Gadgetory

you know the drill phone is released tech reviewers go crazy unboxing and reviewing it then after a week we all move on to the hot new gadget how a phone ages is as important as that initial out-of-the-box experience so let's do something about that last year's p and mate 9 series phones proved huawei was able to compete not just on specs but on crafting a unique user experience the mate specifically showcasing a focus on Western audiences with a proper launch in the United States nine months later how has this phablet held up does it still find any use in my rotation against newer phones as the company lived up to their promises on new features it's time to take a second look here's our huawei mate 9 after the buzz right off the bat if you follow our channel you know I'm not the biggest fan of phablets but alongside another big screen option from last year this is one of the most used phones in my collection I literally fire up my mate 9 every day we use Marvel future fight as one reference for performance in our reviews but I really am kind of addicted to this game only with the arrival of the Qualcomm 835 has any phone matched the horsepower of the mate I'd like that to resonate for just a second if you jumped on the mate 9 train you were 6 months ahead of the qualcomm curve you'd be using a phone which still posts competitive numbers against the latest and greatest today I can't say I've ever experienced this reviewing gadgets before we have an expectation that something better will come along weeks after we buy a phone yet here's an offering which will probably make it to the end of 2017 still near the top of the pile using this phone a lot for multimedia and gaming a large battery and fast charging has been a boon there are a lot of grindy bits that you can run on autopilot so coming back a half hour later it's nice to know I've got a full charge that hardware horsepower is appreciated so we're happy to report that the software has aged similarly well while we made a lot of noise about machine learning and optimization for resource allocation the mate was going to do a better job of dumping garbage and keeping things tidy I can't really comment on exactly what this technology might actually be doing but on the surface my mate is running we smooth still especially for including such an aggressive and pervasive skin have been very pleased with this performance emui is a perfect data point to show the evolution of this brand earlier examples were disappointingly iPhone II but last year Huawei gave us the option to toggle whether we wanted a natural or not and the notification shade is much closer to a stock Android layout small but important changes to tailor one device for Asian and Western markets the mate also became a platform for partnerships of course the Leica branded cameras but sharing user-generated content through GoPros quick video editor in North America you can also fire up Amazon's Alexa the mate arriving is the first Android handset with this kind of integration I can't say I've used either very much I have a video editor I like and Alexa unfortunately can't function as seamlessly as Google assistant can but I am happy to see Kwame reaching out for collaboration instead of reinventing the wheel these are recognizable solutions consumers might enjoy and get back to those cameras the mate is still one of my favorite photo platforms only bested in low light by qua ways p10 plush like his influence over image processing might not be the best fit for all consumers but there's a texture to these shots their contrasting in a way I find very attractive this is my favorite example of how to do dual cameras on a smartphone now video requires a bit more discussion however I'm shooting almost exclusively in 4k these days I like that clarity and on Huawei that means using h.265 the upside file sizes are smaller the downside Google is being stubborn not supporting this codec installing to deliver their own video codec solution you can't upload directly to YouTube and Google photos does not alert users that videos will not be backed up that's a huge issue when your cloud backup is broken at least on onedrive my files are uploaded even if I can't stream a TVC online this is certainly a Google problem but it doesn't change the fact that users are affected in a way where they'll likely blame the phone even more frustrating that Twitter and Instagram will transcode HEV C to share compressed video so the problem feels inconsistent in how and where users can share clips until Google stops holding back progress our solutions are an elegant it's unfortunately up to the user to convert the file but happily that can happen on the phone if you make a highlight video and quick that will be saved as h.264 but my preferred solution is paying for the unlocked version of CyberLink PowerDirector which will convert and render a 4k replacement that video saved in an output folder which will then be automatically backed up by google photos others have written this off as too complicated or anti-consumer but i'm not letting this go I want 4k I want smaller file sizes and I'm tired of waiting for Google again this solution is inelegant but there are solutions for working with hi2 65 and we've been producing whole video reviews on the road mixing phone and camera footage recording the vo from phone microphones and rendering videos from mobile apps it's not hard at all when you know how to do it shifting gears the mate doesn't have any rating for water or drop resistance but it's been a fairly durable device considering the screen size while shooting this after the buzz video a corner drop from about waist-high shattered the included snap-on cover with no markings on the phone I got really lucky there I did accidentally peel off the screen protector though and I'm terrible at reapplying these plastic guards it looks rough at the moment but I want to keep this glass pristine I do have a small concern about software support early updates were timely especially when delivering Alexa but we're now a couple months behind on security patches hopefully we catch up this hardware is just too good to be left behind and we are happy to see a few rumors filtering out that Huawei is already working on Android oh the stereo speakers are a nice touch but the headphone performance is only adequate and I hope Huawei will clean up bluetooth in the future to do a better job of toggling between audio sources like transferring between headphones and car speaker phones the 1080p display is fine for daily use if a bit unremarkable but on this surface area the mate is a poor option for folks flirting with VR unlike the mate 9 pro this phone never got true daydream compatibility maybe the biggest drawback is this somewhat plain design Oh panels prevent the need for ten abeyance I genuinely prefer rear-mounted fingerprint sensors and the camera housing looks good but otherwise it's just a large plain gray slate for a mate ten this year a little pizzazz or some Sparkle certainly wouldn't hurt but I've rambled on enough we should wrap this up nine months later where's that leave us with the huawei mate nine I don't know that I've ever revisited a phone which is aged this well the may easily outperformed last year's handsets and is still nipping at the heels of current cutting-edge tech in the States we got an incredible bargain with this unlocked price for one of the only truly big screen options of 2016 we're all very curious to see what Huawei will deliver as a follow-up but more than any other phone I've covered for an after the buzz I have the fewest reservations here and recommending someone purchase a mate nine today the cons certainly need to be spelled out especially for people who shoot a lot of video or need to power nicer headphones but the pricing is still in line with current premium handsets and the phone delivers a unique experience it doesn't look or feel like it was listed from a competitor and I still really enjoy using it now if you'll excuse me I need to get a new case for this beast and maybe something with a kickstand as always thanks so much for watching be sure to subscribe to this channel for more reviews like these and help us out with some sharing on your favorite social networks for pocket now in Quan Carlos bag now some gadget guy on Twitter and Instagram and I will catch you all on the next review