Huawei announces new 6-inch phablet, the Mate 8

The Mate 7 was a large phablet that brought many innovations when it was released in 2014. Today, Huawei has announced the successor, the Mate 8, featuring an octa-core Kirin 950 processor.

Huawei has been a big name, but they have failed to establish a significant presence in the United States. Year after year, the company has expanded its global reach with a promise to break into the US market and in 2015, we saw them move a step closer with products like the Huawei Watch - and of course, the Nexus 6P for Google.

So what does Huawei bring to the table for 2016? A new set of shiny toys that could become the tipping point for the company in the US. Kevin Ho, President of Huawei, took to the stage and announced the new Mate 8.

The handset's key specs include:

6-inch display
Huawei Kirin 950 (octa-core 2.3GHz x 4 + 1.8Ghz x 4 + i5 co-processor (ARM Cortex-A72 / Mali)
2 days of battery life (17 hours of HD video, 20 hours of 4G browsing, 28 hours of 3G calling, 98 hours music)
Rapid charging
Fingerprint security (with flexibility to lock apps and documents. It can also be used for taking selfies and answering calls)
Secure Keyboard - a specific keyboard that will be used for passwords, it will be immune to keystroke theft

The handset is a beautiful piece that offers chamfered edges and a sturdy build. We will have more on this when we get our chance for a hands-on later in the day. Stay tuned.