There are smartphones exist with dual cameras on the rear side, smartphones with dual cameras on the front side, and there are smartphones also with the new bezel-less trend. Such smartphones either highlight one element, the rear camera, the front camera, or the display itself. Honor 8 Pro was one of the top camera smartphones with dual cameras on the back, and now the company has gone beyond dual cameras. Honor has unveiled a new bezel-less smartphone this year, not with dual, but quad cameras. Yes, Honor 9i sports 4 cameras, two on the back and two on the front and priced at ₹17,999.
Honor 9i Specifications
- Display: 5.9-inch FullView IPS display, 18:9 aspect ratio, Full-HD+ resolution (2160 x 1080 pixels), 2.5D curved glass
- Software: EMUI 5.1 based on Android 7.0 Nougat
- Security: Fingerprint scanner, on the back, gesture-based
- CPU: 2.36 GHz octa-core processor, Kirin 659 SoC
- GPU: ARM Mali-T830 MP2
- Memory: 4 GB RAM, LPDDR3
- Main Camera: Dual cameras (16 MP + 2 MP) with single LED flash
- Selfie Camera: Dual cameras (13 MP + 2 MP) with Toning Flash
- Storage: 64 GB internal, microSD card support
- Cellular: 4G LTE, Dual SIM (GSM), microSD on SIM2
- Connectivity: micro USB port, 3.5 mm headphones port, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS
- Colors: Aurora Blue, Graphite Black, and Prestige Gold
- Battery: 3,340 mAh
- Price: ₹17,999
- Availability: October 14, Flipkart exclusive
Honor phones are a great bunch especially when it comes to cameras. Honor 9i is no exception, it features 4 cameras (two front, two rear) along with bezel-less design in a metallic shell. Wrapped up in a metallic unibody construction with 83% screen-to-body ratio and 18:9 aspect ratio giving more space to the screen and less to the bezels. An 18:9 aspect ratio display extends the content for a great multimedia experience. This is the world’s first smartphone to feature quad cameras with FullView display.
That said, Honor 9i looks identical to the Honor 8 Pro, it’s pretty much similar in terms of design, the curves, the antenna lines, and almost everything, just the protruding dual cameras at the center and the screen is a FullView makes it apart. The display uses a 5.9-inch FullView IPS panel with Full-HD+ resolution (2160 x 1080 pixels) and covered with a 2.5D curved glass that’s scratch resistant. The phone is not too heavy, appears light in weight, the back is sleek, comes with a gesture-based fingerprint scanner.
Speaking more about the cameras which is the USP of the phone, the front side equips a dual-camera setup (13 MP + 2 MP) with Toning flash while the back side includes a dual 16 MP + 2 MP camera with a single LED flash. The additional 2 MP cameras on each of the side have the power to create the depth-of-field effect a.k.a bokeh effect.
And what’s make the Honor 9i cool is its EMUI 5.1 software loaded with features, it packs an EMUI skin on top of the Android 7.0 Nougat. However, not all may like EMUI if they are a stock interface lover. On the battery side, it carries a 3,340 mAh battery.
Now for the specs on paper, it looks like Honor 9i has all the things a midrange device should be having, an octa-core processor from latest Kirin 659 SoC paired with 4 GB LPDDR3 RAM, a Mali-T830 MP2 GPU, and a 64 GB internal storage that expands further via microSD card. These specs are identical to the Honor 8 Lite as well as the dual camera phone Honor 6X.
While it’s not a huge letdown, it doesn’t offer a type-C port rather uses standard micro USB, there’s also a 3.5 mm headphones port and loudspeakers at the bottom. The two microphones are located at the top and at the bottom. The right side holds the power key and a volume control key, while the left holds a SIM tray that supports dual SIM cards with 4G connectivity and VoLTE calling. The tray is hybrid so you can either choose the SIM2 as microSD for storage expansion.
With the increasing demand for selfie smartphones, Honor 9i has the advantage to take over the selfie market due to its pricing which seems very convincing, also Honor devices have a great camera support, loaded with plenty of camera features like Depth-of-field, Splash effect, Pro Video, Night Shot, Food Mode, and many others.
Starting off with the Vivo V5 Plus which started the selfie evolution with bokeh effects, Honor joins the league to compete with the Vivo smartphones that capture perfect selfies. Honor 9i is none other than it’s primary competitor alongside the OPPO phones. By looking at the specifications and features and our past experiences with Honor devices, Honor 9i seems much more talented than its rivals, and it’s sure Honor 9i would take the trophy if this is the price.
We will share more stuff about Honor 9i, stay tuned for the upcoming review.
