Huawei Mate 9 release date, specs: Leica dual-cam setup?

Pictured is the dual-cam, dual-lens setup on the Huawei P9, as captured by VentureBeat. According to rumors, Huawei will also feature the setup for another flagship, the Mate 9. Evan Blass/VentureBeat

Although Huawei has yet to come out with a specific release date for its upcoming flagship, speculations suggest that the new Mate 9 will come out with the same premium camera setup like the Huawei P9.

According to GizmoChina, a supposed source posted on Chinese social media site Weibo the purported back panel for the upcoming Huawei flagship. While the image did not have the branding that the current-gen Huawei P9 has, the post did indicate that the Mate 9 will have the same dual-cam setup as the P9, meaning the upcoming flagship will also have a Leica main camera. The image also confirmed that it will be a dual-cam setup.

The new camera setup will also have its bundled features like OIS, laser autofocus, and analog zoom. The post also supposedly mentioned that aside from the Mate 9, another flagship addition, the Mate S2, will get the new dual-cam setup.

However, it is unclear if the new Leica-branded setup for the Mate 9 and Mate S2 will be the same assembly as the one that Huawei put in the P9. The current-gen flagship has the Leica-branded, 12MP setup. Previous rumors indicated that Huawei is thinking of upping the ante for the Mate 9, even supposedly planning at least a 20MP assembly for the new flagship.

Should the upgrade happen in the Mate 9, the new flagship will once again set the bar for top-tier specs. When Huawei launched the P9, its image capture features for the Leica-branded setup gathered favorable reviews, and is thought to be one of the best smartphone cameras currently out in the market.

Meanwhile, other purported specs of the Mate 9 include the new Kirin 960 processor, said to be paired with both 4GB and 6GB RAM variants. In addition, the new flagship, being a late 2016 release, is expected to come out with the new EMUI 5 based on Android Nougat 7.0.

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