The first smartphone in the world with 512GB of flash memory on board isn’t an iPhone. It runs Android, but it’s not made by any of the usual suspects, although one of them did help with its creation.
It also happens to be a phone sporting two other unique characteristics: a dual fingerprint sensor approach with one on the back and one under the screen; and an aerospace industry technology used to keep the phone cool. Not to mention that it shares the triple-cam technology only found on one of this year’s top iPhone X rivals.
But there’s one big thing missing from this phone. There’s no notch design on this all-screen Android device, because the company despises it.
Hardcore Android fans may have guessed the name of the phone already, the Porsche Design Mate RS, which was unveiled at Huawei’s P20 event in Paris in mid-March.
The phone is a Huawei P20 Pro version created by the Austrian company and China’s most prominent smartphone maker. The Mate RS looks nothing like the Huawei P20 Pro because Porsche Design opted not to use a notch design like Huawei.
“From the very beginning onwards, we were on one level, with one design approach, and this is why the end result is so perfect,” Porsche Design’s Design Director Christian Schwamkrug told Digital Trends.
“When I saw the notch for the first time, I nearly couldn’t believe it. It’s disturbing, from a design philosophy,” he added. “A picture is either rectangular or square, with a border line, and a clear frame format. I like symmetry. We didn’t want to have the notch, we think it’s a compromise.”
That’s a refreshing thought in a world filled with iPhone X clones. On the other hand, it does come from a company who’s not pressured to sell as many devices as possible. In fact, the Mate RS is a luxury device, priced close to $1,900, making it a lot more expensive than the iPhone X. In other words, Porsche Design will not challenge any of the traditional smartphone makers in the business with its P20 Pro version.
UPDATE: Huawei reached out to BGR to point out that these are personal views of Christian Schwamkrug, not Porsche Design’s.
