Chinese manufacturer HomTom continues with the launch of attractive devices and puts on sale the new HomTom S9 Plus. From the name we learn that the smartphone wants to be a clone of the future Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus. But the smartphone design is closer to that of the famous Xiaomi Mi MIX. The name of the terminal is undoubtedly attractive, but are the specifications too?
Design
Looks like this 2017 is the year if the Bezel Less phones, everybody wants a handheld with this design, since Xiaomi surprised the world with the Mi Mix. This time is the turn for Homtom, recently put in mass production, the S9 Plus follows the trend. With a Mi Mix 2 look a like in the front, this phone is a real beauty with a 18:9 screen aspect you got a 6″ display in a body of a 5.5″ display of a regular phone. Made from crystal and metal, this smartphone placed the finger print scanner in front and physical buttons on the left and the selfie camera in the bottom next to the home button. You can chose from three colors; blue, silver and black.
Packaged in a nice box, where you can find this terminal, two USB cables (Data and OTG), one sim tray pin extractor, english user manual, a screen film protector and the power brick.
Hardware
HomTom S9 Plus is not bad at all in specs. Let’s start with the motor, the terminal is powered by potent octa-core chipset Mediatek MT6750T @1.5GHz. About this processor, we can say it is the number one option for many mid-range Chinese smartphone makers. Internal memory is 64GB and for multitasking 4GB of RAM is available. Has big 4050mAh battery, you can expect from the battery to provide satisfactory autonomy and if you need power in a hurry, this device is compatible with power pump technology from Mediatek for fast charging.
For connectivity Wi-Fi b/g/N and Bluetooth 4.1. In the outside you will find a MicroUSB 2.0 port (compatible with OTG) and 3.5mm audio jack.
The HomTom S9 Plus receives an 6″ IPS Incell 18:9 display with 1440×720 pixel resolution (HD+). Below the display you can fin a 8mpx selfie camera and the home physical button, which hosts the fingerprint scanner.
As we mention before, this phone is following the trend and Dual Camera is the must have. Comes with a pair of 16mpx + 5mpx sensors that are capable of ‘Bokeh’ photo capture. The dual camera incorporates ‘traditional’ features such as autofocus and HDR. We observe the ‘cool’ mode in which the LED flash and the two photo sensors (horizontally) are arranged. As for photo capture, you can take pictures with the maximum resolution of 3456 × 4608 pixels.
Review
Here in iGeekPhone this year, thanks to the bezel less trend we’re founding new devices with outstanding design. Even the “cheap” brands are making a great job, this is the case from Homtom, its S9 Plus has a nice look and feel and its hardware assure a great performance for a mid-range device. It has almost all the perks, we only miss the IR emitter.
We also need to mention that has a near Android stock experience, it comes with Nougat, and we like it.
Conclusion
The HomTom S9 Plus is on pre-sale @Gearbest at an affordable price of $179.99 USD. The phone is very good in many chapters: hardware, battery, camera and design. As for display, it is decent if we value the price. The HD+ resolution is however small for a 6-inch diagonal.
Update on Oct. 24: Use Coupon code HS9PGB for Homtom S9 Plus at $89.99 (Valid at 17:00 Beijing time, 20 units.