Huawei Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro Launch: Live Blog (2pm CEST, 8am ET, Noon UTC)

Live Blog (2pm CEST, 8am ET, Noon UTC)

Our Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro initial analysis can be found here:

https://www.anandtech.com/show/11935/huawei-mate-10-pro-hands-on-with-kirin-970

07:12AM EDT - Huawei is having a launch event for its new Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro smartphones. The key headline for these devices is going to be the support for AI - the new Huawei Kirin 970 chipset has new AI features powered by some new IP. We got a glimpse into the hardware back at IFA, but we're expecting more details today. CEO of Huawei's Consumer Business Group, Richard Yu, is expected to take the stage.

07:12AM EDT - My neighbor for today is the CEO of Huawei CBG, Richard Yu

07:16AM EDT - We're seated pretty early

07:16AM EDT - Around 1000 press and customers are coming to this event

07:17AM EDT - As it's not at a show (like IFA), there was a mini rush for the door when it opened, but the hall is still filling up

07:18AM EDT - Today we're getting the Mate 10 and the Mate 10 Pro smartphones being announced

07:18AM EDT - Using Huawei's new Kirin 970, with added AI focused hardware

07:18AM EDT - We covered the Kirin 970 launch back at IFA, and went into some detail

07:18AM EDT - https://www.anandtech.com/show/11815/huawei-mate-10-and-mate-10-pro-launch-on-october-16th-more-kirin-970-details

07:18AM EDT - Some more detail is coming out today

07:19AM EDT - The press event starts at 2pm local, should finish around 3pm. All embargoes on information and prebriefing will happen at 3pm as well

07:23AM EDT - Richard Yu on one side, @alexdobie from Android Central on the other

07:23AM EDT - Regarding the Kirin Neural Processing Unit, the NPU

07:24AM EDT - At IFA, Huawei stated a capability of 1.92 TFLOPs of FP16. This is about 2x what Apple can provide with its Neural Engine

07:24AM EDT - I'm still unclear about what that extra performance will get me in terms of AI

07:25AM EDT - It depends on the app, of course, but we don't have any good examples of AI-accelerated apps yet

07:25AM EDT - It will take a while before we will, as well. It's a very big hammer, and everything will look like a nail to begin with

07:39AM EDT - 20 minutes to go

07:43AM EDT - It's getting warm with all the bodies here. Mobile connectivity isn't happening, as we're underground. But the Wi-Fi is stable so far

07:45AM EDT - There's an event cameraman with a large camera walking back and forth. He's going to get in the way at some point, I feel it

07:51AM EDT - 10 minute notification

07:51AM EDT - 10 minute notification

07:56AM EDT - I wonder how many press try to stream during the event

07:59AM EDT - 1 minute to go

08:00AM EDT - Here we go

08:01AM EDT - Richard Yu to the stage

08:02AM EDT - Last year was the Mate 9, this year Mate 10

08:02AM EDT - Last 10 years, record growth in smartphones

08:03AM EDT - People are spending less time watchi the TV, less time on the PC: now using the smartphone

08:05AM EDT - People are spending less time watchi the TV, less time on the PC: now using the smartphone

08:05AM EDT - People spending above 6-7-8 hours on a smartphone per day

08:05AM EDT - Need better performance and better battery life

08:06AM EDT - Last month we launched the first smartphone chipset with AI inside

08:06AM EDT - People are eager to use our platform on the flagship phone

08:06AM EDT - Announcing the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro

08:06AM EDT - Design, Performance

08:06AM EDT - Huawei Mate series, every generation the performance gets better

08:06AM EDT - Camera also gets better

08:07AM EDT - Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro, FullView Display

08:07AM EDT - 'Almost borderless'

08:07AM EDT - Mate 10 Pro: 6-inch 2160x1080 , NTSC 112%

08:08AM EDT - Doesn't say how many nits, I think 730 ?

08:08AM EDT - 6 inch screen in the body of a 5.5-inch device

08:08AM EDT - Mate 10 has 2560x1440 RGBW display. That's more than the Pro, but the Pro is OLED

08:09AM EDT - 730 nits there

08:09AM EDT - Designed for text reading and web browsing

08:10AM EDT - With RGBW display, uses a lot lower power with a white background

08:10AM EDT - Backlight power saving up to 14%

08:10AM EDT - (Photos are slow to upload, sorry about the lag)

08:11AM EDT - Mate 10 has same screen as Mate 9, but smartphone is much more compact

08:11AM EDT - 6.4mm shorter, 1.1mm less width

08:12AM EDT - 9532mm2 of screen on Mate 10, 9317 mm2 of screen on Mate 10 Pro

08:12AM EDT - Compared to 8047 mm2 on iPhone X

08:12AM EDT - 'No round corners on display'

08:12AM EDT - More comfortable to most users

08:13AM EDT - No notch, no corner, no display errors

08:13AM EDT - higher screen to body ratio

08:13AM EDT - 4000 mAh

08:14AM EDT - slimmer than Note 8, but 20% larger battery

08:15AM EDT - Narrow bezel with fingerprint sensor

08:15AM EDT - iPhone 8 Plus requires 18.4mm, Mate 10 only needs 10.6 mm

08:15AM EDT - 'world's first 4.5 G smartphone'

08:16AM EDT - One tap unlock with Huawei is 0.33s in one step. iPhone takes 3 steps

08:17AM EDT - Natural fingerprint position for the Mate 10 Pro

08:17AM EDT - Supports HDR10

08:17AM EDT - New signature Huawei stripe

08:18AM EDT - Summilux-H 1/1.6 cameras

08:18AM EDT - Our design DNA

08:18AM EDT - Symmetrical design

08:19AM EDT - No notch on the display

08:19AM EDT - Mix of metal and 3D glass

08:20AM EDT - Curved on the back, 'a perfect fit for holding'

08:20AM EDT - Multi-Layer glass

08:20AM EDT - Mate 10 Pro is IP67 rated

08:21AM EDT - Huawei Mate 10 is IP53 rated

08:21AM EDT - 'We actually do better than IP53'

08:21AM EDT - First color for Mate 10 Pro is Titanium Grey

08:21AM EDT - Mate 10 Pro: Mocha Brown

08:21AM EDT - Mate 10 Pro: Midnight Blue

08:22AM EDT - Mate 10 Pro: Pink Gold

08:22AM EDT - Mate 10: Champagne Gold

08:23AM EDT - Mate 10: Black

08:23AM EDT - Mate 10: Pink Gold

08:23AM EDT - Four colors each

08:24AM EDT - Mate 10 also Mocha Brown

08:24AM EDT - Now onto 'Ultimate Luxury'

08:24AM EDT - last year partnered with Porsche Design

08:24AM EDT - We sold all our Porsche Design Mate 9 phones, 10x our expectations

08:24AM EDT - CEO of Porsche Design onto stage: Dr Jan Becker

08:25AM EDT - Coming to the market before the end of the year

08:25AM EDT - It was the starting point of a very successful cooperation

08:26AM EDT - Reached six figures of sales in one year

08:26AM EDT - completely sold out Mate 9

08:26AM EDT - Common goal bringing design and performance together

08:26AM EDT - meeting high demands of customers

08:26AM EDT - unique design language

08:27AM EDT - (still waiting for photos to upload, sorry)

08:27AM EDT - addresses priority and performance

08:27AM EDT - signature Diamond Black design

08:27AM EDT - Special Porsche Design interface

08:27AM EDT - Equipped 256 GB of storage

08:27AM EDT - Precision and speed of a Porsche 911

08:28AM EDT - We are certain this device will be better than our predecessor

08:28AM EDT - committed and delighted to the collaboration

08:28AM EDT - plan to keep surprising customers in the future

08:28AM EDT - Richard back to the stage

08:29AM EDT - Inspired by speed

08:29AM EDT - 'Automotive Surfacing'

08:29AM EDT - Ceramic-look

08:30AM EDT - Includes two fast chargers, two leather cases, and earpieces

08:30AM EDT - Video time

08:32AM EDT - Now for performance

08:32AM EDT - 'Advanced computing power, fastest connectivity, fastest charging'

08:33AM EDT - Huawei AI Engine = Kirin 970 + EMUI 8.0

08:33AM EDT - 10nm process

08:33AM EDT - 5.5 billion transistors

08:33AM EDT - Mali G72

08:34AM EDT - Neural Processing Unit (NPU)

08:34AM EDT - AI performance: performance 25x better than CPU, efficiency 50x better than CPU

08:34AM EDT - 20x faster than the competition

08:35AM EDT - 100 photos: iPhone 8 Plus takes 9 seconds, Mate 10 Pro takes 5 seconds, Note 8 takes 100 seconds

08:35AM EDT - video

08:35AM EDT - said hexagon DSP

08:35AM EDT - Need to check this video later

08:36AM EDT - 2000 images per minute

08:37AM EDT - 18 month stay fast

08:37AM EDT - Application response time increase 10% over 18 months - Galaxy S7 goes up 195%

08:38AM EDT - Next level of AI interactivity

08:38AM EDT - Now discussing Stay Fast

08:39AM EDT - Replicates real world

08:39AM EDT - > My main issue with this 'technology' is that Huawei has offered very little aside from the surface explanation. I want to do a deep dive with them about this feature

08:40AM EDT - Mate 10 Pro supports 4x4 MIMO, 4CC CA (FDDx3, TDDx2) and 256-QAM

08:40AM EDT - First one for 1.2 Gbps

08:41AM EDT - Dual 4G Dual VoLTE

08:41AM EDT - Huawei GEO Enhanced GPS

08:41AM EDT - Multisensor navigation

08:41AM EDT - Inertia tracking and offline data - barometric and altitude date

08:42AM EDT - data*

08:42AM EDT - Accurate GPS in tunnels, multi-path roundabouts, double decker roads

08:43AM EDT - Mate 10 has 30% better battery life over Mate 9

08:44AM EDT - 1 day heavy user, 2 days normal user

08:44AM EDT - Intelligent power management

08:44AM EDT - (and probably better A73/A53 RTLs, being second generation A73/A53)

08:45AM EDT - Now slamming on wireless charging

08:45AM EDT - TUV Certified battery

08:46AM EDT - 600 battery cycles, 1000 system cycles

08:46AM EDT - -33 to +55 C tested temperatures

08:46AM EDT - Batteries tested up to 130C

08:47AM EDT - Drop tests performed so battery is undamaged after each drop

08:47AM EDT - Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro are the first safe fastcharge devices certified by TUV Rheinland

08:47AM EDT - Now Intelligent Photography

08:48AM EDT - Using AI Engine for intelligence

08:48AM EDT - 12MP RGB + 20MP Monochrome, both f/1.6

08:48AM EDT - 4-in-1 focus

08:48AM EDT - OIS

08:48AM EDT - Hybrid Zoom

08:50AM EDT - Photo demo now

08:50AM EDT - Dual ISPs

08:51AM EDT - faster response, faster focus, motion shooting, low light photography

08:52AM EDT - 'Making Artistic Photography Intelligent'

08:52AM EDT - AI network has already been trained over 100 million images for real-time object recognition

08:54AM EDT - Now a live demo

08:55AM EDT - The camera detects that its a food, or a plant, and adjusting appropriately

08:56AM EDT - No need to set up a shot - can get an instant picture

08:56AM EDT - > The point is that the phone is picking one of the presets, not doing anything more complicated

08:56AM EDT - > Maybe as a feature, that is all that is needed

08:56AM EDT - AI Selphie mode

08:56AM EDT - AI Zoom that makes zoomed text easier to read

08:57AM EDT - Now for Intelligent Experience

08:57AM EDT - EMUI 8.0 with Android 8.0

08:58AM EDT - Dynamic wallpaper based on time

08:58AM EDT - FullView HD Display UI Optimization

08:59AM EDT - Multi-column display in 18:9 (Mate 10 Pro)

08:59AM EDT - Supports split screen mode

09:00AM EDT - One-Step Shortcut supported

09:00AM EDT - Supports Mobile Device Management

09:02AM EDT - Lossless audio, supports 384kHz / 32-bit audio

09:02AM EDT - > Supporting that much is a bit over the top

09:02AM EDT - Huawei Easy Talk

09:03AM EDT - AI identifies voice and intelligent background noise reduction

09:03AM EDT - PC Mode

09:03AM EDT - Doesn't need a dock, just a Type-C

09:04AM EDT - (You really need a dock to use it as a PC)

09:04AM EDT - Switch to PC Mode, loads in a few seconds

09:05AM EDT - Multi-task, file system

09:05AM EDT - use both screens independently

09:06AM EDT - Copy content from apps on phone, paste into apps on desktop

09:06AM EDT - Uses the touchpad to do a presentation from the phone

09:06AM EDT - calls and texts stay on the phone, not onto desktop mode

09:07AM EDT - Use the phone as a phone while a video is running on the desktop mode

09:07AM EDT - Only need a Mate 10 and a video cable

09:08AM EDT - video time

09:09AM EDT - Our news is now up: https://www.anandtech.com/show/11935/huawei-mate-10-pro-hands-on-with-kirin-970

09:10AM EDT - Also Image translation with Microsoft

09:10AM EDT - > That was quickly bypassed...

09:10AM EDT - VP of Android and Google Play to the stage, Jamie Rosenberg

09:11AM EDT - One of the first flagships with Android Oreo

09:11AM EDT - Listing Android 8 features

09:12AM EDT - Mate 10 involves AI technology investment

09:12AM EDT - Computing is undergoing a shift from mobile first to AI first

09:12AM EDT - Devices will be able to see, hear and speak in ways that haven't been possible before

09:12AM EDT - The NPU can complex AI tasks on the device

09:12AM EDT - The Mate 10 will include Android's Neural Network API

09:13AM EDT - Giving developers access to AI hardware

09:13AM EDT - Android NN APIs will be in an update early next year

09:13AM EDT - Supports Android Connect

09:14AM EDT - Allows personal data to be separated from business data

09:14AM EDT - IT devices and be provisioned over the air

09:15AM EDT - Now back to Richard

09:15AM EDT - Building an open AI ecosystem

09:16AM EDT - 'Infinite Innovations with Open AI Ecosystem'

09:16AM EDT - Need developers to develop AI apps

09:17AM EDT - Now going through the accessories - leather covers, power bank, supercharge car charger

09:18AM EDT - hi-resolution digital headphones

09:18AM EDT - Huawei's own 360 camera - EnVizion 360

09:19AM EDT - > Final product video, then I assume pricing

09:20AM EDT - > With the AI-accelerated scene recognition, Huawei could market this as a pet and food smartphone

09:20AM EDT - > Insert more cats please

09:21AM EDT - Mate 10 with 4GB/64GB is 699 Euro from November

09:21AM EDT - Mate 10 Pro - 6 GB/128GB from 799 Euro, Nov 2017

09:21AM EDT - Mate 10 Porsche Design, 6GB / 256 GB, 1395 Euro from Nov 2017

09:22AM EDT - That's a wrap. Time to pick up a sample. Our initial analysis can be found at https://www.anandtech.com/show/11935/huawei-mate-10-pro-hands-on-with-kirin-970

09:22AM EDT - .