Huawei Ascend Mate was one of the most successful Huawei devices in India last year and its predecessor Huawei Ascend Mate 2 packs more powerful hardware while still landing the new Mate somewhere in the mid range segment. We got too lay our hands on the Ascend Mate 2 4G at MWC 2014 and here are our views.
Huawei Ascend Mate 2 Quick Specs
- Display Size: 6.1 Inch LTPS LCD display, 1280 x 720 pixels resolution, 241 ppi
- Processor: 1.6 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 with Adreno 305 GPU
- RAM: 2 GB
- Software Version: Android 4.3 Jelly bean with Emotion UI 2.0 on top
- Camera: 13 MP camera, LED flash, Full HD 1080p Video recording at 30fps
- Secondary Camera: 5 MP
- Internal Storage: 16 GB
- External Storage: Up to 64GB
- Battery: 4,050 mAh
- Connectivity: 4G LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, USB OTG and GPS with aGPS and GLONASS
Huawei Ascend Mate 2 Hands on, Camera, Features and Overview HD at MWC 2014 [Video]
Design and Build
Huawei claims the best screen to bezel ratio among large display devices and indeed it made a lot of difference to handle the new Ascend Mate 2. The phone is marginally slimmer and narrower compared to its predecessor and while handling the phone, those few extra mm does count.
The material used is plastic. The back cover is glossy plastic, something we didn’t like. Glossy back just doesn’t fit well with large display devices, but considering that it’s a mid range phone, it won’t be a deal breaker.
The 6.1 inch display is LTPS LCD and viewing angles were good. The 720P resolution sounds unsatisfactory for a display this big, but the display appeared fine when we reviewed it. The home screen was crisp and colors were vivid enough. According to Huawei 79% of the front is covered in screen and this is something you notice almost instantly.
Camera and Internal Storage
The primary camera has a 13 MP BSI sensor from Sony and 28 mm F2.0 lens. The camera supports remote shooting feature, which means you can trigger the camera from App in another smartphone for group photos. The Front 5 MP shooter introduces “panoramic selfies” it has wide angle lens and 1.4 micrometers of pixel size for capturing more amount of light and delivering better low light performance. We liked the panoramic Selfie feature of the front camera.
The primary camera is capable of high def video recording and to store those 1080p videos, you can use the 64 GB MicroSD support apart from the 16 GB onboard storage. Storage option doesn’t leave much to complain about.
Battery, OS and Chipset
The battery capacity is 4050 mAh similar to its predecessor but Huawei claims that this will provide you with 30 percent extra battery backup for up to 2 days of moderate usage. Reverse charging option is also present which allows you to charge other devices using Mate 2 battery.
The OS is Android 4.3 Jelly bean with Emotion UI on top. The Android skin wasn’t as attractive as Color OS, but all that is a matter of personal taste.The chipset used is Cortex A7 based Snapdragon 400 with 4 CPU cores clocked at 1.6 GHz along with Adreno 305 GPU and 2 GB RAM. In our time with the device we didn’t notice any UI lag.
Huawei Ascend Mate 2 Photo Gallery
Conclusion
It’s a whole new world since we saw Huawei Ascend Mate and for Mate 2 to be a success, Huawei has to price it right. With Several Snapdragon 800 phablets like Gionee Elife E7 available in Ascend Mate territory, the competition is stiffer than ever before. The cost will expectedly be above 25,000 INR ($400) which will place it in tough waters. Having said that, if you are looking for a 6 inch display phablet with 4G LTE in the mid range segment, Ascend Mate 2 will be a viable option.
