Look, straight up, this isn’t exactly news; we know that Optus has the new Huawei Mate 9 up for pre-order, as does Vodafone, and Huawei itself. Optus has taken to its blog this morning to extol the virtues of Huawei’s new Mate 9 this morning, confirming that the headphone offer for pre-orders will be available to customers taking up the new phone on a new Optus plan.
You can take up the Huawei Mate 9 on Optus starting on their $40 plan with a $17 phone repayment, though there are a range of plan options on offer:
| Plan | Total Cost | Inclusions |
|---|---|---|
| $40 | $57 (incl $17 phone repayment) | 1GB Data |
| $65 | $72 (incl. $7 phone repayment) | 3.5GB Data |
| $85 | $85 | 8GB Data |
| $100 | $100 | 20GB Data |
Each of these plans includes unlimited talk time and SMS, with the larger plans including international minutes and roaming offers as well. You can check out the full details here.
We’re rather excited to welcome the Mate 9 to Australia fairly swiftly after its international launch, unlike last year where we were left waiting for almost nine months. The Mate 9 could be considered a flagship phone from Huawei, with impressive specs, great screen size and inclusions.
| Key Specifications: | Huawei Mate 9 |
|---|---|
| Release date | November 2016 |
| Screen size | 5.9-inch |
| Screen technology | IPS LCD |
| Resolution | 1,920 x 1,080 |
| PPI | 373 |
| Rear camera | 20MP mono + 12MP RGB |
| Front camera | 12MP |
| Chipset | Kirin 960 |
| Core config |
|
| RAM | 4GB |
| Storage | 64GB |
| MicroSD | Yes, up to 256GB |
| Battery | 4,000 mAh |
| Battery removable | — |
| Connector | USB C |
| Headphone Port | Yes |
| Headphone Location | Top |
| Speaker Configuration | Stereo |
| NFC | Yes |
| Android OS | Android 7.0 |
| Vendor skin | EMUI 5.0 |
| Dimensions | 156.9 x 78.9 x 7.9 mm |
| Weight | 190g |
| Colours |
|
We’re attending a local briefing this week where we expect to pick up a review device to put it through its paces. Stay tuned for our review from Scott, and in the meantime, read his review of the Mate 8 to know what we’re comparing against.
I’m angling to get mine through Vodafone. My iPhone has been with them for two years now and never skipped a beat, so I’m more than happy to sign up with them again, plus their data allocations have almost doubled in two years, so I’m getting heaps more data on the new plan, and saving money. (paying $110 atm for unlimited calls and 7GB, vs $90 for unlimited calls and 11GB for the Mate 9)
I would probably entertain a mate 9 , but after buying my last unlocked device through Optus with the inbuilt advertising every time you shut the device down or restart it , i would be reluctant to buy through optus again.