2024 Q4 Flagship Phone Roundup: Huawei Mate70, Snapdragon 8 Gen4, and Dimensity 9400 Lineup

2024 Q4 Flagship Phone Roundup: Huawei Mate70, Snapdragon 8 Gen4, and Dimensity 9400 LineupAs 2024 draws to a close, the smartphone market remains intensely competitive. Qualcomm and MediaTek are poised to release their flagship processors for the second half of the year the Snapdragon 8 Gen4 and Dimensity 9400, respectively with a host of flagship phones powered by these chips ready for launch

2024 Q4 Flagship Phone Roundup: Huawei Mate70, Snapdragon 8 Gen4, and Dimensity 9400 Lineup

As 2024 draws to a close, the smartphone market remains intensely competitive. Qualcomm and MediaTek are poised to release their flagship processors for the second half of the year the Snapdragon 8 Gen4 and Dimensity 9400, respectively with a host of flagship phones powered by these chips ready for launch. Furthermore, Huawei is set to unveil its highly anticipated Mate70 series in Q4, featuring the pure-blood HarmonyOS NEXT. This article provides an in-depth preview of the flagship phones expected in the final quarter of 2024, promising a spectacular technological showcase.

I. Huawei Mate70's Triumphant Return with Pure-Blood HarmonyOS

At Huawei's Autumn Full-Scenario New Product Launch Conference on September 24, 2024, Yu Chengdong, Huawei's Executive Director, Chairman of the Terminal BG, and Chairman of the Smart Car Solutions BU, announced that Huawei HarmonyOS NEXT would begin public beta testing on October 8th. HarmonyOS NEXT is the first major version of the HarmonyOS system after abandoning the Linux kernel and Android Open Source Project code. It only supports the HarmonyOS kernel and apps built for the HarmonyOS system, and is no longer compatible with Android apps.

The confidence behind the HarmonyOS NEXT public beta stems from its strong industry influence and the support of numerous developers. Counterpoint Research data shows that HarmonyOS achieved a 17% market share in Q1 2024, surpassing iOS's 16% and securing the second largest operating system position. This substantial user base has attracted many developers to actively develop native apps for the HarmonyOS ecosystem. In May 2024, Du Jinbiao, General Manager of HarmonyOS Ecosystem Service Company, revealed that the number of native HarmonyOS apps had exceeded 4,000.

In Q4 2024, HarmonyOS NEXT will debut on the Huawei Mate70 series. Yu Chengdong previously hinted at the Mate70's Q4 launch. First Finance reported that some components for the Huawei Mate70 series have begun shipping, with mass production starting before the Mid-Autumn Festival, aiming for a November launch. Optimistically, new information might be released by the end of October.

As Huawei's flagship product, the Huawei Mate70 boasts impressive specifications. Leaked information suggests it will feature a new Kirin 9 series platform, support 3D ToF facial recognition and satellite communication, and represent a significant upgrade in manufacturing process over the past three generations. Thanks to the gradual recovery of the supply chain and the self-developed HarmonyOS NEXT, Huawei has ample Mate70 inventory. Digital bloggers like "Factory Director Guan Xue" have revealed a 40%-50% increase in Mate70 series inventory compared to its predecessor. Considering the market's lukewarm reception to the iPhone 16 due to perceived underwhelming upgrades, the Huawei Mate70 series is expected to capture significant market attention upon release, potentially becoming a leader in the global high-end smartphone market.

II. Snapdragon 8 Gen4's Powerful Arrival: Multiple Flagship Phones Poised for Launch

Back in June 2024, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon Tech Summit 2024, scheduled for October 21-23, where the new Snapdragon 8 Gen4 flagship processor will be unveiled. The Snapdragon 8 Gen4 is reportedly the first to utilize TSMC's 3nm process technology, employing Qualcomm's custom Oryon core in a new 2+6 design (2 super cores and 6 performance cores), with a super core clock speed exceeding 4GHz and an integrated Adreno 830 GPU. AnTuTu benchmark leaks suggest a score of 3.13 million for the Snapdragon 8 Gen4, with GPU scores reaching 1.33 million. Compared to its predecessor, this represents a near 40% increase, or about 900,000 points.

This significant upgrade to the Snapdragon 8 Gen4 has many Android flagship phone manufacturers eagerly anticipating its release. Online information indicates that the Xiaomi 15 series will be the first to feature the Snapdragon 8 Gen4 in October. The Xiaomi 15 will reportedly have a flat 1.5K display, while the Xiaomi 15 Pro will feature a curved 2K display. Both will utilize ultrasonic fingerprint sensors instead of optical ones. In terms of cameras, the Xiaomi 15 series will reportedly feature a 1-inch OV50K main sensor and a Sony IMX882 sensor (1/1.95-inch sensor size) for the telephoto lens.

While most reports indicate the Xiaomi 15 series will be first to market with the Snapdragon 8 Gen4, some bloggers claim that the Honor Magic7 might "snatch" the launch. On September 26, 2024, "Digital Chat Station" revealed that the Honor Magic7 series is confirmed for an October launch and is progressing rapidly, possibly vying with Xiaomi for the first release. Unlike the Xiaomi 15 series' focus on powerful performance, the Honor Magic7 (internal codename "Iron Man") emphasizes an all-around AI experience akin to Jarvis. At IFA 2024, Honor launched its first AI agent, Honor AI Agent, and announced that the Honor Magic7 will be the first to feature it. Honor's demonstration video showed the Magic7's ability to cancel subscriptions with a single voice command, showcasing its potential as a personal assistant. Honor CMO, Jiang Hairong, revealed that the "one-sentence app auto-renewal cancellation" function is just the tip of the iceberg, suggesting the Honor Magic7 could spark a new round of AI phone competition.

Following the Xiaomi 15 and Honor Magic7, OnePlus 13 is also scheduled for an October release, also debuting with the Snapdragon 8 Gen4. The OnePlus 13 will feature a 2K curved screen (31681440 resolution) with 8LTPO technology, balancing fluidity and power efficiency. Similar to the Xiaomi 15 series, it will also utilize an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. In terms of battery life, the OnePlus 13 will feature an "Iceberg" battery with a capacity exceeding 6000mAh and support for 100W fast charging. The camera system will consist of the LYT808 main camera + IMX882 ultrawide lens + IMX882 3X periscope telephoto lens, offering a balanced photography experience. The OnePlus 13 will be a key competitor to the Xiaomi 15 series, both targeting a high-value-for-money market with potentially surprising pricing.

In addition, the iQOO 13, also featuring the Snapdragon 8 Gen4, is expected in October 2024. Digital bloggers like "Experience More" have revealed that the iQOO 13 will largely retain the design language of the iQOO 12, with minimal visual changes and around the same launch timeframe as Xiaomi. Leaks suggest the iQOO 13 series might only release a standard version with top-tier specifications: a BOE 2K OLED flat screen, a 6000mAh battery, 100W wired fast charging, and a triple 50-megapixel rear camera system with a rounded rectangular design.

III. Blue Green Factory Flagships with Dimensity 9400: Imaging Technology Takes Center Stage

Alongside Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen4 in October 2024, MediaTek will also unveil its flagship Dimensity 9400 processor. MediaTek has officially announced a Dimensity flagship chip launch event for October 9th. Online information suggests the Dimensity 9400 is built on TSMC's second-generation 3nm process, utilizing a full-performance-core CPU architecture. This will consist of: one Cortex-X9 25 super core clocked at 3.63GHz, three Cortex-A715 performance cores at 2.8GHz, and four Cortex-A510 efficiency cores at 2.1GHz, along with a Mali-G925 Immortalis MC12 GPU. MediaTek's strong performance in recent flagship processors has generated considerable anticipation for the Dimensity 9400.

Vivo has announced a product launch event for October 14th, showcasing the vivo X200 series, powered by the Dimensity 9400. Han Boxiao, Product Manager at vivo Communication Technology Co., Ltd., has already leaked images of the vivo X200, showcasing its design similar to the previous generation with a centered circular camera array, a vertical flash located to the right of the camera module, and a curved display with a centered punch-hole front camera. In terms of camera capabilities, the vivo X200 Pro will debut Sony's new LYT-818 image sensor, Sony's first sensor with a new HDR function. It features a large 1/1.28-inch sensor, excellent low-light performance, and supports a single-frame dynamic range of 86dB, effectively preventing overexposure.