HUAWEI’S MATE 9 AND MATE 9 PORSCHE DESIGN IS A NEW ERA IN SMARTPHONES WORLD

Huawei Mate 9

If you’re familiar with the Mate 8, the first thing you’ll likely notice about 

the Mate 9 is just how many design cues it takes from its predecessor. From the front, the two appear to be cut from the same cloth: they pack the same earpiece, sensor array, and even logo placement. The dimensions are nearly identical, too. The Mate 9’s aluminum body measures roughly the same height (156.9mm on the Mate 9 versus 157.1mm on the Mate 8, width (78.9mm versus 80.6mm), and depth (7.9mm versus 7.9mm) as the outgoing Mate 8.

The commonalities don’t stop there. The Mate 9 also sports a 6-inch Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) IPS screen with sloping 2.5D shielded glass. It sports the same 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and 8-megapixel front-facing camera. And it has the same 4,000mAh battery, which Huawei said should last about two days with light usage and 20 hours on 4G.

However, when you flip the Mate 9 on its back, you’ll see a big change. Huawei added an upgraded dual camera module that is tuned by Leica, just like the one on the company’s flagship P9 smartphone. It’s made up of one f/2.2 12-megapixel color camera and one f/2.2 20-megapixel monochrome camera that produces black and white images. Huawei’s tech combines the two images together to produce an image with more detail. The monochrome lens can be used separately, too, to take black and white shots.

The second rear-facing camera doesn’t come at the cost of the first’s quality. It features what Huawei calls “4-in-1 hybrid focus”: a combination of laser, phase detection, depth, and contrast focus. And it’s capable of both wide aperture and bokeh effects, plus up to a 2x optical zoom effect.

This dual-camera setup was strong on the Huawei P9, and Huawei says it’s just gotten better on the Mate 9.

The Mate 9 sports upgraded internals, too, in the form of Huawei’s new octa-core Kirin 960 processor paired with a Mali-G71 MP8 graphics chip and the company’s proprietary i6 co-processor. It’s a package that altogether performs “180 percent” faster than the 950, Huawei claims, and as much as 40 percent more efficiently in terms of power consumption.

The Mate 9’s battery sports Huawei’s “Super Safe 5-gate protection,” a power design which delivers real-time voltage, current, and temperature monitoring to “eliminate safety hazards” and “safeguard battery life.” And it supports SuperCharge, Huawei’s fast charging standard. The company said it’ll juice up 50 percent faster than the Mate 8, and reach as much as 58 percent capacity in 30 minutes.

The Mate 9 also packs a USB Type-C connector, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, dual SIM slot, four noise-canceling microphones, and MicroSD card slot that’s expandable up to 256GB. And it’s got cellular radios compatible with 7 WCDMA + 4 GSM.

In terms of software, the Mate 9 ships running the newest version of EMUI, Huawei’s proprietary software that leverages “machine learning algorithms” to ensure your phone remains “fast” over time — specifically by learning which apps you use most frequently and compressing low priority apps. It packs an array of useful tweaks including “missdial prevention” feature, personalized themes, and privacy tools. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg: EMUI can capture your knuckles; scan business cards; launch the camera app instantly.

It all runs atop the latest release of Android, 7.0 Nougat. And its got gaming chops: the Mate 9 supports Daydream VR, Google’s virtual reality platform.

Huawei Porsche Design Mate 9

The Mate 9 wasn’t the only smartphone Hauwei unveiled this morning. The smartphone unveiled the Porch Design Mate 9, a limited-edition collaboration with automaker Porsche with a higher pricetag and slightly superior hardware.

The Porsche Design Mate 9, which Huawei claims is among the “thinnest smartphones in the world,” sports 6GB of RAM and a 5.5-inch 1440p (2,560 x 1,440 pixels) curved display capable of ultra-high color contrast — upgrades that’ll cost a hefty 1395 Euro premium when it ships later this year. It’ll be available exclusively in graphite black later this year.

The Huawei Mate 9 is available on Huawei’s website in Black, Space Gray, Moonlight Silver, Champagne Gold, Mocha Brown, and Ceramic White. It’ll cost 700 Euros in Europe, but it should also be available to buy unlocked in the U.S. on Huawei’s website soon.