The Huawei P9 was launched in the UK at a special event thrown for a few hundred of the company’s closest family and friends. Not only that, the P9 smartphone comes packing Leica tech.

GadgetyNews was at the exclusive launch event at London’s Battersea Evolution, where Huawei unveiled the much anticipated Huawei P9 and P9 Plus. Well, when I say exclusive, there were quite a few people there. There was a long snaking queue of people waiting for the doors to open but this was quite fast moving once we were allowed in.

Created in collaboration with Leica, the dual-lens P9 is positioned to set a new standard in smartphone photography.

The Huawei P9 is the first smartphone co-engineered with the global iconic brand, Leica Camera AG.
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The P9’s dual-lens camera takes smartphone photography to the next level, allowing people to capture both vivid colors and striking black and white images.

Huawei’s new B3 Talkband wearable wristband also made its global debut.

Along with representatives from Huawei and Leica there were a host of professional photographers including, from the world of fashion, Mary McCartney, David Guttenfelder from National Geographic as well as Banff-based action sports snapper Reuben Krabbe.

We were treated to an exclusive trailer of the new Huawei P9 TV commercial starring Henry Cavill and Scarlett Johansson, Global Product Ambassadors for the Huawei P9 series. Mr Cavill was actually there at the event and was presented with his own specially engraved handset.

Huawei is excited to give P9 users the best smartphone photography experience by leveraging the unrivalled capabilities of Leica, the leader in the world of imaging for more than 100 years,”

said Richard Yu, CEO, Huawei Consumer Business Group.

Consumers around the world use their smartphones to take billions of pictures each year, making photography critical to user experience. P9 users can now capture images with unmatched clarity, richness and authenticity, with a masterfully designed and powerful smartphone that looks and feels incredible.”

P9 power and performance

The P9 is equipped with the power, connectivity and speed that today’s high-end smartphone user expects from leading brands.

Beneath its 5.2-inch 1080p display, the P9 is powered by the new Kirin 955 2.5GHz 64-bit ARM-based processor. The 3,000mAh high-density battery offers P9 users outstanding mobility and battery life boasting 1.15 day’s worth of heavy use or 12 hours of constant HD video playback.

Huawei also unveiled the P9 Plus which features a 5.5-inch Press Touch display and a larger 3,400mAh battery. The P9 Plus also offers dual-IC Rapid Charge, giving users six hours of talk time after a 10-minute charge.

All of this, for the Huawei P9, is somehow packed in to a body that measures only 145mm x 70.9mm x 6.95 mm (H x W x D) and only weighs about 144g!

Both the P9 and P9 Plus offer unrivaled new features including a virtual-triple-antenna architecture, designed for users who need robust and seamless connectivity to cellular and Wi-Fi networks to fully harness the power of the mobile Internet no matter where they are in the world.

The P9 and P9 Plus also protect users’ privacy and information security. Huawei has taken its world-leading biometric fingerprint recognition technology to a whole new level – Level 4, apparently.

The enhanced fingerprint sensor allows users to personalise and safeguard their devices by significantly lowering the possibility of fraudulent or accidental device access, while also ensuring users can quickly and securely access their smartphone.

Huawei P9 design

The P9 does look will designed and engineered.

The P9 device is constructed from superior-grade 2.5D glass and an aerospace-class aluminium, with diamond-cut edges rounded out by carefully balanced curvatures.

The 64GB version of the P9 comes in a stunning and unique Haze Gold finish, setting new industry standards in industrial design, with the use of techniques including brushed hairlines and metal polishing at micron-level precision to create a translucent metal surface.

Additionally, the Ceramic White version of the P9 is smoother than the painted bodywork of most premium cars.

The P9 is not only thinner than the current crop of iPhones and Galaxy handsets but the clever folks at Leica and Huawei have managed to cram those two sensors in without leaving a nasty lens bump.

Here is my rather hasty unboxing of the Mystic Silver P9 which was performed within seconds of receiving it.

Click the thumbnail to select the picture.

Huawei P9 dual Leica lenses

The Huawei P9 brings together best-in-class hardware and software, optical lenses, to sensors, to image processing algorithms, empowering users to capture the highest-quality images.

Key to the P9’s superlative imaging capabilities is a dual-camera design that fully unleashes the power of Leica’s optical lenses.

The RGB camera on the P9 specialises in capturing colour, while the monochrome camera is charged with acquiring picture detail.

Both of the rear cameras work in tandem so that you should get images of superior detail, depth and colour. The P9 seems to excel in low-light conditions, as the dual-camera design guarantees more light and detail can be captured – 270% more

There are three film modes: Standard, Vivid Colors and Smooth Colors, with each film mode promising to faithfully render the authentic colour and style of Leica.
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By selecting the monochrome mode, P9 users can use their devices as a true monochrome camera to capture powerful and evocative black and white images of superior quality in the style of Leica’s own M model.

Here are three shots taken without using any of the clever adjustments or filters. One is in colour and the other two testing out the P9’s monochrome mode.

Click the thumbnail to select an image.

The P9 supports camera focusing based on three methodologies – laser, depth calculation and contrast – and automatically selects the one that yields the best result in any given environment.

The wide-aperture photography feature on the P9 allows users to experiment with innovative visual effects to create unique images and content. The P9 makes it easy to adjust the camera aperture to create bokeh and other depth-of-field effects, while keeping the main object in sharp focus.

Leica and Huawei share an uncompromising commitment to imaging excellence, and our partnership will put outstanding photography into the hands of more consumers around the world,”

said Oliver Kaltner, CEO, Leica Camera AG.

We are deepening our collaboration to give users a more optimal smartphone photography experience.”

Huawei P9 pricing and availability

The Huawei P9 will be available in Mystic Silver and Titanium Grey. It comes with an RRP of £449 (3GB + 32GB) and will be free on contract, subject tariff.

The Huawei P9 will be available to buy in the UK in early May from Carphone Warehouse, EE, O2, Three and Vodafone.

The P9 will also be available SIM free from vMall in mid April.

Please see below details on the colours each channel will be offering.

• CPW – Mystic Silver, Titanium Grey
• EE – Titanium Grey
• O2 – Titanium Grey
• Three – Mystic Silver, Titanium Grey
• Vodafone – Mystic Silver, Titanium Grey
• vMall – Mystic Silver, Titanium Grey

The Huawei P9 Plus in Quartz Grey will be exclusively available to buy from Vodafone from mid May. It has an RRP of £549 (4GB + 74GB) and will be available from £9 on Vodafone contract tariffs.

It is available to pre-order at Vodafone UK (www.vodafone.co.uk) now. Customers can pre-order the Huawei P9 in grey from today or the silver from April 11th, 2016 – both come with a free Huawei W1 Classic Smartwatch with leather strap (worth a huge £289) and a Huawei P9 flip case.