Huawei’s Mate series has always been made with business professionals in mind. They offer great battery life, large displays to work with, and capable processors; features that matter to business users. The Huawei Mate 8 offered all of these and more, and its successor, the Huawei Mate 9, raises the bar even further. Here are five features of the Mate 9 business professionals will appreciate.
Performance
One of the most notable differences between the Mate 9 and its predecessor is in the performance department. While the Mate 8 was a capable device, the Mate 9’s new Kirin 960 processor is much faster. For the sake of comparison, our unit of the Mate 9 registered scores of 1,911 and 5,778 on the single-core and multi-core tests on Geekbench 4. Using this chart as a benchmark, that puts the Mate 9 at the top when it comes to both single- and multi-core performance.
Other than that, the Mate 9 is also one of the first smartphones to come with UFS 2.1 flash storage. According to Huawei, this new interface is twice as fast compared to UFS 2.0, which is used in other flagship devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge and OnePlus 3.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__Cj-d3ap50
And then there’s the Machine Learning Algorithm of the Mate 9, which promises the same level of performance even after 18 months of use. This is possible by using machine learning to analyse the behaviour of the user and installed applications. It’s then possible for the device to prioritise and optimise resources accordingly, allowing the Mate 9 to run more efficiently.
Thanks to these hardware and software features, it goes without saying that the Mate 9 offers a level of performance befitting even the most demanding of users. Of course, performance isn’t the only thing that makes the Mate 9 ideal for professionals.
Battery Life
Typical battery life of the Mate 9.
This is arguably the most important aspect for business users and those who are always on the move. We’re happy to report that the Mate 9 absolutely excels in this regard. In our review, we consistently got upwards of six hours of screen on time with the Mate 9; this roughly translates to anywhere between 1.5 to two whole days of regular use. Few, if any, smartphones are as long-lasting.
Aside from that, the charging speed of the Mate 9 is also one of the fastest we’ve tested. After only 30 minutes of charging, we managed to get 60% of battery life with the Mate 9 thanks to the new proprietary SuperCharge technology. Let’s not forget that it’s also packing a large 4,000mAh battery, which makes this charging rate all the more impressive.
Display
Smartphones with large displays are not hard to find, but the Mate 9 has a couple of neat tricks up its sleeves to differentiate itself. For starters, the large 5.9-inch display feels smaller than expected due to the generous 77.5% screen-to-body ratio.
The tiny top and bottom bezels also help reduce the overall footprint of the Mate 9, so you get all the benefits of a large display while minimising the bulk of a large smartphone. Also, Huawei’s Misoperation Reduction technology is capable of recognising accidental inputs.
In addition, the Mate 9 runs on EMUI 5.0 based on the latest Android 7.0 Nougat, which introduces a particularly convenient feature: split-screen mode. Essentially, this mode lets users run two apps side-by-side. For example, you can reply to a email or an instant message while watching a video at the same time. We imagine this feature is a godsend for those who love multitasking.
Camera
The Mate 9’s Leica-certified 20MP dual-camera system proved to be a great performer in our review, and it also has a particularly neat feature made for business users. Dubbed Document Scan, the Mate 9’s camera can identify any given document and automatically snap a picture of it. If the orientation isn’t perfect, there’s a neat tool to readjust the image as necessary as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDBaJ4VWX4A
Aside from that, the Mate 9 also comes with Directional Video Recording. While not strictly built for business users, it’s a great function that will come in handy in certain situations where you want to focus on a particular subject in a video without the distraction of ambient noise.
Features Built for Business Users
Huawei packed a slew of features into the Mate 9 that it knows business professionals will appreciate; one of which is something called App Twin. Basically, this lets users log in to two different accounts on apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook. This is a great way for business users to separate their work and personal accounts and numbers.
Aside from that, there’s also the rear fingerprint sensor of the Mate 9. Not only is it one of the fastest – and accurate – sensors we’ve used, it also adds a layer of security that a simple pin or password do not offer. After all, security is of utmost importance to any user.
For a business professional, travelling for work is a part of the job, and staying connected even when abroad is important. The Mate 9 supports a wide range of networks worldwide to avoid any network compatibility issue. The Mate 9 is also packed with an LTE-Advanced Cat.12 network chip that supports four-carrier aggregation, which enables download speeds of up to 600Mbps.
Last but not least is one of Huawei’s signature technologies: Knuckle Sense. This unique input method allows a range of useful shortcuts using one’s knuckle. For example, a double tap on the screen of the Mate 9 – with a knuckle, of course – takes a screenshot, while knocking twice with two knuckles starts a recording of the screen. For a business professional who needs to get things done quickly, the intuitiveness of Knuckle Sense may prove to be indispensable.
The Huawei Mate 9 is a great device in its own regard, and it’s an even more ideal smartphone for business professionals. It has already received various awards at CES 2017, with the device garnering plenty of excitement as the first smartphone with Amazon Alexa integration for the US version of the device. The features highlighted in this article show just that, and we imagine not just business users will appreciate these.
In retrospect, it’s evident that the Mate 9 is leaps and bounds better than the Mate 8, and a testament to how much Huawei has grown in just one year. It’ll be exciting to see just what the company will unveil in the future, especially with MWC 2017 just around the corner.
Disclosure: this article was sponsored by Huawei Malaysia.
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