Huawei will start sales of the new Mate 9, a 5.9” phablet, in Australia from 7 February.
The Mate 9 reflects the trend towards using a smartphone as the primary Internet access device. Its 5.9” screen is housed in a body that is actually smaller than the 5.5” iPhone 7 Plus courtesy of an amazing 77.5% screen size to body ratio.
Huawei says it has the world’s fastest processor, the second-generation Leica dual lens camera, SuperCharge technology for a full day's use from 20 minutes’ charge, and 4GB RAM and 64GB storage with microSD support and OTG for external disk support.
Richard Yu, chief executive, Huawei Consumer Business Group, said, “In developing the Huawei Mate 9, we started with a simple question – how can we improve every element of the smartphone experience? We know that for today’s business users, a fast and functional smartphone is just the beginning. Consumers also want a gorgeous design and intuitive features, so we created new devices at the forefront of hardware and software innovation. The result is a device that is breathtakingly new, inside and out.”
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ITWire has not reviewed one yet – soon we hope – but early international reviews are glowing. The second-generation Leica camera fixed all the things that held it back in the flagship P9, and a huge 4000mAh battery gains an 82-hour endurance rating.
The rear camera has a 20MP main lens and a 12MP mono lens that combine to give detail and blur-free shots with optical image stabilisation, Pixel HDR+, and four-in-one autofocus. While its technically a f/2.2 lens you get two and it behaves like f/1.5.
The processor is a Kirin 960 — developed by Huawei as a flagship engine — and it has 4 x A74, 2.4GHz and 4 x A53, 1.8GHz, an i6 co-processor and a Mali-G71 GPU. In independent GeekBench 4 multi-core tests it is 8% faster than the iPhone 7 Plus and 47% faster than the Google Pixel XL.
It has LTE Cat 12 (600/150Mbps; Wi-Fi AC Mu-MIMO, Bluetooth 4.2 (A2DP, LE), GPS. NFC, IR blaster, fingerprint, and Android 7.x.
Critics say that while the HD, 1920 x 1080 IPS, screen is excellent for general use, it is not for VR use and it does not have an IP rating.