In Beijing on Huawei’s media tour, we got the chance to speak with Eric Fang who is the vice president of Huawei’s R&D in the US, regarding the Nexus 6P. Which he was, for the most part, in charge of developing. Fang told us how it was his dream to work with Google on a Nexus device, and here we are with a Huawei-made Nexus in the Nexus 6P. During the group interview, we also asked about some of the difficulties in making the Nexus 6P and cooperating with Google.
According to Fang, the challenges were one, targeting the global market. That is something new for Huawei with their devices. Most of their devices target Asia, with a few going to Europe, and hardly any of those coming to the US as the same device. Fang elaborated on how targeting the global market brings a lot of challenges and complexities for the company as a handset maker. Another challenge was network connectivity. North America, Europe and Asia do not share the same bands, but Google and Huawei were able to make it work with the Nexus 6P. Another challenge that Fang and his team faced with the Nexus 6P was the camera. As they were the first ones to bring a DSLR sensor to a smartphone (along with LG on the Nexus 5X), using the Sony IMX377 sensor, which has a 1.55 micron sized sensor. However, they did do a lot of work with the camera and are proud of the end product. Producing amazing pictures especially in low-light conditions.
A few of the other challenges Huawei faced was the battery life. Huawei is known for big batteries, and long lasting batteries, especially in the Mate series of handsets. Huawei worked with Google on the software side to optimize the battery life to improve performance, but also reduce power consumption. Which gives us some amazing battery life out of the Nexus 6P. Finally, the other challenge was the all metal design. A first for a Nexus. However, adding the bump at the top and using the 3D glass was a great idea, and was a challenge in of itself.
All in all, Huawei is very proud to have been chosen by Google to make the Nexus 6P this year, and it’s been quite clear during this media tour this week. As they have been talking more about the Nexus 6P than their other products like the Mate S launched at IFA in September.