Huawei is finally stepping up its phablet game in Malaysia with the launch of its new Mate 8. This replaces the Ascend Mate 7 phablet that was one of their first devices to feature a fingerprint scanner back in 2014. With an aspiration to take on the big boys, the Mate 8 is targeting the high-end market with premium design and compelling hardware.
Like the former Mate 7, it still gets a 6″ Full HD IPS-NEO display that does a pixel density of 386ppi and toughens with Gorilla Glass 4. Powering this metal unibody phablet is their top of the line Octa-Core 2.3GHz Kirin 950 processor that’s accompanied by a Mali-T880 MP4 GPU.
Like before, there will be 2 variants available. A standard version comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, while the premium variant comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. To differentiate the two, the standard version gets Space Grey and Moonlight Silver colours, while the Champagne Gold and Mocha Brown option is exclusive to the Premium edition.
In terms of optics, the Mate 8 rear camera uses a Sony IMX298 16MP Sensor similar to the Xiaomi Mi 5. It is further assisted with OIS, dual-LED flashlight and PhaseDetection AutoFocus. For selfies, it gets a large 8MP front camera. Like the latest devices from Huawei, it also gets a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner that unlocks instantly with a single tap.
Powering the device is a large 4,000mAh battery which Huawei claims can last 1.5 days on a single charge. The Mate 8 supports dual-SIM 4G-LTE and it accepts a microSD card on its hybrid SIM tray slot.
The Huawei Mate 8 is priced at RM2,099 for the Standard version and RM2,399 for the Premium model. These could be a worthy alternative to the Samsung Galaxy Note5 and Nexus 6P that are currently priced at RM2,699. On top of that, the Mate 8 also gets an exclusive service package including door to door pick up and delivery service, and a quick 3-hour fix service when you walk-in to their service centres.
The Mate 8 will be available for pre-order starting today and you can order from VMall.my and Lazada. It will also be available at retail stores and telcos beginning 11 March. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out our hands-on with the Huawei Mate 8 below.
