Alphr | Alan Martin

There's a dearth of smartphones in the sub £400 bracket, and the Honor 9 fills the space nicely. It's more powerful than the modular Moto Z2 and the Samsung Galaxy A5, and looks like a handset that costs twice the price. If you have that money to spend, then look no further.

Stuff | Andrew Williams

The Honor 9 is a phone with some serious high-end chops that sells for a mid-range price ... All of which means that the Honor 9 is one of the best phones of the year. No, we didn't see that coming either. High-end hardware at a middleweight price makes the Honor 9 one of the best phone deals around.

The Guardian | Max Parker

It's enough to turn this range's fortunes around. The Honor 8 was a fair buy, the Honor 9 is about the best you'll find at the price. A refreshingly good deal.

Trusted Reviews | Max Parker

Honor 9 is a refreshingly good deal

GadgetSpeak | mfereday

Battery power aside, I was impressed with the appearance and performance of the Honor 9. Designed for the young at heart ,Huawei has attempted to combine aspects of quality, appearance and a price point that should appeal to its designated market sector.

TechRadar | James Peckham

The Honor 9 offers a lot of what the high-end flagship phones do right now, but for a much lower price. There's no exciting, headline-grabbing feature here, but a great design, fantastic performance and lots of nice touches make this an all-round impressive and affordable phone.

Android Headlines | Justin Diaz

The Honor 9 is a great smartphone that has some pretty top-tier specs without the top-tier price.

T3 | Spencer Hart

Looking for an affordable flagship smartphone? Honor has you covered. At that price, the Honor really is an absolute steal. It's a great smartphone with high-end specs and a premium design.

Recombu | Chris Barraclough

The Honor 9 is a great-value handset that offers a similar flagship experience to most other premium phones, yet with a greatly reduced asking price.

ZDNet | Sandra Vogel

The really interesting comparison is between this handset and the Huawei P10. It's nearly £200 cheaper but with similar specifications, and is simply much better value for money. That's bizarre since both handsets come from Huawei, but good news for buyers.

NotebookCheck | Florian Wimmer

Gorgeous case, good camera, decent battery life – we hardly find any reason for complaint with the Honor 9. If the SoC would not throttle under load, our recommendation would even become more clear, but even as it is, the Honor 9 offers a great price-performance ratio.

MobileTechTalk | Craig Bradshaw

The Honor 9 is an excellent device at an excellent price and the timing of its launch couldn't have been better. The price is great for a smartphone in 2017 that isn't a complete waste of time, and I have to say, even as a OnePlus fan, I've had to really think about which device to use moving forward as a daily driver.

Android Authority | Gary Sims

Flagship specs and dual cameras for less than you might expect! The honor 9 certainly ticks a lot of the right boxes: great performance, dual cameras, sleek design, and an IR blaster!

AndroidPit | Jessica Murgia

I would personally choose to buy the Honor 9.

phoneArena | Stephen S.

In the end, the Honor 9 is an attractive option for international smartphone users – and all for quite a bit less than your typical flagship. There's no one stand-out area where the Honor 9 shines, but it does enough right to be worth recommending.

What Hi-Fi?

With features you'd expect from a more expensive phone, the Honor 9 has usurped OnePlus as the de facto high-end smartphone for anyone on a budget - even if overall performance is good rather than great.

Expert Reviews | Jonathan Bray

I'd still recommend the OnePlus 5, however, if you pick the Honor 9 for its slick looks and low price it's not a decision that will weigh heavily on your mind.

Pocket-lint | Mike Lowe

The Honor 9 is a siren in the mid-range phone market. Our complaints are only minor quibbles. For the next Honor device to achieve perfection all it really needs to do is smooth out the graphics and user experience, then it will be an unstoppable brand in the affordable phone market. Now, that's quite the turnaround from its starting point.

Digital Trends | Andy Boxall

A beautiful blue bargain, the Honor 9 embarrasses the competition with its cool camera and flashy design.