Huawei Mate 9 was launched last month and even though the phone has already begun selling in Asia and some parts of Europe, it is not yet available in the U.S.
The North American market has not been the strongest for Huawei despite the fact that the Chinese tech giant sits third behind Samsung and Apple in terms of global smartphone sales. The company has successfully sold midrange Huawei Honor handsets in the market, but the flagship market has yet to go its way, especially now that the likes of Google are growing in stature.
This year’s Huawei P9 is not yet available in the market, but just like the Huawei Mate 9, it can be bought from Asian countries as well as some parts of Europe. But unlike the P9, the OEM is reportedly planning a January 6, 2017, launch for the Huawei Mate 9 in the U.S. The report was confirmed by self-proclaimed serial leaker Evan Blass, but Huawei has yet to make the official statement regarding the same matter. Nonetheless, it is hard not to believe anything Blass says.
While it has been confirmed that Huawei Mate 9 will indeed be coming to the U.S. this coming month, there is no word on whether the launch will include the entire Mate 9 family. In case you didn’t know, the Chinese OEM came in with three models of the phablet – the standard Huawei Mate 9, the high-end Huawei Mate 9 Pro and limited edition Huawei Mate 9 Porsche Design.
The major difference between these three sets of phones is their design and screen size. Where you get a 5.9-inch Full HD screen on the standard edition that also carries a RAM of 4GB and 64GB of onboard storage, the Huawei Mate 9 Pro packs a smaller 5.5-inch QHD screen alongside two memory options of 4GB/64GB and 6GB/128GB. It gets even better when it comes to the Mate 9 Porsche Design as the phone packs the same 5.5-inch QHD screen, but steps up the memory to 6GB RAM and 256GB storage.
Where the standard Mate 9 has a flat screen design, the other two models come with curved display screens, something similar to Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and Galaxy Note 7. As for the rest of the specs, you basically get the same details – a Kirin 960 processor, 4000mAh battery and 20MP+12MP dual-lens camera on the back alongside an 8MP selfie snapper. Even though the trio comes with a fingerprint scanner, the 5.5-inch models have it on the front as opposed to the rear-mounted version on the standard Huawei Mate 9.
In terms of pricing, the high-end Porsche Design, which could end up never leaving China, is priced at about $1500. As for the Huawei Mate 9 Pro, you will have to part with around $800 while the entry-level Mate 9 is valued at about $550.
As noted, it is still unknown whether Huawei will bring all three models to the U.S., only time will tell, but hopefully, it does.