News

Huawei resurrects ‘Mate’ with the Mate 50 series in China

Four Mates to choose from

Published

September 6, 2022

Vincenz

Image by GadgetMatch

If you can still recall, Huawei launched the last “Mate” in October 2020 — potentially the last of its kind.

But just like the latest rumor of the Mate line being re-launched this September 2022, they have officially announced the comeback of the series with not just one, but four Mate 50 models in China.

Mate 50 + Mate 50E

Let’s start with the two similarly-looking models of the series: The Mate 50 and the Mate 50E.

Image by GadgetMatch

Both phones sport a 6.7-inch Full HD+ OLED flat display with 90Hz refresh rate and 300Hz touch sampling rate. These displays also support 1.07 Billion Colors and DCI-P3 wide color gamut. However, the Mate 50 has Huawei’s in-house Kunlun glass protection and an IP68 water and dust resistance rating that the Mate 50E does not possess.

Image by GadgetMatch

Each phone also has what they call a 50MP “Super Optical Camera” with a variable aperture between f/1.4 to f/4.0 plus a 13MP f/2.2 ultra-wide lens. Their 13MP f/2.4 selfie cameras are also similar. The differentiating factor has got to be the Mate 50’s 12MP periscope telephoto lens that supports 5x optical zoom and up to 50x digital zoom.

Image by GadgetMatch

Other notable differences are the chipsets used. The Mate 50 is equipped with the latest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset. Meanwhile, the Mate 50E has a toned-down Snapdragon 778G chipset just like the Honor 70, Xiaomi 12 Lite, Nothing Phone (1), and the Samsung Galaxy A73 5G. Unfortunately, despite the mentioned chipsets being 5G-capable, both are only limited to 4G connectivity.

There are other similarities too like the 4460mAh battery, 66W SuperCharge + reverse charging capabilities, and choices between 8GB RAM + 128 or 256GB UFS 3.1 configurations with NM card expansion of up to 256GB. However, the Mate 50 supports 50W Wireless SuperCharge and is available in a bigger 512GB option.

Mate 50 Pro

This 2022, Huawei decided to scrap the “Pro+” model in favor of the lone Mate 50 Pro flagship.

Unlike the two models aforementioned, the Mate 50 Pro features a 6.74-inch OLED curved display with a 120Hz refresh rate that’s totally reminiscent of the Mate 30 Pro from three years ago. Aside from the same 13MP f/2.4 selfie camera, there’s also a 3D depth sensor for more secure biometrics.

Other display specs are similar from the other Mate 50 phones: 300Hz touch sampling rate plus DCI-P3 wide color gamut and 1.07 Billion Color support.

Image by GadgetMatch

Other than that, the cameras are quite similar from the first two Mates: a 50MP Super Optical main camera with an adjustable f/1.4 to f/4.0 aperture plus OIS, paired with a 13MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle camera. What makes it “Pro” is its 64MP 3.5x periscope telephoto lens with OIS — similar to that of the Huawei P50 Pro that can zoom up to 100x minus the LEICA optics.

Lastly, it’s also powered by the latest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 4G chipset and 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM with either 256GB or 512GB storage options + NM card storage expansion. Battery is quite bigger at 4700mAh with 66W SuperCharge, 50W Wireless SuperCharge, and 5W reverse charging. It’s also IP68-rated and has the Huawei Kunlun glass protection.

Porsche Design Mate 50 RS

Lastly, there’s still a variant highlighting the solid partnership between Huawei and Porsche Design — a collaboration that started four years ago. While it has the most aggressive design in the Mate 50 series, the design is very much like the Porsche Design Mate 40 RS as well as the Honor Magic4 Ultimate. Its back is also made out of ceramic glass.

Its hardware specifications are very similar to the Mate 50 Pro: display, cameras, IP rating, battery capacity, charging speeds, and even the non-5G Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset used. But, the Mate 50 RS has a plentiful 12GB of LPDDR5 memory, plus a different periscope telephoto lens with a smaller megapixel count but a wider aperture — 48MP f/3.0 vs Mate 50 Pro’s 64MP f/3.5. Albeit, it still has the same 3.5x to 100x zoom capabilities.

Image by GadgetMatch

The Mate 50 RS is also limited to a 512GB storage option, still with NM card support. As obvious as it looks, the Huawei Porsche Design Mate 50 RS also has a different set of leather cases and accessories that complement well the aesthetic of the sports car’s fashion-focused subsidiary.

Pricing and Availability

The Huawei Mate 50 series is currently available for pre-orders in China. There’s no word on global availability just yet.

Image by GadgetMatch

There are several color options and pricing configurations* (in Chinese Yuan or Renminbi SRP) for the Mate 50 series:

Mate 50E (Obsidian Black, Frost Silver, Streamer Purple)

128GB = CNY 3999 (US$ 559 / EUR 579 / GBP 518 / SG$ 801 / PhP 32,946)
256GB = CNY 4499 (US$ 628 / EUR 651 / GBP 582 / SG$ 902 / PhP 37,065)

Mate50 (Obsidian Black, Frost Silver, Streamer Purple, Daybreak Kunlun, Kunlun Xiaguang)

128GB = CNY 4999 (US$ 721 / EUR 727 / GBP 628 / SG$ 1013 / PhP 41,055)
256GB = CNY 5499 (US$ 793 / EUR 800 / GBP 691 / SG$ 1114 / PhP 45,162)
512GB = CNY 6499 (US$ 938 / EUR 1317 / GBP 816 / SG$ 1317 / PhP 53,374)

Mate 50 Pro (Obsidian Black, Frost Silver, Streamer Purple, Daybreak Kunlun, Kunlun Xiaguang)

256GB = CNY 6799 (US$ 981 / EUR 989 / GBP 854 / SG$ 1377 / PhP 55,838)
512GB = CNY 7799 (US$ 1125 / EUR 1134 / GBP 979 / SG$ 1580 / PhP 64,051)

Porsche Design Mate 50 RS (Dark Blue Porcelain, Carmine Porcelain)

512GB = CNY 12999 (US$ 1875 / EUR 1890 / GBP 1632 / SG$ 2634 / PhP 106,757)

News

Apple might make a ring you can wear on other parts of your body

Patent granted

Published

December 2, 2023

Luigi Leonardo

Earlier this year, Samsung reportedly started development on a smart ring, a fitness tracker shaped like a ring you were on your finger. Now, based on a new patent, Apple is doing the same. However, the company’s iteration goes beyond just a ring meant for your finger.

As first reported by Apple Insider, the American government has recently granted Apple a patent for an “electronic system with ring device.” Though the depicted device repeatedly shows a ring worn on a finger, the patent description also describes other uses, such as on a “wrist, arm, leg, neck, head, and/or other body part.”

The patent was written vaguely enough to accommodate a lot of uses. One example that the patent describes is NFC technology activating when in range of certain devices and objects. For example, a user can use a wearable bracelet or anklet to enter a gated area. A user can also receive information through the wearable when near a book or another device.

Naturally, the described device will also have tracking capabilities. It’s possible that the wearable is meant to pair with Apple’s other devices in its ecosystem such as an iPhone or an Apple Watch.

That said, a patent rarely corresponds to a finalized product. While the possibilities of such a device are numerous, it’s also possible that Apple won’t move forward with an actual product. Currently, smart rings are still a relatively niche segment.

Apps

WhatsApp will let you hide all your secret chats with a password

Passwords can even have an emoji

Published

December 1, 2023

Luigi Leonardo

Secret chats is a boon to the online community. However, while the feature can protect your conversations from online snoopers, nothing can stop anyone who grabs your phone and goes through all your apps. Now, WhatsApp is finally adding an extra layer of protections for those who use secret chats on the platform — a secret code.

For anyone engaged in secret conversations, a password seems like a no-brainer. While the feature has been a long time coming, its launch is still welcome today. With the new version, users can hide all their secret chats with a passcode.

Plus, the passcodes are more unique than most. Rather than just a short PIN or a traditional password, users can use emojis too. Allowing emojis can add an even more secure lock to those private conversations.

Once secured, the locked chats will no longer pop up by default on WhatsApp’s main feed. While users can still toggle their visibility on and off, users will have to input their secret passcodes into the app’s search bar to see their list of secret chats.

While the feature is still rolling out now, users already have existing options to lock individual chats away from prying eyes. These measures include fingerprint scanning, face recognition, and good ol’ passwords. The new feature is more meant to hide all of them at the same time, especially when a shoulder snooper can just spot locked chats right from the list.

Apps

Google Messages adds new features similar to iMessage

Photomoji sounds familiar

Published

December 1, 2023

Luigi Leonardo

It’s been a great month for RCS. Recently, Apple, the messaging standard’s longstanding rival, finally announced support for RCS coming in 2024. Now, it has reached another huge milestone: 1 billion active users, according to Google. To celebrate, Google has announced new features coming to Messages.

RCS has been the standard for Google’s Messages for a while now. However, despite reaching a significant number of users over the years, Messages has often trailed Apple’s iMessage in terms of features. Today, Messages is finally getting a healthy infusion of the latter’s newer developments.

For one, the new Photomoji feature can turn your photos into message reactions. Using the onboard AI, Google can automatically turn the subject of any photo for use in the app. Messages will also save these for future use. Now, while this might sound familiar for iOS users, Google will not require users to turn photos into stickers before using them in iMessage.

Users can also change the color of their bubbles, digging at the ongoing green versus blue debate between iOS and Android.

Additionally, Voice Moods will allow users to add an emoji to sent voice messages. Even before playing them, recipients will already have an idea what the tone of the message will be. And speaking of the format, Google also improved the audio quality for voice messages.

Finally, Messages will have Screen Effects going forward. Like other messaging platforms (like Messenger and Viber), typing certain phrases such as “I love you” will cause the screen to react appropriately. In Viber, for example, typing “happy birthday” will cause balloons to fly up from the bottom.

These updates are slowly rolling out through a beta version coming to select countries and devices.