In many markets around the world, this might be one of the only options for a truly large screen premium phone. It handles this responsibility with grace. I'm not personally a fan of big phones, yet this Huawei has been one of my favorite phones to review this year.

Improved software skin; Excellent battery life; Excellent camera hardware; Very good stereo speakers; Well accessorized out of the box; Premium fit and finish; Good display brightness

We'd prefer a higher resolution display; Camera software is complex to navigate; No enhanced water protection; Poor headphone audio

If the Galaxy Note 7 was still on the market, Samsung would be facing significant competition. But since that device went up in flames, the Mate 9 stands alone without any major phablet competitor. The iPhone 7 Plus makes comparable promises, but it is Apple.

High performance; Long battery life; Fast charging; Better value than the competition; Stereo sound in landscape mode; Excellent reception

Not waterproof; Very large; Mediocre gaming performance; Display not recommended for VR

It doesn't have the flame-prone Note 7's beautiful lines and curves, but if you're after a high-performance big-screened phone that won't set your pants on fire, the Mate 9 is a great option.

The Huawei Mate 9 has more power than you'll need; a camera that's great for arty shots and a battery that won't quit on you by dinner

Its screen is only full HD and its design is utterly forgettable

For the last three weeks I have been using the Huawei Mate 9 full time. The verdict is easy: a great smartphone.

What a stunning looker in Mocha Brown! Remarkably easy to hold given it's large screen space. Stlylish; clarity of display out of this world; easy to set up! The octa core processor is fabulously speedy! Haven't put it through it's paces yet, but totally impressed so far! Well done, Huawei!

The Huawei Mate 9 is currently available for $600. That is a reasonable price considering all you get. The design is understated, but has a very polished look and feel. I just wish it was water-resistant as well. The rear-facing fingerprint sensor might be the best one I've ever used.

Design Clean, understated aluminum unibody shell with some nice accents; Extremely small bezels, Battery Fantastic battery life; Almost three full days of usage for me, Cameras The Leica-branded dual cameras are better than previous versions and produce overall excellent shots.

Software again There's a bit of bloatware pre-installed; and Huawei still needs to fix the EMUI lock screen; Charging The Mate 9 uses a Huawei-specific fast-charging tech called SuperCharge.

At the beginning of November, Huawei released something a little bit exciting – the Huawei Mate 9. I was lucky enough to be given one of these devices for review and as such have been using it for the past few weeks.

The Huawei Mate 9 is great big phone in every sense of that term. It delivers the strong performance and epic battery life we've come to expect from the Mate series, in a slightly more compact form factor, with trailblazing internals.

Top-notch build quality; Big; attractive screen; Fast performance throughout; Great battery life and super-fast charging

Lower screen resolution than rivals (regular Mate 9; Camera not quite effortless as GS7/Pixel; Finicky capacitive buttons (PD Mate 9

Huawei's Mate 9 is, in our opinion, the best in the Huawei line-up, boasting an impressively large battery alongside powerful internals, an improved dual-camera setup and a sleek, gorgeous design. The benchmark results were some of the best we've seen, bringing excellent value for money.

Naturally, the camera of the Huawei Mate 9's dual-lens main camera is the highlight of the phone. More specifically, the bigger highlight of the phone's main camera is its 20MP monochrome camera sensor, which has gained Leica's approval and takes some absolutely gorgeous photos as well.

New HiSilicon Kirin 960 SoC is very snappy; Leica-approved dual-camera is capable of taking impressive photographs; EMUI 5.0 user interface blends seamlessly with the Android 7.0 Nougat OS; Battery life on phone is impressive

Pricetag still a bit on the high side