iPhone 6s vs Huawei P9: Apple's Got Some Hot Competition

How does Huawei’s latest flagship stack up against the king?

It was a few years ago now that Huawei started making a serious bid for the global smartphone market, but back then, it's fair to say that the firm didn't have a great grasp of what consumers, or at least those outside its home nation of China, wanted from their devices. Over time, the offerings have become steadily more and more competetive, and now, 2016, we find ourselves with the company's latest flagship and it's clear a lot of time, thought, and money has gone into this handset - it really is quite impressive. Huawei launched two handsets at once, keeping in trend with the current market, with the regular Huawei P9 and the Huawei P9 Plus, a larger phablet edition with broadly similar specs. The duo have quite a compelling set of specs and features, including Huawei's bespoke Kirin processor and a dual-camera array co-engineered by Leica.

And while it's important for new Android handsets to have something to compete and outclass other members of the Android club, it's also fair to say that they need to offer something to rival Apple's iPhone series too. We're all quite familiar with the iPhone by now, and the iPhone 6s is the latest and greatest model from Apple. How does the Huawei P9 stack up? Let's see shall we?

iPhone 6s vs Huawei P9: Specs

Here’s the specs for the iPhone 6s:

Display: 4.7-inch display with a 1334x750-pixel resolution at 326ppi, 3DTouch enabled
Dimensions: 138.3mm x 67.1 mm x 7.1 mm
Weight: 143 grams
Storage: 16, 64, or 128GB
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Processors: A9 chip with 64-bit architecture and M9 motion coprocessor
Front camera: 5 MP
Rear camera: 12 MP photos. ƒ/2.2 aperture. 4k video
Battery: 1715 mAh
Colors: Silver, Space Grey, Gold, or Rose Gold

And here’s the specs for the Huawei P9:

Display: 5.2-inch display with a 1920×1080-pixel resolution at 423ppi
Dimensions: 145mm x 70.9 mm x 6.95 mm
Weight: 144 grams
Storage: 32 or 64, plus support for microSD cards up to 128GB
Memory: 3 or 4 GB RAM
Processors: Kirin 955 2.5GHz 64-bit ARM-based processor
Front camera: 8 MP
Rear camera: Dual 12 megapixel rear with OIS and laser focus
Battery life: 3000 mAh
Colors: Mystic Silver, Titanium Grey, Quartz Gray

There’s a lot right with the Huawei P9 that Apple got wrong with the iPhone 6. For starters, the storage and RAM. On the storage front the Huawei P9 starts at 32GB—much, MUCH better than the 16GB entry level iPhone 6s. Both phones come in a 64GB model, and while it’s true the iPhone offers a 128GB model while the P9 does not, the Huawei P9 supports microSD cards up to 128GB, which means even the base model can surpass the iPhone’s maximum storage if the user so chooses.

Another nice thing about the Huawei P9 is the RAM. It comes in two different offerings too. The 32GB P9 comes with 3GB of RAM, while the 64GB P9 comes with 4GB of RAM. Both are a far cry from the iPhone 6s’ 2GB of RAM.

As for processors, the P9 features Huawei’s new Kirin 955 64-bit processor, which here locks horns with Apple's powerful A9 chipset inside the iPhone 6s. Plenty of benchmarking databases show the Kirin 955 to be at the top of the Android OEM pile even surpassing the impressive Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and Samsung Exynos 8890.

iPhone 6s vs Huawei P9: Design & Build

Though the P9 doesn’t look exactly like the iPhone 6s both flagships sport the same material design: precision-engineered aluminum with a good selection of color options. As for the major design differences, the fingerprint sensor on the P9 is on the back on the phone while the Touch ID on the iPhone 6s is located in the home button on the front of the phone. In our view the iPhone 6s fingerprint scanner location is notably more convenient than the rear panel on the P9, but this does come down to personal preference.

What’s really interesting is that the P9 is actually the thinner phone, coming in at 6.95mm thin versus the iPhone 6s’ 7.1mm thinness. As for weight the iPhone is still the lighter phone—just barely—coming in at 143 vs 144 grams.

iPhone 6s vs Huawei P9: Display and Battery

As for displays, the P9 features a larger 5.2in display versus the iPhone 6s’ 4.7in display. What’s really amazing about that, however, is that the surface area of the P9 is hardly larger than the iPhone 6s, despite the display being much larger. However, size isn’t the only difference. The P9 has a higher screen resolution at 1920x1080 at 423ppi versus the iPhone 6s’ 1334x750 pixel resolution at 326ppi. That being said, the P9 doesn’t have any kind of pressure-sensitive 3D Touch display like the 6s does - not that this is necessarily a negative point; there are some who don't see what the fuss is about with 3D Touch.

But when we get to battery, the P9’s 3000 mAh battery trounces the iPhone’s 1715 mAh pack. However—just as with RAM and processors—how long a phone’s battery lasts has as much to do with the size of the pack as it does with how well the software works to conserve power. That being said, early reports are the P9’s battery can last as long as a day and a half under normal use.

iPhone 6s vs Huawei P9: Cameras

When it comes to the cameras, it’s game over. The P9 CLEARLY wins here. Why? Because it features a dual-camera Leica lens in its rear camera. That’s right, there are TWO 12MP cameras on the back, leading to pictures that approach DSLR quality. This is HUGE—and it’s something the iPhone 6s’ rear single-lens 12MP camera can’t match. As for front facing cameras, the P9 beats the iPhone there too, with an 8MP front camera versus the iPhone’s 5MP lens.

iPhone 6s vs Huawei P9: Verdict

No doubt about it: the P9 is a great flagship phone. Is it better than the iPhone 6s? In some respects, yes. Does that mean you should buy a P9 over an iPhone 6s? That depends on several factors, the biggest of which is how big a fan of iOS you are. If you love iOS, no matter how good the hardware in the P9 is, you’re not going to enjoy the software experience (if you don’t like Android as much). That’s if you’re an iPhone user, though. But if you’re not and you just want a really good phone and you do not care what OS it runs, then the Huawei P9 is perhaps one of the finest phones on market right now.