Huawei has unveiled its latest smartphone, the Mate 9. It's big. How big, you ask? It has a 5.9-inch display, and it's got some big specs to go with it. This is the first phone with Huawei's latest Kirin ARM chip, a revamped version of the EMUI Android skin, and there's a Porche-designed special edition. The price is pretty big for Huawei too at €699 ($776). You might have the option to buy it in the US at some point as well.

The Mate 9 is the first device to ship with the Kirin 960 SoC, which is based on ARM Cortex-A73/A53 in an octa-core configuration. That's backed by 4GB of RAM and a 4,000mAh battery that Huawei insists is "safe." Subtle Samsung burn? Around back is another dual-camera array including a 20MP monochrome sensor and 12MP RGB sensor. Huawei says this system was co-designed with Leica, but we've heard that before.

The 5.9-inch display will certainly be a pocket stretcher, but the resolution is only 1080p. If that's not your speed, there's a fancier Porche-designed special edition Mate 9 that has a 5.5-inch curved AMOLED. If you get your hands on one of those, it'll cost you €1395 ($1547). Yeah...

This phone will launch with Nougat under the updated EMUI 5.0 skin. Huawei's Android skin has been one of the more unbearable to deal with over the years, but it pledged to address some of its shortcomings in the 5.0 update. Supposedly, this device has machine learning features in place to keep performance solid even after years of use. I suppose we'll see, but Nougat is nice at least.

The Mate 9 will launch in parts of Asia, the Middle East, and Europe to start. It will come to more markets later, and we're hearing the US is among them. That would be a big milestone for Huawei.

PRESS RELEASE