14 DAY TRIAL // As expected, Huawei has just taken the wraps off its newest flagship smartphone, the Mate 8. It's the company's first smartphone to come with Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system right out of the box.
Huawei Mate 8 is now available for pre-order in China via Vmall for $470 for the 3GB RAM version. The 4GB RAM and 64GB storage model costs $580 while the 4GB RAM and 128GB internal memory can now be purchased for $690 outright.
For those outside China, Huawei announced that the Mate 8 would only arrive in Q1 2016. But in China, the flagship smartphone will hit shelves on December 9.
The Mate 8 comes equipped with Huawei's powerful Kirin 950 chipset that packs a 2.3GHz quad-core Cortex-A72 CPU and another 1.8GHz quad-core A-53 processor, coupled with a Mali T880 graphics processing unit and either 3GB or 4GB of RAM.
As mentioned earlier, Huawei Mate 8 comes in three versions based on the amount of storage: 32GB, 64GB and 128GB. However, all three models feature microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 128GB).
Fingerprint scanner and powerful CPU
Huawei Mate 8 comes with both 4G LTE and Hybrid Dual SIM support, which means you will be able to use one of the SIM slots to expand internal memory.
Another strong point of the Mate 8 is the 16-megapixel rear-facing camera that features Sony IMX298 sensor, phase detection autofocus, f/2.4 aperture, dual-tone LED flash and video recording.
There's also a secondary 8-megapixel camera in the front that should take state-of-the-art pictures, but it should also be great at video calls.
Huawei Mate 8 supports VoLTE (voice over LTE) and is powered by a high-capacity 4,000 mAh battery. It also sports a huge 6-inch capacitive touchscreen display that supports full HD (1080p) resolution.
Design-wise, the smartphone is made from an aerospace-grade aluminum material, and some unique 2.5D curved diamond cut glass. It will be available in four color variants: Moonlight Silver, Space Grey, Mocha Brown and Champagne Gold.