Huawei’s next ultra-premium flagship is already causing a stir. The upcoming Huawei Mate 80 RS Ultimate is expected to carry forward the exclusive RS Ultimate legacy, offering the very best the company can pack into a smartphone.
Following tradition, Huawei usually launches this limited edition variant in the fourth quarter, and this year’s release is tipped to push both design and performance boundaries.
One of the biggest questions surrounding the Mate 80 RS Ultimate is its processor. While some rumors suggested Huawei might jump to 5nm chips through SMIC, U.S. sanctions have kept China’s top foundry stuck on the 7nm process. SMIC has reportedly been using complex multi-patterning lithography techniques to squeeze more performance out of its 7nm wafers, but aligning the etching process multiple times without error is a daunting task
. Despite the limitations, Huawei’s new Kirin 9030 is still expected to deliver about 20% more performance than last year’s Kirin 9020 – itself a 40% jump over the Kirin 9000S from the Mate 60 series.
The Kirin 9030 will likely be manufactured on SMIC’s 7nm node, yet the performance and efficiency gains show Huawei’s chip design team at HiSilicon is pushing the hardware as far as current restrictions allow. Many fans can’t help but wonder how far Huawei could go without export bans preventing access to EUV lithography machines.
On the hardware side, last year’s Mate 70 RS Ultimate introduced a Dual-layer OLED display – essentially stacking two OLED panels for superior brightness and durability. This tech is rumored to return in the Mate 80 RS Ultimate, though it remains more expensive to produce. Materials are also getting a possible upgrade, with leaks pointing to a titanium alloy middle frame and a back panel made from glass-ceramics – glass treated to feel like ceramic, offering better strength than standard glass at a lower cost than real ceramic.
Camera lovers may also get a pleasant surprise, as insiders hint at innovations in the telephoto lens system. If true, the Mate 80 RS Ultimate could set a new bar for Huawei’s zoom photography.
Following the camera-focused Pura 80 series earlier this year, the Mate 80 lineup – including the standard and RS Ultimate editions – looks set to cement Huawei’s position at the cutting edge of smartphone design, even under the shadow of ongoing sanctions.