Introducing Huawei’s latest Android smartphone, the Ascend D2

By Andrew Kalinchuk January 7, 2013

Huawei’s latest attempt at a true Android flagship smartphone is the Ascend D2. Calling it the “most powerful” smartphone, Huawei is painting its latest as a hero device and it might just have the specs to back it up.

First up, the 5-inch display has an impressive 443 pixels per inch, compared to the iPhone 5’s 326ppi and the Samsung Galaxy S 3’s 306ppi. The screen is also full HD with a resolution of 1080×1920. Huawei talked up the phone’s edge-to-edge screen and high screen-to-frame ratio. Always nice to see a reduced bezel on a small(er) device.

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The 13-megapixel camera on board shows that Huawei has a new interest in entering the game of high-end smartphone shooters amongst the iPhone 5s and Lumia 920s in the world. Of course, it has HDR capabilities and includes a f2.2 aperture. Battery life shouldn’t be an issue either. Huawei has decided to include a 3000mAh battery, supposedly capable of 48 hours of use on a single charge.

Huawei did a drop test of the Ascend D2 on stage as well and, predictably, the device emerged unscathed. The company’s newest Android flagship should stand up to damage rather well, packing resistance to both water and dust. There was even some water poured over a new device to prove just how resistant it could be.

Less exciting, but still notable, the Ascend D2 features “super hands-free” technology. Basically, you can be heard clearly on speaker phone even if you are around five feet from the device – so those boardroom conference calls could get just a bit easier.

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Huawei Mate X2 folding phone patent shows big design change over the original

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The Huawei Mate X2 is rumored to be Huawei’s next major foldable smartphone release, and may potentially arrive toward the end of 2020. Rumors about the phone have been spreading, including some possible standout design features, and how it will differ from the current Huawei Mate X. Let's take a closer look at the Huawei Mate X2.
Huawei Mate X2, not the Mate Xs
Huawei is expected to launch a revised version of the original Mate X folding phone during Mobile World Congress 2020. It’s currently known as the Huawei Mate Xs, and isn’t the Mate X2. The Mate Xs is likely to be very similar to the first Mate X on the outside, but with the new Kirin 990 processor inside, an improved hinge, and a tougher folding display.
Huawei Mate X2 announcement and release
The Huawei Mate X2 has been rumored for release after summer this year, sometime between July and September, making it possible the phone will arrive soon after the IFA 2020 technology trade show. The timing may mean the Mate X2’s announcement will come at the same time as a Mate 40 phone from Huawei.
Huawei Mate X2 design

What will the Huawei Mate X2 look like? Unlike the Mate X, a patent filed by Huawei shows what could be the Mate X2 with a screen that folds inward, like the Samsung Galaxy Fold. However, the design will allow for a side bar down one edge, which makes the phone easier to hold with one hand, something we noted about the current Mate X. This bar has a display on one side, which could be used to show notifications. There doesn’t seem to be any other outer display.

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Huawei jumps on AMD’s Ryzen bandwagon via an upcoming 14-inch MateBook D laptop

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During the laptop portion of AMD's Computex press conference early Wednesday morning, Huawei's Michael Young came on stage to present a 14-inch version of the company's MateBook D laptop packing AMD-based hardware. He didn't say when the device would ship, but instead said the company set out to design a stylish, powerful, and efficient notebook packing AMD's hardware to deliver an "unparalleled" experience.
We don't know all the hardware specifics for the moment, but a slide provided by Huawei, shown above, shows it will be powered by AMD's Ryzen 5 2500U all-in-one chip packing four "Zen" cores with a base speed of 2.0GHz and a maximum speed of 3.6GHz. It will also include eight "Vega" graphics cores clocked at 1,100MHz and sip a mere 15 watts of power.
Outside the AMD processor, the upcoming Huawei MateBook D will sport a 14-inch IPS display with a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution promising wide viewing angles and rich colors. Other details disclosed on the slide include four speakers powered by Dolby Atmos with a split frequency arrangement and a USB-C port used for charging the device. It will measure just 0.622 inches thick and weigh 3.19 pounds.
The current version of the MateBook D you can purchase right now is a bit larger with a 15.6-inch IPS display backed by a seventh-generation Core i5-7200U processor and discrete GeForce 940MX graphics (2GB). It's also slightly thicker and heavier too measuring 0.66 inches thin and weighing 4.19 pounds. Completing this package is 8GB of system memory clocked at 2,133MHz and a 1TB hard drive.

Outside Huawei's partnership, other laptop makers supporting AMD's Ryzen-branded hardware include Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Models that specifically use AMD's Ryzen 5 2500U all-in-one chip include the HP Envy x360 (15M-BQ121DX) starting at $749, two Lenovo Ideapad 720s 13 Platinum editions starting at $699, the Dell Inspiron 17 5000 starting at $859, and many more. The MateBook D 14-inch laptop is the first device from Huawei to sport AMD-based hardware.
In North America, Huawei is typically known for its family of smartphones. But the company entered the notebook market in early 2016 with the launch of its first MateBook followed by the MateBook X and MateBook D laptops, and the MateBook E 2-in-1 PC in 2017. The MateBook X Pro made its debut this year during the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona.
AMD said during its Computex presentation that its Ryzen all-in-one chips are the world's fastest processors for ultra-thin notebooks. According to one of the slides, the Ryzen 7 2700U chip delivers 28 percent better performance in Cinebench R15 than Intel's Core i7-8550U chip. In 3DMark 11, AMD's chip shows 103 percent more graphics performance than Intel's integrated graphics in the Core i7 chip.
Part of AMD's Computex notebook presentation also showcased HP's just-launched Envy x360 13-inch notebook. According to AMD's Kevin Lensing, it "has enough graphics performance to out-perform some notebooks with discrete graphics." Other manufacturers that took the stage to reveal AMD-backed laptops included Dell, Asus, and Lenovo.

Mobile

Smartphone shootout: Huawei P20 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus vs. Google Pixel 2 vs. Apple iPhone X

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The Huawei P20 Pro has won praise, plaudits, and fans for its impressive triple-lens camera, but just how good is it compared to the other camera-phone powerhouses? On paper, it’s technically superior, and it has some truly unique features that make it stand out from the rest. Yet the Google Pixel 2, the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus, and the Apple iPhone X are hardly lacking in the camera prowess department.

To find out, we pitted them all against each other in a photo shootout spanning the European countryside. Lass uns gehen!
The cameras
Let’s examine the camera specifications first, so each contender knows what it’s up against. First, the Huawei P20 Pro. It has three lenses: A 40-megapixel RGB lens with an f/1.8 aperture, a 20-megapixel monochrome lens with an f/1.6 aperture, and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens with an f/2.4 aperture. It’ll zoom in up to 3× without loss of quality, has electronic image stabilization, uses artificial intelligence for scene recognition and low-light photography enhancement, and captures 960 frames per second slow-motion video.