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While Apple might have got there first with Force Touch technology on the Apple Watch and MacBook, Huawei has come up with a range of uses for it on a smartphone. Some of the examples shown included using specific corners of the phone to launch apps, or activating the task switcher. Curiously, Huawei reckons you can even use Force Touch to weigh things by using a special app and then putting the object on your screen.

The Mate S also features a new version of Huawei's "Knuckle Sense" technology, which allows you to perform specific actions with your knuckles, rather than your fingertips. You can, for example, use your knuckle to draw around an object in an image editing app to automatically cut it out, or draw gestures on the screen in order to launch an app, such as the music player. All of these functions will be customisable within Huawei's skinned version of Android 5.1.

Meanwhile, the rear fingerprint sensor on the Mate S can be used as a touchpad to perform specific tasks. These include swiping up or down to view and dismiss notifications, or tapping on it to answer a phone call.

For the Mate S, Huawei has openly taken many design cues from the iPhone. During the presentation, Huawei even said that it was one-upping Apple by colour-matching the Mate S antenna lines within its full-metal body. Elsewhere, the Mate S features "diamond cut" chamfered edges, a curved back, and forth-generation Gorilla Glass that curves towards the edges. The whole thing comes in at just 7.2 millimetres thick, tapering down to 2.65mm at the edges, and comes in four colours: Coral Pink, Mystique Champagne (white), Titanium Grey, and Prestige Gold.

While the Mate S doesn't sport the headline-grabbing resolution of the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Edge, the 1080p display (401 PPI) should still be plenty sharp for most people. Huawei also claims that the screen has a maximum contrast ratio of 1,800,000:1, which should result in some very black blacks.

On the back there's a sapphire-covered 13-megapixel RGBW camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS), which can optionally be operated in full-manual mode. There's also an 8MP selfie camera with flash. Huawei's chucked in a directional microphone complete with auto and manual modes for audio recording.

There are dual SIM slots, both with support for "13 mainstream LTE frequencies," which Huawei says will cover most of Europe, the US, and the Asia-Pacific region. Battery life is rated at around a day of normal-to-heavy usage, and fast-charging tech will give you two hours of talk-time from a 10-minute recharge. The Mate S has a 2,700mAh non-removable battery.

Unfortunately, Huawei didn't detail what SoC is powering the phone, but it will come with 3GB of memory. The Mate S launches in Europe in September, priced at €649 (~£480) for the 32GB version, or €699 (~£510) for the 64GB version. A 128GB model, the only one to feature Force Touch, will be launching sometime later this year at an undisclosed price. Huawei hasn't yet announced plans to bring the Mate S to the US.