I'm posting this here on the 6P forum because, during my 6P usage, I have found this forum so valuable. I thought my fellow 6P users would be interested in this from a 6P perspective. I was unable to find a good comparison of the phones. This is not meant to bash the 6P at all. I don't regret buying it and it has served me well for the most part.
Before I start, I know I am comparing a phone that came out a couple months ago (Huawei Mate 9) with one that came out over a year ago (6P). I ordered and then cancelled the order for a Pixel the day it came out. I just couldn't swallow paying $1100 for a phone when my 6P was fine.
I posted on here about some significant battery drain issues I was experiencing with my 6P over the past month. I couldn't fix it. I came across the Mate 9, read positive reviews, and went against my Nexus/Google core to buy it.
Aside from the battery problem, two things have bugged me about the 6P for a long time: (1) average (sometimes poor) fingerprint response time and (2) terrible camera response time.
THE SLOW 6P FINGERPRINT READER…
People raved about the "learning fingerprint sensor" but I didn't get it. It actually seemed to get worse over time. As I pulled it from my pocket with my finger on the sensor, I would already be looking at the screen before it came on.
[FYI – I read about a trick you can do on the Pixel to improve fingerprint recognition. You register the same finger twice. It actually improved the 6P’s performance a little too.]
HORRIBLE 6P CAMERA LAG…
The camera situation was just ridiculous. I tried multiple camera apps and mostly stuck with the Google camera app because it seemed to lag the least. It still had lag. Sometimes I would take a picture and lower the phone down only to realize I didn't hold it up long enough and all I got was a blur from my moving the camera down.
When I was in Africa and Europe earlier this year, it was downright annoying - especially if I asked someone to take a picture for me. Like always, I would have to explain to them not to move the camera until they see the picture show up in the little preview circle. Try explaining that to a guy in Morocco who doesn't speak English. Don't get me wrong - the 6P takes some awesome photos when you get them.
WHAT HUAWEI HAS IMPROVED UPON…
I don’t know what Huawei “discovered” since the 6P but this Mate 9 solved both of those problems beyond my expectations. The fingerprint reader is lightning fast. My phone screen is on before I can even bring up to look at it. The lightest touch unlocks the phone.
The camera… it’s instant. I find myself holding the phone up for several seconds wondering if it even took the picture. Literally, tap the shutter button it instantly shoots the photo. Yes, that’s in full auto, no HDR, but I can actually grab my phone shoot something quickly and it works. The camera is also dual lens and loaded with features that I haven’t explored yet. I’m just so pleased with the quick shooting that I find myself taking pictures of everything right now! The pictures come out great in my average guy opinion.
Huawei also managed to pack a larger screen (5.9”) into a body that is basically the same size and no thicker than the 6P.
WHAT I’LL MISS ON THE 6P…
The biggest thing I know I’ll miss from my 6P is the updates. They were timely and maintained the Android OS at its best. Pure Android was a nice base. The Mate 9 uses Huawei’s latest skin which isn’t terrible. I didn’t really care because I have been using a launcher for so long. I just installed it on the Mate 9.
The other thing I’ll miss is the beautiful AMOLED screen on the 6P. It’s just brilliant. For some reason, Huawei went with a standard LCD HD screen. It’s fine. That’s it, just fine. There is a “pro” and “Porsche” version of the Mate 9 with a better screen but my point here was not to spend $1,000 on a phone.
BATTERY LIFE!
Oh… battery life? The Mate 9 is a beast. Not only does it have a bigger battery, it has various built in power saving features beyond those in the OS that create very impressive results. For example, it has what I would liken to Greenify built in. Yes, my 6P performed a lot better when it was new but this Mate 9 takes it to a whole other level. I don’t know how this will hold up over time. It does quick charging (unfortunately, using a Huawei proprietary system).
About the Huawei OS tweaks... they are all over. I was thinking I would find them silly (a la Samsung) but they have actually added some very nice features into the OS. The way you can control notfications is so polished. It does a better job than tweaking with the System UI tuner.
Again, the one thing I don’t know is how the Mate 9 will perform over time. Supposedly Huawei put specific emphasis on making sure it continues to perform well over time using some sort of machine learning. Who knows if that’s a real thing.
The Pixel, which is probably what you should compare this too, may be a better phone but it costs almost double. The Mate 9 cost about the same as my 6P did. I’ll use this until the next Google phone and then consider whether or not to jump back into the Google bubble. I do miss that OS support!
Before I start, I know I am comparing a phone that came out a couple months ago (Huawei Mate 9) with one that came out over a year ago (6P). I ordered and then cancelled the order for a Pixel the day it came out. I just couldn't swallow paying $1100 for a phone when my 6P was fine.
I posted on here about some significant battery drain issues I was experiencing with my 6P over the past month. I couldn't fix it. I came across the Mate 9, read positive reviews, and went against my Nexus/Google core to buy it.
Aside from the battery problem, two things have bugged me about the 6P for a long time: (1) average (sometimes poor) fingerprint response time and (2) terrible camera response time.
THE SLOW 6P FINGERPRINT READER…
People raved about the "learning fingerprint sensor" but I didn't get it. It actually seemed to get worse over time. As I pulled it from my pocket with my finger on the sensor, I would already be looking at the screen before it came on.
[FYI – I read about a trick you can do on the Pixel to improve fingerprint recognition. You register the same finger twice. It actually improved the 6P’s performance a little too.]
HORRIBLE 6P CAMERA LAG…
The camera situation was just ridiculous. I tried multiple camera apps and mostly stuck with the Google camera app because it seemed to lag the least. It still had lag. Sometimes I would take a picture and lower the phone down only to realize I didn't hold it up long enough and all I got was a blur from my moving the camera down.
When I was in Africa and Europe earlier this year, it was downright annoying - especially if I asked someone to take a picture for me. Like always, I would have to explain to them not to move the camera until they see the picture show up in the little preview circle. Try explaining that to a guy in Morocco who doesn't speak English. Don't get me wrong - the 6P takes some awesome photos when you get them.
WHAT HUAWEI HAS IMPROVED UPON…
I don’t know what Huawei “discovered” since the 6P but this Mate 9 solved both of those problems beyond my expectations. The fingerprint reader is lightning fast. My phone screen is on before I can even bring up to look at it. The lightest touch unlocks the phone.
The camera… it’s instant. I find myself holding the phone up for several seconds wondering if it even took the picture. Literally, tap the shutter button it instantly shoots the photo. Yes, that’s in full auto, no HDR, but I can actually grab my phone shoot something quickly and it works. The camera is also dual lens and loaded with features that I haven’t explored yet. I’m just so pleased with the quick shooting that I find myself taking pictures of everything right now! The pictures come out great in my average guy opinion.
Huawei also managed to pack a larger screen (5.9”) into a body that is basically the same size and no thicker than the 6P.
WHAT I’LL MISS ON THE 6P…
The biggest thing I know I’ll miss from my 6P is the updates. They were timely and maintained the Android OS at its best. Pure Android was a nice base. The Mate 9 uses Huawei’s latest skin which isn’t terrible. I didn’t really care because I have been using a launcher for so long. I just installed it on the Mate 9.
The other thing I’ll miss is the beautiful AMOLED screen on the 6P. It’s just brilliant. For some reason, Huawei went with a standard LCD HD screen. It’s fine. That’s it, just fine. There is a “pro” and “Porsche” version of the Mate 9 with a better screen but my point here was not to spend $1,000 on a phone.
BATTERY LIFE!
Oh… battery life? The Mate 9 is a beast. Not only does it have a bigger battery, it has various built in power saving features beyond those in the OS that create very impressive results. For example, it has what I would liken to Greenify built in. Yes, my 6P performed a lot better when it was new but this Mate 9 takes it to a whole other level. I don’t know how this will hold up over time. It does quick charging (unfortunately, using a Huawei proprietary system).
About the Huawei OS tweaks... they are all over. I was thinking I would find them silly (a la Samsung) but they have actually added some very nice features into the OS. The way you can control notfications is so polished. It does a better job than tweaking with the System UI tuner.
Again, the one thing I don’t know is how the Mate 9 will perform over time. Supposedly Huawei put specific emphasis on making sure it continues to perform well over time using some sort of machine learning. Who knows if that’s a real thing.
The Pixel, which is probably what you should compare this too, may be a better phone but it costs almost double. The Mate 9 cost about the same as my 6P did. I’ll use this until the next Google phone and then consider whether or not to jump back into the Google bubble. I do miss that OS support!
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram