Remember how Steve Jobs used to always have “one more thing” that he would mention when presenting a keynote? That’s how the IFA Huawei press conference seemed to go as they introduced their new Mate S and solidified details and pricing on the Huawei Watch.
It was obvious early into the press conference that Huawei is positioning the Mate S to go head to head with the iPhone 6 Plus. Numerous comparisons between the two phones were made, and (at least on paper) the Mate S’s specification appear to be much better. Every time we thought we’d heard it all about the new flagship, there would be one more detail that left attendees either nodding their heads appreciatively or laughing in wonder.
The Mate S flagship phone has a 1080×1920 5.5″ screen, comes in 32GB or 64GB (with 128GB coming soon), accepts micro USB memory cards, has a metal and glass body, is water-resistant, has a 13mp rear camera, an 8mp front facing camera, an octa-core Hisilicon Kirin 935 processor, 3GB RAM, runs Android 5.1.1, has a 2700mAh battery, it uses force touch, it is available as a dual SIM model, and oh yeah — its screen can function as a scale. Ha!
Is your head spinning yet?
Some of the other key features of the Mate S include:
- Fingerprint Sense 2.0 is an upgraded version of the Huawei Mate 7’s advanced chip level security and single-tap unlock technology. Fingerprint Sense 2.0 is faster, more sensitive and has more accurate self-learning functions to improve recognition speeds by 100 percent. However, in the Mate S, the fingerprint sensor does much more than unlock the phone or secure payment applications. Users can now control notifications, scroll through photos, take selfies, answer phone calls and even dismiss an alarm quickly by simply using the fingerprint sensor.
- Knuckle Sense 2.0 advances the Knuckle Sense technology first introduced in the Huawei P8, providing a host of new features and functionality at the tap of a knuckle.
- Quickly switch between apps by drawing a shortcut letter on the screen – pre-programmed shortcuts include drawing a “c” to activate the camera, “m” to listen to music or “e” to surf the Internet.
- Users can also create and store their own personalized knuckle shortcuts for anything from WeChat to WhatsApp.
- Freehand crop and copy an image out of any photo by outlining it with a knuckle.
- Double tap on a video with a knuckle to capture snippets of film to easily share or save.
- Huawei’s innovative Force Touch technology, available in select markets, perceives different levels of pressure on the screen – allowing the user to complete different actions – such as zooming in to a photo or launching an app – by applying increasing pressure. This technology also allows the screen to be used as an approximate scale. But this is just the start; Huawei looks forward to bringing more new and unique Force Touch applications to life.
In hand, the phone is slightly smaller and thinner than the iPhone 6 Plus, but it shares a few similar design attributes.
I’ll have a full review soon, but in the meantime here are some photos …
“Our goal in designing the Huawei Mate S was to develop a smartphone that offers a personalized experience, rather than a commoditized one,” said Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer BG. “The Huawei Mate S is based on insights we gathered about human interaction – most notably that touch is a natural action we take to understand and interact with our world. The Huawei Mate S redefines how we incorporate touch technology into our smartphones, taking a revolutionary approach to touch screen control and ushering in a new era for human-machine interaction.”
Huawei may have introduced their Huawei Watch at MWC, but now we have solid details and pricing. The Huawei Watch is now available for pre-order GetHuawei, the Google Store, Amazon and Best Buy. General availability and pre-order shipments begin September 17th.
Six models with stainless steel, black and rose gold-plated watch bodies will be available in the U.S. with prices ranging from $349 to $799 USD. Stainless steel and black models are available for pre-order today, with rose gold models available later this year.
Huawei Watch Specifications
· 300 mAh battery offers up to two days of battery life with regular use, and fast charging offers 80 percent battery life in just 45 minutes, or 75 minutes for a full charge.
· Always-on watch face gives immediate access to the most important information a watch can provide – the time.
· Wi-Fi connectivity for instant notifications when the user’s phone isn’t in Bluetooth range.
· Bluetooth 4.1 LE enables users to pair directly to Bluetooth headsets and speakers to enjoy music on the go with or without a smartphone.
· 6-axis motion sensors automatically identify activity and provide accurate tracking.
· Enhanced heart rate monitor provided by one of the world’s most advanced heart-rate detecting sensor manufacturers delivers measurable health tracking.
· 1.4-inch AMOLED screen offers the highest resolution display of any Android Wear watch at 400 by 400 pixels with 286 pixels per inch.
Unfortunately I couldn’t try the watch on, so I don’t have any on-wrist photos, but from what I saw the watch looks good on both men and women.
Huawei gave the press conference attendees a Mate S (nice surprise, right?), and I am looking forward to getting to know the phone.