The Huawei Mate 9 Could Be Coming At Exactly The Right Time

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The Huawei Mate line could be coming at the perfect time for many consumers who are looking for a larger premium device to fill the void left behind after the Note 7 fiasco. Regardless of how Samsung handle the situation moving forward, there is little doubt that some users will be moving on from the line and Huawei could present a solid contender with the Mate 9.

Much of the information currently available surrounding the Mate 9 is based on leaks. Things can change and as always, nothing can be guaranteed until the device is fully launched.

The device which is set to launch next month with the Kirin 960, Huawei’s upcoming processor, has had its fair share of leaks in recent weeks with images showing off the Mate line’s signature aluminum unibody design and familiar fingerprint sensor. However, this time, the device appears to be following in the P9’s footsteps with twin rear facing Leica branded cameras, which if leaks from Reviewer_小康’s Weibo account are true (they have had both correct and incorrect leaks previously, so as always don’t take this as guaranteed.) it will be a 20MP and a 12MP with an 8MP front facing camera.

The post also mentioned Huawei’s SuperCharge technology which we saw demonstrated late last year and is capable of charging a 3000mAh battery to 48% in just 5 minutes. This technology required the battery to be removed at the time and has yet to be seen in a commercially available device, but a year later it does certainly seem feasible that the company would launch such a groundbreaking feature in their flagship phone first. It is also worth noting that the Mate 8 featured exceptional battery life due to the 4000mAh battery and software tweaks and was a major selling point.

The make or break point for many devices is ultimately the price, get it right and as both OnePlus and Xiaomi have demonstrated previously and sales can drastically increase. A leaked slide suggests the prices for the Mate 9 will be reasonable, with the 6GB RAM/256GB Storage costing $700. By comparison, the Pixel XL with a smaller display, smaller battery, 2GB less RAM and half the storage costs a staggering $870.

Huawei devices with Kirin chips have never been known for their development support past basics such as rooting, however, this is changing for the better. The Huawei P9 received a beta Nougat build shortly after the fifth developer preview was released and the P9 Plus received an unofficial CM13 build recently. Huawei brand Honor is even rewarding XDA users who participate in discussion and development on the forums with devices such as phones and fitness trackers. While these are only small steps, they are in the right direction and as the devices grow in popularity we will no doubt continue to see increasing development for them.

For now, we will have to wait for the official launch next month but, we could be about to see one of the most technologically superior phones of the year launch. Would you consider a Huawei Mate device? Leave a comment below!