Earlier this month, Huawei introduced its new Mate 9 handset, along with a souped-up Porsche Design version.
Since then, it has unveiled a Mate 9 Pro iteration of the phone, and now the company has quietly added one more handset to the lineup: the Mate 9 Lite.
The new addition isn’t quite in the same league as its more capable counterparts, however, coming as it does with a 5.5-inch 1080p display, Kirin 655 processor and dual camera setup (12MP and 2MP).
Huawei’s new mid-ranger also comes in three colors (gray/gold/silver), and will be available with either 3GB RAM with 32GB of storage or 4GB RAM with 64GB of storage.
Related: Mate 9 hands on
There’s also a 3340mAh battery running the show, and the Lite comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow, with Huawei’s EMUI 4.1 skin.
That seems slightly strange considering the Mate 9 comes with Android 7.0 Nougat and EMUI 5, but, again, the company is aiming more for the mid-range market with this handset.
And while the dual camera setup appears on both the Mate 9 and its new Lite variant, the 12MP and 2MP setup on the Lite isn’t quite the 20MP and 12MP Leica-branded offering that comes with the standard version.
We were impressed with the Mate 9 when we got our hands on it, and concluded it is easily the best Mate handset yet with its decent screen, powerful CPU, and newly modernised Android skin.
Related: Mate 9 Porsche Design hands on
Whether the Lite can manage a similar feat in the mid-range category remains to be seen but we’re hoping the phone makes it to the UK so we can find out.
At this point, no pricing or availability details for the new Mate 9 Lite have been provided, but we’re hoping to hear more in the near future.
You can check out the Mate 9 Lite’s full specs on Huawei’s website.
WATCH: Huawei Mate 9 Hands-On
Let us know in the comments if you’d buy the Mate 9 Lite.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
