Huawei Mate 9 Lite

Huawei Mate 9 Lite with dual rear camera is now official

Huawei has silently added another new smartphone to its Mate 9 series, dubbed Mate 9 Lite. The Mate 9 Lite is the pocket-friendly version of Huawei's 2016 flagship smartphone.As one would expect from that Lite branding, the Mate 9 Lite comes with mid-range specifications but it retains the design of Mate 9 series and brings down the price significantly

Specifications of Mate 9 Lite

• Huawei Mate 9 Lite comes with a 5.5-inch FHD (1080p resolution) display with a 2.5D curved glass on top.
• Powered by an Octa-core (4 x 2.1GHz + 4 x 1.7GHz) Kirin 655 processor. 
• The phone comes in two variants – 3GB RAM with 32GB ROM and 4GB RAM with 64GB ROM.
• There is a 12MP primary camera at the back with another 2MP camera for understanding depth. The main 12MP sensor gets phase detection autofocus and pixel size of 1.25 microns. Huawei has added an 8MP front camera for video calling and selfies.
• Mate 9 Lite is running Android 6.0 Marshmallow (all other Mate 9 smartphones are on Android Nougat) with EMUI 4.1 running on top. 
• The phone is backed by a 3,340 mAh battery, and weighs 162 grams total. 
• The dimensions of the phone are 150.9 x 76.2 x 8.2 mm. 
• Its sensor package includes a – proximity sensor, fingerprint sensor, hall effect sensor, ambient light sensor, an acceleration sensor and a compass. 
• Mate 9 Lite will be available in three color variants – Grey, Gold and Silver.

Now that Mate 9 Lite is out, reports are emphasizing that U.S. carriers should stay away from the device. A congressional report last 2012 strongly recommended U.S. carriers not to offer Huawei devices because China might spy over Americans. Huawei has rejected those claims and accusations but all carriers are not willing to sell Huawei products, and because of this Huawei Mate 9 Lite might have low sales figures.

This is not the only problem Huawei is facing. Since Verizon and Sprint are using CDMA networks, some changes must be made to Huawei Mate 9 Lite's chipset. That leaves with two other carriers left in the US: AT&T and T-Mobile. Unluckily, Huawei is having issues with T-Mobile so it's unlikely a partnership will happen. That leaves with only AT&T that could offer Huawei Mate 9 Lite in the United States.