Precisely a year after reviewing an update to Android Oreo, the Mate 9 smartphone from Huawei is now getting a taste of Android Pie. The Huawei device was previously enrolled onto the EMUI 9.0 beta program and is now receiving a stable build of Google’s latest mobile OS.
Android Pie on the Huawei Mate 9 shifts the software version of the device to EMUI 9.0.1.150 and seeds Huawei’s HiVision tech which is a take on the Google Lens for identifying objects, places, animals and monuments. HiVision also adds the ability to make real-time translations to a specific language. Additionally, Mate 9 gets a new Huawei Share feature which is a one-stop shortcut to wireless printing.
EMUI 9.0 will employ a new gesture setup for task-switching. Swiping up from the centre on the bottom chin will get back to the home screen or lead you to the Recent apps menu while swiping from the left will take you back to the previous screen. There’s also the new and improved GPU 2.0 which works on newer algorithms to minimises the power required by a game for a lag-free performance. The new Password Vault will store all your usernames and passwords under one roof and can only be accessed through facial recognition or the fingerprint scanner.
Alarms and incoming calls will now take advantage of the whole screen while the Settings App displays artistic illustrations in each section. In terms of apps, Huawei’s own apps will soon feature tabs and controls at the bottom part of the screen which is the easiest place to access, however large a smartphone is. This will thus allow room for one-handed navigation across the entire interface and will go well with new swiping gestures on the home screen which will bring up the navigation panel.
The latest update will also make the Huawei Mate 9 the oldest non-Google smartphone to receive Android 9 Pie as the device was launched in November 2016. The Mate 9 came with a 5.9 inch Full HD 1920 x 1080 display with a fingerprint scanner at the back. The device was powered by a Kirin 960 Processor with Mali-G71 MP8 GPU, 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage.
For optics, the Mate 9 included a dual-camera setup at the back, combining 12MP and 20MP sensors. There’s an 8MP sensor on the front for selfies and video calling. The device initially ran on Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box with EMUI 5.0 on top and the latest update seeds the device its fourth major software update.