Huawei flagship puts professional camera on phone
The tail is now wagging the dog.   Cameras on phone have become more powerful and versatile than the phones that house them.
Bangalore, August 22 2016: When a new-age smart-phone manufacturer ties up with a 100 year old camera and optics company to enhance a device's imaging capabilities, it is quite clear how customer priorities are moving from a phone that takes pictures to a professional camera which incidentally makes calls.
The Huawei P9 is the only smart phone that features a dual camera from Leica, a legendary German name in rangefinder cameras. The P9 also features some interesting Indian innovation that ensures that the device doesn't slow down after months of heavy usage.
Professional camera: The P9 comes with two 12 megapixel back cameras, side by  side,  each with a 27mm Leica optics lens. Every time you click an image with the P9, both the lenses get fired, one that produces professional-quality colour images, and the other lens that merges this with the same image in monochrome. This combination results in better quality pictures, especially in low-light conditions. Users can choose between three film modes: Standard, Vivid Colors and Smooth Colors.  You can also select monochrome -only  mode, to capture powerful black and white images of superior quality. The P9  achieves focusing based on three criteria– laser, depth calculation and contrast. It automatically selects the one that yields the best result in any given environment..  The in-build image processor gives you manual control of the shutter for long exposure shots, and options to choose from multiple shooting modes like Tail light trails, Light Graffiti, Silky water, and regulars like Pro camera, beauty mode, Ultra snapshot, among others.   You can P9 adjust the camera aperture to create aesthetic blur also called  bokeh,  while keeping the main object in sharp focus. The device also sports an 8 megapixel front camera that can capture wide-angle selfies. The 5.2 inches device with 1080p full HD display,.  comes with a high-density 3000 mAh battery that offers considerably high battery life, akin to phones with larger batteries.
Indian R&D: Powered by Huawei's own Kirin 955 octa-core processor,  the P9 comes with enhanced security at the silicon-chip level, that ensures superior security such as fingerprint scans.  . Thanks to innovation from the Bangalore R&D centre of Huawei, the P9 features   new file system optimization  that reduces file fragmentation and claims a 20% improvement in response speed.  This ensures that it doesn't slow down even after many months of heavy usage.|
Triple antenna affair: While most mid and high-end devices come with two in-built batteries, the P9 is the world's first device that comes with a virtual triple antenna, for enhanced signal quality, even if you were to unknowingly block  the antenna region of your phone, or in areas that have erratic connectivity. The in-built RF system automatically switches to the antenna with the best signal to reduce call drops.
All of these packed in a 6.9mm shell makes it a slim and light device that is handy to hold, especially while taking photographs. The single nano sIM P9  is  powered by Android 6.0 Marshmallow,  with 3GB RAM and 32 GB memory. Priced at Rs. 39,999, the P9 is currently available at Flipkart in three colours.   Vishnu Anand