Honor 9 vs Honor 8: is upgrading to the latest model worth it?

We always tend to turn our attention to the big high-tech brands that become big mobile device and then smartphone brands: Samsung, LG, and Apple are names that come easily to mind when it comes to phones. .

However, the emergence of the smartphone will lead to the arrival of many brands, often smaller but not devoid of interest. And these are slowly taking control of the market, as is Honor and the brand’s success with younger audiences in Europe.

After an Honor 8, which was noticed for its special design and good performance at an affordable price, the manufacturer offers us the Honor 9 to start this year in style. But does it point to a real evolution? Let’s compare the two.

Comparative technical sheets of Honor 9 and Honor 8

Regarding the raw power of the two phones, the Kirin 960 and the 4 Cortex-A73 cores clocked at 2.4GHz still promise a nice step up compared to last year’s Kirin 950. However, keep in mind that most of the time, for the simplest tasks, you’ll be stuck with the 4 undeveloped Cortex A53 cores common to both devices.

The biggest change is that there is still a 6GB RAM option for the Honor 9, as there are many gigs to help keep the user experience fluid on a daily basis. Since I know the manufacturer, the EMUI skin needed to be perfectly optimized to take advantage of it; This possibility is very attractive.

Although we do not yet know what kind of memory it will be, it is also nice that the storage memory has been increased to 64 GB. Let’s hope for minimal UFS as Huawei gets embroiled in the mini scandal surrounding the Huawei P10.

Design: Honor 9 honors 8

It’s pretty obvious when you see the two phones side by side: Honor hasn’t made any serious changes to the design of its phones. And we can understand it: Honor 8 was the first to offer this very special back, which reflects light to create dynamic lines on its back, giving it its appeal.

Such a distinctive mark should be kept for more than a year, and the Honor 9 does just that. But with a big change: the fingerprint scanner linked to the famous Magic Key now stands out with a dedicated Home Page. key.

While the Honor 9 remains essentially the same at this point with a Full HD resolution LTPS display, that’s hard to grasp in the bezel-less era where the phone’s front is increasingly disappearing in favor of the screen. For this, we will rely on the ease of production rather than an aesthetic choice.

Camera: a smooth evolution for the Honor series

The Honor 9 retains the great strengths of the Honor 8 camera, which is a dual photo sensor that combines RGB and monochrome for more detailed photos. What’s more, it still includes the famous bokeh effect (as a bonus for making Sunday lineups), which allows you to make portraits with much more impact.

The major difference between the two is that the Honor 9 includes the same dual sensor as the Honor 8 Pro, namely a 20-megapixel RGB sensor combined with a 12-megapixel monochrome sensor. A good development in itself without the slightest doubt, even if we wanted the opening to win as well.

So, in absolute terms, we can expect the same performance as the Honor 8 Pro, which has already seduced us. If it’s not the best camera on a smartphone right now, it’s very good quality, especially in this price range.

Conclusion: Honor 9, a smooth evolution

Last year, if you’re on a budget, the Honor 8 went honors against the OnePlus 3, delivering very good performance with a truly unique design. This year, we finally have the right to the same scenario.

Taking on the design of the Honor 8 with the improvements made by the Honor 8 Pro, the Honor 9 is just a smooth evolution on a foundation that was already successful last year. More powerful, just as nice at hand, and definitely optimized, it will be able to handle your smallest tasks in a jiffy.

If you’re the type to wait for the biggest hassles to replace your phone and you already own the Honor 8, going there isn’t necessarily worthwhile. But if you’re looking for a 399 Euro phone, the Honor 9 is the perfect smartphone.