Huawei fans in the United States are in for some good news, as the company has just confirmed that its high-end MediaPad M3 tablet will launch stateside.
The Huawei MediaPad M3 made its debut back at IFA 2016 earlier this year, alongside the Nova and Nova Plus smartphones, but there was no information at that point regarding a U.S. debut.
In response to a question from a fan on Twitter, however, Huawei confirmed that the MediaPad M3 will indeed launch in the U.S.
@RanMan954 Hi, yes, the MediaPad M3 will be released in the US. @HuaweiDeviceUSA will have more information. Thank you.
— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) September 29, 2016
The company offered no additional information as to when exactly the device will go on sale or how much it will cost when it does, but its price in Europe might offer some guidance in this regard.
As a reminder, the Huawei MediaPad M3 is a compact tablet with high-end specs all around. The slate sports an 8.4-inch display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 pixels and packs in Huawei's inhouse HiSilicon Kirin 950 processor paired with a hefty 4 GB of RAM, which should deliver a smooth and speedy performance.
Other highlights include a large 5,100 mAh battery that should last for up to 11 hours on a single charge, dual stereo speakers certified by Harman Kardon, and AKG earbuds included in the package.
As the name itself suggests, the Huawei MediaPad M3 is a device designed for media consumption and the Harman Kardon-certified speakers are a notable plus for this area.
"HARMAN's legendary brands like Harman Kardon and AKG have been introducing important innovations in audio for decades, and we continue to develop new ways to enrich the audio/visual experience for our customers. We have a long history of working with top brands like Huawei to bring outstanding advances to the market," says Dinesh Paliwal, Harman International's chairman, president and CEO.
"We are proud to count Huawei among a select group of global partners and align with their long-standing pursuit of innovation and commitment to user experience. The sound quality that consumers will have with the MediaPad M3 is a testament to our extraordinary collaboration."
When it comes to pricing, the MediaPad M3 starts at €350 (roughly $392) in Europe for the 32 GB Wi-Fi-only variant and goes up to €399 (about $448) for a 32 GB LTE model or a 64 GB Wi-Fi model, and €449 (about $504) for the LTE model with 64 GB of locker space.
It's worth pointing out that the slate doesn't have a microSD card slot for expandable storage, so higher-capacity models could be a good idea for those who tend to store a lot of media on their device.
Huawei has yet to offer pricing details for the U.S., but the MediaPad M3 is expected to cost roughly the same as it does in Europe.
The tablet went on sale in a number of markets on Sept. 26 and is expected to expand its availability soon, which means that a U.S. release could be just around the corner.
As always, we'll let you know as soon as we get more details.
