The Huawei Mate 9 is a fresh and rather big Huawei smartphone boasting premium features, set to launch in November 2016. Here’s what we know so far about the Mate 9, including specs, rumours, how it compares to the old Mate 8 and the likely UK asking price and release date.
What is the Huawei Mate 9?
Huawei’s Mate smartphones are premium phablets, or in other words, bloody massive mobile phones packing the very latest features and top-end specs. They’re rivals to other big, expensive blowers such as Samsung’s Galaxy Note range.
We enjoyed the mighty Huawei Mate 8 which hit the UK at the very start of 2016, although it wasn’t quite perfect. This hand-filling 6-inch phablet boasted gorgeous design work (a Huawei staple), and that all-metal framework packed in some strong features. Performance was silky smooth and battery life was particularly impressive. However, the software was rather flawed, which let down the excellent hardware somewhat.
It looks like the Mate 9 will basically boost the specs of the Mate 8 to bring it up to date, while retaining the mega-sized dimensions and metal build. The Mate 9 will sport a typically stylish and hardy finish, available in a range of colours including gold and pink. And inside you’ll find some premium components, as you can see in the specs chart below.
Huawei Mate 9 specs
| Phone | Huawei Mate 9 |
|---|---|
| Screen size | 6-inches |
| Screen resolution | Full HD 1920×1080 |
| Water resistant? | No |
| Fingerprint sensor? | Yes |
| Processor | Kirin 960 |
| Memory | 4GB to 6GB |
| Storage | 64GB to 256GB |
| MicroSD? | Yes |
| Rear camera | Dual Leica lenses (likely 12MP) |
| Front camera | 8MP |
Note that the above specs are merely rumoured and not officially confirmed by Huawei.
Huawei Mate 9: What’s new vs Huawei Mate 8 and Huawei P9?
For a start, the Mate 9 will come packing Huawei’s latest Kirin 960 processor, which is yet to be launched. This is expected to be a worthy rival to the Snapdragon 820 (used in most 2016 flagship phones including the Sony Xperia XZ and HTC 10), and should produce perfectly smooth performance while coping easily with memory-hogging games.
And as the more expensive Mate 9 models boast a whopping 6GB of RAM, this phone shouldn’t show sign of ageing any time soon.
So in terms of performance, the Mate 9 should be a step up from the Mate 8 and the P9. It’s also going to use the same dual-camera setup as the Huawei P9, which is great news – check out our P9 camera review to see why.
Apart from that, it seems to be business as usual. We’re hoping that the Mate 9 boasts strong battery life like the Mate 8, but we’ll have to wait for the review samples to test this out.
Huawei Mate 9 UK price and release date
The Huawei Mate 9 will be revealed on November 3 in Munich, Germany. The launch is scheduled for 2pm local time, which is 1pm UK time.
We’re expecting the Mate 9 to go on sale later in November, so you can expect to pick it up in UK stores and from networks before the end of the year.
Leaks have revealed that the Huawei Mate 9 will cost around $500 US, so expect to pay around £400 to £500 here in the UK if you want it SIM-free. Alternatively, you’ll probably be able to pick up the Mate 9 on contract from around £35 per month.
We’re constantly updating this article as more information about the Huawei Mate 9 emerges.
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