After a week full of rumours and leaks, Huawei has finally launched Mate 9. Though there has been no information as to when the Chinese handset manufacturer will launch the device in India but it should be soon. On the other hand, recent reports suggested that LG V20 is all set to enter the Indian market sometime this month at Rs 49,990 so why not compare these two and see whats best for the buck.
Design and Display
In terms of the design, the Mate 9 resembles a lot to its predecessor and follows the same metalic uni-body design. The fingerprint reader lies at the back with Leica branded dual camera set up just above it. For the display, Mate 9 comes with a huge 5.9 inch Full HD IPS LCD Display which is not at all inferior to any high Resolution display to a naked eye. 
One the other hand, LG V20 also comes with a metallic design rather than rugged back design which we saw in the V10 with matte finish at the back. Further it also features a fingerprint scanner at the back with dual camera set up. At the front though, LG V20 comes with a 5.7 inch Quad HD IPS LCD display. Moreover, the V20 also comes with a secondary 2.1 inch display with 160 x 1040 pixels resolution. This secondary display offers a lot of shortcuts and other quick functions and toggles.
In terms of the design, there is little to choose between these two. However, LG V20 does come with a better display at a smaller size so if display quality is your priority, LG V20 should be your choice. The Mate 9 though with a bigger screen is not much big in terms of the overall size.
Processor and Memory
A smartphone is never judged just based on its looks. On the inside, the new Huawei Mate 9 comes with a powerful 2.4 GHz Kirin 960 Processor with Mali-G71 MP8 GPU for graphics and 4GB RAM for multi tasking. The device comes with 64 GB internal storage which is expandable up to 256GB irrespective of whether it is a Dual SIM device or not. In other words, if its a Single SIM device then it will come with a dedicated microSD card otherwise a hybrid Dual SIM slot.
LG V20, on the other hand, is powered by a Snapdragon 820 Processor at 2.15 GHz with Adreno 530 GPU and 4GB RAM with storage options of 32GB/64GB which can be expanded up to 256GB via a dedicated microSD card slot.
Both the devices come with Android 7.0 Nougat running out of the box with their own customized skins on top. Huawei boasted a lot about EMUI 5.0 in the sense that it learns your usage habits with time and can allow you to quickly access the most used apps.
Camera
In the photography department, things get a little more interesting as both these devices sport a dual camera set up with Huawei partnering Leica for the same. The Mate 9 comes with dual-camera set up one being a 12-megapixel sensor and the other one being a 20-megapixel sensor with f/2.2 aperture, OIS, 2x zoom, Leica optics, phase detection & laser autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) Flash. At the front, there is an 8 Megapixel shooter with f/1.9 Aperture and 1080p video recording capabilities. Huawei is known to give good cameras in smartphones and with Leica partnership as we saw in the P9, the game will only improve.
LG V20 comes with dual-camera set up as well with one being a 16-megapixel shooter with OIS, Hybrid Auto-Focus (includes Laser auto-focus, PDAF, contrast auto-focus), f/1.8 aperture and dual-tone LED Flash and the second camera being a Wide-Angle 8-megapixel fixed-focus unit. At the front, there is a 5-megapixel selfie camera. However, one should note that both the cameras at the back are independent and they don’t complement each other as seen on other flagships.
Battery and Connectivity
If battery life is your priority, then we would strongly recommend the Mate 9 as it comes with a 4000 mAh non removable battery compared to LG V20’s 3200 mAh battery. Further, the full HD display on the Mate 9 will help the device last even more on juice. However, LG V20’s battery is removable which in today’s date is rare to find.
For connectivity, both the devices come with Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth v4.2, GPS, NFC etc are there with USB Type-C connector which supports quick charging on both the devices. LG V20 also comes with a Quad Hi-Fi DAC which is surely a deal for those who are into music listening.
Wrapping Up
Well, we are still not aware of the price of Huawei Mate 9 though on conversion we get the price of about Rs 51,700 but we expect it to differ than the actual pricing. LG V20 will come with a price of Rs 49,990. Both the devices comes pretty close and have their own advantages and disadvantages. LG V20 comes with a secondary screen, better display and removable battery. On the other hand, Mate 9 comes with a better battery, better front facing camera and you never know may be at cheaper price. Nevertheless, if you were to ask us, we would place LG V20 above the Mate 9 because of its better Quad HD Display, Removable Battery, better DAC, and there’s always that secondary display. Not to forget, LG V20 comes in line with S7 and iPhone 7 in terms of camera as well. However, if display is not your priority and battery life is and you don’t matter a larger phone size then Huawei Mate 9 is not a bad choice at all.