Mate 9: Hands-on with Huawei's Galaxy Note 7 rival

Huawei has launched new large-screened smartphones in the wake of Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 disaster.

The Mate 9 handsets are among the first to be powered by Android 7 and come in two designs: a model with a 1080p "full HD" display, and a Porsche-branded edition with nearly twice the resolution.

The Chinese company says it has also tackled smartphones' tendency to slow down over time.

But one expert said Western consumers were still uncertain about its brand.

"Huawei has never been a company to miss an opportunity, and it seems as though it has moved mountains to get the Mate 9 to market as quickly as possible," said Ben Wood, from the CCS Insight consultancy.

"But the phone is not a like-for-like comparison with the Note 7 - for one, it doesn't have a stylus.

"Huawei's brand also doesn't have the status of Samsung as yet.

"That's why it seems to be blending its brand with others.

"So, for the camera, it has partnered with Leica, and for the limited edition model, it has worked with Porsche.

"But Blackberry also partnered with Porsche in the past, and although that generated interest and created a halo-effect for other products, they didn't sell massive volumes."

The article was published on : bbc