Huawei at IFA 2015: Mate S smartphone has a Force Touch display

The TrustedReviews team is out in force at the annual IFA Berlin technology trade show, and Huawei is among the first to show off its new wares.

The
Chinese brand is using the show to announce a new smartphone, the Mate
S, and finally set a release date for its first Android Wear-toting
wearable, the Huawei Watch.

Huawei Mate S – A phone with Force Touch, and it’s not from Apple

The headline
announcement was regarding the brand’s latest flagship smartphone, the Mate S. Larger
than the P8, which was released back in spring, it features a 5.7in 1080p
display. While the resolution is nothing to write home about, there’s plenty to get excited
about with the tech inside.

SEE ALSO: Huawei Watch hands-on

The display on Huawei’s Mate S is Force Touch enabled, so it will react differently depending on how hard
you press down on it. Push harder on a picture to zoom in, for example, or hold down a specific corner on the homescreen.

Apple has used similar tech in both the Apple Watch and on the trackpads
included in the latest round of MacBooks and MacBook Pros. It’s also rumoured to
be one of the killer features on the next iPhone, which should be
announced at an event on 9 September.

The Mate S is a good-looking device, with a diamond-cut curved rear that should make it less slippy and easier to hold. There’s a definite whiff of HTC’s One line in the build. Metal is the material of choice, with the latest generation of Gorilla Glass covering that display.

On the back sits the increasingly common fingerprint scanner. However, Huawei claims that the updated sensor is far more accurate than previous editions and, as is possible on the Honor 7, you can use it to quickly open the Notifications tray. Knuckle Sense, an addition introduced with the previous Mate device, has been spruced up. So, for example, doodling a “W” will open up the weather app.

You’ll get dual 4G SIM support, an SD card slot plus the Mate S supports fast charging.

Finally, Huawei has put a lot of work into both the front-facing and selfie shooters on the Mate S. The rear-facing 13-megapixel sensor features a RGBW sensor, OIS, plus a fully featured manual mode that provides control over the ISO, exposure, white balance and focusing. Like the Moto X Style, there’s a front-facing flash sitting next to the 8-megapixel sensor to brighten up those selfies.

All in all, it sounds pretty impressive. However, the Force Touch tech appears to be available on only the upcoming 128GB version. Pre-orders begin on 15 September.

The second phone coming from Huawei at IFA 2015 is the G8 – an affordable yet well-specced device that’s aiming to compete directly at the Moto X Play and OnePlus 2.

It features a a 5.5in Full HD display, Gorilla Glass screen protection, a 13-megapixel shooter with OIS and the same RGBW as the Mate S.

There’s also a fingerprint scanner on the rear and a 3,000mAh battery tucked inside.

Huawei Watch finally has a release date

Huawei has also finally announced a release date for its sleek-looking Android Wear smartwatch – the snappily titled
Huawei Watch. You can pre-order the device starting today
in the USA, Canada and number of Western European countries. It will ship this month for between €399 and €699, depending on your style preference. The Huawei Watch will be available in the UK in October.

Seeing as we first got hands-on with the LG Watch Urbane rival in February, its certainly nice to see it hitting stores soon.

The
wearable will be one of the first Android Wear devices to officially support
iOS, so it will offer iPhone users some choice if they haven’t been won
over by the Apple Watch.

Unlike some of the earlier Android
Wear watches, the Huawei Watch is looking to be both a smartphone
accessory and a fashion statement. It will be available in a
number of finishes, including rose gold, stainless steel and black – and, of
course, they’ll be plenty of bands available too.