Inside the Austrian Design Studio Building the World's Most Luxurious Tech
Nestled in the mountains of the small Austrian town of Zell am See, Studio F.A. Porsche is surrounded by cow bells, ski lifts and the imposing shadows of the Alps.
When Professor Ferdinand Alexander Porsche founded the eponymous studio in 1972, he had already created the most convincing evidence of his recipe for timeless design: the Porsche 911.
Today, the professor’s office remains an untouched time capsule on the top floor of the working studio. His heavy wooden desk remains piled with papers and drafts, while his signature pipe sits atop its cluttered surface.
The studio’s first lifestyle product, the Cronograph I wristwatch, was modelled after a race car’s dashboard. While the studio’s offerings have gradually expanded into everything from luxury surfboards and ski equipment to sunglasses and pipes, the studio still roots itself in F.A. Porsche’s ethos of simple design. This month, it announced its newest addition: the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 10.
An update on last year’s sold-out Porsche Design Huawei Mate9, the high-end mobile is a luxury machine with a price point to match. Retailing at €1,395 (the 256GB iPhone X will sell for €1,319), the phone comes exclusively in ‘diamond black’ and has a handcrafted glass uni-body exterior.
Emblazoned with a Porsche Design logo on the barely there lower front bezel, the phone has a 6-inch 1080p OLED FullView Display with HDR10. On the back, a rear stripe includes dual Leica cameras, a fingerprint scanner and – you guessed it – another Porsche Design logo.
While it’s clearly designed to be a luxury accessory as much as a phone, the device isn’t all style over substance.
Like the flagship Mate 10 Pro (the hardware at the core of the Porsche-designed version), the Porsche Design handset has a Kirin 970 chipset paired with 6GB of RAM, 256GB of internal storage, a 4,000mAh battery, an EMUI 8.0 based on Android 8.0 Oreo, NFC and Bluetooth 4.2 with aptX/aptX HD and LDAC HD.
It comes neatly presented in Porsche packaging with two chargers (UK and EU), a leather case, two USB-C cables, USB-C earphones, a 3.5mm audio adapter, and a VIP card. Among its many tricks, the screen can support a split-screen interface, enabling users to run two apps side by side.
For avid travellers, a pre-installed real-time AI Accelerated Translator instantly translates text, voice, conversations, and images into 50+ languages across devices, and dual SIM support means you can seamless switch between SIMs, without any physical swapping.
The smart battery management system learns from the user’s behaviour and allocates resources to avoid power-wastage and maximise battery life. Huawei’s SuperCharge technology even means a 20-minute charge can supply a whole day’s power.
But the real standout is the phone’s camera capabilities. The front-facing camera is an 8MP shooter, and includes (a somewhat unsettling) set of built-in filters to help get the perfect selfie. On the back, the Leica Dual Camera shoots sharp and colourful pictures in 20/12MP resolution and captures even the smallest details thanks to Hybrid Zoom.
While it doesn’t come cheap, the Porsche Design Huawei Mate10 is a handsome and well-executed machine for lovers of the brand.
The Porsche Design Huawei Mate10 will have 6GB of RAM and 256GB of storage and will be available from early December in exclusive UK pre-sale at Harrods. The Huawei Mate10 Pro will have 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage and will be available in the UK from 17 November for £699.
Volcanic Iceland Epic Trip
meet our Local Insider
Hanna
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A GUIDE?
2 years.
WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT YOUR JOB?
It's the personal contact, the personal experiences. I love meeting people from all over the world... I really like getting to know everyone and feeling like I'm traveling with a group of friends.
WHAT DESTINATION IS ON YOUR TRAVEL BUCKET-LIST?
I have so many places on my list, but I would really lobe to go to Africa. I consider myself an “adventure girl” and Africa feels like the ULTIMATE adventure!
Every CULTURE TRIP Small-group adventure is led by a Local Insider just like Hanna.
KEEN TO EXPLORE THE WORLD?
Connect with like-minded people on our premium trips curated by local insiders and with care for the world
Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.
Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.
Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.
Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.
We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.