Huawei P9 is perhaps one of the most anticipated flagship smartphones today since the Samsung Galaxy S7 and LG G5. It impressed us mainly because of the Leica-branded dual camera lens. We learned of Huawei’s partnership with the German camera maker a few weeks before official launch. We’ve seen a number of leaks and heard rumors before the official unveiling but the Huawei P9 didn’t fail to wow us.
We have yet to get our hands on the mobile device but Huawei has been boasting that they have reinvented smartphone photography with the Leica lens. Interestingly, it wasn’t Leica who manufactured the camera. They just co-engineered the lenses and the latter were produced by another company. There’s the Leica branding already but the camera was actually manufactured by Sunny Optical Technology. Truth is, Leica has only certified a third-party supplier to make the camera module. According to a Huawei representative, Leica has been absolutely involved in the making of the camera module of the new P9 and P9 Plus.
The camera is not really Leica-made but only Leica-branded but we’re certain of the quality because the company would’t just put its badge on a product. The camera setup includes two cameras–one to capture color information and one for monochrome. Both sensors are 12MP.
Sunny Optical Technology is a Chinese company that is said to be authorized by Leica. We’re not sure if Leica really had a hand in designing it or not. This is the first time we’ve learned of a top German name working with a lesser known Chinese brand so there must be something good that will come out of this. We’ll see.
UPDATE: Huawei sent this statement as clarification on our previous report:
“The P9 and P9 Plus were co-engineered between Huawei and Leica. This is the first collaboration between the two companies following a long-term partnership that was announced in February. From the very beginning, Leica has been deeply involved in the development of these devices. There has been significant technological collaboration between Huawei and Leica around many aspects of the camera, including optical design, imaging quality, image data processing, optimization, and the mechanical construction of the camera module to the graphic user interface. The devices meet Leica’s highest imaging quality standards.”
VIA: Connect
