Huawei P9 vs Samsung Galaxy S7 vs LG G5: What’s the rumoured difference?

Huawei is set to launch its new flagship at an event scheduled in London on 6 April. The P9 has been the subject of rumours for several months, as well as plenty of image leaks and if you’ve been following the speculation, you’ll know the company is placing plenty of focus on the rear camera.

What else could the Huawei P9 bring to the flagship smartphone arena though? We have put its rumoured specs up against the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the LG G5 to see what the differences are and how the three devices compare.

Huawei P9 vs Samsung Galaxy S7 vs LG G5: Design

The Huawei P9 has leaked in several images over the last few months. All the leaks point towards a slim metal build with a fingerprint sensor on the rear. No measurements or weight information have been suggested but we expect it to be a similar size to its predecessor, the P8.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 has a metal and glass body that measures 142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9mm and weighs 152g. It too has a fingerprint sensor but you’ll find it on the front of the device instead. It is available in white, gold, black and silver colour options.

The LG G5 features a painted metal build with a modular element that allows for a removable battery – something that is not found on other metal devices. The G5 measures 149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7mm and weighs 159g so a little bigger and heavier than the Galaxy S7. It has a fingerprint sensor on the rear like the Huawei P9 is expected to offer and it comes in silver, gold, titan and pink colour options.

Huawei P9 vs Samsung Galaxy S7 vs LG G5: Display

The Huawei P9 is rumoured to come with a 5.2-inch Full HD display. There was previously talk of a Quad HD AMOLED display but after another report claimed the company didn’t want to trade battery life for the extra pixels, it has been assumed we can expect 1920 x 1080. On a 5.2-inch display, this would result in a pixel density of 424ppi.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 features a 5.1-inch AMOLED display with a Quad HD resolution. This means it delivers a pixel density of 577ppi, which would result in sharper and crisper images compared to the rumoured display for the P9, even if it is a little smaller.

The LG G5 also has a Quad HD resolution on board, although its display is LCD and a little bigger at 5.3-inches than the Galaxy S7 and expected P9. The larger display means a pixel density a little lower than the Samsung at 554ppi, but it will still be sharper than the P9.

Huawei P9 vs Samsung Galaxy S7 vs LG G5: Camera

Huawei has placed a big focus on the P9 camera. The new flagship will be arriving with dual rear cameras but it is not yet clear what other features will be on board, or what resolution they will offer. We can expect quality, however, with Huawei teaming up with Leica on the P9.

Some reports have said there will be two 12-megapixel sensors with OIS, while others have suggested there will be two 13-megapixel snappers on the rear. Whether these will provide depth effects like the HTC One M8, or a wide-angle camera like the LG G5, we don’t yet know.

The most recent leaked images suggest there will be a dual tone LED flash and laser AF on board. The front-facing camera of the P9 has also been left without details in the rumours.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 features a 12-megapixel rear camera with larger pixels than its predecessor and an aperture of f/1.7 for better performance in low light. It also features dual pixel technology for quicker auto-focusing, while the front facing camera is 5-megapixels, which also has an f/1.7 aperture.

The LG G5 has a 16-megapixel main rear camera, along with a secondary 8-megapixel 135-degree wide-angle sensor for when you want a wider field of view that is closer to the human eye than a regular smartphone camera. There is also an 8-megapixel front-facing camera on board.

Huawei P9 vs Samsung Galaxy S7 vs LG G5: Hardware

The Huawei P9 is rumoured to be coming with the Kirin 950 processor and 3GB of supporting RAM. This is the same chip as the recently launched Mate 8 with eight cores ensuring everything runs smoothly. There have also been talks of the 955 chip though, as well as 4GB and 6GB of RAM so it is a little unclear what the final hardware might be on the new device. 

Reports suggest we will find 32GB of internal storage and Huawei tends to offer microSD for storage expansion so we can expect that for the P9 too. Apparently there will be a 3000mAh battery on board and leaked images suggest USB Type-C.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 comes in two models – one has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chip, while the other has the Exynos 8 Octa processor. Both have 4GB of RAM and 32GB and 64GB storage options are available with microSD support for further storage expansion. The Galaxy S7 is charged via Micro-USB and it has a 3000mAh battery.

The LG G5 has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chip, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage with microSD support. It has a smaller 2800mAh battery than the Galaxy S7 and P9, but as we mentioned previously, it is removable. There is also USB Type-C on board the G5 for fast charging and data transfer.

Huawei P9 vs Samsung Galaxy S7 vs LG G5: Software

The Huawei P9 will no doubt come with Android 6.0 Marshmallow from launch. It’s not stock Android though as Huawei changes almost every aspect of Android with its EMUI skin that is placed over the top.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 also comes with Android Marshmallow, as does the LG G5, but again, both have their individual software. The Galaxy S7 has Samsung’s TouchWiz skin placed on top, while the G5 has LG’s Optimus UX on top.

All three of these devices might be based on Android but they all offer different user experiences.

Huawei P9 vs Samsung Galaxy S7 vs LG G5: Conclusion

The Huawei P9 is certainly rumoured to look the part with its metal build, as well as act the part with Leica cameras, but whether it will be able to compete with Samsung’s excellent design or LG’s great camera remains to be seen.

The specs look good enough for the P9 and if the rumours are true, it stands a good chance of competing, even if the display resolution and RAM is a little lower than its rivals. It will almost certainly be cheaper too, something that Huawei is known for.

For now, this comparison is based on speculation but we will update it when we get the official specs in. If you want to read more about the P9, you can read our rumour round up here.