Huawei was one of the early birds at CES 2016 who opted to grab and drop the mic during the leadup. They’ve given us three brand-new gadgets to wait for in the local market… or import and ship via private couriers to sidestep ginormous “shipping fees.” You know how it is.
Let’s see what they have for us!
Phone it in
First up: the Huawei Mate 8. This new 6-inch baby runs through our checklist for personal gadgets rather quickly. It bears the usual slim and sleek profile, and aluminum unibody design plus soft sandblasting for the back portion that contribute to the premium feel. It got smaller, too, 0.4mm to be exact. It sports an FHD display, and boasts of an 85 percent screen-to-body ratio. And it has improved on its predecessor’s fingerprint sensor: it’s been redesigned for better aesthetics and accuracy.
Inside, the dual-SIM Mate 8 is powered by a 4,000mAh high-capacity battery, Kirin 950 chipset, ARM Cortex-A7 CPU, and Mali T-880 GPU for improved overall performance. Huawei says heavy smartphone users will have 1.65 days between charges, but as with most things, we’ll just have to wait and see if and when we actually get to try one out.
The Mate 8 also has a 16MP rear camera with OIS and Sony IMX298 stacked sensor, and 8MP front camera for all those all-important selfies and video calls. Shooters can also employ the smartphone’s Slow Motion and Continuous Capture modes. Travelers will be happy to know that it can be used in 217 countries, and has 4G LTE connectivity. And if you have your own car, you can hook up this mate to your entertainment system via Android Auto.
The Mate 8 will come in four colors (gold, silver, gray, and brown). Thing is… this smartphone will be sold only in Europe, the Middle East, Southeast China, South Africa, and Mexico. According to GSM Arena, for the European market, the 32GB variant will cost 600 euros (around P30,000), and the 64GB model, for 700 euros (around P36,000).
The US won’t get the Mate 8, but will say hello to a different smartphone: the US$350 GX8 (around P16,000). Android Central noted that the only difference between it and its predecessor G8 is the former’s support for US LTE bands. But wait, no Philippines version for both the Mate 8 and GX8? Bummer.
One more thing. Huawei is outing a gold-edition Google Nexus 6P model. Nope, not real gold. Just a gold-colored backside. (Heeeey.) BGR.com states that this gold 6P will have 32GB and 64GB variants, and is now available at select BestBuy stores, BestBuy.com, and the Google Store.
Perfect 10
Huawei also has a new tablet for consumers: the MediaPad M2 10.0. It’s a good-looking fella, sporting a non-conductive and vacuum-coated metallic unibody, is only 7.35mm thin, and is adorned with a fingerprint sensor and a “more responsive” 10.1-inch IPS FHD display. As for sound quality, this tablet has also been given four speakers (two each for treble and bass), and uses Harman/Kardon’s Clari•Fi tech and Huawei’s SWS Super Wide Sound enhancement to make your media sound clearer and deeper.
You can also use the M-Pen stylus when you’re in the mood to write or draw. And as expected, it’s no slouch in mobile photography. Huawei adds a 13MP rear camera with an F.20 large-diaphragm lens, intelligent image-processing engine and blue glass filter, plus a wide-angle 5MP front cam.
According to Digital Trends, there will be four versions available for the US market in Q1 2016. The standard edition (16GB storage and 2GB RAM) and premium/gold edition (64GB with 3GB RAM and M-Pen) will both have Wi-Fi and LTE variants. The Wi-Fi-only standard edition will be priced at $350 (around P16,500), and the LTE version, $400 (around P18,900). For the premium editions, the Wi-Fi only unit will be available for $420 (around P19,800), and the LTE model will go for $470 (around P22,100).
Wear when able
The wearables trend keeps moving along, and Huawei obviously isn’t going to let it pass. This year, it made two smartwatches only for the ladies: the Elegant and the Jewel. Specs-wise, it’s the same as the prior Huawei Watch. But these two have been blinged up, as manufacturers often do for female consumer market products. The $499 (around P23,500) Elegant watch has a patterned rose gold-plated stainless-steel case, while the $599 (around P28,100) Jewel is—you guessed it—decked out in 68 Swarovski crystals. Engadget notes that they will be available in the Philippines by March 2016.
Source: Android Central + BGR + Digital Trends + AnandTech + Engadget
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[…] seems Huawei likes being the early bird at the party. At this year’s CES, it showed off three new products before the actual event proper. It goes into the 2016 Mobile […]