Hands-on

Huawei Ascend Mate in the flesh, first impressions

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief June 22, 2013 · 3 min read

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We finally got our hands on a gigantic smartphone, the Huawei Ascend Mate. The handset is set to be released next week and we have a hands-on preview with us (though still an engineering unit).

The Ascend Mate is among the biggest smartphones we’ve ever seen, bigger than the Galaxy Note 2. With a 6.1-inch display, you can barely hold it comfortably with one hand.

The handset has a very solid, metallic feel to it. It has a certain heft to it too.

The front panel is completely covered with glass wrapped around the edges with a thin strip of brushed metal trimming. The frame around the sides has a slightly rough matte finish painted in dark gray. It feels like metallic but is actually some sort of hard polycarbonate.

The back side is slightly curved with a soft rubbery finish. Since it has a unibody design, the micro-SIM card slot is accessible from the top side (concealed by a flip cover). The microSD card slot is found on the left side while the power button and volume rocker are on the right side. The micro-USB port is at the bottom end.

The IPS LCD looks stunning and even at 6.1 inches, the 720p resolution still offers crisp and bright display. The display looks crisp and very bright.

Huawei uses their own Emotion UI which is pretty simple yet neat and clean. Navigation and transitions are smooth, the phone is very responsive over-all. The custom 1.5GHz quad-core processor was made by Huawei itself. Its the same one they used in the Ascend D Quad XL which we reviewed here.

Here’s the complete hardware specification of the Ascend Mate.

Huawei Ascend Mate specs:
6.1-inch IPS LCD 720p display @ 1280×720 pixels, 241ppi
Corning Gorilla Glass
Huawei K3V2 1.5GHz quad-core processor
2GB RAM
16GB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD
HSPA+ 42Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, dual-band, WiFi Direct, DLNA, WiFi hotspot
Bluetooth 4.0
8MP camera with LED flash
1080p video recording
1.2MP front-facing camera
FM Stereo tuner
GPS w/ aGPS support
Li-Ion 4050mAh battery
Android Jellybean 4.1.2
163.5 x 85.7 x 9.9mm (dimensions)

Probably the most compelling feature of the Ascend Mate is the battery life. The handset has an internal battery rated at 4,050mAh which is among the highest we’ve ever seen. That should last you over a day or two.

The Huawei Ascend Mate is expected to be available in the Philippines next week with an estimated retail price of Php21,000.

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Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and is considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines.

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42 Comments

Rosenberg · 13 years ago

Sad to say8gb internal memory at 1gb ram lang ang nilabas dito sa finas. Dapat babaan ang price.

jan · 13 years ago

ang mga pinoy mahilig sa maliliit, kaya maliit din anmg kaya haha

huaweideviceph · 13 years ago

The Huawei Ascend Mate comes with free flip cover leathercase :-)

Hector · 13 years ago

Huawei has ZERO accessories available in the market. I have a Huawei phone and it’s very hectic to try to find anything like silicone case or screen protector made for HUAWEI. I have tried several popular places. I really don’t understand how HUAWEI can have top sales if they disregard the production of made-to-fit accessories for their phones. I’m really not recommending to buy because of this, you’ll get stuck with the phone. And if I’m wrong, I’ll be happy to go whenever/if there’s accessories for HUAWEI. Thanks

Haykal Lorena · 13 years ago

Its priced at 16,990.00 only see here

http://geekschicksten.blogspot.com/2013/06/pre-order-huawei-ascend-mate-at-16990.html

andrew · 13 years ago

Yung mga di sanay mag hawak ng 6 inches, palibhasa sa mga 4 to 5 inch lang kayo sanay. HEHEHE

loadex · 13 years ago

Ascend Mate SRP @ 18,290.

Freeje · 13 years ago

K900 can be had here for as low as P16000.

abuzalzal · 13 years ago

An insider from Levovo Philippines told me that the K900 will come at a friendly price somewhere between Php 21k-22k

Susmio! Ikumpara mo naman ito sa K900

Huawei should go back to the drawing board para i re- examine yung kanilang pricing

Freeje · 13 years ago

It’s been selling here in China for a few months already and now the price is around P12,500. If you think it’s big then you should see the Samsung Mega (I-9200) with a screen size of 6.3 inches. That is humongous!

lawrence · 13 years ago

And the Xperia Z Ultra has a 6.44″ screen. hehe

Phablets are not for everyone. I’m using as Xperia Z right now with a 5.0 screen. perfect for my call, text and messaging needs. But I’m still considering phablets beyond the 6.o” screen size for other mobile needs. for which I find 7.0″ and up too big.

To each his own. at least we have choices. hehe

Yusuf · 13 years ago

CNET: ‘The Ascend Mate is proof that bigger isn’t always better.’

red · 13 years ago

i like its design. kaso anlaki! hehe.. trust me, i have 5 inch nga eh di ko nga masyadong maaccomodate, how much more 6.1? hehe

cmas84 · 13 years ago

Nah… will pass on this one, too big IMO. =)

Yusuf · 13 years ago

5 inches is the standard. Anything that is beyond 5 inches isn’t even respectable anymore.

Josh · 13 years ago

@Yusuf. You’re not getting it. 5 inches is the standard? And who’s standard is that? Yours? 5 inches may be ideal for a regular smartphone. This is a phablet and they serve a different market. There are people who are into games and video. There are people who do a lot of work-related stuff on their mobile devices and a bigger sized phone like this would make their tasks easier to do.

hahaha · 13 years ago

Juzmiyo? Ang mahal para sa Chinese Low-Quality Brand ah? Konting dagdag na lang Xperia Z na.

hehehe · 13 years ago

until ngayon ba sarado pa rin pag-iisip niyo sa chinese brand, chinse product, chinese quality etc etc etc. huawei is a multinational company. yung xperia z mo saan made ba yan??? hehehe

^pucktard above me! · 13 years ago

Huawei may be a chinese brand but it’s not your usual chinese product. Huawei is one heck of a big dragon company that produces telecom products for years. Calling Huawei a “Chinese Low-Quality Brand” simply proves you’re an idiot.

By the way, I’ve just found at you have an error called the “ID-10-T error”. Google it.

^pucktard above me! · 13 years ago

Huawei may be a chinese brand but it’s not your usual chinese brand. Huawei is one heck of a big dragon company that produces telecom products for years. Calling Huawei a “Chinese Low-Quality Brand” simply proves you’re an idiot.

By the way, I’ve just found you have an error called the “ID-10-T error”. Google it.

itshouldbe · 13 years ago

Maybe HUWAEI should changecits brandname tocremove thatckind of mentality i know huawei has a good reputation but many users buy phones because of their brand =)