Huawei is fast becoming a big name in the smartphone world, producing well-built and well-specced devices for less than its competitors. The recent Mate 9 was a good device, meaning expectations are high for the company's next P flagship.

Well it's now here, debuting at Mobile World Congress on 26 February. This is how the Huawei P10 compares to its predecessor, the P9.

Huawei P10 vs Huawei P9: Design

  • P10 has more refined design
  • Front-mounted sensor on P10
  • Both have USB Type-C

The Huawei P10 follows a similar design to last year's P9, but with a couple of refinements. There's a metal body with curved edges and a dual-rear camera setup within the antenna strip at the top of the device.

The P10 has a front-mounted fingerprint sensor, like the Huawei Mate 9 Porsche Design, rather than a rear-mounted sensor like the P9. Measurements have yet to be detailed, but we suspect the P10 will be a similar size and weight to last year's model.

The Huawei P9 features a solid metal body measuring 145 x 70.9 x 7mm with a weight of 144g. It has a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, USB Type-C and there is a dual-rear camera setup positioned within the antenna strip at the top of the device.

Huawei P10 vs Huawei P9: Display

  • Smaller display on P10
  • Flat screen on both
  • Both Full HD resolutions

The Huawei P10 has a 5.1-inch display with a Full HD resolution, which puts its pixel density at 431ppi, making it ever so slightly sharper and crisper than its predecessor thanks to the 0.1-inch reduction in size.

Some of the leaks presented a curved body for the P10, which suggested it would come with a curved display too, making for a more exciting design than the P9 but that turned out not to be the case. 

The Huawei P9 has a 5.2-inch display with a 1920 x 1080 resolution for a pixel density of 423ppi. It is an IPS LCD screen which is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass and it is flat, like the P10.

Huawei P10 vs Huawei P9: Cameras

  • Dual-rear cameras with Leica technology remain for P10
  • Resolution increase of monochrome sensor on P10
  • P10 has Leica front camera

The Huawei P10 follows in the path of its predecessor and features a Leica-branded dual-rear camera in a horizontal setup. The Mate 9 also has a dual-rear camera but it is positioned vertically rather than horizontally.

There is one 20-megapixel monochrome sensor, coupled with a 12-megapixel colour sensor, both of which have an aperture of f/2.2. Huawei has also introduced Leica technology to the front-facing camera in the P10. It is thought the sensor has a resolution of 8-megapixels though this hasn't been confirmed as yet.

As mentioned above, the Huawei P9 has a dual-rear camera with Leica branding, positioned horizontally. Both sensors have a 12-megapixel resolution and f/2.2 aperture but like the Mate 9, one is an RGB sensor, while the other is monochrome.

There is also an 8-megapixel front-facing camera on board, offering an aperture of f/2.4 and video recording capabilities up to 1080p. This isn't Leica branded though so we expect the P10 to be better, especially as Huawei has said the new device has double the brightness. 

Huawei P10 vs Huawei P9: Hardware

  • Faster hardware on P10
  • More RAM on P10
  • Larger battery capacity on P10

The Huawei P10 runs on the 2.3GHz octa-core Kirin 960 processor, supported by 4GB of RAM, Mali graphics and 64GB of internal storage, which can be expanded via microSD through the second SIM slot. A 3200mAh battery runs the show, charged via USB Type-C as we mentioned, and supporting Huawei SuperCharge. 

The Huawei P9 features the Kirin 955 chipset under its hood, along with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, or 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, depending on the region. It offers microSD support up to 256GB through the second SIM slot and it has a 3000mAh battery, which is charged via USB Type-C.

Last year's model featured support for 24-bit audio, so we expect the P10 to offer the same, though it hasn't been specified as yet.

Huawei P10 vs Huawei P9: Software

  • Android Nougat and EMUI 5.0 for both models
  • Software experience should be similar
  • P10 rumoured to be adding Amazon Alexa

The Huawei P10 launches on Android Nougat with the EMUI 5.1 skin over the top, which is the same software found on the Mate 9. Huawei has added a few extra features and refinements for the P10 though, including something called HiBoard and Highlights for the gallery.

The Huawei P9 launched on Android Marshmallow and EMUI 4.1, but as it is upgradable to Android Nougat, the software experience between these two devices is likely to be very similar once the updates all take place.

Huawei added Amazon's Alexa to the Mate 9, so perhaps we will see the same for the P10, giving it something a little different, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

Huawei P10 vs Huawei P9: Conclusion

The Huawei P10 delivers various improvements over its predecessor, including a more refined design, faster performance more RAM and a bigger battery. There are also advancements in the camera department.

The display is smaller on the P10 compared to the P9 however, and the resolution hasn't increase, which is a shame. It would also have been nice to see a curved display like the Mate 9 Porsche Design.

Overall though, the P10 is likely to be the better device of these two handsets being compared here, but we will update this feature once we have had it in for review.