Nexus 6P leak confirms metal unibody design, 5.7in screen and Snapdragon 810

I'll have the option of picking up a 6P starting November 18, but I've already decided not to buy a S810 device this late into the year. We should get reliable leaks on the Mate 8 before pre-orders start shipping across Europe, so yeah, you'll have time to decide for yourself. If it wasn't for the fact that I tend to keep any given phone for at least two years, I could have been content with the Nexus 6P. I'm unaware of HiSilicon's stance on openly publishing Kirin code in order to aid third party developers, but if they're like Qualcomm, I bet the Mate 8 will have a few AOSP ROMs regardless of the phone's popularity outside of Asia.

Lack of hands-on impressions from independent sources considered, I'm still not sold on the Mate 8 either. I've merely decided to hold off a while longer, but boy am I tired of waiting.

EDIT: There's no official CM development for any Kirin device to date. When going unofficial AOSP, the latest you'll find is Android 4.4.4, and users are faced with broken features, such as bluetooth audio and radio not working. That's a potential deal breaker right there. Huawei needs to step up their open source game.

 

exactly my point as to missing development on the mate 8... hardware wise, its indeed a bad move to get an S810 device this late, but the software side is just unbeatable in nexus-land

plus, considering huawei stated the mali t880mp4 in the kirin 950 is 100% faster than the gpu in the 930, it would still be significantly slower than the s810 adreno 430... so ull either have to choose a faster cpu or gpu.

add to that, as already mentioned, the vastly different custom rom potential and tools, mods, accessories, etc... i mean, what good is an advantage in hardware if ure not able to use its full potential through the software driving it, right? thats also whats keeping me from going samsung, for example. the hardware their S and note series sports is truly amazing in terms of performance, but just take a look on xda concerning development on exynos soc's and compare that to the nexus communities...yeah its like wasteland vs. lush jungle all the way

i used to swap phones every year but now im keeping them for at least two years, thats what makes this decision so hard. on the other hand, im tired of waiting, so yeah, im probably gonna do the childish thing here, order the 6p but keep an eye out for the mate 8. worst case, sell off the 6p and go for the mate once thats out of the way though, ill stick to my choice for 2+ years and dont look back. im not one to go all out buyer's remorse, rather just enjoy my purchases

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That's a valid point. Mali GPUs aren't a gamer's choice. They are power efficient and the DP550, along with its V550 co-processor, sounds like it'll handle next-gen resolutions and video formats with aplomb.

...and it's more appropriate to compare the T880 to the Adreno 530 when looking at the release window.

I'm simple-minded enough to get far more excited about hardware than software, even when I know that software matters at least as much for daily usage. Some comfort can be found in how Huawei doesn't stop developing updates prematurely. What bothers me is reports that changing the launcher can lead to instability. Emotion UI shouldn't be the worst, but it's hard to beat the appeal and tidiness of stock Android.

http://www.dailytech.com/ARM+Announ...xA72+CPU+Design+MaliT880+GPU/article37127.htm
http://techreport.com/news/27278/arm-unwraps-new-graphics-ip-with-4k-h-265-support
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/134946-when-is-android-6-0-marshmallow-coming-to-my-phone

 

yep, it looks like huawei is stepping up their game when it comes to android updates. at first i was a bit concerned seeing as the mate 7 only received lollipop quite recently, about a year or so after its release. this cycle should be tightened up quite a bit if one is to believe current update plans

as for being "simple-minded": normally im a total hardware guy, e.g. when it comes to laptops, but with smartphones im undecidedly sitting between chairs here, since im quite dependant on people developing custom software for the specific phone hardware. on the laptop side, i can upgrade and tweak the hardware myself plus the software environment is so vast and universal that its never really a bottleneck for the hardware. on the smartphone side, however, software and hardware go hand in hand SO much so that ure completely SOL if youre in the unlucky situation of being completely dependant on official manufacturer delivered firmwares... :/

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I've decided to wait for the new SD820s coming out 1Q.

 

wouldnt be able to wait for the new nexus with SD820, thatll take another year

 

Tape outs have been done... Kryo is on the way... Qualcomm lost a LOT of money on the 810, especially when Samsung did their smear campaign. If I had money to bet, I'd bet we will see 820s in February at the latest.

 

I think this pretty much says it...

"To deliver the type of innovation consumers expect, mobile processors must be designed to handle increasing computing requirements, while simultaneously using less battery power and remain cooler than ever"

Qualcomm was in such a rush to beat Samsung that they took an off the shelf ARM design instead of doing what they excel at - custom cores. And it cost them billions. They won't be making the same mistake again.

 

thats the thing though: i know with 99% certainty that the first devices sporting an SD820 wont interest me in the slightest bit i also want a nice looking device with a large developer community not costing me a thousand bucks to get i want an all-inclusive package, not just the first phone sporting an SD820...

 

Ah yes. I am the same. So many I see on forums wondering why anyone would buy a phone with an 810 now when the 820 'is just around the corner'.

Yes, it's not far off, but as always the first manufacturers to hop on the new SOC train will be the Chinese armada, followed in all likelihood by LG (G Flex series). Yes, there's rumours of a possible Galaxy S7 in January but still, Samsung phones aren't for everyone.

As you say, it's about the entire package, not just the SOC. If you're a stock Google Android fan who wants the fastest updates for example, you will have to wait until near the end of the year for the new Nexus phones (and by that time we'll be getting rumours of the super magical Snapdragon 830 that is powered by rainbows and unicorns). If you like premium phones in a little package you'll likely have to wait until Sony release a Z6 or Z7 Compact, whether that be in Spring or Autumn (Sony's release schedule for the Compact's is harder to predict than their regular Z phones) - unless another manufacturer miraculously decides to put the latest and greatest tech in a 5" or smaller package.

People aren't being foolish by buying these Nexus phones now as nomatter how amazing the new SOCs are next year, the fact remains that you won't be seeing a brand new Nexus phone to coincide with the launch of the Snapdragon 820.

The package as a whole is what matters, not just the SOC alone in a vacuum.

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I agree that a smartphone is about a symphony composed of several instruments — its entire feature set. With talk of stagnation in the mobile space, the S810's computing power shouldn't be problematic to even heavy smartphone users for a long time to come. However, Qualcomm's current SoC sticks out more than usual since it's notorious for thermal issues and abnormal power draw. This time around the upgrade cycle is a remedy just as much as it is an evolution.

Indeed, even with new SoCs on the horizon, it may very well take a few additional months until we get a truly great all-rounder to serve as the flagship of the year, but we're hearing many interesting pointers for the next batch of flagships that reach beyond what chips will be powering them. Ultimately, buying a smartphone is a personal choice, and the whispers of what's to come intrigue me more than what's currently available.

 

HTC is rumored to be pushing out a fully revised One line in 1Q using the SD820. I'd snap that up in a second.

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Next...agon-820-chipset-HTC-M10-doesnt-exist_id75640

For those that prefer Samsung, the rumors of the S7 being bumped up to Jan/Feb would again coincide with the SD820 launch which actually just happened officially 2 days ago and looks rather impressive.

http://www.androidauthority.com/snapdragon-820-vs-exynos-vs-others-653890/

The new Exynos is the only worthy competitor but I'll stop using cell phones altogether before I purchase a Samsung again.

 

i disagree, the kirin 950 is actually more performant than the sd820 according to the numbers in your second link.

considering the nexus 6p was pushed ro friggin mid december for germany, im going for a mate 8 all the way now. no reason to hold back anymore, with it sporting all the nextgen hardware of 2016 and a likely more developed custom software scene due to its popularity boost via the nexus program...

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Don't ever go by Geekbench, its a terrible benchmark. If we were to believe Geekbench then Apple's Twister cores are coming close to the performance of Intel's Core M and we all know that's not the case. AnTuTu is the gold standard for a reason.

You're also looking at a quad-core chip vs an octa-core chip so if you really want to dissect it, Qualcomm has pulled something amazing off. I mean Qualcomm even has the lowest clocks (although the custom clocks of the Samsung aren't known, I'd say they have to be pretty high)

 

looking at antutu the difference between 8890 and 950 is actually even smaller

edit: scratch that, its head to head between 820/950 still great

and yeah, i also prefer antutu to geekbench, its way more complex in terms of measuring the whole system vs. cpu-heavy dependency of geekbench.

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The SD820 barely beats out the 950 on AnTuTu though.

I guess we will have to wait for final silicon... But if HTC releases a BoomSound-equipped, 64GB+, qHD, and between 5.2 and 6inches SD820 monster with 3-4GB of RAM, I know my next phone...

 

new leak on the mate 8: three different models with three screen sizes, starting at 5.5-5.7 inch, 6 inch and a friggin 6.2 inch supersize model! the former two sport fhd screens with the latter including a qhd getting excited! only 10 days to go until public release

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Wow, the Mate 8 looks NICE! Screen-to-body ratio of 83%, 2.3GHz Kirin 950, 16MP Sony IMX 298 camera with OIS, 4GB LPDDR4 RAM, 128GB expendable memory, 4,000 mAh battery, and the list goes on. It is a large device for sure, but the dimensions are suprisingly managable for a 6-incher.

My main gripes are Huawei's locked down SoC code and the lack of OLED. Interestingly, Xiaomi's rumoured to be looking into OLED panels for its flagships, so the Mi 5 might arrive with both OLED and a S820, the latter landing it an appealing custom ROM selection. The Mate 8 is slated for an early Q1 release. We'll see.

http://www.androidheadlines.com/2015/11/huawei-mate-8-specifications.html
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Huawei-Mate-8-price-and-release-date_id76136
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Huawei-Mate-8-all-the-official-images_id76138

 

see what im saying? totally gonna get that phone just gotta be patient a liiiitle bit longer...

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I'm not sure what the VIP stuff in the box is about. I wonder if any of the consumer SKUs will ship with Huawei's interpretation of the S-View cover. On another note, I think the camera layout in EMUI seems all right. The one thing I don't like about stock Android is how basic the default camera app is.

It will be interesting to see if the international model(s) announced at CES will differ in any significant way from the Chinese model.

More images: http://www.androidheadlines.com/2015/11/first-post-launch-huawei-mate-8-hands-on-images-surface.html

 

yeah i was wondering about that VIP card as well...
the huawei website mentions that the phone comes with a protective case in the box, no word on details though.
i seriously hope that they dont gimp the international version by restricting it to one sim card slot (= no microsd) and 3gb of ram, that would be a deal breaker for me! 4gb/64gb would be perfect! havent decided yet which color id take though... dont understand all that fuss about golden colored phones.... meh

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I haven't decided which colour I prefer either. Moonlight Silver might be the winner. Granted, I haven't quite decided if this is the phone I want, but if the international version is gimped somehow, nothing would stop me from buying the Chinese version, which should reach the market first anyway. As you said, they might replace the dual SIM tray.

 

sure, if the huawei warranty holds true worldwide and the supported networks arent vastly different, then the chinese version it is

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It's hard to believe considering how few currently list the device, but apparently the Mate 8 will go on sale in China this Wednesday, on December 9th. Phone Arena mentions something curious:

I get that Huawei could reserve the Champagne Gold colour variant for the 64GB and 128GB models, but what's this about an exclusive edition? Their source does cite the most expensive version of the phone to cost 6,888 CNY / $1075, but wouldn't that be a 128GB model? Even then, it wouldn't make sense as a regular SKU, because an international reseller does offer the 128GB Mate 8 at $778, where the price should be slightly inflated compared to the MSRP of the Chinese market.

For better and for worse, this launch did come sooner than expected. I'd still like to know more about the international Mate 8, Xiaomi's Mi 5 and Mi 5 Plus, and ZTE's Nubia Z11. The Mi 5 will most likely have Synaptics ClearForce technology on a 5.2-inch QHD screen with very thin bezels, along with the inevitable Snapdragon 820, and though the phone's Q1 release is probably a tad too early for it, Xiaomi is looking to adopt OLED. Given that this is Xiaomi we're talking about, the Mi 5 will be cheaper than the Mate 8, but might not get the same battery life or as nice a camera (actually, where are the samples?). The Nubia Z11 is expected to employ arc Refractive Conduction and Frame Interactive Technology for attractive-looking and interactive screen bezels, akin to the Z9. Other than that, it should also carry a 5.2-inch QHD display and a Snapdragon 820 SoC. It could also launch in Western markets at the same time as in China, given ZTE's expansive global reseller network.

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Powerful-Huawei-Mate-8-to-be-launched-on-December-9th_id76417

 

link to international reseller please!

also 1075$ has to be some kinda typo, thats just wrong....would surely make more sense for the 128GB model, but not the 64GB model. 500 bucks 3/32, 750 bucks 4/64, 1k bucks 4/128 would make sense!

 

That Kirin lags a LOT... I am glad I went with the Note 5, even running the A57s at 1.7GHz (stock is 2.1), there is no lag with anything whatsoever. Not even SwiftKey.

My next phone will more than likely be another Exynos unless SD820 ends up delivering... And I'm sorry but closed source on the Kirin... Bad enough I have Google spying on me, I don't need to worry about my SoC doing it too.

 

oh cmon now, dont be paranoid.... besides, microsoft with win10, samsung with their smart tvs, google with their apps, would there actually be any manufacturer left NOT at least trying to spy on you, their most beloved customer?

 

Point remains... That reviewer was very careful to not let how bad it was actually lagging show... And it still did.

 

wait, are we talking about the 950 lagging? if so, what reviewer? links please! or are u talking about the kirin 920 / 935?

 

Talking about that VIP review. Mate 8.

Just double checked... Its a Kirin 950. My Note 5 doesn't have that lag even with the A57s running at 1.7GHz!

 

aw man, dont gimme that... huawei better provide a software environment worthy of that hardware!

 

i think we can slowly change the thread title to "huawei nexus 6p vs. mate 8" or something like that @Ethrem ?

btw, first two shop listings here in germany for the black and white (silver?) models, one is for 699€, the other for 671€. both dont give any details as to which model its supposed to be so i contacted one of the two and asked about expected availability and memory configuration...looking at the chinese prices once could think it should be the 4/128gb model, but as i know our luck, well probably have to shed 699€ for the base model...

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https://ibuygou.com/categories/huawei-1.html

Strangely, they don't offer Moonlight Silver or Space Gray for the 4GB RAM models. I'll contact them about it now.

I thought the Exynos was closed source too? I care more about the developer aspect than having large companies spying on me. It's not long ago that someone managed to make an Exynos 7420 device, the Galaxy S6, boot an AOSP ROM for the first time, and a lot still remains to be done before it can become a daily driver. That's pretty much a best case scenario for any phone powered by a chip with closed source code these days, given how popular these Samsung phones are. The Kirin 950 likely won't see itself running non-Huawei firmware at any point, which makes me wonder if I shouldn't wait for a Snapdragon 820 device.

In the gallery, it looked to me as if he was causing it by swiping too slowly, dragging his finger along the screen. Perhaps it is jerkier than it should be. I'm eagerly anticipating a proper review. Judging by the usage statistics in the following video, the CPU appears to be able to keep up just fine:

 

could be that im a tad slow with my visual cortex here, but i dont see any lags whatsoever.... *lol* thx for the links

 

There will be no changes to the colours they offer at this time, and they haven't recieved a specific date for when they'll have it in stock yet.

 

Turns out the lack of colours is not a shortcoming on the reseller's end; you'll see the same differentiation from resellers through AliExpress, and Gizmochina does indeed only mention the two colours:

I'm guessing they'll rectify this with the international release to increase appeal to those who prefer 'safe' colours.

The Mate 8 is in high demand and may be hard to acquire this month.

http://www.gsmarena.com/huawei_mate_8_already_sold_out_at_many_retail_stores_in_china-news-15416.php

 

i didnt expect anything less

 

As a heads up, the reseller I mentioned earlier has the 128GB variant in stock as of today. I'd update on user camera samples from the Mini Review thread over at XDA, but it looks like you've already seen those. I think the photos look okay, but not great. So much for Huawei incorporating the new Sony IMX278 sensor and the significant leaps in terms of ISP and DSP performance. This is likely the result of prioritising a camera that doesn't protrude much. The OP also mentions mediocre black levels, which, if true, is disappointing seen in light of how IPS-NEO screens usually perform. That aside, the Mate 8 looks right on the mark in terms of expectations.

In other news, it doesn't seem likely that a non-Samsung Snapdragon 820 device will get released until April at the earliest. I'm thinking that might be too long for me to wait.

 

Owning the phone since 2 days, significant update from my old trusty N5, first thing i did was unlock bootloader and install Chroma ROM , battery is sooooooo much better than on my N5, it lasts now about 2 days with my typical usage, Spotify, Tapatalk, Flipboard, Messaging learning Japanese, about 60% after 1 day left with 2-3h SoT, max SoT i can get is about 5-6h very impressive imho. N5 there was already at 20-30% after 1 day. Surprisingly i got very fast used to the larger display despite my small hands and can't think about getting back to 5 inch. Fingerprint is absolutly great too, first i thought of a nice extra but now, i swear if i have to insert my unlock PIN . Didn't use my Camera yet beside some test shots but i can already guess it's much superior to my N5. So yeah i'm very impressed by the device and i will definitely keep it, never thought that it will be such an upgrade cause like i said before in this thread my N5 was still very very smooth with Chroma ROM and blu.spark Kernel.

 

scerate u bastard! jealous!

edit: oh wait nvm, thought u were talking about the mate 8

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http://en.egg-life.net/article/171722

Poorly translated article, but these camera samples show more promise. Unfortunately, they are resized. What we get a closer look at is how the Mate 8 handles balance and autofocus.

 

After a hands-on at CES, Phone Arena had lots of nice things to say about the Mate 8, citing that its display is easy to mistake for an OLED variant, and how the footprint isn't as big as you'd expect from a 6-incher. Impressive and tempting device indeed, but it's now official that Xiaomi will make an early February release for their Mi 5 after all. I'm willing to wait an extra month (how many times have I said that?) for AOSP, USB-C, and other benefits of the S820. Maybe next time, Huawei.

 

Reviews are finally starting to trickle out. Great battery life, great SoC, great build quality, so-so camera, EMUI issues still present.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9878/the-huawei-mate-8-review
https://www.androidpit.com/huawei-mate-8-review
http://www.androidcentral.com/huawei-mate-8-review

 

1080p? No thanks.

 

I'm not sure about WQHD vs FHD on a 6-incher, but I often find 1080p more sensible on a 5.0-5.2-inch device. There are pros and cons to both resolutions. I deem neither to be a deal-breaker. It will be interesting to see if difference in battery drain will be more negligible with the next generation of SoCs.

 

Wow the Snapdragon 820 is a performer. Check this out.



O_O

 

right, and second run would be half that score? lets wait and see about temps also, the mate 8 has that awesome battery life exactly because of the fhd screen

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You know, I don't really buy the whole thing with the 810. Yes, it ran hot. But my Exynos 7420 regularly hits 80C. I've seen plenty of examples of temperature read from the chip as opposed to the battery in the overheating phones and they tend to peak in the 60s and 70s. Seems to me, Samsung has the heat issue and Qualcomm set the temp limit too low. I've seen my Exynos hit 90C after a benchmark marathon and it doesn't even go critical until 115C but starts throttling itself from max core at 95C. That's ridiculous for an SoC.

I don't care about battery life. I get 6 hours SoT from my Note 5 and that's plenty. The pixel density on a large screen becomes very useful and I can see the pixels on a 1080p screen that's 5.5" or larger without holding it to my face. That's a deal breaker.

 

I still refuse to consider any QHD phone, even if it is a huge size (5.5" and larger). I think there is just diminishing returns on resolutions beyond 1080p, we lived with less than 1080p for computers for many many years.

 

When you're multitasking, like trying to get a number from a site that won't let you copy and paste and you're like me and never have a pen and paper, QHD becomes invaluable. I can't tell you how often I come across pages that won't let you copy and paste anymore and I just slide the number to the top of the page, open the dialer, and hit recent apps to input the number and such. Can't do it on a 1080p screen, I've tried. Not enough detail.

Everyone has their own opinion but when you actually start using the high resolution devices, their benefits start to shine.