Your New $2220 Smartphone: The Porsche Design Huawei Mate RS
by Ian Cutress on March 27, 2018 6:05 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Huawei
- OLED
- Fingerprint
- Porsche Design
- Kirin 970
- Mate RS
- 512 GB
- IP67
In a world where we were only just starting to see the emergence of $999 flagship phones, Huawei and Porsche Design go and break the barrier by marketing their new device at €2095, which without tax and after conversion comes to the pricely sum of US$2220. At this price there has to be something more than just a simple P20 Pro under the hood, and it can’t all be brand name, right?
The first thing to notice is that unlike previous Porsche Design models of Huawei phones, this new ‘Mate RS’ edition seems to be built completely differently to the P20 Pro. The biggest giveaway is the camera placement – rather than being on the top left corner as in the P20 Pro, it is placed in the center at the back, which is much more akin to the Mate series of smartphones. However, this unit has Huawei’s new tri-camera implementation, featuring the 40MP RGB sensor, a 20MP monochrome sensor, and an 8MP telephoto lens. What the astute might recognize is that the Porsche Design Huawei Mate RS is basically an updated Mate-style designed device, but with the new P20 Pro internals, plus a bit more. This is why the PD device is called a Mate, rather than a P-series. The 'RS' bit is for Rally Sport, a common nomenclature on cars that are a bit sporty.
For the fistful of dolla-dolla bills, prospective owners are set to get the best that Huawei has to offer. The $2220 model comes equipped with 512 GB of storage, the most we have ever seen in a smartphone, while the $1800 model has 256 GB. Both storage variants are matched everywhere else in the design: a 6.0-inch FullView OLED display with a 2880x1440 resolution (538 ppi, 18:9), 6 GB of DRAM, a Kirin 970 processor with its NPU, the tri-camera setup with support for AIS, 5x Hybrid Zoom, and 960 FPS video recording, and Dual SIM capabilities with dual LTE and dual VoLTE. This model has the same battery size as the P20 Pro, coming in at 4000 mAh.
Huawei P20 Pro and Porsche Design Huawei Mate RS | |||
P20 Pro | PD Huawei Mate RS |
||
SoC | HiSilicon Kirin 970 4x Cortex A73 4x Cortex A53 Mali-G72MP12 |
HiSilicon Kirin 970 4x Cortex A73 4x Cortex A53 Mali-G72MP12 |
|
Display | S | 6.1-inch OLED |
6.0-inch OLED |
R | 2240x1080 | 2880x1440 | |
Dim | H | 155.0 mm | 152.9 mm |
W | 73.9 mm | 72.5 mm | |
D | 7.8 mm | 8.5 mm | |
RAM | 6 GB | 6 GB | |
NAND | 128 GB + microSD |
256 GB / 512 GB + microSD |
|
Battery | 4000 mAh | 4000 mAh 10W Qi Wireless Charging |
|
IP Rating | IP67 | IP67 | |
Front Camera | 24MP f/2.0 | 24MP f/2.0 | |
Rear Camera #1 |
20 MP BW f/1.6 |
20 MP BW f/1.6 |
|
Rear Camera #2 | 40 MP RGB f/1.8 1 um 10 MP Mode 102400 ISO |
40MP f/1.8 1 um 10 MP Mode 102400 ISO |
|
Rear Camera #3 | 8 MP f/2.4 Telephoto 5x Hybrid Zoom |
8 MP f/2.4 Telephoto 5x Hybrid Zoom |
|
Modem | Cat 18 / 13 LTE 5CA / 2CA |
Cat 18 / 13 LTE 5CA / 2CA |
|
SIM Size | Dual Nano SIM | Dual Nano SIM | |
Wireless | 802.11ac 2x2 MIMO | 802.11ac 2x2 MIMO | |
Connectivity | USB Type-C | USB Type-C | |
Features | Fingerprint Sensor AI Assisted Video Capture Pixel Fusion 4D Predicative Focus 960 FPS video (720p) Master AI AI Image Stabilization |
P20 Pro + Wireless Charging In-screen Fingerprint Aerospace Cooling No Notch |
|
OS | EMUI 8.1 | EMUI 8.1 | |
Price | 128 GB: 899€ / $952 | 256 GB: 1649€ / $1800 512 GB: 2049€ / $2220 |
There’s also an ingress protection rating of IP67, and Huawei states that they are using their aerospace cooling technology with microcapsule phase change materials inside, similar to what was advertised with the Matebook X released in 2017. Also on the cards are dual fingerprint sensors – one on the back as standard, and one embedded into the display. This is a new in-screen fingerprint sensor from Goodix, rather than the Synaptics one seen earlier this year. The Mate RS will also support 10W wireless charging, making it the first Huawei high-end device to support wireless charging.
So this is a Mate 10 Pro with the P20 Pro internals, the P20 Pro cameras, a higher resolution display (up from FHD+), more storage, IP67, wireless charging, and an integrated fingerprint sensor. For those wondering, there is no notch.
Porsche Design calls this new smartphone ‘the 911 GT3 RS of smartphones’, and plan to offer a range of high-end accessories for the discerning buyer who wants them. The new devices will be available from April 12th, and will be available in red and black.
All being said, and price aside, that red version looked very nice up on stage, better than these pictures. Time to request a sample.
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feelingshorter - Tuesday, March 27, 2018 - link
Owned a Huawei Nexus 6P. Never again. Phone kept turning off between 10-60% battery life. Some friends also reported it turning off even at higher percentages randomly.Ukyo - Tuesday, March 27, 2018 - link
Got a free PXL off the 6P so I don't feel as burned... lolIan Cutress - Tuesday, March 27, 2018 - link
Used Mate S, Mate 8, and Mate 9, all without critical issues. Sometimes your lemon is just a lemon.feelingshorter - Tuesday, March 27, 2018 - link
Not according to Android Police https://www.androidpolice.com/2016/12/20/some-nexu...That is to many lemons to be considered normal.
ezridah - Wednesday, March 28, 2018 - link
No, this was a widely known issue. There are essentially no Nexus 6Ps that weren't affected by this. The batteries are crap and after about a year of use they started shutting down prematurely, especially when cold. Instead of throttling like Apple does, they just let them die and you can't restart the phone without a charger. Once you do restart it, your battery will show that you have whatever percentage left that it died on. It was bad enough that Google was giving replacements outside of warranty, and when they ran out of refurbished 6Ps to replace people's phones with they started giving people brand new Pixel XLs. Unfortunately I replaced mine a month before they started replacing with the Pixels. And guess what? My replacement started shutting down early too after about 4 months. Pretty pissed about it to be honest.Dr. Swag - Tuesday, March 27, 2018 - link
2880x1440 6 in. OLED display? I smell an LG pOLED panel, and on a $2000+ smartphone that is NOT a good thing...vladx - Wednesday, March 28, 2018 - link
Nope, it uses OLED manufactured by JDI not LG.willis936 - Tuesday, March 27, 2018 - link
All I can think about is the shot in the Hudsucker Proxy where two people are trying to decide on a market price for the hula hoop. They had a calculated value and didn't look too happy. They added a zero and looked satisfied.jjj - Tuesday, March 27, 2018 - link
But i don't want exhaust fumes in my pocket and I prefer EVs anyway. Do they have a Marlboro version too?Lolimaster - Tuesday, March 27, 2018 - link
Should come with 5 1:18 high quality Porsche models.