Huawei Mate 9 teaser confirms device's name ahead of next week's launch

posted by Ben R.

Oct 27, 2016, 5:19 AM

Huawei Mate 9 teaser confirms device's name ahead of next week's launch

Update: Huawei has pushed another Mate 9 teaser, which you can check out below.

The likes of Google, Apple and Samsung may have already unveiled their big smartphone releases for 2016, but we're by no means done for the year. With Xiaomi having roared into the spotlight with the contemporaneous announcements of the Mi Note 2 and Mi MIX, fellow Chinese OEM Huawei is poised to showcase another behemoth (or two) on November 3rd. In order to generate some anticipation, the company has already rolled out a teaser graphic and now, a second poster confirms the Mate 9 moniker.

It was always assumed that after the Mate 8, we'd get the Mate 9. Then again, smartphone makers have a knack for mixing and matching titles, so it's nice to see that Huawei is keeping things sensible. The teaser also essentially confirms that the Mate 9 will be the starring attraction on November 3rd.

As for the specs, the Mate 9 is expected to include the new Kirin 960 chipset, a 5.9-inch 1080 x 1920 display, a 4000 mAh battery and could max out at 6 gigs of RAM and 256 GB storage. It'll also get Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box, which is a real plus given that some new high-enders are launching with last year's Marshmallow on board. The Pro model, meanwhile, will be similar to the standard Mate 9 in most respects, but will purportedly include a dual-curved, QHD display with a resolution of 1440 x 2560.

After the likes of the P9 and P9 Plus saw Huawei collaborate with German optics firm Leica for their dual rear cameras, the Mate 9 family is expected to follow suit. Not too long ago, the companies formed a sustained partnership and set up a joined R&D center to continue this exciting effort to advance smartphone camera capabilities. With Leica's influence and the promise of 4x optical zoom with the Mate 9, we're very excited to see what's in store.

The supposed price of the top-end Pro/Plus handset -- a cool $1300 -- would undoubtedly price many out of the market. Murmurings indicate that this price may include a new wearable, perhaps the fabled Huawei Watch 2. Though competition hasn't exactly been fierce in the once-hyped smartwatch arena, the original Huawei Watch was one of the more elegant examples, so we won't be too disheartened if an upgrade is also on the cards.