A sharp-looking Mate S
> The latest Huawei flagship comes with a plethora of new features that offer easy access to the device’s functions
OVER the years, we have witnessed several Chinese smartphone brands that not only offer industry-leading devices but game plans that threaten the position of current popular brands’ dominion over consumer choice.
Huawei is one such brand that has been continuously making itself visible and relevant to the current market’s unforgiving demands. And its efforts have paid off handsomely.
The Chinese manufacturer has recorded a whopping 140% increase in smartphone shipments since last year, and to date, has had over 12 million units of the P8 and Mate 7 shipped globally – a record that puts Huawei at the top in smartphone growth worldwide.
While much attention was channelled to improving its portfolio, Huawei has quietly birthed successful collaborations with KL Fashion Week and local photographers in promoting the P8 which was launched earlier this year.
Last week, Huawei Consumer Business Group’s South Pacific Region president Peter Tong was in Kuala Lumpur to present its latest smartphone flagship, the Huawei Mate S, which was launched recently.
Tong also took the opportunity to disclose the company’s future developments and achievements over the past one year.
The Mate S joins the P8 in the company’s flagship portfolio. It comes with a plethora of new features, most of which leverages on Huawei’s latest software namely, Fingerprint Sense 2.0 and Knuckle Sense 2.0.
Fingerprint Sense 2.0 enables the fingerprint sensor to not only unlock the smartphone with the user’s fingerprint but can also capture selfie, scroll through pictures, slide up and down to collapse or display the notification bar, double-tap to erase unread notifications and more. A long finger press at the sensor can also answer calls and disable the alarm clock.
Meanwhile, Knuckle Sense 2.0 has improved so that you can do more with using just your knuckles. You can make a screenshot, launch apps via knuckle shortcuts (drawing onscreen with knuckles), as well as crop parts of the display for a screenshot, just to name a few.
The device is also a fashion statement as it is stately in a full metal chassis that has been dealt with diamond cutting, CNC carving, nanotechnology and a sapphire lens for its 13-megapixel camera.
Other specs include 5.5-inch Full HD Amoled display, Hisilicon Kirin 935 octacore processor, 3GB RAM, and 64GB onboard memory.
Also featured at the event were Huawei G8, a 5.5-inch mid-ranger with octa-core processor, and the MediaPad
M2, an 8in tablet with octa-core processor and superior audio performance with Harman Kardon sound technology.
The Huawei Mate S retails at RM2,698 in prestige gold colour and comes with a two-year warranty, one-to-one exchange within the first year of purchase as well as a free cracked screen replacement (one-time only) within the first year of purchase. Additionally, the first 3,000 customers will receive the Mate S bespoke Royal Selangor VIP Pewter Card.
The Mate S and G8 (RM1,499) are available beginning today whereas the MediaPad M2 8.0 (RM1,499) will be available from late November onwards.