Huawei Mate7 Hands-on First Impressions: Huawei Steps Up Its Game

Huawei Mate7 Hands-on First Impressions: Huawei Steps Up Its Game

 Huawei Ascend Mate7 01

We go hands-on with the Huawei Ascend Mate7

Phablets are a stable part of Huawei’s business, and it’s not surprising that the company is looking to gain marketshare in this very lucrative product segment. The company’s weapon in the phablet wars is their newest flagship, the Ascend Mate7. It’s one of the most beautifully made smartphones in Huawei’s stable, and it may very well be their most effective tool to woo customers away from the traditional phablet leaders like Samsung’ Galaxy Note series.

Huawei Ascend Mate7 specs

  • Octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 925 processor (1.8GHz quad-core Cortex-A15, 1.3GHz quad-core Cortex-A7)
  • Mali-T628 GPU
  • 3GB of RAM
  • 6-inch, full HD IPS display with Gorilla Glass 3, 1920 x 1080 resolution
  • 32GB of storage, expandable via microSD
  • 13-megapixel rear camera with AF, LED flash
  • 5-megapixel front camera
  • 3G, LTE
  • WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, USB OTG, NFC
  • Android 4.4 KitKat with Emotion UI 3.0
  • 4100mAh battery


Huawei Ascend Mate7 07

Hands-on, first impressions: Huawei’s best phablet yet

It’s obvious that Huawei spent a lot of time trying to perfect the design of the Mate7, and for the most part, they’ve succeeded. The Ascend Mate7 is a very handsome smartphone once you see it in the flesh. The smartphone uses an aluminum unibody that kind of reminds us of HTC’s own product offerings. The build quality is top-notch, and try as we might, we really can’t find a chink in the overall design of the smartphone.

Huawei Ascend Mate7 06

Potential users may be concerned about the overall size (and usability) of the Ascend Mate7, considering that it uses a rather gigantic 6-inch full HD display. Here, Huawei takes a page out of LG’s playbook, reducing the bezels of the phone considerably, so that the bigger 6-inch display fits in a package that you’d typicall associate with a 5.5-inch smartphone. The iPhone 6 Plus, for example is slightly taller than the Ascend Mate7, with the former coming in at 158.1mm compared to the latter’s 157mm. If you’ve forgotten, the iPhone 6 Plus only has a 5.5-inch display, compared to the 6-inch one on the Ascend Mate7.

Huawei Ascend Mate7 03

Speaking of displays, the one in the Ascend Mate7 is pretty good, with excellent color reproduction and generous viewing angles. While it’s not going to win against the Note 4’s Super AMOLED panel, the one in the Ascend Mate7 is better than other displays in its class.

Huawei Ascend Mate7 02

The company has employed every trick in the book to make the Ascend Mate7 easier to hold in the hands. The back of the phone has gentle sloping sides that conforms to your palm when you’re holding it. Of course, with a screen as big as the Ascend Mate7, using it one handed would be next to impossible without software trickery. Here Huawei has your back – there’s a one-handed screen mode that moves the software Android navigation keys to one side to help you navigate the phone better.

Huawei Ascend Mate7 05

Aside from housing the phone’s 13-megapixel rear camera, the back of the Ascend Mate7 also holds a fingerprint scanner, located a few mm below the camera module. While it’s placement is odd at first glance, it’s actually an ingenious design coup from the company. Once you enroll your fingerprint, you can now use that to unlock your phone, instead of tediously typing your security code. Once you get used to it, you’ll wonder why other phones don’t use the same system. It’s LG’s signature rear key taken to its logical conclusion.

Huawei Ascend Mate7 09

Even though the Ascend Mate 7 is a flagship device, it’s still a dual-SIM deal, which is a bit unusual. Even better, both SIM slots (nano and microSIM) have LTE capabilities, so you won’t have to cut your SIM card to enjoy LTE on the Ascend Mate 7.

Huawei Ascend Mate7 11

We reviewed Huawei’s Ascend P7 smartphone a few months ago, and while we thought it was a good looking phone, it was woefully underpowered. Huawei’s not keen on making the same mistake again, and has equipped the phone with their newest octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 925 processor.

In our early benchmarks, Hauwei’s homegrown solution managed to score high marks, but until we finish our review, the verdict is still out as far as performance is concerned. Navigation through the custom UI felt really smooth without any hint of lag whatsoever.

Huawei Ascend Mate7 08
Like most of Huawei’s other offerings, the Ascend Mate7 uses the company’s Emotion UI, which is now in its third iteration. While it feels better than the version that was present on the company’s P7, there’s still a few niggles here and there, which we’ll go over in the full review.

Huawei PH has said that the Mate7 will have SRP of Php 27,890, and will arrive in the latter half of November.

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