Huawei’s Mate series has always been about crafting BIG phones, and the latest addition, Huawei Mate 9, has a lot to look forward to. That is if you like big phones.
Let’s talk about the hardware first.
Huawei is using its brand new Kirin 960 chipset, which replaces the Cortex A73 cores in Kirin 955 with new Cortex A73 cores, and also integrates the latest Mali GPU. Since the Kirin 950/ 955 fared remarkably well, it’s only just to be excited about its successor.
Also, Huawei is once again using a Leica co-branded camera, but an improved one. The 12MP color sensor now has Optical image stabilization (OIS) and the monochrome partner has a bigger 20MP resolution sensor. Both covered by F/2.2 Leica optics. On the front, there is an 8MP shooter with wide f/1.9 aperture.
The only compromise here is display resolution. Once again Huawei is sticking to Full HD (1080P) resolution for the extra-large 5.9-inch screen. Since it’s an IPS LCD panel, the display won’t look terrible, but with VR and other Jazz catching up, a QHD resolution might have made more sense at this point in time. Of course, the battery gains resulting from the choice should count as earnest consolation.
Oh and yes, Huawei also presented a lighter and slimmer Porsche Design Mate 9, which has a curved 2K Display and more memory but costs a fortune ( 1395 Euros or Approx 1,03,000 INR).
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Other hardware features include 4G VoLTE, dual band WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, GPS, fingerprint sensor, NFC and a 4000mAh battery with SuperCharge techonology that promises full day worth of battery charge with just 20 minutes of charging.
Now the software part.
Huawei’s EMUI hasn’t exactly been a strength and its Chinese-market-centric design hasn’t been well received globally. With the new Android 7.0 Nougat based EMUI 5, the company is trying to rectify this shortcoming with some subtle changes scattered across the UI.
The slim Aluminium unibody handset will be available in a wide range of Color options – Black, Space Gray, Moonlight Silver, Champagne Gold, Ceramic White and Mocha Brown.
Huawei Mate 9 Price and Availability
Priced at 699 Euros (Approx 51,000 INR), the Mate 9 will be available in China, Malaysia, France, Poland, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Spain, Japan, Thailand, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates. Chances of official India release are slim.
Huawei Mate 9 Specs and Features
| Model | Huawei Mate 9 |
| Display | 5.9-Inch, Full HD IPS LCD Display, 2.5D Glass |
| Processor | Huawei Kirin 960, 4x A73 @ 2.4Ghz, 4x A53 @ 1.8Ghz
Mali-G71 MP8 GPU, i6 co-processor |
| RAM | 4GB |
| Internal Storage | 64GB, Expandable |
| Software | Android 7.0 Nougat based EMUI 5 |
| Primary Camera | 12MP Color (with OIS) and 20MP Monochrome sensor, f/2.2 aperture Leica Optics |
| Secondary Camera | 8MP, F/1.9 |
| Battery | 4000mAh, SuperCharge fast charging |
| Dimensions and Weight | 156.9 x 78.9 x 7.9 mm and 190 grams |
| Others | 4G VoLTE,Fingerprint sensor, USB Type C, Bluetooth 4.2, WiFi ac |
| Price | 699 Euros or Approx Rs. 51,000 |
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