Huawei upped its support of non-terrestrial communications in its mobile devices, revealing its forthcoming Mate 60 Pro device was capable of making calls over satellite infrastructure.

The vendor promoted the Mate 60 Pro on the new feature alongside improved satellite messaging, which was available in a limited format in its Mate 50 Pro, released in 2022.

In terms of specs, Mate 60 Pro sports a 6.82-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate.

No 5G
In a blog, Radio Free Mobile founder Richard Windsor highlighted the lack of details regarding the phone’s components implied the device is likely not 5G capable.

He wrote the Mate 60 Pro is powered by a Kirin9000s chipset because “Huawei is blocked from buying 5G, leading-edge silicon from TSMC and given TSMC’s exposure to the US market, it would make no sense for it to breach this regulation”.

Huawei, meanwhile was keen to highlight the smartphone’s photographic features, boasting a trio of rear cameras with a 50MP main unit along with a 13MP ultra-wide-angle front camera with 3D face recognition technology.

It runs a 5000 mAh battery with fast charging capability.

The Mate 60 Pro runs on Huawei’s HarmonyOS and is priced CNY6,999 ($960) for a version with 12GB of memory and 512GB of storage.

Orders are expected to be shipped in mid-September.

Gadget-focused publication Android Authority reported Huawei is not planning to launch the device outside China. The device’s satellite calling service is limited to users of China Telecom’s network.