AI-enabled Huawei Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro mobiles announced

At an event in Munich, Huawei announced the Huawei Mate 10 and Huawei Mate 10 Pro smartphones. These high-end devices are the first to be powered by the Huawei Kirin 970 SoC which packs in 8 CPU cores, a first-to-market Mali G72 12-core GPU, and the world’s first NPU (Neural Network Processing Unit) designed specifically for a mobile device. This accelerated AI processor is built on TSMC’s 10nm process.

The Huawei Mate 10, Mate 10 Pro, and the Porsche Design edition have a lot of specifications in common. The following qualities are highlighted by Huawei, available to buyers of any model:

• Kirin 970, the world’s first AI processor for smartphones with a dedicated Neural Network Processing Unit (NPU);
• A 3D Glass Body featuring a barely-there-bezel, Huawei FullView Display and HDR10 supported technology for intensely vivid and brighter colours;
• TÜV Fast-Charge Safety Certified Huawei SuperCharge and 4000mAh battery with AI-powered Battery Management. Battery can charge from 1 to 58 per cwent in 30 minutes;
• New Leica Dual Camera with SUMMILUX-H lenses, with both featuring an aperture of f/1.6, and intelligent photography including AI-powered Real-Time Scene and Object Recognition and AI-powered Bokeh Effect;
• An all-new, simplified EMUI 8.0 based on Android 8.0.

As one might expect, the Pro version raises the specs somewhat above the already decent level offered by the Mate 10. In summary, paying extra for the Pro will provide a slightly larger 18:9 OLED display, 2GB more RAM for a total of 6GB, double the built-in storage to 128GB, plus IP67 water and dust resistance. Opting for the Porsche Design Edition doubles the storage again (256GB), and furnishes the purchaser with some design flourish from the sports car maker. Please check this PDF for a full spec table comparison between the three Huawei Mate 10 models.

Having pondered over Huawei’s PR and product details I’d consider the key attractions of the new Mate 10 series to be the imaging capabilities and the AI additions. The main dual-camera setups use 12-megapixel RGB and 20-megapixel monochrome sensors, Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), paired with dual lenses with a large aperture of f/1.6.

The AI processing support and NPU enhance the photographic capabilities by enabling AI-powered Bokeh effects, AI-powered digital zoom, AI motion detection, AI-powered real-time scene and object recognition. Elsewhere the AI is used for smart features such as real-time translation, and battery management.

Other worthwhile features of the Mate 10 series include; an easy projection feature to connect to a larger screen with support for a full desktop experience – either mirroring or extending the smartphone display like a PC, the world’s first dual 4G SIM support, 3D glass body with curves making it a pleasure to hold, and HDR10 support.