Huawei Mate 7: In the flesh, first impressions

Huawei is set to launch the Mate 7 this November 20 and we’re able to get an early unit to review. We immediately took two of our LTE SIMs and inserted it into the handset to test and share with you our initial impressions.

We spent a full day with the new Huawei Mate 7 and thought it was a pretty solid device worthy of a flagship status.

At first glance, the Huawei Mate7 looks really similar to the HTC One M7 although its size is closer to the HTC One Max. However, the build quality and metal construction feels more solid. Design-wise we even liked it better than the iPhone 6 Plus.

We looked more closely into some of the features we actually liked about the Mate7.

Size and Form Factor.

With a 6-inch display, the Mate7 is already huge and within the size range of the Xperia T2 Ultra. However, based on our actual use of the handset, it’s much closer and more comparable to the iPhone 6 Plus and the Galaxy Note 4 in terms of handling.

Here’s a quick tabular comparison of the Mate7 against other flagship devices:

Despite having a bigger display, the Mate 7 is shorter than the iPhone 6 Plus. The device is also thinner than the Note 4 and the G3.

Where the Mate7 took some real estate is with the width but the difference is very small — 2.4mm wider than the Note 4 and 3.2mm more than the iPhone 6 Plus.

Huawei claims a screen-to-size ratio of about 78%. This is one of the highest we’ve seen in any flagship device. Even the really compact LG G3 only has 76.3%, the Galaxy Note 4 has 74.4% while the iPhone 6 Plus only has 67.9% (the higher the screen-to-size ratio, the more compact the device is relative to its size).

Hardware and Configuration.

The more premium version of the Mate 7 comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB internal storage. It is powered by Huawei’s very own chip, the Kirin 925 octa-core processor which is a combination of 4 Cortex A15 and 4 Cortex A7 to optimize for both performance and power consumption.

The Kirin 925 chip uses 28nm technology and the big.Little configuration paired with a Mali-T628 GPU is one of the best graphics to date. It is better than a Snapdragon 801 and even comparable to a Snapdragon 805.

Here’s a table of benchmark scores between the flagship handset’s we’ve tried before.

The Kirin 925 fared really well in all of the benchmarks except for Quadrant where the scores were below the line.

The Mate 7 is also among the less than 10 devices that came with a whopping 3GB of RAM (see complete list here).

Huawei Mate7 specs:
6-inch Full HD IPS display, 368ppi
Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Hisilicon Kirin 925 octa-core CPU (4×1.8GHz Cortex A15 + 4 × 1.3GHz Coretex A7 + 1 x 230MHz big.LITTLE)
Mali-T628 GPU
3GB RAM
32GB internal storage
up to 64GB via microSD
Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby (Nano-SIM + Micro-SIM)
Dual-LTE Cat 6
13MP rear camera, f/2.0, LED flash
5MP front camera
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
NFC
microUSB
Fingerprint Sensor
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
Android 4.4 KitKat w/ Emotion UI 3.0
Li-Ion 4,100mAh battery
157 x 81 x 7.9 mm
185 g

Fingerprint Sensor.

While Apple and Samsung has already introduced the fingerprint sensor into their devices for over a year, Huawei’s implementation is slightly different.

The sensor is located at the back panel just below the camera. This provides easier access to the index finger to unlock the phone and other apps.

We’ve already been so used to the Rear Key of the LG G2 and G3 that using the Rear Fingerprint Sensor of the Mate7 feels like second-nature.

Dual-SIM, Dual-LTE.

Perhaps one of the most intriguing features of the Mate 7 is the dual-LTE, dual-SIM functionality. This is the first and only handset we’ve seen that is capable of having two LTE SIM slots. This allows you to use two LTE SIM from Globe and Smart and be able to use both when needed.

Huawei is also able to developed a Cat 6 LTE with theoretical speeds of up to 300Mbps and support for the most number of LTE networks globally.

Battery Capacity: 4,100mAh

The Mate7 is also the one with the highest battery capacity of any flagship smartphone with its huge 4,100mAh battery rating. We have yet to test how efficient the Mate7 when it comes to battery consumption and we will do our usual battery bench in the full review.

For now, the device is among the top ones to have this huge battery capacity.

Release and Availability.

The Huawei Ascend Mate7 will be released in the Philippines on November 20 with a suggested retail price of Php27,890USD 475INR 40,290EUR 453CNY 3,461 for the 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage in Rose Gold color.

Huawei is accepting pre-orders today (MemoXpress and Huawei Shops) where people can pay a downpayment between Php1,000USD 17INR 1,445EUR 16CNY 124, Php2,000USD 34INR 2,889EUR 32CNY 248 or Php3,000USD 51INR 4,334EUR 49CNY 372 and get the same amount as a discount when they receive it on the 20th. That means a Php3,000USD 51INR 4,334EUR 49CNY 372 downpayment will net you a final price of just Php24,890USD 424INR 35,956EUR 404CNY 3,089 (Php3,000USD 51INR 4,334EUR 49CNY 372 down + Php21,890USD 373INR 31,622EUR 355CNY 2,717 balance).

Will post our full review of the Mate7 just before the local launch.