Huawei launches the Mate S
One again Huawei has pulled out all the stop as it unveiled its latest flagship phone the Huawei Mate S.
The device is already spoken about as the “iPhone Killer” which was previously a term reserved to describe the famous Samsung vs iPhone rivalry. A fact that was reiterated during the presentation when the iPhone was used as a comparison to show the design, the size and the fact that the Hauwei Mate S charges twice as fast. Real fighting words for the Chinese company who is clearly focusing on becoming the android premium brand of choice.
“Our goal in designing the Huawei Mate S was to develop a smartphone that offers a personalised experience, rather than a commoditised 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 our world. The Huawei Mate S redefines how we incorporate touch technology into our smartphones, breaking through the conventional way of touch screen control and ushering in new imagination for human-machine interaction.”
The look and feel
The Mate s is a curved phone featuring a 5.5 inch 2.5D AMOLED screen that is 7.2 millimetres thick at the centre but with a width on the edges of 2.65 millimetres. The curved design has proven to be very successful with the likes of LG as this shape fits snugly into the hand for a comfortable fit.
Finger and Knuckle Features
One of the cool features of the Mate 7 phablet was the fingerprint security that was used to unlock the phone. This has been carried over to the Mate S too. The Fingerprint 2.0 halves recognition speeds, with more accurate self-learning functions. It can also be used to control the notification bar, erase unread notifications, preview pictures, and hold and take phone calls. All of these options improve the one hand operation of the phone.
There are also the Knuckle Control 2.0 which was first used on the Huawei P8. This allows the user to take screenshot with the knuckle tapping. On the Mate S you can draw a “C” shape with the knuckle which will launch the camera and double-clicking the screen with a knuckle records the screen in the form of a video.
Camera is key
The Mate S is equipped with a 8-megapixel front camera and a 13-megapixel rear camera. some features include: advanced sensor with optical image stabilisation, dual color-temp LED flash lights, and independent image signal processor camera units.
The professional camera mode allows for manual adjustment of ISO, exposure compensation, exposure time, white balance and focusing, and functions such as the grid, and flash-assisted focusing. I look foreword to testing this out !
Availability
The Mate S will be initially available in 30 countries including China, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Spain, South Africa and UAE. The Mate S will be available for pre-order in Western Europe from September 15.
According to reports from the event, there will be two versions of the device. The first one will be a 3GB with 32GB of storage that will be priced at 649 Euro (around R9800). The second version is a 64GB storage unit at a 699 Euro (around R10600)
Exact South African availability and pricing will be announced at a later date.
