Light Catcher: Honor 9 to come with superior dual-camera setup and latest Kirin chipset

Honor 9, one of the most anticipated premium mid-range handsets for 2017, has been certified by Chinese regulatory agency TENAA. Three different variants of the phone broke cover today - STF-AL00, STF-TL10, and STF-AL10. The new listings come along with detailed spec sheets and pictures, which gives us a pretty good idea of what to expect before the device breaks cover next month. 

All three versions are said to feature a 1080p 5.15-inch display. There is no mention whether it will be an LCD or AMOLED panel, but the former is a more probable candidate, as it was the technology used in previous Honor models. 

An octa-core chipset clocked at 2.4GHz will (likely Huawei's own Kirin 960) will power the Honor 9. The base model will come with 4GB of RAM, while the other two variants are listed as having 6GB of the stuff. Internal storage for the trio will be at 64GB plus microSD support up to 128GB. The Honor 9 will come with Android 7.0 out of the box, but we can expect that an update to 7.1.1 will follow shortly after it hits the shelves. 

Judging by the press invite for its announcement event, Honor has put some extra attention on perfecting the dual-camera setup on the 9. Nicknamed "The Light Catcher", Honor 9 will most likely offer superior low-light shots thanks to its 20 MP + 12 MP main camera setup, which will be supplemented by a single LED flash. An 8 MP front cam will take care of your selfie needs.

A 3,100 mAh battery will keep the hamster wheel spinning. For comparison, P10, the flagship of parent company Huawei boasts pretty similar specs and clocked in at 7 hours and 42 minutes in our custom battery test, so we can expect the battery life of the Honor 9 to be pretty decent. 

The Honor 9 is listed as being of a similar size to the Honor 8. Measuring at 147.3 x 70.9 x 7.45 mm (or 5.80 x 2.79 x 0.29 inches ) and weighing in at 155 grams (5.46 oz), the device is only marginally taller and heavier than its predecessor. 

As for color variations, gold is the only color present at TENAA. However, the pictures included look pretty identical to an earlier leak, so we should expect the handset to come in black as well. The signature "Honor Blue" is another shade that we're likely to see on the 9. 

As far as pricing goes, the device is expected to sell in China at around 3000 Yuan, which roughly translates to $437. However, we're more likely to see an MSRP of $499 or €499 for all other markets, as this was the initial price tag of the Honor 8. 

source: TENAA (translated) 1,2,3 via The Android Soul