Huawei Mate 8 launches internationally – premium phablet with Marshmallow on board

Back in November, Huawei announced its next entry in the Mate series – the Mate 8. An all-metal phablet class device with a 6-inch, 1080 x 1920 display, Huawei's home-brewed 64-bit Kirin 950 SoC, 3 GB / 4 GB of RAM, and 32 GB / 64 GB of internal storage, expandable via microSD card of up to 128 GB. The handset features a 16 MP main camera, equipped with a Sony IMX298 sensor, phase detection auto-focus, and a tri-axis optical image stabilization, and an 8 MP selfie snapper. Keeping with the spirit of Huawei's phablet line, the Mate 8 features a generous 4,000 mAh battery, which may be a bit smaller than the 4,100 mAh juicer in the Ascend Mate 7, but still sounds pretty respectable.

Thus far, we've had no specific launch date for the Mate 8, nor an officially unveiled price – all the previous announcement told us was that the handset will launch in China some time in the first quarter of 2016. Well, here, at CES 2016, Huawei has just announced that the phone is launching today, January the 5th, and while the phone will be available in a few (yet unnamed) regions, it will unfortunately not be sold in the US, at least not at this time. Though, if an earlier leak and an FCC visit are anything to go by, there's still the chance that Huawei may be planning a launch in the States later in 2016.

Pricing for the new phablet will vary by region, floating around the price point of $643 (€599) for the 3 GB RAM / 32 GB storage variant and $750 (€699) for the 4 GB RAM / 64 GB storage one. Huawei will launch the Mate 8 in 30 different countries throughout Western Europe, Asia, Australia and Mexico. Unfortunately, the company doesn't plan to sell it in the US as of this moment.

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