Huawei P9 to bring twin Leica cameras in a powerful slim body

Huawei is today expected to unveil its latest handset as the company looks to increase its global smartphone influence outside of its homeland China.

Following a number of successful launches, Huawei is expected to unveil the P9, the latest in a line of slim yet powerful Android smartphones housed in a premium metal body. 

The highlight of the new flagship smartphone is expected to be the twin cameras on the rear, the fruits of a recently-announced union with premium optics brand Leica. The company has previous dabbled with dual cameras on its Honor sub-brand, appearing on the Honor 6 Plus.

The Huawei P9 is expected to feature a 5.2-inch Full HD display, as the company continues to avoid the use of Quad HD panels appearing on recent Samsung and LG devices. You can expect 32GB of storage, as well as microSD, and a fingerprint scanner on the rear of the device.

The company is likely to use its own silicon to power the device, with a Kirin 950 chipset and 3GB RAM. This octo-core chipset has previously been seen in the Huawei Mate 8, the company’s latest phablet announced in January, but brings lower prices without sacrificing too much power.

Launching on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, the Huawei P9 is expected to have the company’s own EMUI software layered over the top, bringing a wide range of customisations to the visual appearance of Android, as well as adding in a wide range of functionality.

It’s in the software that Huawei has struggled previously, with the EMUI skin being a little over-the-top and lacking the slick refinement you now find in the likes of Samsung’s TouchWiz or HTC Sense.

The Huawei P9 UK price is still to be confirmed, but in the past the company has offered competitively-priced smartphones. We’d expect it to cost around £400. More details will become available from 2pm in the UK, as the company launches the handset.

READ: Huawei P9: Release date, specs and everything you need to know