We have seen many hints regarding the Huawei Mate 9 release here in Australia to suggest it was imminent. Huawei have now announced that the highly anticipated and highly regarded Mate 9 will be available for Australians to purchase from February 7.
Following on from the success of the Mate 8 in 2016 Huawei have announced that from February 7 the Mate 9 will be available from JB Hifi, Harvey Norman and other “participating retailers”, as well as carriers Optus and Vodafone. The SRP for the phone is $999 placing it right in the flagship price range (although not in the Pixel XL range). At this stage it is unclear what plans etc Optus and Vodafone will be offering the phone on but expect it to be equivalent to other flagship phones on their networks.
The Huawei Mate 9 comes with some impressive specs including Huawei’s own octa-core Kirin 960 chipset incorporating Huawei’s Machine Learning Algorithm to provide a smooth experience “even after 18 months of continuous usage” and a “Second generation Leica dual-lens camera with 12-megapixel RGB sensor, 20-megapixel monochrome sensor and Hybrid Zoom, featuring a superior 2x magnification”. The Australian version arrives with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage memory that can be expanded further with a microSD card.
The Huawei Mate 9 is running Android 7.0 underneath EMUI 5.0 (which learns the users preferences over time and prioritises these apps with the system’s resources) and a massive 4000mAh battery with Huawei’s new SuperCharge Technology. The new SuperCharge technology offers a 50% improvement over the previous generation of fast charging. At this stage there is no mention of the Australian version including Amazon’s Alexa integration as it does in the States.
All this hardware packed inside a good looking design incorporating unibody metal frame and a 5.9″ FHD display. Available in Space Grey from Optus and Vodafone and Mocha Brown from JB Hifi and Harvey Norman for $999 it is definitely a phone to keep an eye on if you are in the market for a new device. Keep an eye on Ausdroid for the review in the coming weeks.
