This week, on 3 November, Huawei is expected to debut its new phablet - the Mate 9. In recent weeks, details on the device's design, specifications and features have emerged. Seeing that Samsung’s Note 7 went down in an inglorious blaze, the Chinese manufacturer must be licking its lips to see if Mate 9 cannot fill the void left by Koreans. To that end, we've compiled all the rumoured aspects of the Mate 9 to date, so read on to see how the new iteration will differ from its predecessor.

According to reports

On the design front, an all metal unibody is expected for the Mate 9, as was the case with the Mate 8. It is, however, anticipated to be a shade smaller at 5.9" of screen real-estate compared to 6.0". Huawei is also reported to have two Mate 8 models on the way, with a Pro version appearing alongside the standard variant.

The Mate 9 Pro will have a curved display, akin to the ill-fated Samsung Galaxy Note 7. In fact, a recent set of leaked images from @evleaks (featured below) could easily be mistaken for the Galaxy device. For Huawei's sake though, we hope it does not suffer the same battery issues.

This is the Huawei Mate 9, in standard and curved screen designs https://t.co/4sdo8VnbH8 pic.twitter.com/kHs3xFx0y5

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) October 12, 2016

Speaking of batteries, the Mate 9 is said to pack a substantial 4000 mAh one, along with an improved fast charging and battery management feature. The previous phablet mustered two days from a single full charge, can the new iteration try to push things to three days?

High powered

Moving internally, Huawei appears to have the biggest strides, with the Mate 9 reportedly sporting the new Kirin 960 processor. Still 16 nm like its forebear, the Kirin 960 chip caters to Cat 12 LTE, and is said to be able to handle as much as 8 GB of RAM. As such, one could see up to 6 GB on the Pro model and 4 GB on the standard option. As far as benchmarking goes, Trusted Reviews has the Kirin 960 outperforming the Apple A10 and Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processors. If true, it would certainly address one area where the Mate 8, and flagship Huawei devices in general have been a little underwhelming - processing power.

And the camera?

Lastly, we move to the rear, where Huawei's new camera partnership with Leica will likely be leveraged. To that end, rumours suggest a Leica-certified dual camera setup will be favoured, similar to the one on offer for the Huawei P9.

With all set to be unveiled on 3 November at 15:00 (SAST), if Huawei can pack all the above features into the Mate 9, as well as ensure the pricing is competitive when it lands locally, the company may have a winner on its hands.

To keep you abreast on everything Huawei debuts this week, keep following us at @TechSmartMag where we will be covering the event live from Munich, Germany.