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P8 Max in Fall of 2016

Is it worth it to buy a P8 Max now in 2016 even though it came out in July of 2015 more than a year ago? What is your opinion? There does not seem to be much choice for smartphones at the 6.8 inch size. I had a 6 incher but now I know I need something bigger. Buying a more year old phone has advantages and disadvantages. The OS is old and may not get an update. Would it even be available in a new condition from a trustworthy source? ( My friend got burned by unknowingly buying a waterlogged phone off of Ebay). On the other hand the price should come down a lot because not many want it at that point.

It depends what you need it for and what amount you can get it for.
we got two of these in household and sofare very happy with them, one silver 64gb premiumversion purchased summer15 at BG 490US and the other late 2015 32GB titanium grey for 290US.
Im very fund of the camera in this fellow, and pretty amazed of the light its sensor contains, in fx putting on a tripod and nightsky and shutterfeatures. (it carries a 4 colored sensor, that includes white RGBW in regards to RGB for most) and handles it on dedicated socalled DSLR signal processor ' i for one ' like the result it performs.. the OIS is okay with 1.2 angle drift, not the best in class anymore, but at the time it was the double OIS effect of like contenders like Iphone+6 with 0.6 degrees, not sure how many axes the OIS is based on but will reckon its 2..
the overall-finish and thiness, its pretty outstanding.... its an fascinating piece of hardware.... -the battery shouldnt be that difficult to change if needed.. based on a few screws behind the bottomstrip on the back and cost around 16US for an original huawei 4230..
the GPU that Huawei suited this fellow up with is not flagship worthy, the CPU is pretty potent, but if you big 3dgamer on your mobile.. there is better alternatives, but overall at the release it was on par with the contenders, on stock non rooted tops out around 4175 in Geekbench3 32bit...
also cherise the landscape-homescreens based in thumps management, - and in my view is an quite impressiv quality-LTPS-fhd-panel they have suited in this fellow..
otherwise take an look at the Honor Note8. it aint 6.8 but 6.6 inch. it weighs the same as the p8max and is little thicker but seems to be an interesting fellow as of 3q 2016 with decent specs, and partically if your looking for an big screen mobile, but they are both on the emui4 as i recall..

DaneLaw,
Wow, nice post. Thank you for taking the time to respond. The Honor Note 8 does look pretty good but the 2/8 of an inch smaller screen might bother me. There is the Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra with a not so nice processor.
I just wish tablets could make phone calls. Then I would be all set. LOL.

The SD in the Asus is so much better than the Kirin if you wanna get the latest Android.

Personally, am a little irked that the P8Max has no NFC. Am actually thinking about switching to the Mate 8..
Not sure if it will be worth the change P8Max has a great screen size
Sent from my HUAWEI P8max using XDA Labs

eastcyber, once you go big you cannot go smaller. At least I would not do something like that.
DaneLaw, I wanted to buy the P8 Max when it came out but it was priced out of my budget. I ended up getting the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 a long while after it came out when the price came down. I really loved it. I have to say Huawei makes some great phones.

Hi! Here is ny take on the subject;
-If you just want a large phone and not that interested in rooting or customizing the ROM of your phone, then the Huawei P8 Max will be more than sufficient. Go and Get It I say! It has one of the best designs of recent times an has a very powerful audio setup. I am also using my at DPI 288 with TFS Launcher.
-If you want something more up to date with a CPU that does not lag when multiple apps are launching and you are looking for a bit of customization of the ROM and rooting etc…-lets say you are an advanced usur that wants to feel unique with his device, then stay away from P8 Max and consider the Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra, which is what I am looking to get soon but hard at work to get the 128GB version which is very rare to find or does not exist-wish any forum user from Taiwan could help help me buy it.
-Huawei to me makes great hardware in great designs but their painfully slow approach to updates and the lack of support for the developer community makes me think of it as the Apple of the Android world-a control freak that does not care about user satisfaction. I have the model DAV-701L and still waiting for Android 6.0 update. I have put my one on sale on ebay so if anyone is interested then you can PM me as this is the International model Google Play Services/Store are preinstalled and works on all European FDD-LTA bands unlike the China/Asia only version.

AWFRONT said:
Hi! Here is ny take on the subject;
-If you just want a large phone and not that interested in rooting or customizing the ROM of your phone, then the Huawei P8 Max will be more than sufficient. Go and Get It I say! It has one of the best designs of recent times an has a very powerful audio setup. I am also using my at DPI 288 with TFS Launcher.
-If you want something more up to date with a CPU that does not lag when multiple apps are launching and you are looking for a bit of customization of the ROM and rooting etc…-lets say you are an advanced usur that wants to feel unique with his device, then stay away from P8 Max and consider the Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra, which is what I am looking to get soon but hard at work to get the 128GB version which is very rare to find or does not exist-wish any forum user from Taiwan could help help me buy it.
-Huawei to me makes great hardware in great designs but their painfully slow approach to updates and the lack of support for the developer community makes me think of it as the Apple of the Android world-a control freak that does not care about user satisfaction. I have the model DAV-701L and still waiting for Android 6.0 update. I have put my one on sale on ebay so if anyone is interested then you can PM me as this is the International model Google Play Services/Store are preinstalled and works on all European FDD-LTA bands unlike the China/Asia only version.
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What's the argument with rooting and customizing? P8max can easily be rooted and customized. There is a lack of custom software support, but you can do a lot on your own, if you're an "advanced user".
I also experience no lag at all if I'm running multiple apps, Kirin is doing a great job here.
I'd go for a P8max again anytime. The only competitor I see is the Asus Zenfone Ultra, but I like the design of the P8max a lot more.
I'm pretty sure I'll keep this phone for a long time now.
Sent from my HUAWEI P8max using XDA-Developers mobile app

m00h, Huawei does make nice designs. I like how the bezel is small on such a big screen. It makes the phablet not as bulky. By the way guys, does it have a radio receiver to listen to local stations? I do not see that information listed on any website.

cryingthug said:
m00h, Huawei does make nice designs. I like how the bezel is small on such a big screen. It makes the phablet not as bulky. By the way guys, does it have a radio receiver to listen to local stations? I do not see that information listed on any website.
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Yes it do got an FM radio, like we often see' where it ask for headphones to be used as antenna, and with speaker symbol op left ' if you need its own speaker to carry the radiosound while headphones or just an jack-antenna is connected.

Don't fall into the Corporation/Media hype that you HAVE to have the latest and greatest otherwise you're left behind, especially when the phone is only a year old because this is how they get your money.
If you need to buy a phone right away just do it, but if you can wait there is no harm, but keep in mind as of right now there is no "P9 Max", only P9 Plus which is a 5.5" phone I believe, so if you need a big phone P8 Max is your best bet for sure.
I have done my research a lot recently before buying the P8 Max and I chose it because it had the best design and performance in the big phone class, it has an Octa-Core cpu which is already overkill and a really good battery, I would say go for it.
Also Note: If you do end up purchasing it, make sure you get the 703L, because they get updates often, I already have the Android 6.0 while the rest still don't have it.

Save $$$
Torguy said:
Don't fall into the Corporation/Media hype that you HAVE to have the latest and greatest otherwise you're left behind, especially when the phone is only a year old because this is how they get your money.
If you need to buy a phone right away just do it, but if you can wait there is no harm, but keep in mind as of right now there is no "P9 Max", only P9 Plus which is a 5.5" phone I believe, so if you need a big phone P8 Max is your best bet for sure.
I have done my research a lot recently before buying the P8 Max and I chose it because it had the best design and performance in the big phone class, it has an Octa-Core cpu which is already overkill and a really good battery, I would say go for it.
Also Note: If you do end up purchasing it, make sure you get the 703L, because they get updates often, I already have the Android 6.0 while the rest still don't have it.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the info Torguy. Buying a year old flagship will also save the user money, similar to buying a two year old car. This phone was super expensive when it first came out. I could not afford it.

cryingthug said:
Thanks for the info Torguy. Buying a year old flagship will also save the user money, similar to buying a two year old car. This phone was super expensive when it first came out. I could not afford it.
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To be honest I was in the same boat as you until recently, I didn't buy it when it came out because it was like almost a $1000 after shipping and all, then ended up getting it for like $400.
Anyways good luck with whatever you decide or have decided!

Android 6.0?
Torguy,
Is the DAV-703L for Android 6.0 worth it? I saw an Ascend Mate 7 Android 4.4.4 get updated to Android 5.0.1 and did not really see a difference because EMUI covered most changes. I did not see the point in upgrading the OS. What do you guys think?

cryingthug said:
Torguy,
Is the DAV-703L for Android 6.0 worth it? I saw an Ascend Mate 7 Android 4.4.4 get updated to Android 5.0.1 and did not really see a difference because EMUI covered most changes. I did not see the point in upgrading the OS. What do you guys think?
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My apologies, I didn't iterate correctly when I said "I already have Android 6.0" in my prior post, I meant to say I already have the update available but have not downloaded it because I heard Android 5.1 is running much better.
I mean if it ain't broke why fix right, I will just leave it as is until there is ever any updates that really do require me to update.
What sucks for me now is that it turns out that my phone will not work for Wind Mobile, a Carrier I am switching to in Canada, due to the fact that 703L is kind of limited on supported networks, where as 701L has international supported Carriers and would work with Wind Mobile, so now I have to sell my phone soon which really really sucks

Torguy said:
My apologies, I didn't iterate correctly when I said "I already have Android 6.0" in my prior post, I meant to say I already have the update available but have not downloaded it because I heard Android 5.1 is running much better.
I mean if it ain't broke why fix right, I will just leave it as is until there is ever any updates that really do require me to update.
What sucks for me now is that it turns out that my phone will not work for Wind Mobile, a Carrier I am switching to in Canada, due to the fact that 703L is kind of limited on supported networks, where as 701L has international supported Carriers and would work with Wind Mobile, so now I have to sell my phone soon which really really sucks
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are you sure there isnt any international 4G'support.. we got two p8max in household (1silver premium 64GB-703L and 1xtitaniumgrey32GB-703L) both now takes 4G after latest EMUI 4.0 M6 and it works brilliantly..
Im left with the feeling that Huawei activated more of the phones 4G bands with EMUI4.0 like perhaps band20 since Im now got high 4G speeds n Copenhagen, that Didnt before.
Wrote about it here and the hardware on 703L hence 4g simply was software related and been acti´vated with latest upgrade.. we are getting solid 4G speed all the time now here in Scandinavia. / we didnt before on 703L.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/p8max/general/703l-4glte-support-emui4-0-android-6-0-t3444090

Android 6.0?
DaneLaw:
Are you running Android 6.0 on your P8 Max phones?

Honor 8 vs 250 dollar phones or less

I just sold my honor 8. I can buy another 8 at a discount or buy a new Moto g5, a used s6, a used S7(already bought an sold one for 250) or I can roll with my Moto g4. So should I roll with the honor 8 again? How you guys feel?

brownd7380 said:
I just sold my honor 8. I can buy another 8 at a discount or buy a new Moto g5, a used s6, a used S7(already bought an sold one for 250) or I can roll with my Moto g4. So should I roll with the honor 8 again? How you guys feel?
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Click to collapse
I personally think that the Honor 8 is a great phone.
At the mo I wouldn't change mine for any other phone.
It is the only phone that I have ever had that I had not felt the need to root.
I know that some folk hasn't been happy with updates but I'm using mine alongside my flatmates Pixel and he has only had one or two more updates than I have.
Honor are still saying that they will release thier source code for the emui 5 kernel.
Once they do that and we get a fully working lineage 14.1 then we will have access to the custom ROMs that we need
I guess it comes down to what you want your phone for ?

johnhux7 said:
I personally think that the Honor 8 is a great phone.
At the mo I wouldn't change mine for any other phone.
It is the only phone that I have ever had that I had not felt the need to root.
I know that some folk hasn't been happy with updates but I'm using mine alongside my flatmates Pixel and he has only had one or two more updates than I have.
Honor are still saying that they will release thier source code for the emui 5 kernel.
Once they do that and we get a fully working lineage 14.1 then we will have access to the custom ROMs that we need
I guess it comes down to what you want your phone for ?
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Click to collapse
I really like good development and battery life. Honor 8 was great but the lack of development and terrible nougat battery life really put me off.

brownd7380 said:
I really like good development and battery life. Honor 8 was great but the lack of development and terrible nougat battery life really put me off.
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Click to collapse
The development side of things I really believe will come.
We have some very talented developers working on lineage 14.1 at the mo.
They are nearly there without getting the source code from Honor so once they do release it we will be well on our way.
As for battery life you have to be patient with your phone.
The phone will learn your usage habbits but it takes a good 4/5 days for this to happen.
If you keep playing about with your phone you don't give it a change to learn.
My battery life was all over the place when I reset my phone but after a week of normal use I'm getting a good 24 hours out of it & that's good enough for me.
I went into a phone shop yesterday and there was not one phone on there that looked and felt as good as our Honor 8

johnhux7 said:
The development side of things I really believe will come.
We have some very talented developers working on lineage 14.1 at the mo.
They are nearly there without getting the source code from Honor so once they do release it we will be well on our way.
As for battery life you have to be patient with your phone.
The phone will learn your usage habbits but it takes a good 4/5 days for this to happen.
If you keep playing about with your phone you don't give it a change to learn.
My battery life was all over the place when I reset my phone but after a week of normal use I'm getting a good 24 hours out of it & that's good enough for me.
I went into a phone shop yesterday and there was not one phone on there that looked and felt as good as our Honor 8
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It's a beautiful phone no doubt.

I don't think there's a better combination of price, features, design, camera, performance, and battery life out there right now at a comparable price.

IMO the OnePlus 3 has the best value. The camera might be inferior but it's still acceptable especially if you only use it for social media.
The thing that brought me here instead of the OP3 is because this is a smaller phone. Period. That's the only reason that swayed me here. Heck it's even cheaper than the Honor here in the UK. But if you don't mind the size, OP3 is the better choice.

Having the honor 8, I can't imagine using another phone that doesn't have IR blaster

firdausJamil said:
IMO the OnePlus 3 has the best value. The camera might be inferior but it's still acceptable especially if you only use it for social media.
The thing that brought me here instead of the OP3 is because this is a smaller phone. Period. That's the only reason that swayed me here. Heck it's even cheaper than the Honor here in the UK. But if you don't mind the size, OP3 is the better choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Granted you're UK, but the OnePlus 3 is a full 25%-30% more expensive than the Honor 8 and the camera is worse. When you're spending $400 for a phone, that puts you in a completely different price point -- that brings in options like the Nexus 6P, which I'd buy over a OnePlus 3.

Honor8 is nothing less than Precious Jewel in hand..
brownd7380 said:
I just sold my honor 8. I can buy another 8 at a discount or buy a new Moto g5, a used s6, a used S7(already bought an sold one for 250) or I can roll with my Moto g4. So should I roll with the honor 8 again? How you guys feel?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, Huawei Honor8 can be a perfect choice if you are looking for a mobile in mid range phones. Its nothing less than a precious Jewel in hand.
As i personally own this phone so i’ll say that Honor8 gives better performance as compare to Moto g5. I must say if you are looking phone in this range you should go with Honor8 if you dont want to regret in future.
Don’t you believe on me visit NDTV Gadgets comparison page and check see the comparison done by them.

Is it still worth buying in 2017 ?

I was wondering if buying this phone is still worth it in 2017 (second hand) compared to other phones in this price range ($250)

better get the galaxy s7.

Raulz0r said:
I was wondering if buying this phone is still worth it in 2017 (second hand) compared to other phones in this price range ($250)
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Click to collapse
No it isnt

Raulz0r said:
I was wondering if buying this phone is still worth it in 2017 (second hand) compared to other phones in this price range ($250)
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Click to collapse
Absolutely.

It is not, rather get the S7 or Huawei P10 if you must.
Huawei has shown poor support for the P9 depending on your region, which will only get worse since the P10 has been released. :/

MHBGT said:
It is not, rather get the S7 or Huawei P10 if you must.
Huawei has shown poor support for the P9 depending on your region, which will only get worse since the P10 has been released. :/
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Click to collapse
I totally agree. The support for the P9 has totally dwindled in that many of us are awaiting Android 7! Every other major player has released it for the current line and so many of the lines from the past! Yet we have a phone less than a year old which is not being supported!

Happy with mine and Android 7/EMUI 5

as time goes by i'm starting to hate this device.
-stars to lag when internal memory is about 1.5gb free (it still lags even with more free internal memory)
-average GPS performance
-poor ram management (my nexus 5 is way better when it comes to multi tasking)
-battery drain
-camera quality depends on the lighting conditions
-outdated security patch (i still have the december patch/no OTA yet)
-not future proof

I really like the phone, had it for a few months now. I got it this year and had no issues with it.
I did flash L09C432B378 and all working great at the mo.

shaunydub said:
Happy with mine and Android 7/EMUI 5
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Good for you... But us in the UK are still on Android 6/EMUI 4.1
Thats really bad!!!!!

If you can get yourself a good deal on it, and get one unbranded so you are not stuck on old software by lazy carriers (shame on you EE - you've had 3 months!) then this phone is fantastic.
In the 11 months I've had it I've not rooted it. The first Android phone ever to make that claim with me. Hell, I haven't even factory reset it yet. It is still snappy. Best camera I've ever had on a phone, especially if you get good at flicking to manual mode, learning basic photography, and using the RAW files to edit afterwards. The simple auto mode gets it right most of the time, but as is standard, performace decreases with light levels.
The only things its really missing in 2017 is wireless charging, OIS, and decent video recording.
But that is just my humble opinion.
What I would say though is I wish I had been more careful with the battery. Charging it up to 100% every time now means that I am seeing about 85% performance of the new battery. This is nothing newsworthy. It's common knowledge 12 to 18 months down the road performance drops off sealed Li-Po batteries. Started charging it to 80% to try and get another few months out of it.

U can buy it!
I was a bit unclear when i saw the mess with rooting and custom roms on this phone, but if huawei will release the kernel source soon we are good to go.
EMUI 5 is great, smooth fast and easy to use and the theme editor is great.
For me this Phone works just great.

for me,i have it 10 months now,very satisfied,no lags,no problem,strong build device,he fell off hundreds of time,no scratch at all and I didn't use screen protector

tmohammad said:
Good for you... But us in the UK are still on Android 6/EMUI 4.1
Thats really bad!!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no reason to be on Android 6. Plenty of guides around to update it and is very easy.

I personally wont get it. You can get an S7 for a cheap price now but the only downside is touchwiz.
Here are some questions you want to answer:
Is having an up to date phone with good support from the manufacturer important?
Do you want a phone that will last 3-4 years with security updates?
Do you care about things like custom kernels, tweaking, custom roms?
You want a phone that is pact full of features and very customization?
If you said No to all of them or most of them, then get the P9. Its a good smartphone if you want something that just does the trick with no thrills but the downside is that this phone wont get much updates past the 1.5 - 2 years mark.
If you said Yes to all or most of those questions, then there is other options within that price range. A 2nd hand S7 or a OnePlus 3 (or 3T) may be a better option.

Z-Blade said:
I personally wont get it. You can get an S7 for a cheap price now but the only downside is touchwiz.
Here are some questions you want to answer:
Is having an up to date phone with good support from the manufacturer important?
Do you want a phone that will last 3-4 years with security updates?
Do you care about things like custom kernels, tweaking, custom roms?
You want a phone that is pact full of features and very customization?
If you said No to all of them or most of them, then get the P9. Its a good smartphone if you want something that just does the trick with no thrills but the downside is that this phone wont get much updates past the 1.5 - 2 years mark.
If you said Yes to all or most of those questions, then there is other options within that price range. A 2nd hand S7 or a OnePlus 3 (or 3T) may be a better option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update policy is bad yes.
Kernel source will get released so custom kernels will come.
If the Kernel Source is there we can use the latest security patch on our own.
I dont see where i can customize a samsung more.
I think you judge way to hard, for me this is a great device.

xtcislove said:
Update policy is bad yes.
Kernel source will get released so custom kernels will come.
If the Kernel Source is there we can use the latest security patch on our own.
I dont see where i can customize a samsung more.
I think you judge way to hard, for me this is a great device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where are you getting this info on kernel sources being released soon? Huawei is notoriously bad at releasing source code in a timely manner if at all. Kirin processors will never have the support and development that Qualcomm has.

xtcislove said:
Update policy is bad yes.
Kernel source will get released so custom kernels will come.
If the Kernel Source is there we can use the latest security patch on our own.
I dont see where i can customize a samsung more.
I think you judge way to hard, for me this is a great device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kernel source was released for EMUI 4.1 and that was great but when Android N was rolled out (well, still being rolled out extremely slowly) we are stuck where we are now. It will probably happen again when Android M is released.
Dont get me wrong, this is a good phone but in my opinion, there are better phones out there at a similar price point with slightly better specs but much more development. However, if you are looking for a good daily driver without the tinkering, messing around, flashing stuff and etc, the P9 is a good choice.

I think you have to look at the price right now. A year ago the P9 had amazing worth compared to other smartphones like the Galaxy S7 because it was 100-200$ cheaper but it still offered very good performance.
Now a year later the P10 and S8 are out and the prices for the older models are reduced. The gap is much much smaller now (on the page where I like to buy stuff, digitec.ch): The P9 costs ~420 and the S7 costs 450.
If I had to choose between a 700$ S7 and a 500$ P9 I'd go for the P9. But between a 420$ P9 and 450$ S7? Probably for the S7.
Unless you specifically like the design or dualcamera features of the P9. Then it's still a very good phone that never feels slow and looks just amazing imho. I have it since launch and it has never let me down, it just works like a champ. Biggest flaw still remains: No way to unlock the screen from the front.

reasons i recently got this phone after my n5x bootlooped
Camera ,usb type c , screen and 3 year warranty
only reason i didnt get s7 was usb2 wtf didnt want to be messing around getting cable wrong way round every time
and for £200 bargain

Thinking about buying a Huawei phone but worried about future updates

I'm impressed with all video reviews about the Mate 9 and I was about to buy one for myself but I read by coincidence that the Mate 10 with EMUI 6 & Android O on board, hopefully, is on its way so probably I'll buy this model instead but one issue is bothering me with Huawei & their update policy. They said that their phones will get updates every 3 months approximately for the 1st year, then they will stop pushing EMUI updates but they 'll pass on security updates in the 2nd year. Source: http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/huawei-commits-to-24-months-of-security-software-updates-for-its-devices-875550
& tons of people are complaining everywhere about very slow updates and/or being left behind even with costly phones they bought few months ago!!
The question is: if they stop EMUI updates after 1st year for Mate 10, do they mean I won't get OTA updates for EMUI 8 & Android Q in 2019?
i.e. Can i still be able to visit their site and download official updates & install it myself manually through some official software? or they mean there will be NO updates at all? (i.e. I'll have to go through all the hassle of unlocking, rooting and installing a custom ROM?)

Let use as an example the LG V20 "The first device with Android 7.0" released October 2016, And it's still on Android 7.0
LG G6 and G5 still on 7.0
Samsung S7 and of course S8 still on 7.0
unless you're using a Pixel/Nexus don't get your hopes up of timely updates from any OEM.
With that said, I'm confident the Mate 9 will get "O" but who knows when. Well I hope....
oh and wrong forum...

by something else
anything

Do not worry about it. There are several ways to update your ROM. But my suggestion is that if your current ROM works well,
then no need to update it. Every update brings trouble to user, data loss, not smooth, bug, etc. so the best way is to find a
ROM work well, then keep it, do not update any more. The fact is the newer ROM, worse using experience. I do hope to
downgrade my Mate 9 to be Andriod 6, so I can install Xposed Frame, which is very powerful.
Anyway, Mate 9 is the best phone at present, it worth to buy. Do not be hestiate.

luyongfeng said:
Do not worry about it. There are several ways to update your ROM. But my suggestion is that if your current ROM works well,
then no need to update it. Every update brings trouble to user, data loss, not smooth, bug, etc. so the best way is to find a
ROM work well, then keep it, do not update any more. The fact is the newer ROM, worse using experience. I do hope to
downgrade my Mate 9 to be Andriod 6, so I can install Xposed Frame, which is very powerful.
Anyway, Mate 9 is the best phone at present, it worth to buy. Do not be hestiate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Newer update should not make the device worse. And if it does, the OEM f***** up big time. And in my past experience Huawei is doing exactly that.

Both ridiculous advice.
Not updating your phone is bad from a security perspective, and blindly doing so without taking a full-backup is also suicidal.

This should be in the Q&A section.

Pretty much all Android manufacturers will be too slow to update.. or probably never will.. exception is Nexus/Pixel..
Had a Xiaomi Mi Max before.. the STABLE update is stupid slow.. DEVELOPER one is weekly basis, usually on latest version.. but can be buggy..
Bought the Mate 9 3 weeks ago.. and loving it so far.. especially its superb camera (which i feel is better than S8 ones and definitely better than Mi 6 which i returned after 2 days).. and big battery.. also its fast, comparable to Snapdragon 835 (on the Mi 6)..
If you got a good deal, go for it.. in my case, retail price was RM2699 (approx USD620) and i got it for MYR1905 (approx USD440) with free original flip case and glass protector and free shipping..

The Mate 9 is the best phone on the market atm, it doesn't have wow factor when you see it, but it will WOW you after you'll use it.
However, on recent updates(weren't approved by Huawei as far as i know, but released through Firmware Finder) the phone became laggy af, chrome and web browsing is slow and can't play tekken 6 at all, i had to go back to the safest and most stable update, B181.
As far as phone goes, it never slows down and it does everything just perfect, the battery is great at all times, as for updates don't expect much, though it isn't exclusive to Huawei, if you care a lot about updates, buy Pixel XL.

I have to agree. My Mate 9 is absolutely amazing. Coming off the 3t and Pixel, I knew development would be next to nothing in comparison and was comfortable with that. As another user stated though, it's the security updates Im worried about. I'm still on April security patch. Other than r YouTube but I can't shake, the phone is flawless and the learning your habits feature is great! Here's hoping they don't skimp on the ir blaster for the 10!

ikenvape said:
I have to agree. My Mate 9 is absolutely amazing. Coming off the 3t and Pixel, I knew development would be next to nothing in comparison and was comfortable with that. As another user stated though, it's the security updates Im worried about. I'm still on April security patch. Other than r YouTube but I can't shake, the phone is flawless and the learning your habits feature is great! Here's hoping they don't skimp on the ir blaster for the 10!
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It's funny, because they actually release updates each month for almost all different regions. BUT they don't approve peoples IMEI so they never get the updates...

ante0 said:
It's funny, because they actually release updates each month for almost all different regions. BUT they don't approve peoples IMEI so they never get the updates...
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hey if use vpn change region can get update ? My mate 9 l29c636b181 check np update always

nchmaster said:
hey if use vpn change region can get update ? My mate 9 l29c636b181 check np update always
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I think you need to use a sim for that region (Asian in this case, not sure if it has to be any specific).
I bought my phone in Germany so I think I'd need to use a German sim to get updates. I always use the Hwota method to update though.
Mate 9 was never released in Sweden so I don't think I'll ever get OTA updates.

This question is almost a month old now, but I'd like to put in my 2 cents in case someone else's wondering.
At the time of this writing, Mate 10 is supposed to be launched on the 16th of October and expected release is late October or November. If I was deciding between the two phones, I would wait a bit after the phone is available to see feedback on hits and misses, that's at the very least a month or two after release. So that effectively puts it at December / January for me. Other current factors for deciding between 10 and 9 is price as well how easy it is for you to resell should you decide to buy the Mate 9 now and upgrade later. I expect the Mate 10 to launch at a higher price than what you can get the Mate 9 for at the moment.
Huawei's marketing is promising big things for the Mate 10, even saying it'll be better than the upcoming iPhone, but I have a feeling that we've been through this before in the past and that we'll believe it when see it (not holding a breath here).
The rumours so far point towards improved, bezel-less display with slightly higher resolution, improved battery life and charging, as well as the possibility of seeing a new processor.
I would love too see a more globally available 128GB version (and to a lesser extent, a 256GB option). Speaking of internal storage limitations, it would be nice at the very least to have a dedicated SD card slot, making it easier to run a dual SIM setup without affecting storage capabilities. I'm not sure the Mate 10 would be addressing this. Waterproofing would be nice. I was a big fan of AMOLED in the past, but I think I may be leaning a little bit towards LCDs after using the Mate 9. Let's see what the 10's display is going to be like. I hope that Huawei doesn't go for a massive increase in resolution, in order to up their marketing game, as I'd hate to see it impact performance and battery life. I know all of you VR users would not like that, but the Mate is all about productivity and battery life for me. It would be nice if we can have higher, 4k resolution output to external displays though.
Now about the updates concern, I think it's a very valid question. And it does seem double-edged as some of the users have pointed out. I haven't had my Mate 9 for long (only a few days), but judging by what I read here, some firmware releases seem to have affected battery drain, although it's not clear to me whether this was caused by firmware approved by Huawei for mass-release or by users forcing installations of unapproved firmware.
On the other hand, security patches are important, and if downgrading was easy or straightforward, I would have said upgrade immediately and then roll-back afterwards if needed. Unfortunately, from what I can tell so far, it's not that straightforward. Nontheless, and regardless of how easy or difficult the process is, a good, validated backup is a must before any firmware upgrade or downgrade, and Huawei makes it relatively easy to backup using the built-in app which worked very well for me. I can very easily backup app data without the need for rooting (or enabling debugging), something that makes life very easy when upgrading and migrating.
To the user who said that it's messed up that a company would release a firmware that introduces bugs, I would say that the unfortunate truth is that many other companies are guilty of the same. Google is the first one that comes to mind, with long-standing and well documented issues on their Nexus line, particularly with battery drain and Bluetooth connectivity. So in my opinion, I wouldn't single out Huawei.
I do however feel that Huawei is, or at least was, very slow with major firmware upgrade releases, probably the slowest of all the major players. You can look up manufacturers track records for previous and current devices and draw your own conclusions (I get the impression that besides Google, HTC and Motorola lines are not so bad in contrast to Huawei, but that's just my uneducated impression). In the case of the Mate 9 though, looking at the firmware release history (check Team MT), I can see that the European (C432) and global Asian (C636) 'brands' are getting regular updates (almost monthly?). Although not all of those listed updates are necessarily approved for public release, it nevertheless does show evidence of active development. On the other hand, other regions such the US C567 and the Middle East C185, seem to get less frequent updates.
On the topic of major updates, we know it will get Android O. I have no idea whether it will get the next major update after it. My Mate 7 went through two major updates from Kit Kat to Marshmallow. of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that it'll be the same case with the Mate 9.
I wish major manufacturers would be more willing to release source code for drivers (and not just abide by the minimum source-code release requirement). It would definitely prolong the life of perfectly good hardware. If you take a look at Samsung, the situation is not that much better in terms of drivers' code release. Still, I would say custom firmware development on Huawei has got to be the worst among all the major vendors, with very little community backing. This could change seeing how some initiatives are picking up steam (see Openkirin work for other Huawei devices), but I would definitely not bank on it.
On the other hand, and as others have mentioned, the current firmware releases are solid and don't leave much to be desired, and I personally don't feel much of a need to root or mod the current state of this phone. I do run Nova launcher instead of EMUI, and phone seems to play nicely with it.
I was put off upgrading to the Mate 9 after the UFS 2.1 advertising scandal and waited as long as I could before deciding I can't live with the limitations of my previous device. Ended up going for a Mate 9 after all. Looking back, I wish I had gone for it much earlier as it's really a great phone and a pleasure to use.
Edit:
I forgot to mention that my device came with Toshiba UFS 2.0, not 2.1.

Honor 8 owners; what will your next phone be?

Honor 8 owners; what will your next phone be, and why?
Or if you already have bought a new one, which one was it, and why that phone?

My next one won't be a Huawei one, that's for sure. I'm fed up with their bull****. I'll go OnePlus, Pixel or even Xiaomi depending on my budget.

I appreciated in the end the Oreo update they gave us, but i needed it just to intall RR beta 2 from openkirin and get rid of EMUI. Couldn't be happier about the rom. However, if i'll buy another phone the choice will dipend of the budget i will be able to afford. I'm interested in Xiaomi or Oneplus, as i'm done with Samsung and Honor for now...but maybe i could open again to Honor if they REALLY impresse me with an AMAZING quality/price phone. Unless that day bye bye Honor and Sammy

Poco F1 as of now... im really looking for compact phone like Honor 8 but no one manufactures it or even cares about it.. all they care about is ****ing notch and copying iphone..

I'm really happy with the build quality and aesthetics of the honor 8, but their software support is terrible. Now I am almost certain that the Oreo update is a one-off thing. I think I'll consider switching to one plus seeing their software support and pretty interested in the leaks of 6T. If a company launches lots of phones per year, their software support becomes more limited than the companies launching limited phone models per year, it's just my opinion though.

Gonna try out the iPhone. This was my first and will be my last phone from Huawei.

My next phone won't be Honor/Huawei. After Oreo official update my phone is hanging and randomly restarting. Probably Xiaomi/OnePlus/Asus ..

Honor 8 is my first Honor device, I had a Sony before that, and Samsung before that. I will NEVER go back to Samsung, Sony was good but lagging behind these days. And Honor 8 is impressive I have to say, apart from the chaotic updating protocol that Huawei seems to follow
I tried Xiaomi Mi A2 for a week and I didn’t like it. MIUI was a bit ‘rude’, couldn’t get rid of Google search bar, couldn’t see network speed on my notification bar, couldn’t even change ringtone (UK market, themes and ringtones are not supported due to privacy regulations!). Also LED notification light, it’s there, but only in white! Whether it’s an application notification or charging light! It’s just constantly white! I had to return the device
I like Honor I have to say, excellent build quality, multicolour notification light, network speed on notification bar, clearing memory from the bottom of the screen rather than having to scroll through all apps on top! And when I do clear the memory it tells me how much I’ve been using and how much left! It’s small things like this on daily use that I do appreciate
I will never buy an iPhone or Pixel just because it's against my principals! I also don’t want a ‘flagship’ device that will cost too much money because I know what I’m like, doesn’t matter how good or expensive the phone is, in a year or two I will want to buy another one! So no point paying too much just to let it sit in a drawer in a couple years time!
I did look at OnePlus 6, too expensive for my liking, also lack of MicroSD card could be an issue, I didn’t think it would be till I tried Xiaomi Mi A2 last week.
I used to like Nokia (I’m talking about original Nokia, 5110, 3310, 8250 and 6630!) Looked at 7 Plus but saw too many reviews mentioning charger socket problems and update lag issues, if they manage to rectify that, I might give Nokia a go :good:
Also very tempted to get the Honor Play now, wouldn’t pay launch price for it though as I know it will drop a bit soon/ish! I wouldn’t mind the notch if it’s properly integrated into the operating system, but then again, would I have same problems updating it in a couple months' time?

Asmund said:
Honor 8 owners; what will your next phone be, and why?
Or if you already have bought a new one, which one was it, and why that phone?
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Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S... It's a nobrainer for me. I was also thinking about OnePlus 6T and Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact, but they are really expensive and the Sony one doesn't have custom ROMs for it. Xiaomi is the perfect golden middle route: It only costs 410 bucks, but it's a flagship designed for my intensive gaming and programming needs and the XDA community for it is pretty active: there are so much custom ROMs for it that I can't choose from lots of MIUI replacements and Xiaomi supports making custom ROMs unlike Huawei.

Thanks to everyone for input and sharing experiences...
After thinking about it for quite a while I might go for OnePlus 6 128 gb

I think i'll try Xiaomi for the first time in my life, Mi 8 SE.

Xiaomi A2, Pixel 3, or Oneplus 6t, depending on availability and pricing. One thing is sure though, heavily modified Android or Huawei, never again.

Its gonna be the LG G7 for me

Probably the OnePlus 6T or Huawei P20/Mate 20

Im currently thinking of Nokia 7 plus... stock android, android one updates, working G-cam, big battery etc...
It kind of bothers me that some apps don't work correctly on huawei phones (i often see the warning "this app might not work correctly on your phone" and i had to try several apps to get the job done)...
No other cam app working on the 8, EMUI not so fresh oh and i need a new battery after one and a half year of not so heavy use...
Phone was good and good price when i bought it, made some good pics, its fast, but when you dig deeper there are flaws now and then....
not to mention the "when is the update coming? " thriller, specially with oreo....

My next phone will most likely either be a Pixel or OnePlus. But if some manufacturer like Huawei makes a phone with the best camera in a phone and it wouldn't cost that much, then I'd consider getting that.

Mate 10 pro should be on sale soon considering the mate 20/pro is coming out. It's around $500 to $550 now depending on the color. Hope to get it for around $400 in a few months.

Xiaomi mi8 explorer

Samsung S9 for me.. i really dont like big phones but the s9 feels just like my honor 8
i need something with SD card support and really hate cloud storage

Its may be the Honor 10 for me...