Huawei has officially announced its premium mobile phone, the Mate 9, and the device will be initially available only in a few countries. The smartphone is also expected to hit shelves in the United States and give competition to other well-known phablets such as the iPhone 7 Plus and the Pixel XL.
Here is a comparison of the Mate 9, iPhone 7 Plus and the Pixel XL.
Display
Many handset customers want to purchase big devices so that they can enjoy watching videos and playing games on the go. The iPhone 7 Plus sports a 5.5-inch screen with a display resolution of 1,080 x 1,920 pixels and the Pixel XL comes with a 5.5-inch screen with a 1,440 x 2,560 pixel resolution.
The Mate 9 boasts a 5.9-inch screen with a resolution of 1,080 x 1,920 pixels, which makes it a great choice for customers looking for a big phone.
Processor And RAM
The iPhone 7 Plus runs on Apple A10 processor and 3 GB of RAM while a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor and 4 GB of RAM power the Pixel XL. Huawei's latest phone includes 4 GB of RAM and Kirin 960 chipset, which the company claims is the highest-performing smartphone processor in the world.
"The Kirin 960 is the world's first chipset to feature an ARM Cortex-A73/A53 octa-core CPU and Mali G71 octa-core GPU. The CPU delivers the best multi-core performance among all smartphone SoCs, while reducing power consumption by 15 percent," says Huawei.
Storage
The iPhone 7 Plus is available with 32 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB internal storage options. The Pixel XL comes with 32 GB or 128 GB on-board storage capacity. Unfortunately, neither the iPhone 7 Plus nor the Pixel XL has the option to expand the memory with a microSD card slot.
The regular Mate 9 is available with 64 GB of on-board storage. Huawei has also announced a limited-edition Porsche Design Mate 9, which will be available with 256 GB of internal storage and 6 GB of RAM. Both Mate 9 models will allow users to expand the memory to an additional 256 GB with a microSD card.
Camera
The iPhone 7 Plus is the only iPhone produced by Apple that has a dual-lens setup. The smartphone is equipped with 12-megapixel rear-facing cameras and a 7-megapixel front-facing camera.
The Pixel XL does not have dual-lens camera setup. The phone comes with a 12.3-megapixel primary camera and an 8-megapixel selfie camera.
The latest Mate 9 also has dual-camera lens. The phone has 20-megapixel rear-facing and 8-megapixel front-facing cameras.
Battery
Apple does not disclose the battery capacity of its iPhones but reports suggest that the iPhone 7 Plus comes with a 2,900 mAh battery that offers up to 10 days of standby time and up to 14 hours of talk time on 3G.
The Pixel XL comes with a bigger 3,450 mAh battery that can offer up to 23 days of standby time and up to 32 hours of talk time on 3G.
A 4,000 mAh battery fuels the Huawei Mate 9. The company has not yet confirmed the talk time and standby time that the battery can offer.
Operating System
The iPhone 7 Plus runs on iOS 10 and the Pixel XL on Android 7.1 Nougat. The Huawei Mate 9 will come running on Android 7.0 Nougat straight out of the box.
Normally, iPhones get a new software update as soon Apple releases it. Being a Google branded phone, the Pixel XL will be one of the first to get future Android updates.
Price And Availability
In the United States, the 32 GB / 128 GB Pixel XL is available for $769 / $869. Apple is selling the 32 GB / 128 GB / 256 GB iPhone 7 Plus for $769 / $869 / $969.
The Mate 9 is estimated to arrive in the United States but a launch date or price of the handset in the country is not known. However, in Europe the Mate 9 will have a price tag of 699 euros (about $775), while the Porsche Design model will cost about 1,395 euros (around $1,548).
The Mate 9 is a clear winner when it comes to the size of the display, battery capacity and extra storage. The debacle surrounding the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has opened an opportunity for Huawei to make its presence felt and give stiff competition to rivals such as the Pixel XL and the iPhone 7 Plus.
Undoubtedly, the Mate 9 is a flagship killer; however, the price of the premium Porsche Design version exceeds the cost of the top-end iPhone 7 Plus, which may deter customers from buying this model.
