Smartphone leaks specialist Evan Blass has revealed some new crystal clear renders and technical details concerning Huawei's next flagship smartphones. Huawei is readying to release the Mate 9 and Mate 9 Pro, codenames Manhattan and Long Island respectively. Both phones rock impressive specs including up to 6GB RAM, up to 256GB storage, and a 4x optical zoom dual-lens main camera.
The pair of Mate 9 phones will be following up on Huawei's P9, P9 Lite and P9 Max which are quite recent additions to the smartphone market. With the upcoming Huawei flagship pair, the phones are the same physical size, being based upon 5.9-inch screens, but differ in other key specifications. For clarity I have constructed a table summarising the reported specs below.
|
Huawei Mate 9 |
Huawei Mate 9 Pro |
Screen size |
5.9-inch flat screen |
5.9-inch dual-curved screen |
Screen resolution |
1080 x 1920 Full HD |
1440 x 2560 QHD |
Processor |
64-bit, octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 960 SoC |
64-bit, octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 960 SoC |
RAM |
4GB |
4GB, up to 6GB |
Storage |
Up to 256GB |
Up to 256GB |
Main cameras |
20MP dual-lens f2.0 camera by Leica with 4x optical zoom |
20MP dual-lens f2.0 camera by Leica with 4x optical zoom |
OS at launch |
Android 7.1 |
Android 7.1 |
Other |
|
Google Daydream support |
As you can see above, with the Pro you will be paying for the higher resolution curved screen, more configuration options, and it being certified for Google Daydream VR usage. With all the optional specs maxed out the Huawei Mate 9 Pro will cost an eye watering $1,300 says Evan Blass.
Huawei's P9 used its dual sensor main camera to take mono/colour photos and for depth sensing. The new Mate 9 looks to take a different tack in the use of the dual-sensor configuration. Taking a leaf out of Apple's book, and but not from Qualcomm's Clear Sight initiative, I think Huawei will use one sensor to shoot at 1x zoom and the other to provide 4x zoom telephoto pictures. It's likely there will be blending modes too, using in camera software.
Venture Beat, Evan Blass' website home, expects Huawei to launch both the Mate 9 and Mate 9 Pro at an event in Munich, on the 3rd November.