At its IFA press event, Huawei have just revealed the Mate S, a successor to the Mate 7 fingerprint scanner-enabled phablet. This time around, the Huawei Mate S has shrunk in size, in contradiction with anything else we see in the smartphone market. It has gone from a 6 inch device, to a more manageable 5.5 inches. It takes queues from both the Mate 7 predecessor as well as the flagship Huawei P8. Huawei CEO Richard Yu walked press through the basics of the Mate S: 5.5-inch 1080p screen with 2.5D fourth-generation Gorilla Glass display, 7.2mm thickness, Kirin chipset, 13-megapixel rear camera with optical image stabilization, stepped battery rated for over one full day and an improved rear-fixed fingerprint sensor. 
The design at the back is extremely reminiscent of its predecessor, with the curved back being referred to as “œdiamond cut“ by Yu. The idea behind this design is to make the device more comfortable for users to hold, as well as create some extra space for a larger battery to be crammed into the phone. Huawei gives the phone its Fingerprint Sense 2.0 technology for improved scan times and accuracy with the integrated fingerprint scanner. A mode called Knuckle Sense helps the Mate S recognize when you‘re tapping the screen with a knuckle and supports alternate input modes, like quick photo crops or access to app shortcuts. The Huawei Mate S will include dual SIM slots, meaning you ca jump between different LTE bands and networks. With Huawei making a big push in South Africa, we‘re sure it won‘t be too long until we see this device. We‘re not sure about local pricing as of yet, but it will cost 649 euro in those territories.
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