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Huawei takes aim at Samsung with 'no explosion' phone

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Smartphone maker Huawei has lifted the lid on its latest handset. (Lameez Omarjee)
Smartphone maker Huawei has lifted the lid on its latest handset. (Lameez Omarjee)

Munich - Chinese phone maker Huawei unveiled its new phablet Mate 9 on Thursday as it takes aim at Samsung’s battery explosion woes.

The Chinese manufacturer unveiled Mate 9, the follow up to Mate 8 phablet which was released last year, as well as the sports watch Huawei Fit.  

"This is the best smartphone in the world," said Chief Executive Richard Yu.

He explained that most smartphones struggle to deal with "aging performance" and the Mate 9 comes with built-in solutions to avoid deterioration over time.

Among the selling points is the Mate 9's longevity and power efficiency.

A 20 minute super charge can power the phone for a day. The Mate 9 can also run on a full charge for two days, without interruption, explained Yu.

Power efficiency is 15% better than Mate 8. The super charge is 400% faster than iPhone7+.

The Li-Po battery, comes with 4000mAh capacity.

Huawei’s punting of its battery specifications has come amid its South Korean rival Samsung experiencing problems with its exploding Note 7, which it had to recall.

Taking a dig at Samsung a note 7, Yu said that the Mate 9 is also much cooler.

"There are no explosions."

"You don't need to walk around with a power bank," added Yu.

Another feature that Huawei is putting forward is the phone's image quality.

Huawei partnered with German optics company Leica to develop the dual camera nine months ago, said Oliver Kaltner, CEO of Leica.

The camera also has lower power consumption. It has a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels.

It is the second generation of Huawei phones that has been developed with a rear-dual camera, said Kaltner.

Porsche Design

Huawei also partnered with Porsche Design for the limited range Mate 9 phones.

"Many Porsche Design products exist because we took a step further," said Dr Jan Bekker, spokesperson and Chief Operating Officer of Porsche Design.

Price ranges from €699 for the 64GB Mate 9 to €1395 for the 256GB, Porsche Design Mate 9. It comes in six colors; space grey, Moonlight Silver, Champagne Gold, Mocha Brown, Ceramic White and Black.

The Huawei Fit can last for 6 days with one charge. It will be selling for €199 in Europe.

*Fin24 is in Munich covering the Mate 9 launch on an invite from Huawei.

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