Huawei today held its autumn product launch event in Shanghai, unveiling the Mate 90 series. The series includes five models: the Mate 90, Mate 90 Pro, Mate 90 Pro Max, Mate 90 Pro Max Collectorโs Edition, and Mate 90 RS Ultimate Design. Prices range from RMB 5,999 ($895) to RMB 12,999 ($1,939).
The main upgrades in the Mate 90 series focus on the chip, display, camera system, connectivity, and on-device AI. The new generation of Kirin chips across the lineup was one of the key highlights of the launch.
New-generation Kirin chips across the lineup
The Mate 90 is powered by the Kirin 9030. According to Huawei, its overall performance is 27% higher than that of the previous-generation Mate 80.
The Mate 90 Pro uses the Kirin 9035, which Huawei says focuses on balancing performance and power consumption. Its overall battery life has improved by 18% compared with the previous generation, according to the company.
The higher-end Mate 90 Pro Max and above are powered by the Kirin 9050 Pro. According to Huawei, the chip uses a new logical folding architecture with 5 million signal transmission bonds and achieves an inter-die bandwidth of 125 TB per second. Huawei says overall device performance is 31% higher than the previous generation, while on-device AI computing performance has doubled.
The different Kirin chips allow Huawei to maintain performance differences between the various Mate 90 models.
Display and device protection
On the display side, the Mate 90 Pro and higher-end models feature second-generation Linglong displays, with peak brightness reaching up to 12,000 nits at 1% APL.
The Mate 90 Pro Max and RS Ultimate Design further feature full-color Linglong displays with support for BT.2020 full-chain color reproduction. For general users, this mainly relates to brightness and color performance, while content creators gain additional display capabilities aimed at more professional use.
For device protection, the entire lineup uses third-generation Xuanwu strengthened Kunlun Glass, while the Pro and higher-end models use optical Kunlun Glass for the camera cover. Huawei says the overall drop resistance of the devices has improved by 20 times compared with the previous generation.
All models also support IP68 dust and water resistance, while the Pro and higher-end models add IP69 protection against high-temperature, high-pressure water jets.
Camera upgrades focus on color, dynamic range and telephoto
For imaging, the entire Mate 90 series features a third-generation Red Maple primary-color camera system and infrared optical coatings across the full focal range. Huawei says global color accuracy has improved by 37%, while skin-tone reproduction accuracy in portrait photography has improved by 62%.
The Mate 90 Pro Max takes the camera system further with an 18-stop high-dynamic-range main camera and a 200-megapixel large-sensor telephoto camera. Its stabilization is rated at CIPA 7.5. Huawei says the system has been further optimized for image stability and clarity at 20x zoom, while also improving noise control in low-light conditions.
These upgrades target several areas that have become key points of competition in smartphone imaging, including color reproduction, dynamic range, telephoto performance, and image stabilization.
On-device AI becomes another focus
For connectivity, the Mate 90 series uses a Wi-Fi and cellular integrated antenna architecture. Huawei says the design can increase signal strength by 2 dB and improve connection stability in complex environments. The Mate 90 Pro Max also supports four SIM cards with three active simultaneously.
On the AI side, the Mate 90 Pro Max and higher-end models feature a 30-billion-parameter MoE multimodal on-device model, along with functions such as Xiaoyi Call 2.0, Xiaoyi Gallery Assistant, and Xiaoyi Navigation Bar.
Compared with AI services that rely primarily on cloud computing, on-device models allow some tasks to be processed directly on the smartphone without requiring a continuous network connection. However, the actual experience will depend on the capabilities of individual models, response times, and specific usage scenarios.
The move toward larger on-device models
The Mate 90 series continues Huaweiโs multi-model strategy, using differences in chips, displays, and camera systems to cover a range of price segments.
Compared with simply adding hardware specifications, a more notable change in this generation is the combination of the new chips with on-device AI. As large language models increasingly move onto smartphones, phone makers are shifting from simply offering AI-powered applications toward deploying larger models directly on devices.
Whether these hardware and AI upgrades translate into meaningful improvements in everyday use will ultimately depend on hands-on experience and longer-term testing.
