简体中文
Huawei, the Chinese phone firm pushing Apple and Samsung for global market dominance, launched its new model on Monday.
The Honor 9 is the latest in Huawei’s Honor product line of mid-range handsets that nevertheless aims to pack an innovative punch to leave its US and Korean rivals on the ropes.
Huawei is the world's third-largest smartphone maker, occupying nearly 10 percent of global market share, so its new releases attract a lot of attention. Just like Samsung with Exynos and Apple with its A series, the company has its own mobile processor – Kirin.
The Honor 8 has been on sale in many countries including the US, and it is likely Huawei will make the Honor 9 available in the same markets.
In the kind of Apple-esque stage show the world has grown accustomed to for tech launches, it took the Honor team's boss Zhao Ming a whole hour to describe what he thought was great about the Honor 9.
The team also invited Chinese pop idol Hu Ge to represent the phone at the event in Shanghai. With Huawei introducing a new gray color, Hu had dyed his hair the same color to show support.
Cutting through all the razzmatazz and saving you from having to watch Huawei’s two-hour video on the launch, here’s what we think are the three main points with the Honor 9:
"Cool" finish
Zhao Ming is very confident about the finish of the phone, saying "I'm glad to see other brands copying our previous design."
According to the marketing blurb, the rear side of the device is made of 15 layers of "3D curved aurora glass." The glass structure means the back can reflect light in various ways, giving users "a thousand looks in one machine."
"Hybrid zoom"
Huawei brings its high-end "hybrid zoom" camera to a mid-range phone. This feature is a smart way to minimize loss of photo quality when zoomed in.
Apart from the 12-megapixel camera, the phone features another 20-megapixel black-and-white second lens, which can provide more detail than the main colored one.
The phone's software can blend the two pictures into one, putting the black-and-white details onto the colored image to make it sharper.
Wired for sound
The music app on the phone.
In addition to visual enhancements, Huawei has also put a lot of effort into giving users a better hearing experience. Integrated into the Honor 9 is a "Hi-Fi chip" from Japanese specialist AKM to boost audio quality.
Huawei has been tight-lipped on what makes this chip so great, and the company has also refused to reveal the identity of the "Grammy-winning" musician it says it consulted when tuning the audio output of the phone.
Guess we have to listen to the phone ourselves to see if Huawei’s big talk about quality sound rings true.
Prices for the Honor 9 start at 2,299 yuan (about 338 US dollars), and the phone is currently under pre-sale in China.
(CGTN)
