ALONG with the Mate 10, Huawei launched two higher-end models under the Mate 10 branding, namely the Huawei Mate 10 Pro and Porsche Design Mate 10 Pro.

Huawei Mate 10 series official video

Both come with an edge-to-edge OLED display with 18:9 picture and better internals. The Mate 10 Pro and Porsche Design Mate 10 Pro also shift from a metal body to a glass design, which is better from an aesthetic standpoint, but not so much from a practical one.

SEE ALSO: Complete specs of the Huawei Mate 10 Pro

The glass backing picks up fingerprints like nobody’s business, and it will likely shatter if it hits concrete. It’s unfortunate that these phones do not have wireless charging, though you do get fast — and safe — charging over a Type-C connection. Huawei promises a full day’s charger after just 20 minutes plugged in.

SEE ALSO: Full specs of the Huawei Porsche Design Mate 10 Pro

The Porsche insignia appears on the Porsche Design variant, and the horizontal strip where the back-facing cameras sit has been replaced with a vertical band. There’s also different branding on the front of the phone to differentiate it.

‘Huawei Mate 10 partners with Porsche Design’ video

The Porsche Design likewise gets 256GB of non-expandable storage (whereas the Mate 10 Pro maxes out at 128GB) and a special black finish not seen on other versions. The rest of the hardware is identical, down to the proportions and the location of the buttons and the fingerprint reader.

The Mate 10 Pro and Porsche Design Mate 10 Pro get the same IP67 rating as the Apple iPhone 8 and the latest Google Pixel 2 phones for added peace of mind. They’re the first Huawei phones to be water-resistant, though this luxury comes at the cost of losing the headphone jack, which the regular Mate 10 offers (albeit without the waterproofing and a few other highlights). The Pro models also have an IR blaster for controlling supported appliances and electronics.

SEE ALSO: Huawei Mate 10 flagship launched, to arrive in the Philippines end-October

Similar to the standard version, the Huawei Mate 10 Pro and Porsche Design Mate 10 Pro have dual Leica-branded rear cameras — the 12-megapixel sensor takes pictures in color, while the 20-megapixel sensor shoots exclusively in monochrome or black and white. Those sensors sit behind an f/1.6 aperture lens, allowing them to perform better in low light. The selfie camera is 8 megapixels.

As for the internals, both phones run heavily skinned Android 8.0 Oreo on the new HiSilicon Kirin 970 processor, which was developed in-house. Paired with the chip is 6GB of RAM, as well as a dedicated neural-network processing unit meant to offload AI or artificial-intelligence tasks — such as machine learning and image recognition — from the CPU. Built on a 10nm process, the Kirin 970 also promises longer battery life.

It’s clear that Huawei is positioning the Mate 10 Pro as its ultimate smartphone offering in 2017 and as a threat to the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and Apple iPhone 8 Plus. It’s big, but not that big — and it’s got all the latest specs and arguably the best-looking phone Huawei’s ever made to house them. But are these enough to carry the Chinese brand to the top of the heap?

It’s clear that Huawei is positioning the Mate 10 Pro as its ultimate smartphone offering in 2017 and as a threat to the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and the Apple iPhone 8 Plus.

We suppose we’ll find out soon enough. The Huawei Mate 10 Pro and Porsche Design Mate 10 Pro will be available in select countries, excluding the Philippines, from November, with the former setting you back 799 euros, or around P48,249 or $939. The Porsche Design will turn heads and break hearts, going for an eye-watering 1,395 euros (P84,228 or $1,639).

Main image via Unbox Therapy on YouTube

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