News

HUAWEI surprisingly reveals the Mate 60 Pro with three punch holes

Alongside the one-eyed Mate 60

Published

August 30, 2023

Vincenz

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

HUAWEI has surprisingly (and quietly) revealed the newest Mate 60 and Mate 60 Pro in China — just ahead of the Apple event for the upcoming iPhone 15 series.

Base and Pro

Unlike last year’s Huawei Mate 50 series featuring four different models (at least in China), HUAWEI decided to launch just the base and Pro models this August 2023. However, rumors are floating around the web that they will have a follow-up launch. That will feature the more powerful Mate 60 Pro+ and the expected premium-line RS Design (without Porsche anymore).

UPDATE: HUAWEI has released the full-on Mate 60 Pro+ and Mate 60 RS Ultimate Design flagships as well.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

The Mate 60 and Mate 60 Pro both feature an LTPO OLED Full HD+ display with an adaptive 1 to 120Hz refresh rate and 300Hz touch sampling rate. The differentiating factor? The Mate 60 Pro has a tad bigger 6.82-inch screen over Mate 60’s 6.69-inches.

Still, both have DCI-P3 Wide Color Gamut and 1.07 Billion Colors plus 1440Hz high frequency PWM dimming. These provide better colors, smoother brightness levels, and extend the display’s overall lifespan.

Both phones are also covered with Second Generation Kunlun Glass for drops and IP68 for water and dust resistance protection. And just like any HUAWEI phone in China, it’s powered by HarmonyOS 4 (or HongmengOS).

A new breed of punch hole

While it was first rumored that the upcoming Mate 60 series will have a Dynamic Island-like punch hole, HUAWEI decided to implement a rather unique way or should we say “pill-less” cutout, removing the iPhone’s software-optimized pill and just left the holes intact on screen.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

This new cutout implementation is a first of its kind as most Android smartphones are either with single or dual pill-shaped ones. This also ditches the aging notch of the previous Mate model.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

The trio punch hole houses its selfie camera plus its 3D face recognition sensor. This is also the main differentiating factor against its Mate 60 sibling with a single punch hole cutout on its front instead.

If you have trypophobia (or the fear of seeing multiple small holes), don’t fret! There’s a built-in option to hide the three hole cutout and transform it into a pill-shaped punch-hole.

Kirin comeback

HUAWEI has finally ended its reliance towards Qualcomm and their Snapdragon chipset. The Mate 60 Pro is now powered again by Huawei’s in-house chipset — making a comeback ever since the Kirin 9000-equipped Mate 40 Pro from 2021.

While this isn’t officially listed in their website (just like how they don’t mention official RAM information in the P60 series), leaked benchmarks show that it’s powered by a Kirin 9000s chipset based on a 5nm process. The latest Kirin processor also brings back 5G connectivity to Huawei smartphones — a must in a tech-advanced country like China.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

The P60-exclusive feature also made its way on the Mate 60 series with its satellite communication technology. This feature enables a user to send and receive messages when there’s no ground signal — much like Apple’s Emergency SOS via Satellite.

Quite similar hardware

The Mate 60 series are available in a lone 12GB RAM with three storage choices: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. Storage expansion is still possible thanks to its NM Memory Card slot support of up to 256GB.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Battery capacities and charging speeds are also not identical. The Pro variant has a bigger battery capacity at 5000mAh with 88W wired SuperCharge support. On the other hand, the Mate 60 instead has a lower 4750mAh battery and slower 66W charging. Both can be charged using the fast 50W wireless SuperCharge charger but only the Mate 60 Pro supports 20W reverse wireless charging.

Lastly, HUAWEI boasts its new “Xuanwu architecture” (or Xuanwu design). The fusion of an ultra-strong basalt body and ultra-durable brocade fiber material alongside their tougher second-generation Kunlun Glass gives the phone an added three-layer of protection and strength, as well as overall reliability.

Familiar camera system

You can barely tell the camera improvements on the HUAWEI Mate 60 Pro over last year’s Mate 50 Pro, at least on paper.

It still has that XMAGE Camera System that debuted during last year’s model. Its 50MP wide camera is similar with a dual-variable aperture between f/1.4 to f/4.0. Selfie camera seems unchanged too with its 13MP f/2.4 ultra-wide shooter.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

So what has changed in the Mate 60 Pro? Well, the ultra-wide angle lens was changed to a 12MP (versus 13MP), but still has the same f/2.2 lens opening and 120-degree Field of View (FoV).

Even the telephoto zoom lens isn’t safe from the megapixel downsizing as its lowered from 64MP to 48MP — though similarly having a 3.5x optical zoom but with a slightly wider f/3.0 aperture (vs f/3.5).

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

For the base Mate 60, the setup is quite interesting because it has a 12MP f/3.4 periscope telephoto zoom lens that optically zooms in farther at 5x instead of Mate 60 Pro’s 3.5x. Digital zoom is limited to 50x though (vs 100x on the Pro variant).

8K video fans shouldn’t expect anything grand as video recording is limited to 4K 30/60fps, still with OIS.

Pricing and availability

The HUAWEI Mate 60 Series are available in four different dual-tone shades: Yachuan Green, White Sand Silver, Nannuo Purple, and Yadan Black.

The green and silver options have a Kunlun Glass top while the purple and black variants have a faux leather texture instead.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Despite having three storage options, only one configuration option (12GB + 512GB) is listed per model:

Mate 60 = CNY 5999 (US$ 822 / EUR 761 / GBP 654 / SG$ 1155 / PhP 46,673 / INR 68,085)
Mate 60 Pro = CNY 6999 (US$ 956 / EUR 888 / GBP 763 / SG$ 1301 / PhP 54,453 / INR 79,435)

Unfortunately, based from Android Authority’s report, HUAWEI has no plans launching the Mate 60 Pro globally. This is mostly due to the fact that it ships with the new Kirin 5G chipset.

News

The iPhone 18 might sell out for an unexpected reason

The ongoing shortage might play a part in the phone selling out earlier than expected.

Published

August 7, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

An iPhone selling out is not news. Because of how popular the phones are, it’s within the realm of probability that Apple runs out of stock at some point. According to a new report, this year won’t be any different… but it’s for an entirely different reason.

First reported by analyst Tim Culpan, Apple is reportedly struggling to meet its demand for semiconductors for the iPhone 18 and the foldable iPhone. The ongoing memory shortage is cutting off Apple’s ability to deliver the required supply of smartphones in a timely fashion. The report even claims that TSMC, which helps produce the iPhone, is sitting on a shipment of processors, worth US$ 1 billion, that don’t have memory chips.

Now, Apple is still confident that it can weather the launch. However, if the shortage persists, the iPhone 18 generation will likely sell out much more quickly than expected.

It’s an interesting time for Apple to experience such a shortage. It’s been heavily rumored that the company will launch its very first foldable phone next month, creating a new market for the brand. Apple definitely wants this attempt to succeed after the tepid response to its last new product, the Vision Pro.

News

These “smart” glasses just sold out in under a week

DuckDuckGo touts that these glasses have zero AI, zero cameras, and an infinite battery life.

Published

August 7, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Smart glasses are in a weird place right now. While a chunk of the population views them as cool and innovative, another significant chunk sees them as a privacy nightmare. If you’re in the latter group but want to see what life is like on the former, DuckDuckGo has a new product: a pair of anti-surveillance glasses with no camera or AI, otherwise known as just normal sunglasses.

If it’s not obvious, yes, it’s a troll product. DuckDuckGo is a search engine famously known for pushing privacy as a priority, opposing Google’s penchant for advertising and AI. Now, the search engine is taking on the smart glasses market.

Partnering with Knockaround, DuckDuckGo released the Paso Robles, a pair of sunglasses touted as having zero cameras, an always-offline mode, and a battery life of infinity.

It’s a statement piece. The rims have a logo mark, similar to the Meta’s glasses. The packaging also states that the glasses are “designed to block the sun, not send data to the cloud.”

Now, if you want a pair, they cost only US$ 35, as opposed to Meta’s US$ 299 price tag, but they are already sold out.

Which says quite a bit about today’s sentiment against AI and for privacy. Of course, to be fair, DuckDuckGo’s supply is certainly less than Meta’s stock for their smart glasses. It does, however, prove that the sentiment is there.

As of now, the world is slowly realizing that unimpeded smart glasses aren’t such a good idea, leading to people concerned about their privacy. In fact, some states have already started banning the technology in certain public spaces.

News

Google will force Android users to use Gemini next month

Google Assistant will be retired as well.

Published

August 6, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

What is Google’s voice assistant called? Technically, there are two possible answers: Google Assistant and Gemini. Despite Google’s push for Gemini, the ubiquitous Google Assistant is still a common option for most users. However, the company will soon take that choice away as the voice assistant will retire in favor of Gemini.

First reported by 9to5Google, Google has sent emails to users, declaring that Google Assistant will no longer be an option for Android users starting September 4. On that date, the company will slowly roll out an update to get rid of the assistant’s availability on device.

Google also makes it clear that Gemini will be “the assistant experience on Android” moving forward. If you’re used to Google Assistant to help you with handsfree use, you’ll have only one option soon. This also affects other peripherals including smartwatches and audio accessories.

Of course, there are a few exceptions. Devices that can’t support an AI-powered assistant like Gemini are mercifully spared of the forced transition. Likewise, devices in countries that don’t support the AI assistant are also saved.

Despite the tepid reception of AI today, Google remains adamant about pushing Gemini to more users, regardless of whether they want it or not. In fact, a forced move like this will likely inflate the numbers that more devices are using Google’s AI software than ever before, while conveniently hiding the fact that most users never really had much of a choice.