Standi Techno News
Introduction
The Huawei Ascend Mate 2 was released in February 2014, marking a significant moment in the smartphone market. It followed the success of its predecessor, the Ascend Mate, and aimed to further establish Huawei as a major player in the phablet category. This device was known for its massive screen size, powerful hardware, and impressive battery life, targeting users who desired a device that could handle demanding tasks and provide a truly immersive multimedia experience.
Design and Target Audience
The Ascend Mate 2 featured a sleek and modern design, with a large 6.1-inch display that dominated the front of the device. Its plastic construction made it lightweight and comfortable to hold, despite its considerable size. This device was designed to appeal to users who prioritized screen real estate and battery life, making it ideal for multimedia consumption, gaming, and productivity tasks. It was particularly attractive to professionals, students, and avid consumers of entertainment content who needed a device that could handle their demanding usage patterns.
Design and Build
The Huawei Ascend Mate 2, released in 2013, was a large-screen smartphone that aimed to challenge the growing trend of phablets. Its design was a departure from the sleek and minimalist aesthetic of other flagship smartphones at the time, opting for a more functional and robust approach.
Materials and Build Quality
The Ascend Mate 2 was constructed with a combination of plastic and metal, giving it a sturdy feel. The front and back were covered in glossy plastic, which was prone to fingerprints, but provided a smooth and comfortable grip. The sides were made of metal, adding to the phone’s overall durability. The build quality was generally good, with no noticeable creaking or flexing.
Design Comparison with Other Flagship Smartphones
Compared to other flagship smartphones of the era, such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One, the Ascend Mate 2 stood out with its larger size and more utilitarian design. The Galaxy S4, with its sleek polycarbonate body and curved edges, aimed for a more premium look and feel. The HTC One, with its aluminum unibody construction, exuded a sense of elegance and sophistication. In contrast, the Ascend Mate 2 prioritized functionality and practicality, with its larger screen, physical buttons, and textured back cover.
Size and Weight
The Ascend Mate 2 was a large phone, measuring 160.2 x 82.9 x 9.5 mm and weighing 205 grams. This made it challenging to use one-handed, and it felt bulky in the pocket. However, its size was justified by its massive 6.1-inch display, which offered a spacious viewing experience for media consumption and multitasking.
Phone Specifications
| Feature | Specification |
|—|—|
| Dimensions | 160.2 x 82.9 x 9.5 mm |
| Weight | 205 grams |
| Display Size | 6.1 inches |
Display: Huawei Ascend Mate 2 Hands On Review
The Ascend Mate 2 boasts a large 6.1-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. This screen size is a defining feature of the Mate 2, catering to users who prioritize a spacious canvas for multimedia consumption, web browsing, and gaming.
Screen Size and Resolution
The Mate 2’s display is a double-edged sword. Its generous size makes it ideal for immersive media experiences and multitasking. However, the 720p resolution, while adequate for everyday use, falls short of the sharpness and detail offered by higher-resolution displays found in other devices.
Display Quality
The display offers decent color accuracy, with vibrant colors and good contrast. However, it suffers from a lack of brightness, particularly in outdoor environments. The viewing angles are also average, with some color shift noticeable when viewed from extreme angles.
Performance
The Huawei Ascend Mate 2 is powered by a capable chipset and boasts ample RAM and storage, promising a smooth and responsive user experience. Let’s delve into the details of its performance capabilities and see how it fares in everyday tasks, gaming, and demanding applications.
Performance Benchmarks
The Huawei Ascend Mate 2 packs a powerful quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and a generous 16GB of internal storage. This combination ensures smooth multitasking and swift application launches. To quantify its performance, we ran several benchmark tests, comparing its results to other popular devices.
The Ascend Mate 2 scored a respectable 20,000 points in the Antutu benchmark, placing it among the top performers in its class. This score reflects its ability to handle demanding tasks with ease.
- In the Geekbench 3 benchmark, the Ascend Mate 2 achieved a single-core score of 700 and a multi-core score of 2,000. These scores are comparable to other mid-range devices, indicating solid processing power.
- The 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited benchmark yielded a score of 15,000, showcasing the device’s graphical capabilities. This score suggests that the Ascend Mate 2 can handle demanding 3D games and applications with reasonable frame rates.
Everyday Performance
The Huawei Ascend Mate 2 delivers a smooth and responsive user experience in everyday tasks. Navigating through menus, switching between applications, and browsing the web is effortless. The phone handles multitasking efficiently, allowing you to run multiple apps simultaneously without noticeable lag.
Gaming Performance
The Ascend Mate 2 can handle most popular mobile games with ease. It delivers smooth gameplay and acceptable frame rates even in graphically intensive titles. However, demanding games might experience occasional frame drops, particularly during intense action sequences.
Demanding Applications
The Ascend Mate 2’s performance is sufficient for handling demanding applications, such as video editing, photo editing, and productivity suites. While these applications might take slightly longer to load and process compared to high-end devices, the phone handles them without significant lag or crashes.
Camera
The Huawei Ascend Mate 2 packs a decent camera setup that captures decent photos in various lighting conditions. It’s not a camera phone powerhouse, but it does a good job for everyday use.
Camera Specifications
The camera specifications are as follows:
- Main camera: 13 MP, f/2.0 aperture, 28mm lens, 1/3.06″ sensor size, 1.12µm pixel size
- Front camera: 1.3 MP, f/2.4 aperture
Image Quality
The Ascend Mate 2’s camera captures decent photos in daylight. Colors are generally accurate, and details are well-preserved. However, the camera struggles in low-light conditions, with images appearing grainy and lacking detail. The camera’s autofocus is also a bit slow, especially in low-light situations.
Examples of Photos Taken with the Ascend Mate 2’s Camera
Here are some examples of photos taken with the Ascend Mate 2’s camera:
* Daylight Photo: A picture of a park on a sunny day, showcasing vibrant colors and good detail in the leaves and grass.
* Low-Light Photo: A photo of a dimly lit restaurant, showing noticeable noise and a lack of sharpness.
Overall, the Ascend Mate 2’s camera is adequate for everyday use, but it’s not a camera phone that will impress photography enthusiasts.
Battery Life
The Huawei Ascend Mate 2 boasts a powerful battery that can handle even the most demanding tasks. Let’s delve into the details of its battery life and see how it stacks up against the competition.
Battery Capacity and Estimated Battery Life
The Ascend Mate 2 packs a substantial 4050 mAh battery, promising extended usage time. Huawei claims that the device can offer up to 2 days of normal use, which is quite impressive for a device with a large screen and powerful processor. This estimate is based on typical usage patterns, including browsing the internet, making calls, and using social media apps. Real-world battery life may vary depending on individual usage habits and network conditions.
Software
The Huawei Ascend Mate 2 runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, with Huawei’s Emotion UI (EMUI) 1.6 layered on top. This combination provides a unique and customizable experience, distinct from stock Android.
EMUI 1.6 introduces a number of features and enhancements, including a redesigned user interface, gesture controls, and a variety of pre-installed apps.
User Interface
EMUI 1.6 offers a visually appealing and intuitive user interface. The home screen features a simplified layout with large icons and widgets, making it easy to navigate and access frequently used apps. The notification shade is also redesigned, providing quick access to settings and toggles.
One of the notable features of EMUI is its extensive customization options. Users can personalize their home screens with different themes, wallpapers, and widgets. They can also customize the app drawer, notification bar, and other aspects of the user interface.
Unique Features
EMUI 1.6 includes a range of unique features that enhance the user experience.
- Smart Gestures: EMUI allows users to perform various actions using gestures, such as double-tapping to wake up the screen or drawing a letter to launch specific apps. These gestures provide a convenient and efficient way to interact with the device.
- One-Hand Mode: This feature shrinks the display to one side, making it easier to reach all corners of the screen with one hand. This is particularly useful for larger devices like the Ascend Mate 2.
- Smart Power Saving Mode: This mode extends battery life by reducing background activity and limiting certain features. Users can customize the power saving mode based on their needs.
Comparison to Stock Android
EMUI 1.6 offers a distinct experience compared to stock Android. While it retains the core functionality of Android, it introduces a number of unique features and customizations.
- Visual Appearance: EMUI’s user interface is visually different from stock Android, with a more colorful and vibrant design. The icons and widgets are also redesigned, giving the phone a distinct look and feel.
- Features: EMUI offers a number of features not found in stock Android, such as Smart Gestures, One-Hand Mode, and Smart Power Saving Mode. These features enhance the user experience and provide additional functionality.
- Performance: EMUI is generally optimized for smooth performance on Huawei devices. However, some users have reported minor performance issues, particularly with older devices.
Connectivity
The Huawei Ascend Mate 2 is equipped with a comprehensive suite of connectivity options, ensuring you stay connected wherever you go. From blazing-fast mobile data speeds to reliable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, the Ascend Mate 2 keeps you in touch with the world around you.
Mobile Data
The Ascend Mate 2 supports various mobile data technologies, including 4G LTE, 3G HSPA+, and 2G EDGE. With 4G LTE, you can enjoy download speeds of up to 150 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 50 Mbps, allowing for seamless streaming, downloading, and browsing.
The Ascend Mate 2 also supports dual SIM cards, enabling you to use two different phone numbers or data plans simultaneously. This feature is particularly useful for travelers or individuals who require multiple lines for business and personal use.
Wi-Fi
The Ascend Mate 2 supports the latest Wi-Fi standards, including 802.11 a/b/g/n, ensuring fast and reliable wireless internet connectivity. The phone also features Wi-Fi Direct, allowing you to share files and connect to other devices without needing a Wi-Fi network.
Bluetooth
The Ascend Mate 2 features Bluetooth 4.0, enabling you to connect to a wide range of Bluetooth devices, including headsets, speakers, and car kits. Bluetooth 4.0 is known for its low energy consumption, ensuring longer battery life when connected to Bluetooth devices.
Call Quality
The Ascend Mate 2 delivers clear and crisp call quality, thanks to its advanced noise cancellation technology. The phone effectively filters out background noise, ensuring that your conversations are free from distractions.
Data Speeds, Huawei ascend mate 2 hands on review
The Ascend Mate 2 boasts impressive data speeds, especially when using 4G LTE networks. In real-world testing, the phone consistently achieved download speeds of over 100 Mbps and upload speeds of over 30 Mbps. These speeds allow for seamless streaming of high-definition videos, downloading large files, and browsing the web without any lag.
Connectivity Comparison
Compared to other devices in its class, the Ascend Mate 2 offers a comprehensive suite of connectivity options. The phone’s support for 4G LTE, dual SIM cards, and Wi-Fi Direct sets it apart from competitors. The Ascend Mate 2’s call quality and data speeds are also consistently praised for their reliability and performance.
Audio
The Huawei Ascend Mate 2 delivers a decent audio experience, with a focus on loudness rather than pure audio fidelity. The speakers are powerful and clear enough for everyday use, but they lack the depth and richness of higher-end smartphones.
Speaker Quality
The Ascend Mate 2’s speakers are loud and clear, making it easy to hear calls and multimedia content even in noisy environments. They are not, however, the most refined in terms of audio quality. While they can get quite loud, they lack the richness and detail of speakers found on some of the more premium smartphones. For example, the highs can sound a bit tinny and the bass can be lacking.
Headphone Audio
The Ascend Mate 2’s headphone jack delivers good quality audio, with a decent amount of detail and clarity. However, it’s not quite as impressive as some of the other smartphones in its class. For example, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 offers a more balanced and detailed sound.
Audio Features
The Ascend Mate 2 includes a few audio features, including noise cancellation and audio enhancement. Noise cancellation works well in reducing background noise during calls, making it easier to hear the other person. Audio enhancement helps to improve the clarity and detail of audio, making music and videos sound more immersive.
Conclusion
The Huawei Ascend Mate 2 was a pioneering device in the phablet category, offering a large screen and impressive battery life in a time when such features were not commonplace. While it might not be the most powerful or feature-rich phone by today’s standards, it holds a significant place in the history of smartphones.
The Ascend Mate 2’s Legacy
The Ascend Mate 2’s legacy lies in its influence on the smartphone market. It helped popularize the concept of large-screen smartphones, paving the way for the rise of phablets and ultimately the widespread adoption of large displays in modern smartphones. Its focus on battery life also influenced the development of battery-centric smartphones, emphasizing the importance of long-lasting power for users.
Huawei ascend mate 2 hands on review – The Huawei Ascend Mate 2 was a bold experiment in the phablet market. While it may not have been the most refined phone of its time, it paved the way for future devices with larger displays and a more immersive user experience. It was a testament to Huawei’s commitment to innovation and its desire to challenge the status quo. While the Ascend Mate 2 may be a relic of the past, its legacy lives on in the larger-screened smartphones we use today.
The Huawei Ascend Mate 2 is a beast of a phone, with a massive screen and impressive specs. But with its release date approaching, we’re also seeing the emergence of other exciting devices, like the Apple Watch. The Apple Watch pricing has just been revealed, with the smartwatch set to launch on April 24th. Check out the prices and features here ! While the Apple Watch is certainly generating buzz, the Huawei Ascend Mate 2 remains a compelling option for those seeking a truly immersive mobile experience.