AMOLED display.
- Super AMOLED display is thinner than the IPS display (there is a lengthy explanation for that).
- Battery performance with SuperAMOLED (if used with low brightness) is better than the IPS LCD.
The resolution and pixel density is higher in Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (QHD, 534ppi) than the Huawei Mate 9 which is full HD with 373 ppi pixel density.
Huawei Mate 9 vs Galaxy S7 Edge: OS
Operating System is same in both the smartphones, Android. Only the version is different; Mate 9 comes with Android 7.0 Nougat skinned with EMUI 5.0 and Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow (will get the Nougat version in later updates) skinned with TouchWiz UI.
The EMUI 5.0 is faster and more simple UI than the Samsung’s TouchWiz UI because Samsung smartphones are always full of bloatware. TouchWiz UI on Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge takes advantage of the curved screen on it. Here, you can make a decision on your own if you experienced any of the official UI from both the manufacturers.
Huawei Mate 9 vs Galaxy S7 Edge: Performance
Both of the smartphones use a whole different SoC – Hisilicon Kirin 960 (Mate 9) and Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 (Galaxy S7 Edge). Both the smartphones carry the same amount of RAM; 4GB. The multitasking and gaming will be good on both smartphones. You can’t say which processor is better here because it all depends on how better the kernel uses the processor and the RAM.
Huawei Mate 9 vs Galaxy S7 Edge: Camera
The camera which Huawei used in Mate 9 is a dual lens setup; 20 MP + 12 MP with f/2.2 aperture size which makes the phone capable of providing the 2X optical zoom. So zooming in this phone won’t pixelate the picture quality. Whereas Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge sports a 12 MP single lens shooter with f/1.7 aperture size. Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge won’t be able to provide the optical zoom but using the bigger aperture size, you can capture decent pictures in low light condition.
Conclusion
This comparison is all about the specs and about opinion, we can’t make our mind till we have the smartphone in out hands. It could be possible that Mate 9 will perform better than Galaxy S7 Edge with the Kirin processor and the camera could be better. Tell us what you think about the flagship from Huawei?
