BlackBerry. Apple. Moto. Samsung -- a sneak peak at 2016's potentially most exciting releases
Although there are mobile device launches throughout each year, there are really two main landmarks where the bulk of the important stuff is clustered. In the first quarter it's all about Android devices in and around Mobile World Congress (MWC) which takes place around the end of February to the beginning of March; this is where the likes of Samsung, LG, HTC and Sony typically debut new flagship handsets.
The other big deal is around September, when Apple announces its new iPhone devices - historically this has also included a separate iPad launch event in October/November, but 2015 saw Apple buck that trend and pile everything into the September event. This year’s setup was very different though. Apple announced the iPhone SE and the iPad Pro 9.7 in Q2, a first for the company in recent history.
The iPhone SE was an odd launch, though. It kind of felt like an apology from Apple to its customers for upscaling the display sizes from the iPhone 6 onwards. Reviews have been decent for the 4in iPhone. But it is the iPad Pro 9.7 that stole the show; Apple’s latest iPad is by far and away the best tablet on market right now. It has everything: specs, hardware, features and looks.
The only major manufacturer not being particularly active at MWC this year was HTC, though the its HTC 10 is now available to buy -- HTC 10 Review: The Brand That Started It ALL is BACK. Motorola also usually hosts its own events later in the year, and of course Google keeps to its own summer schedule for the Nexus series. OnePlus is also working on a OnePlus 3, but that OEM has always marched to the beat of its own drum anyway.
Beyond this we’re most excited about the arrival of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 6 and Huawei’s Mate 9 handset, which is due out inside Q4 alongside Android N. Both handsets will almost certainly support Google’s recently announced Daydream VR platform as well as tons of high-end spec and hardware.
Hype around the Galaxy Note 6 has reached an all-time high during the last few months. The handset sounds utterly superb and because Samsung nixed the release of the Galaxy Note 5 here in the UK there is a real thirst for all things Note at present, especially since the rumoured specs include an ENORMOUS battery, 6GB of RAM and a bunch of new features and updates to core components like the camera, stylus and display.
Here's some of the big hitters to look forward to inside 2016.
Huawei Mate 9
The Huawei Mate 8 was one of the big shocks of last year. I say, shock, because I didn’t expect to fall head over heels in love with a phone made by a company called Huawei. But fall in love I did; the Huawei Mate 8 was an exceptional handset in almost every regard.
My only real issue with it is the horrible software Huawei insists on skinning its phones with. The bloatware-packed pigskin is annoying to look at, use and run on a daily basis. But this isn’t a deal breaker as you can just download Google Now Launcher or something similar and that solves this issue nicely.
And now, as we approach mid-way through 2016, it is almost time for the next instalment of Huawei’s Mate series — the Huawei Mate 9.
Still, I have to say we find the Huawei "Mate" series naming convention very odd indeed, maybe it's because we're British and it's a fairly well-established colloquialism here, but any way you slice it, the term means companion, buddy, or friend; which yes, we get it, your phone can very much be a "companion" device, so to speak, but it kind of reminds us of The Inbetweeners making us think of it as "ooooh! phone friend!" It just seems a bit nerdy is all.
Anyway, the previous model, the Huawei Mate 8, was a fantastic device with unbelievable battery performance; the processor performance was also pretty damn good because it implemented Huawei's own Kirin processor series technology, which is quite capable stuff that even gives Samsung's Exynos and Qualcomm's Snapdragon tech a run for its money.
Following on from the Huawei P9, rumours are now emerging (via Gizmochina) that Huawei will next revive the Mate series with the Huawei Mate 9 - although it must be said the Huawei Mate 8 isn't all that old, it's only been on the market a few months. Still, the Mate 9 sounds promising an allegedly features the as-yet unannounced next-gen Kirin 960 octa-core processor, which in turn uses as-yet unnanounced ARM Artemis core architecure. In other words it's going to be a powerhouse.
Not much else is known about the device at this stage, and we have no idea when it might come to market. However, one other snippet of info is the camera setup, and given the hardware on the Huawei P9 (and the LG G5, and the rumours about forthcoming iPhones) it should be no surprise that it's a dual-sensor setup. The sources say the handset will have a pair of 20MP sensors on the rear, an uplift in the megapixel rating from the Huawei P9's 12MP setup, however, it is not yet known if it sports Leica branding and co-engineered technology like the Huawei P9.
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