Got sick of waiting for the Pixel XL to be available and ordered the mate 9.

[NeilMex]

This will be my first non Nexus phone for a few years (N5, 6P) so I'm not sure what to expect. Google pissed me off by not offering a 64GB version and the fact that I've been on the want list for almost 2 months. The phone is scheduled to arrive Tuesday so I'll post my thoughts after playing with it for a bit.

Cheers
Neil.

 

[charmz2k2]

You'll love it!
I've got the PD version, after being a Samsung fan boy for the last 6 / 7 years I decided to jump ship after the customer services messed me around with the note 7 and I'm glad I did..

 

[Morty2264]

I don't think you will be disappointed! I've heard great things about the Mate 9. Enjoy, and please post some first impressions when the phone arrives!

 

[Drew Oswalt]

Ditto. BlackBerry to Nexus. Now branching out. The wait for Pixel was annoying. But made me look at other companies. Will have my Mate 9 Monday.

 

[edwin walke]

I just bought (arrives Tues) the Mate 9. I have the Honor 8 it is a fantastic phone but looks like the M 9 offers more. I wanted a phablet and this compares with or exceeds capability of most high end phones -- Apple, Samsung, LG.

 

[edwin walke]

Ditto. BlackBerry to Nexus. Now branching out. The wait for Pixel was annoying. But made me look at other companies. Will have my Mate 9 Monday.

HAVE FUN!!

 

[Morty2264]

Ditto. BlackBerry to Nexus. Now branching out. The wait for Pixel was annoying. But made me look at other companies. Will have my Mate 9 Monday.

Exciting! Let us know what you think in the forums when it arrives! Happy Phone Week!

 

[anon(5630457)]

This will be my first non Nexus phone for a few years (N5, 6P) so I'm not sure what to expect. Google pissed me off by not offering a 64GB version and the fact that I've been on the want list for almost 2 months. The phone is scheduled to arrive Tuesday so I'll post my thoughts after playing with it for a bit.

Cheers
Neil.

I got mine yesterday from Best Buy and I love it. I'm a little upset it doesn't have an IPXX rating, but this phone is so smooth and it has a 4,000 mAh battery that this thing will last me two days.

I had an iPhone 7 Plus since the Note 7 debacle and I'm so glad to be back on Android.

 

[Drew Oswalt]

Just finished setting up the phone. It is fast. Coming from a Nexus 5x and playing with my wife's 7plus, this bad boy flies. The screen is nice too. Yeah, yeah there are better screens out there. But, I played Man in the High Castle via Amazon Video app and I'm happy. Kind of like I know there are 4k tvs and they look nice. But I'm happy with my 1080p led screen.

The packaging is nice and comes with a bunch of stuff.

Earphones
USB c cable
Charger
Micro USB to USB c adapter
A case
A pre-installed screen protector. Plastic film I think.

Speakers work well and have a nice sound from my limited use. Camera is OK so far. But so many features and adjustments to learn. Weight is good. Feels about the same as my BlackBerry Passport. Love the size.

That's all for now.

 

[Drew Oswalt]

Fingerprint scanner is wicked fast. Love it.

 

[mikef91]

Fingerprint scanner is wicked fast. Love it.

I wish it gave some vibration feedback like the Pixel XL.

 

[jamezr]

Just got Fedex tracking i will get mine tomorrow. Whoohoo

 

[bhatech]

Received mine today and enjoying the big screen and small footprint. Have to see how I feel once the honey moon period is over. EMUI is not that bad, looks fine for now.

 

[jamezr]

Received mine today and enjoying the big screen and small footprint. Have to see how I feel once the honey moon period is over. EMUI is not that bad, looks fine for now.

have you tested the camera?

 

[bhatech]

Haven't tested it out yet, got it evening and was taking some inside shots and mono chrome shots. Will have to compare with my Pixel in the next few days.

 

[NeilMex]

Ok, so I've had a couple days to play with the mate 9 and these are my thoughts:

Screen: Wow! This screen is amazing! I can't get over how much nicer it is compared to the 6P and I can see it outside. When I ordered the mate 9 I felt that I was taking a step backwards due to its lower screen resolution but obviously specs don't tell the whole story.

Size: I really didn't want a large phone and was pleasantly surprised that the mate 9 is almost the exact same size as the 6P.

Battery: I'm not a heavy user but I do have all services turned on at all times. I definitely finish the day with more left over than the 6P but that's to be expected from its larger capacity.

Radios: I get 4g in places that the 6P would not.

Speed: I had no issue with speed on the 6P but the mate 9 is snappier.

Speakers: another area that I felt was going to be a step backwards as the 6P has dual speakers. The mate 9 does a good job using the bottom speaker and the phone speaker to produce good sound.

EMUI: after several years of vanilla Android I'm really enjoying this skin.

Finger print reader: Damn that thing is fast and accurate!

Camera: I haven't really had enough time to play with it yet so I can't really comment at this point (although I did take some very nice shots last night in manual mode, playing with iso and shutter speed.....I think I might pickup a mini tripod).

Things I miss about my 6P:

Ambient display: as I use my phone as my alarm clock, I miss not having the ambient display on at night to show me the time. I guess that's got to do with the difference in screen technology (LCD vs amoled).

Do not disturb mode: on the mate 9 there's no option to automatically turn off do not disturb mode after the alarm goes off.

LED notification light could be larger.

So far I'm really happy with this thing.

 

[Gayle Lynn]

Settings : Fingerprint ID : touch to stop an alarms, touch and hold to answer calls.

Other action settings on that page as well.

 

[samsungnian]

I thought about getting Pixel XL few times and by the time I really wanted to do it. It was just not available and I lost interest. I picked up Axon 7 and returned it due to few issues. I was going to order OP 3T, again not available and lost interest. Saw Mate 9 at Best buy and love how it looks and perform, I bought it and loving it. Beautiful phone, camera is great.

 

[dpham00]

I thought about getting Pixel XL few times and by the time I really wanted to do it. It was just not available and I lost interest. I picked up Axon 7 and returned it due to few issues. I was going to order OP 3T, again not available and lost interest. Saw Mate 9 at Best buy and love how it looks and perform, I bought it and loving it. Beautiful phone, camera is great.

Guess i got lucky. Wanted a pixel xl in blue earlier this month, ordered and it came in three business days with the free shipping option