Huawei in low-key fashion launches Mate 60 Pro

Huawei Technologies may have suffered loads of US-induced setbacks in recent years, but that hasn’t stopped the brand from producing some otherwise great phones. Now, the Chinese brand is back with the newly announced Mate 60 Pro. Huawei in a statement said that; the Mate 60 series was its most powerful Mate model ever.

Huawei surprised everyone without a huge teaser campaign or a major event. The new smartphone is already listed for pre-order at Vmall, the company’s online store in China, so local customers can book their units for 6,999 yuan ($960) in an unusually low-key fashion, having given no advance notice or conducted advertising.

Since 2019, Washington has restricted Huawei from buying advanced chips and software from U.S. companies, which has decimated its consumer electronics business and left it only able to launch limited batches of 5G models using stockpiled chips.

The specifications provided for the Mate 60 advertised its ability to make satellite calls, but provided no information on the power of the chipset inside. Still, online users who managed to purchase the phone began posting videos of themselves conducting tests that they said showed it could match the network speeds of 5G chipset phones as well as screenshots saying it used a Kirin 9000s chip.

Perhaps the most notable Mate 60 Pro feature is the addition of satellite calling capabilities. This is a major step forward for satellite connectivity on conventional smartphones, especially as the rest of the industry is only touting emergency SOS and text messaging. This functionality is limited to China Telecom right now, though.

The phone’s launch also rose to be the number one most searched subject on Weibo, China’s version of X, on Wednesday with excited netizens saying the launch marked the overcoming of U.S. restrictions. In an indication that the phones were selling fast, by the afternoon Huawei’s website said buyers would only be able to receive their phones earliest on Sept. 17.

Huawei, whose woes with Washington have become a key flashpoint in U.S.-China relations. The launch of the Mate 60 Pro also coincided with U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s visit to China. On Tuesday, she said the U.S. had rejected a Chinese request to reduce export controls on technology.