Finally, Huawei has launched its Mate 8 flagship smartphone in global markets during a keynote delivered at CES 2016.
Huawei Mate 8 was first announced in China on December 9th last year. As expected earlier, the flagship Mate 8 has launched in global markets and will be available in the coming weeks in 30 countries across the world – that does not include US or UK.
The Mate 8 is not a direct followup to the last year’s Mate 7, the company has also launched the Mate S in September last year at IFA event. Now the latest Mate 8 is the first smartphone to be powered by the most anticipated HiSilicon Kirin 950 SoC with Octa-core processor. According to Huawei’s claims its new chipset offers 100% more CPU power, 125% better GPU performance and 70% more power efficiency than its predecessor, the Kirin 925 or Kirin 935.
See: AnTuTu’s benchmark score of Kirin 950
Feature wise, the Mate 8 features a 6-inch Full HD 1080p IPS display with 2.5D curved diamond cut glass. The phone is built with aerospace grade aluminum metal. It comes in two variants, one with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage and second with the 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. The first version supports a single SIM but the latter version supports Dual SIM 4G/LTE.
The rear camera in Mate 8 is packed with a new Sony IMX298 BSI CMOS sensor with 16 megapixel resolution, dual-tone flash, Phase Detection/Continuous Autofocus, Digital Zoom and Full HD video recording – also 720p 120fps Slo-Mo. It also features an f/2.0 aperture lens and Optical Image Stabilisation. The front facing camera is 8MP with f/2.4 aperture lens. Front camera also supports Full HD video.
The Huawei Mate 8 introduces a circular fingerprint sensor which is said to have effective identification area by 10 percent. This fingerprint sensor has three levels of security. The Mate 8 maintains two sets of fingerprint interface standards for smartphone payment, the Fast Identity Online (FIDO) and Android M standards.
Mate 8 runs on company’s cooked EMUI 4.0 software layer upon the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS. The battery has a good capacity of 4000 mAh which can be charged rapidly (with Rapid Charging) in 30 minutes to stay up for a day. When fully charged, it can last 2.36 days for regular users and 1.65 days for heavy users.
Initially, the Huawei Mate 8 is set to be available in the coming weeks in Europe, South America, Asia and Middle East. This list doesn’t include the US or the UK. The Mate 8 will cost €599 for the 3GB RAM and 32GB ROM variant while it will cost €699 for the 4GB RAM + 64GB Storage variant. These prices include sales takes.
These prices in Pakistan are approximated at PKR 68,000/- and PKR 80,000/- respectively but most probably will be differ at official launch in Pakistan.
Mate 8 comes in 4 shades which include Mocha Brown, Champagne Gold, Moonlight Silver and Space Gray.
What do you think about Huawei’s latest flagship, the Mate 8? Do share your thoughts in the comments below.
