[Device Reviews and Information] Alberto96:
Review (part 1)

Introduction

This is the HOMTOM S9 Plus.

Hardware

In the last few months lots of "bezel-less" or MI MIX/S8 devices have been released as never before, and this HOMTOM S9 Plus is no exception. This S9 Plus by HOMTOM is a MI MIX inspired model but with way different characteristics, starting from the chassis design and ending with the internal hardware.

The device is powered by a mid-range Mediatek MT6750T with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of Storage all powered by an huge 4050mAh battery that, apparently, offers even some extra juice. More about this in the following paragraphs.

Unboxing

Compared to the usual rectangular packaging, this one feels more premium, even though the contents might leave you slightly disappointed: 1x Micro-USB Cable, 1x USB OTG Cable, 1x 5V/2A USB Charger, 1x User Guide, 1x SIM Card Tray Removal Tool, 1x Plastic Screen Protector, 1x Hard Plastic Cover (no TPU) and the Smartphone (of course). A screen protector is already applied.

This is one of those devices not made for maximum comfort in hand since, even though it is compact, it is slightly "bricky" with no rounded corners. Other than that, it feels solid and there are no visible imperfections anywhere, neither visible glue between the chassis and the back cover. You can feel the coldness (or the opposite, since it works as an heatspreader) of the metal, and this is always a good sign.

Considering the 6 inches screen, this device is one of the most compact i have ever tested (15.8x7.37x0.97cm), as big as my Xiaomi Mi Note 2 that features a 5.7 inches screen. The same can't be said for the weight, since it is slighty heavy considering that there is no metal on back: 226g.

On the front side there is the usual 2.5D glass with the IPS panel underneath and the upper front side of the device features an Earpiece and the Sensors hole that includes Light and Proximity Sensors. A Notification LED is here, and it is an RGB variant.

Here you can see the LED in action.

On the lower front side there is the Fingerprint Scanner and the Front-Facing camera. Unfortunately there is lots of wasted space where hardware buttons could have been fitted without any issue at all.

The back side features a glossy plastic surface that produces some nice light effects. Apparently, there is no oleophobic coating so it is a fingerprint magnet.

The upper rear side of the device features the protruding Dual Camera Sensors with a small rounded Single-LED Flashlight next to them.

On the lower rear side there isn't anything important except the HOMTOM logo since the speaker is located on the bottom.

Device

Screen

An HD+ (that is basically HD with some extra vertical pixels) screen for a 6 inches surface isn't the best idea to be honest, since the pixel density gets too low decreasing the viewing experience, but i must say that on this device i can't notice any serious quality decrease compared to a FHD panel, meaning that HOMTOM opted for an high-quality one.

As regards its color accuracy, it is decent but not the best since the color temperature needs to be calibrated in order to get rid of a blueish tint noticeable on my unit.

No issues noticed with the light sensor, it works just fine and it is accurate. Here you can see the screen brightness.

Viewing Angles are as good as you would expect from an high-quality IPS panel.

Camera

For some reason HOMTOM choose to use an outdated Sony IMX135 13MP camera sensor for the rear camera, that technically isn't tol bad, but in late 2017 there are way better options that could have been choosen. Anyway, photos look decent with accurate colors but there is some noise noticeable even in photos taken outdoors. HDR works perfectly though, almost a must to get some higher level of detail.

Here you can see some random photos, including macro shots.

As expected from a Single-LED flashlight, it is just enough to support the sensor in low-light conditions, just don't expect superb results.

Videos are recorded at 1080p30 with an overall stable frame-rate and acceptable quality, not the best neither the worst. You can't get anything better from this camera sensor.

The front-camera is a pretty standard 8MP sensor (GalaxyCore GC8024) that is pretty good for almost all kind of usages. Average quality, nothing to complain about.

Audio

The speaker used for this device is pretty powerful and provides a minor amount of low frequencies at maximum volume, but a minor distortion is noticeable. In-call Quality is just fine, and the earpiece is loud but lacks low frequencies at all, as usual on those bezel-less devices where the isn't much space for the speaker.

Something that is perfect, even though there is no second microphone for noise suppression, is the main microphone. It provides a crystal clear recording with no issues with the volume.

GPS

Mediocre GPS Signal and Accuracy, even though GLONASS is supported. It is stable though so no issues with navigation softwares.

Indoors on the left, outdoors on the right.

Telephony, Mobile Network & WiFi

Just like most chinese devices, also HOMTOM provides full european 4G bands support (including Band 20), and i noticed the same lack of signal reported in the GPS test. I am not saying that it is really low, but not as high as it should be, and the lower than usual speed confirms it.

Unfortunately the same lack of signal has been noticed in the WiFi tests. It supports 5GHz networks but again the signal isn't excellent, as a result the download test does look like it has been made on my 2.4GHz connection instead.

Battery Life

In order to be sure that this result was accurate, i tested its real battery capacity two times (always using my trusty USB tester) and i can confirm that the battery capacity seems to be higher than declared, almost 300mAh of extra power, always appreciated ^^. (real ~4305mAh, declared 4050mAh)

Considering the 6 inches IPS panel and the not so power-friendly Mediatek SOC, the PCMark Battery Test is impressive. 12 hours and 17 minutes at minimum brightness, WiFi on and Sync on. Well Done HOMTOM for the excellent power optimization.

Sadly no Mediatek Pump Express charger has been provided for faster charging considering the battery capacity. The 5V/2A charger manages to recharge the device completely more or less 3 hours.

Software

Being the first HOMTOM device i ever review, i wasn't aware of their Custom UI. The device runs on Android 7.0 Nougat with outdated security patches (c'mon HOMTOM, you can't release a new device with old software!), with a nice-looking theme and no preinstalled bloatware (except Xender but it can be uninstalled). It runs 100% smooth with no lags even under high-load, mainly thanks to the HD+ only screen that reduces the GPU-load.

Some Mediatek Features are here such as Gestures, Tap-to-Wake, etc...including MiraVision.

Unfortunately there is no Gyroscope or Magnetometer/Compass.

No malwares detected with Malware-Bytes Anti-Malware using latest definitions. Kaspersky Anti-Virus causes the device to self-reboot for some weird reason.

As regards the fingerprint scanner, it is accurate and fast enough. Not the fastest neither the slowest. It is possible to use it to control the UI, something that can be choosen from the Fingerprint settings.

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