It lacks the refinement of the iPhone 7 Plus and Google Pixel XL, but the Huawei Mate 9 is better value (outright or on a plan), offering a bigger screen in a relatively compact unit, long battery life, a good camera and plenty of storage.

Huawei continues its rise in the smartphone maker ranks, and the Mate 9 is its latest flagship phablet. As such, it shows everything the company is capable of, both regarding design and hardware.

Huawei's line-up is starting to look more unified with the launch of the Mate 9 and the GR5 (2017) and a lot of the features are consistent across product lines. The Huawei Mate 9 , however, still retains some of its original key strengths - large display, better processing power and longer battery...

* Impressive performance; * Great camera; * Very long battery life; * Fast charging; * Nougat right out of the box

* Average display

Here's the long and short. Mate 9 may no longer hit all the high notes on the cutting-edge smartphone release circuit, but it still remains more than competitive on performance and stocked with impressive base-level features, including rear dual-camera capabilities.

It's fast and has a fantastic screen, but poor battery life means the Mate 9 just doesn't measure up as the next Note 7 replacement

Huawei Mate 9 Pro: The metal body is handled perfectly, the phone is firm, it does not bend even when it tries to twist or bend. Rounded hips and horns are not pressed or cut anywhere, it keeps well in hand. The grip is certain, the phone does not tend to slip.

Solid endurance

High price

Update: Huawei has now released both the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro , which replace the Mate 9 from its top end line up. That means the price of the Mate 9 may drop down soon too.

Incredible battery life; Powerful processor; Solid build quality

Higher price than expected; Emotion UI still strange; Not as Daydream-ready as hoped

Huawei has set itself apart from its competitors by making an actually smart phone that can adjust its performance based on your habits. The Mate 9's machine-learning algorithm prioritizes resources to apps that it anticipates you'll use, making your overall experience smoother.

Unique machine learning algorithm; Impressively thin for such a large-screen device; Long battery life; Brisk performance; Large; bright display; Actually has a headphone jack

Only supports GSM carriers; Mediocre camera quality in low light; Polarizing skin will turn off Android purists

Huawei's smartphones only started arriving in the United States recently, but that's no reason to discount them. While the company still won't give us a price or a solid release date, its new Mate 9 will be a contender for any Android fan who wants a big smartphone as soon as it gets here.

Good overall performance; Fast fingerprint sensor; Long battery life; Huawei's native software provides a lot of ways to manually optimize the handset's performance

Lots of crapware that you can't delete; Camera could produce better low-light photos; Uncertain price in the US; Emotion UI is still a hodgepodge; and it meshes poorly with Google's Material Design apps and any third-party apps that follow Google's guidelines

Display - Super-sized The Huawei Mate 9 has a huge 5.9" display, which is just an inch short of what you might find on a typical tablet. A premium feel is created by the use of 2.5D glass, which curves over to meet the edges of the phone and is kind to the finger when swiping inwards or outwards.