Kirin 980 SoC to smart locator: Everything Huawei launched at IFA 2018

From Kirin 980 flagship processor to its first Alexa-based smart speaker, here’s everything Huawei launched at the IFA 2018 technology trade show in Berlin.

Huawei’s smart speaker is powered by Amazon Alexa. (HT Photo)

Huawei had a big impact on this year's edition of IFA, the annual tech trade show in Berlin. With a special focus on the European markets, Huawei made some major announcements, including its latest processor Kirin 980 which is said to be more powerful than Apple's A11 chipset and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 processor. Let's quickly recap everything Huawei announced at the IFA 2018.

Kirin 980 SoC

As said earlier, Huawei is pitting its Kirin 980 processor against Qualcomm's top-end 845 SoC and even Apple's A11. The company in its demo videos at IFA compared its chipset with the competition's best and claimed to be faster and more efficient. That said, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 SoC is nearing end of its road and is up for an upgrade. The new Qualcomm is most likely to be announced by end of this year. The first Snapdragon 855 SoC phone is expected to be Samsung Galaxy S10, highly anticipated at the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.

That being said, Kirin 980 is truly a flagship-level processor. It is also touted to be the world's first 7nm mobile processor. The chipset comes with 6.9 billion transistors. The chipset is said to be 20% better than the predecessor in terms of performance.

"The Kirin 980 is also the first SoC to embed Cortex-A76 cores, which are 75 per cent more powerful and 58 per cent more efficient compared to their previous generation. In an octa-core configuration, the CPU in Kirin 980 comprises two high-performance Cortex-A76 cores, two high-efficiency Cortex-A76 cores, and two extreme efficiency Cortex-A55 cores," said Huawei.

Huawei Kirin 980 chipset announced at IFA 2018. (HT Photo)

Huawei Kirin 980 chipset announced at IFA 2018. (HT Photo)

First smartphone to run on Kirin 980 SoC is going to be Mate 20, which will be launched in October.

Huawei AI Cube

Huawei now makes smart speakers as well. At the IFA 2018, Huawei launched its first smart speaker that looks very similar to Google Home, but runs on Amazon's Alexa voice assistant.

Featuring a common cylindrical design, the smart speaker has a cube inside, hence called AI Cube. The device comes with 4G SIM support, bringing native connectivity support to the device and lots of portability. There is also LTE CAT6 support for high-speed data transfers, up to 300Mbps speed. Soon, Huawei AI Cube will be allowing users to make voice calls to other Alexa users. The device has Huawei's propriety Histen technology for augmented audio quality.

Huawei will be rolling out its smart speaker in European markets first. The company, however, hasn't yet announced the price and availability for the Indian market.

Huawei Smart Locator

Smart Locator is essentially a snap-on device that lets you track things, including luggage or even your pet. Huawei Locator comes with IP68 certification for water and dust resistance. It is said to deliver p to 60 days of back up on standby. The device has a 600mAh battery. Equipped with GPS-based precise positioning and global roaming, Smart Locator lets you track things from your phone. There's also a SOS button.

Huawei Smart Locator, a strap-on device, lets you track things including luggage and pets. (HT Photo)

Huawei Smart Locator, a strap-on device, lets you track things including luggage and pets. (HT Photo)

Huawei Mate 20 Lite

The only smartphone launch from Huawei at IFA 2018 was the Mate 20 Lite. The smartphone features an AI-powered quad-camera setup with two sensors at the front and back. Mate 20 Lite has a Full HD+ 6.3-inch notch display with Kirin 710 octa-core processor running under its hood. Huawei Mate 20 Lite will be available first in the UK from September 5 at GBP 379 ( ₹34,900 approximately).