Huawei is set to unveil its brand-new smartphone lineups in the coming weeks, which will start at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 in Barcelona next week. Its first flagship of 2018, the Huawei P20, is expected to launch at a standalone event in March. Fast forward to the latter part of the year, the Shenzhen-based tech firm is likely to release the successor of the Mate 10 Pro. If the rumors are anything to go by, the Huawei Mate 11 will feature a face-recognition technology and wireless charging.

According to Tech Advisor, the Huawei Mate 11 is expected to boast a much powerful mobile processor compared with the Mate 10 Pro by the time of its release. Considering that the company had several months to develop the premium handset, it is likely that the Huawei Mate 11 will make use of a next-gen Kirin chipset. To note, the Mate 10 Pro runs the Kirin 970 chip, which includes a special Neural Processing Unit (NPU) that handles a variety of artificial intelligence (AI) functions. It is rumored that the Mate 11 will receive the Kirin 980 chip, the same CPU expected to be inside the upcoming Huawei P20 smartphone.

It was tipped that the Kirin 980 processor is manufactured using a more intricate and advanced 7-nanometer process. As this is believed to be the successor of last year's Kirin 970 chip, the Kirin 980 is expected to have the AI features of the former. If there is one major upgrade, that is rumored to be the enhanced graphics.

With respect to the Huawei Mate 11 design, it is not expected that the handset will introduce big changes. The Mate 10 was the first to bring a major redesign of the classic Huawei Mate appearance. Unlike the previous iterations of the Mate series, the Mate 10 features an all-glass back, IP68 water and dust resistance, as well as reduced bezels to achieve an almost all-screen front view. If anything, the Huawei Mate 11 will keep this kind of appearance, although it is possible that the device will take advantage of its glass back by adding a wireless charging feature.

Other rumors suggest that the Huawei Mate 11 will include some improvements in the camera department. The Mate 10 Pro has a dual rear camera, and it is likely that the Mate 11 will include a dual-camera setup for the front-facing shooter as well. The Huawei Mate 11's camera lenses are expected to have f/1.6 aperture, same as the Mate 10 Pro. Furthermore, a dual-lens front camera could also be used as a facial scanner. A face-unlock technology for the 2018 Huawei Mate phone is close to reality, considering the current Kirin processor's AI power.

Huawei is expected to showcase the Mate 11 sometime in October or November this year.