Huawei P9: Dual-camera smartphone officially revealed

Hot off the back of rumours that the iPhone 7 will have a dual camera, Chinese manufacturer Huawei has revealed its new flagship handset, complete with the setup.

The P9 comes in two sizes: a standard, featuring a 5.2ins IPS LCD display with a pixel density of 423ppi, and Plus, which scales up to 5.5ins with a super AMOLED screen. The bigger phone also gets another display related perk – Press Touch, which mimics the iPhone 6S's 3D touch capabilities.

The smartphones come with Huawei's own octa-core Kirin 955 processor, mated to 3GB RAM on the standard model and 4GB on the Plus, and while the smaller model only comes with 32GB memory, compared to the 64GB of its big brother, it can take MicroSD card support up to 128GB.

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Rounding up the rest of the features is a USB-Type C port, a 3,000mAh battery in the 5.2ins handset – upped to 3,400mAh in the Plus – and an exclusive IR blaster and stereo speaker setup for the larger model.

It's the hardware on the back of the phone which is garnering attention, though – a 12 megapixel dual-camera setup made in collaboration with the German manufacturer, Leica.

"It means the P9 can create shallow depth-of-field shots more commonly associated with larger lenses," says the BBC, adding that the inclusion of two camera sensors should help Huawei propel itself into the premium brand market.

Unlike the dual camera used on LG's recently released G5, which allows users to take two different types of pictures, the setup on the P9 is all to do with the image quality of single shots, combining the data from both apertures to create photos.

One sensor captures red, green, and blue information while the other collects monochrome image data, technology the firm claims delivers better performance in low light conditions and superior contrast.

However, the biggest perk of the system is its ability to "simulate wide aperture photography", allowing more light into the sensor to create a shallow depth of field.

"A shallow depth-of-field can create striking photographs of a subject with a blurry background," says the BBC, as the P9 allows users to alter the part of the image they want to be in sharp focus.

According to Android Authority, the phone "feels like a camera with a phone attached" and has "more camera modes… than you can shake a stick at". The site lists a full manual mode, Bokeh effects for extreme shallow depth pictures, selective focus and "much more", only lamenting the lack of optical image stabilisation.

The P9 launches in Europe on 16 April, with the Plus handset coming four days later. According to PC Advisor, prices could start at just under £500 for the standard, with a £100 premium for the bigger model.