Huawei MatePad Mini 2 Is in Development - comes with much larger battery

Sunday, 26 April 2026 at 11:15

The original MatePad Mini landed less than a year ago, and Huawei is apparently already working on its successor. Tipster Digital Chat Station's latest Weibo post surfaces what appear to be the first development details of the MatePad Mini 2 — a device that's clearly in early prototype testing but already showing signs of meaningful hardware improvements over the original.

Summary

OLED display with four-sided narrow bezels: The MatePad Mini 2 is reportedly being developed with an OLED panel and extremely symmetrical, narrow bezels — building on the 2.99mm bezel achievement of the original.
Next-generation "9-series" Kirin chip: The chipset is described as a flagship-level processor from Huawei's 9-series lineup — the successor to the Kirin 9020 in the current MatePad Mini.
Significantly larger battery in testing: Prototype units are reportedly running larger battery cells than the original's 6,400mAh — no specific figure confirmed yet.
NFC under evaluation: Huawei is reportedly assessing NFC support for the device — a feature absent from the first-generation model.
5G variant expected: Connectivity options appear consistent with the original lineup, with a 5G model in development.

Why the Kirin Chipset Choice Will Matter This Time

The original MatePad Mini shipped with the Kirin 9020 — the same chip as the Mate 70 series — which was actually criticized by DCS himself as a "questionable" decision at the time. The chip was adequate but not cutting-edge even at launch, and the gap has only widened since. The MatePad Mini 2 leak describes a "next-generation flagship chipset from the 9-series lineup," which points to whatever Huawei has planned as the successor to the Kirin 9020 — likely the Kirin 9030 or 9030S, depending on how Huawei structures its 2026 chip roadmap. Either way, the expectation of a genuine generational step in silicon is more significant for this device than the battery story.

That said, the battery story is worth paying attention to. The original's 6,400mAh with 66W charging is already competitive for a compact tablet — beating Apple's iPad mini 7 decisively on capacity. If Huawei pushes the MatePad Mini 2 toward 7,000mAh or beyond, while maintaining the sub-9-inch compact form factor, it would set a new benchmark for the category.

Display: Narrow Bezels on an Already Slim-Bordered Device

The first MatePad Mini already managed 2.99mm bezels on all four sides — a technically challenging achievement for an 8.8-inch form factor. The Mini 2 is described as featuring "extremely narrow and symmetrical bezels," which suggests Huawei is pushing that measurement even further. Combined with an OLED panel, the display experience is likely to be the strongest feature of the device at launch. No resolution or refresh rate details have leaked yet, but the original's 1600×2560 at 120Hz is already excellent — any upgrade here would be incremental rather than transformational.

NFC: A Meaningful Gap Finally Addressed

The absence of NFC in the original MatePad Mini was a genuine limitation — it meant no contactless payments, no NFC-based device pairing, and no transit card support through the tablet. The fact that Huawei is actively evaluating NFC for the Mini 2 suggests the omission was a cost and space decision rather than a deliberate design choice. Whether it makes the final cut depends on how the internal layout evolves through the testing phase.

What's Still Unknown

No launch window has been indicated by DCS or any other source. Given that the original MatePad Mini launched in September 2025, a similar Q3 2026 window is possible — but entirely speculative at this stage. Pricing, storage configurations, and camera details for the Mini 2 have not surfaced.