At the
international CES 2014, the Chinese company Huawei officially announced its next-gen Ascend Mate successor,
introducing beefier specs and full support for 4G LTE.
Although Huawei might
not be that well-known in India, we certainly were impressed by the original
Mate last year at CES 2013 and we were eager to see how the
latest model stands up. However it is the first model to support 4G LTE by the
company.
Battery
Another
record specification is lurking inside with a huge 4,050mAh battery, compared
to 'just' 3,020mAh for the Note 3. Huawei boldly claims that this should last
most users 2 days, we’d be amazed if that proved to be the case but it’s
probably not far off and it shouldn’t conk out on even the heaviest use days.
That battery is so big in fact, that Huawei has implemented ‘Reverse Charging’ on the handset. That means you can use the supplied micro USB cable to charge other devices from the Ascend Mate 2. Great for topping up Bluetooth headphones on the go, for example. You can even give a friends ailing phone a battery boost in an emergency.
Display
The display
is the last generation 720p Display but it dosent matter it sports a lage
6-inch display with IPS Screen, Although it is difficult to handle with one
hand it becomes a two hand device. The left hand iteration is very good and
makes the device comfortable to use with one hand. The scrolling and contrast
ratios are overall perfect!
Huawei Ascend Mate 2 4G LTE
specifications
- CPU:
1.6 GHz quad-core CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon 400
- RAM:
2GB of RAM
- Display:
6.1-inch IPS Screen, 1280 x 720
- Internal
storage: 16GB, expandable with up to 64GB
- Cameras:
13 MP rear, 5MP front
- Connectivity:
Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, microUSB, GPS
- Sensors:
acceleration sensor, light sensor, gyroscope, proximity
- Networks:
GSM, LTE
- Battery:
4050mAh
- Dimensions:
161 x 84.7 x 9.5mm, 202 grams
- OS:
Android Jelly Bean with Emotion UI 2.0
Software
and Hardware
The Huawei
Ascend Mate 2 will come in two variants: one that rocks a 1.6GHz quad-core
Qualcom MSM8928, and another that utilizes a 1.6GHz quad-core Huawei HiSilicon
Cortex-A9. Other than that, both devices have the same specs which include
2GB RAM, 16GB storage, microSD, a 5MP front cam, 13MP rear cam, and a plastic
casing that weighs 202 grams and is 9.5mm thick. There’s also Android 4.3 and
Huawei’s Emotion UI 2.0 which is their custom skin. First, there’s the
“one-handed operation” mode that makes the keyboard easier to use with just one
hand. Another cool special feature is the floating window mode, which includes
several floating apps such as a calculator, messaging and more.
Overall the
Ascend Mate2 4G looks like a nice little upgrade over the original Mate. Its
display may be the same size, but its processor and cameras have gotten
beefier, and I'm sure most everyone can agree that the addition of 4G LTE
connectivity is a nice upgrade.
Camera
Huawei has
taken on how important this is and fitted a 5-megapixel front camera with a
bright F2.4 lens and big 1.4um pixels for better low-light performance.
In addition
it adds a small portrait window in the upper right corner onscreen, this is
placed right up by the camera so you can compose the shot but still be looking
at the lens for a more natural and engaging result. The main camera is based
around a 13-megapixel back-illuminated sensor from Sony with an F2.0 lens, so
you should get good results from that. The Ascend Mate 2 also has remote
shooting, so you can fire the camera from an app on another smartphone for
group, self portraits.
Pricing and
Final thoughts
Huawei has yet
to reveal exactly when we’ll see the Ascend Mate 2 4G, or how much it will set
us back. That said, they have confirmed that the massive handset will be making
its way to North America, and is already confirmed to be “compatible” with
AT&T. More than likely the handset will be sold unlocked and not through a
direct carrier partnership, however. Price is expected to be around 589$ which
is available on Ebay.
We’ll be sure to
update the post later with additional information as it arrives. Make sure read
the other CES 2014 posts.
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