Huawei’s new phone lets you transfer photos using hand gestures
Huawei’s new phone lets you transfer content from one corporate device to another using hand gestures. The Mate 70 series, unveiled on Tuesday in the company’s hometown of Shenzhen, includes the base Mate 70, the Mate 70 Pro and the Mate 70 Pro Plus, all of which have the futuristic feature.
The lineup starts at 5,499 yuan (converts to approximately $760, £599 or AU$1,667), rises to 6,499 yuan (approximately $898) and goes up to 8,499 yuan (approximately $1,173). The series is widely seen as a direct competitor to the iPhone 16 series in China.
A video on Huawei’s Chinese-language website shows a mother transferring content from her phone to her son’s tablet using simple hand gestures. The mother holds her palm in front of the screen of her Mate 70, which shows an image of a dinosaur cartoon. Then she clenches her fist, as if to grab or catch the statue of the dinosaur. She walks over to her son, who is using a Huawei tablet, and loosens her fist in front of the tablet to transfer it to that device.
Videos on social media posted on Tuesday showed shoppers making similar gestures while testing the feature in Huawei’s stores. This feature is supported by cameras and sensors under the screen.
A mother “grabs” this image of a dinosaur from her phone so she can transfer it to her son’s Huawei tablet.
The launch of Huawei’s latest phones comes ahead of expected US export controls, which could see up to 200 Chinese chip companies placed on a US blacklist, according to the US newspaper. Reuters. Huawei hasn’t shared what chips are in its new phones, but the previous Mate 60 series ran Huawei’s own Kirin 6000 processor that enables 5G, according to a teardown of the device in May.
Huawei is seeking self-reliance after tough US sanctions, and its phones have become increasingly dependent on Chinese-made parts, the teardown showed. The Shenzhen-based company was placed on a US blacklist in 2019, banning US companies from selling software, 5G chips and components, among other technology products, to the Chinese company without a license. Huawei’s smartphone business took a big hit due to ongoing US sanctions, before rebounding in recent months with the help of the previous Mate 60 series.
The Mate X6, Huawei’s latest book-style phone, was launched alongside the Mate X70 series.
As part of the sanctions, Huawei phones also lost access to the full power of Google Mobile Service, which limited app access to popular Google apps like Gmail and Google Maps. Huawei’s Mate 70 series now runs on Huawei’s HarmonyOS Next operating system, which doesn’t run Android apps or rely on Android code. But Richard Yu, head of Huawei’s consumer division, said the Mate 70 phones will still offer their users a choice between HarmonyOS Next and Harmony OS 4.3, which is compatible with Android.
Mate 70 Pro Plus Features
In addition to offering support for advanced hand gestures, the Mate X70 Pro Plus has high-end specifications. There are three cameras on the back, complete with a telephoto camera capable of 4x optical zoom and 100x digital zoom. It also has a large battery (5,700 mAh) with support for 100W wired charging and 80W wireless charging.
The flagship Mate 70 Pro Plus also has some premium bells and whistles, especially the AI-based productivity and communication features. These include AI-generated summaries of recordings and memos, real-time translation during phone calls, and noise cancellation during phone calls. It has durability ratings of IP68 and IP69 for water and dust resistance. And thanks to satellite communications, via the Tiantong and Beidou satellites, you can make calls and send messages even when you have no signal.
The Mate X70 series will only be released in Huawei’s native China for now. In addition to that lineup, Huawei launched its latest book-style foldable phone, the Mate X6, a new smartwatch complete with solid gold, and a new electric vehicle. The Mate X6 is rumored to be getting an international launch in the coming weeks.
