Huawei Mate 9 — New Wine In Two Bottles?

Well, it is all good till the consumer feels all right.

Change just doesn’t come in a linear style.

The battlefront of the marketplace require brands to cater to multiples at a single time and the consumer has always been a confusing sphinx.

Enter Huwaei Mate 9, the company’s two pronged endeavor to satisfy varied consumer demands.

According to two people familiar with the manufacturer’s plans, the company will actually show off two distinct body styles for the device, including one with a curved display. Known internally by New York-themed codenames Manhattan and Long Island.

Long Island features a dual-edge curved display, à la Samsung’s edge-branded handsets (as well as its beleaguered Galaxy Note7 phablet); while Manhattan bears the regular slate form factor with straight edges and a flat screen.

Here are the specs of the two models based on speculations.

Evan Blass, a well-known phone leaker, provided a press-style leaked picture of a device he claims is the Mate 9 (so far referred to as the Manhattan). The phone has a fingerprint sensor below a dual-camera setup with Leica branding, flanked by dual-LED flash and what may be a laser autofocus module. The phone is shown in a Rose Gold, or Pink color scheme.

Additionally, he posted another image in a similar style that’s said to show the Mate 9 Pro (the one we called Long Island earlier). While the rear panel looks identical to the Mate 9’s, the screen has curved edges, and a physical home button is mounted beneath the display, which is missing from the Mate 9. No headphone jack is visible in the Pro’s top edge either.

Neither pictures can be verified yet, but Blass has a reputable track of bringing speculation to life.

Huawei is speculated to be joining IFA in the first week of September and the company could be launching the Huawei Mate 9 on that event as indicated by a teaser.

Spec-wise, the Mate 9 should have some of the most powerful and high-end components currently available. It’s likely to be the first phone to sport the company’s own Kirin 960 processor, and if that’s anything like the 950 or 955, this phone will be really nimble.

The aforementioned leaks indicate that we should see the usual pricing and memory tiers we have come to expect from Chinese manufacturers. Speculations suggest two versions with 4 GB RAM, 64 GB or 128 GB internal storage, while there may also be a 6 GB RAM variant with 256 GB of internal storage.
The display is expected to measure in at a whopping 5.9-inches. The dual-curve edged version code-named Long Island, will purportedly feature a Quad HD resolution display, while the flat model code-named Manhattan, will have a Full HD 1080p panel.

The rumours swirling around are (for those of you who prefer bulleted lists):

• OS: Android 7.0 Nougat
• Chipset: Hisilicon Kirin 960
• Processor: Octa-core 2.6 GHz Cortex-A53
• Internal storage: 64/128 GB (with 4 GB RAM) and 256 GB (6 GB RAM)
• Expandable storage: Yes, with microSD, up to 256 GB (uses SIM 2 slot)
• SIM: Dual-SIM LTE
• Camera: Dual-lens 20 megapixel Rear & 8 megapixel front, single-lens
• Connections: USB Type-C, Bluetooth v4.2, Dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, NFC
• Battery: Non-removable ~3,000 mAh
• Colours: White, Gold, Graphite, Brown, Pink, and Black.

We expect the curved display to have a 2560x1440 display to cater for Daydream VR

While we don’t know for sure how much it will cost in the real-world, however it’s clear that the next Mate series phone isn’t aimed at the budget/affordable end of the market. This is a high-end phone with a premium price.

Best start saving now if you’re certain you want one already.

Originally published at Chip-Monks.