Things are getting really hot in the smartphone space. Ever since Huawei decided to stop playing and regain its market share, companies like TECNO are busy trying to defend their positions. The latest bullfight comes in the form of a Huawei Y9 (2019) and a TECNO Camon 11 Pro. The former having launched well over a month before the latter.
When the Y9 (2019) launched, Huawei went all out with advertisements, celebrity endorsements and hashtags all over. The phone is beautiful and packs quite the punch considering its Kes.25,000 price tag. In retaliation, TECNO launched the Camon 11 Pro just the other day and to everyone’s surprise, the device draws a lot of inspiration from the Y9, a clear indication of its purpose in the market – to outsell the Y9, they even priced it lower!
Anyway, before we get carried away with the mumbo-jumbo of who did what, let’s have an over the top kind of review and dissect what each device has to offer.
Display
This is where the battle lines are drawn. Without this breaking into a war, the Huawei Y9 (2019) has a better display at 1080p (Full HD) stretching 6.5″ compared to the TECNO Camon 11 Pro’s 720p (HD) that covers 6.2″.
Both devices to feature a notch, a feature that has dominated most of 2018 smartphones. However, if you so wish, both phones provide the option to hide said notch through the software.
Performance
Another area that’s usually hotly contested is in the device’s performance. Straight to the point, the TECNO Camon 11 Pro takes the crown here, at least on paper. The Camon 11 Pro packs 6GB of RAM compared to the Y9’s 4GB. The storage for both phones stands at 64GB which should be sufficient for most people.
The processors create a further divide. The Y9 carries an in-house Kirin 710 chip while the Camon 11 Pro has a MediaTek Helio P22 chip. Both are Octa-core processors but that’s where the similarities end. The processors have negligible differences, hence leaving the winning factor to the RAM.
Camera
Both devices boast of their camera prowess with AI being thrown around. The Huawei Y9 (2019) has four cameras in total, 16MP plus a 2MP lens on the back and a 13MP lens coupled with a 2MP lens on the front. The Camon, on the other hand, has a dual camera setup on the back; 16MP and 5MP, the front has a 24MP lens.
The secondary lenses on both devices solely serve the purpose of depth sensing, however, despite the differences in megapixels, the output from both devices are pretty much equal. The differences come in how each phone processes each photo taken. Unfortunately, we don’t have any sample images to put this category to rest but I am confident to say they are both very capable devices.
Battery Life
What’s a phone if it can’t last you throughout the whole day? Well, both these devices pack quite the juice and can comfortably power through a busy day. At 4000mAh on the Y9 and 3750mAh on the Camon, there’s little difference to the battery performance of each.
One would think the larger battery is a clear winner but remember the Camon has a lower resolution and slightly smaller display thus requires less power compared to the Y9. However, if push comes to shove, the larger battery is a winner – considering you can lower the resolution of the Y9 to push the battery life further than the nine to ten hours screen-on-time it achieves without breaking a sweat.
Value Additions
Under this category, we look at what each phone brings to the table aside from curvy looks and colourful backs. Both devices have a fingerprint scanner mounted on the back, both have software-based Face ID and both support 4G connectivity on both SIMs (which goes without saying that they are both dual-SIM phones).
Where the TECNO Camon 11 Pro makes a stride further is with the inclusion of Faiba 4G support (Band 28 – 700MHz) and 3D emojis under the moniker AR emoji to bring life to your texting, both features lacking on the Huawei Y9 (2019).
The final nail is the price. The Camon 11 Pro retails at Kes.23,999 while the Y9 retails at Kes.24,990. A small difference that could be the deciding factor for many. Which would you pick?
