After numerous leaks and teasers ahead of its unveiling, Huawei has finally launched its flagship Mate 10 series smartphones at an event in Munich. The Huawei Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro are Huawei's answers to the likes of Apple's iPhone 8, iPhone X, Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and LG V30 flagship devices.
Not long ago, Huawei had overtaken Apple to become the world's second-largest smartphone maker. And now, the leading Chinese smartphone maker has finally unveiled its arsenal to strengthen its footprint in the high-end premium smartphone segment. Both Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro are powered by Huawei's latest Kirin 970 chipset, which includes a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for handling artificial intelligence (AI) related tasks similar to Apple's "neural engine" in the A11 Bionic SoC.
Huawei is pitching both these phones as the "Real AI Phone" with 25 percent improvement in performance over its predecessor. Along with the advanced AI capabilities, Huawei is also trying to deliver future-proof smartphones with 4.5G network support.
In terms of design, Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro employ a metal-glass construction with a reflective band running across the camera module. Both the phones feature a new bezel-less design language with thinner bezels at the top and bottom of the phones. Mate 10 features a 5.9-inch Quad HD (1440x2560) IPS LCD display with standard 16:9 aspect ratio. Mate 10 Pro, however, comes with a 6-inch AMOLED display with a Full HD+ (1080x2160) resolution screen and 18:9 aspect ratio, which makes it narrower and longer than Mate 10.
When it comes to storage, Mate 10 conceals 4GB of RAM and 64GB onboard storage, whereas Mate 10 Pro gets 6 gigs of RAM and 128GB internal storage.
Huawei has been partnering with lensmaker Leica for its premium offerings and with Mate 10 series too, Huawei is highlighting its partnership with Leica in the camera department offering dual camera setup with improved optics. Both Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro feature a dual camera setup at the rear with a primary 12MP colour sensor and a secondary 20MP monochrome sensor. On the front, there is an 8MP snapper for selfies.
The Mate 10 series cameras also feature a wider f/1.6 aperture (the only other smartphone featuring f/1.6 aperture being the LG V30). The wider aperture lens is a huge improvement over its predecessor Mate 9 which had f/2.2 aperture lens. Apart from that, the dual-cameras on both phones support optical image stabilization and phase detection autofocus and AI-powered 2X digital (lossless) zoom and 4K video recording.
The placement of the fingerprint sensors differs on both the models. Huawei Mate 10 gets a front-mounted fingerprint reader, while Mate 10 pro sports a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. Both run Android 8.0 Oreo out-of-the-box with EMUI 8.0 custom skin on top. The handsets are backed by a 4,000mAh battery with fast charging (4.5V/5A) support which gives 58 percent of battery juice in just half-an hour's worth of charge.
Huawei Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro are IP53 and IP67 water and dust resistant. Meanwhile, Huawei also announced a premium Mate 10 Porsche Design featuring an all-ceramic finish with 6GB RAM, 256GB internal storage.
Huawei has priced Mate 10, Mate 10 Pro and Mate 10 Porsche Design at €699 (Rs 53,450 approx) €799 (Rs 61,000 approx) and €1,395 (Rs 1,06,650 approx), respectively. All the three smartphones are expected to be available from November, however, it is unlikely that India will get the devices anytime soon.
