Huawei Mate7 smartphone review: lucky number. Huawei Ascend Mate7 - Technical characteristics of Huawei MT 7
A stylish and productive new product for 2014 is the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 phablet. Its hardware allows you to easily solve any, including the most complex, tasks. It is about this, as well as about the reviews of real owners of this gadget, that will be discussed in the future.
Phablet niche
Huawei Ascend Mate 7 is the flagship solution of this manufacturer released in 2014. Its hardware and software components are still relevant today and allow you to solve all problems without exception. But now, a year and a half after its sales began, more expensive and at the same time more productive smartphones have appeared. Accordingly, this phablet would be more fairly classified in the middle price range. Its price and capabilities once again confirm this. But at the same time, it has everything that modern flagship devices are equipped with. Therefore, this gadget can be an excellent solution for those who want to get an excellent smartphone at a relatively low cost. This solution is primarily aimed at them.
Gadget equipment
This device cannot boast of anything remarkable in terms of configuration. Everything is standard:
- The smart phone itself has a built-in battery.
- Charger with 2 A output.
- Branded interface cord.
- A modest wired speaker system with a microphone. Lovers of high-quality sound and music lovers will certainly not like it and will have to think about buying a higher-quality speaker system.
- User guide. It also contains a warranty card.
- A special clip for removing SIM card slots and external storage.
Most of the body of this gadget is made of metal. The front panel is protected by “Gorilla Eye” glass of the 3rd revision in Huawei Ascend Mate 7. It is most likely not advisable to buy a case for a device with a similar degree of protection. In addition, a special protective film is initially already glued to the screen area, so there is no need to purchase it additionally. In general, the only accessories you can think about are purchasing an external drive. Its capacity in this case can reach 64 GB.
Appearance and location of controls and communication ports
This phablet has quite impressive overall dimensions. Its length is 157 mm, width - 81 mm and thickness 7.9 mm. It will be difficult for the average person to control this device with only the fingers of one hand. But this is true for all phablets without exception. But its weight is only 185 grams, and this is very little for such a large device. Three at once color options This smartphone has casings: black, silver and gold (all of this is very similar to the iPhone 6). The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 Black variant is the most practical solution. Fingerprints, dust and dirt are not so noticeable on it. But at the same time, the device no longer looks so elegant and premium. The silver body will appeal more to the weaker half of humanity. There is something feminine and graceful about it. Well, Huawei Ascend Mate 7 Gold will allow you to emphasize the special status of its owner.
83% of the front panel is occupied by a touch display, under which is the manufacturer’s logo. There is no special control panel at the bottom of the gadget. For these purposes, the lower part of the screen is used, where this panel is displayed. Above the screen there is a speaker, a front camera “window” and several sensors. Mechanical ones (volume controls and locks) are grouped on the right side of the device. To ensure that the user does not confuse them under any circumstances, the surface of the lock button is made loose, and the volume swing is smooth. On the bottom edge of the gadget there is a micro-USB port and a miniature hole for a spoken microphone. At the top there is a microphone hole to suppress noise during a conversation and a 3.5 mm audio port. On the left side of the smartphone there are two hidden slots. To remove special plastic inserts from them for installing a SIM card or external flash drive, you will have to use a special clip that comes with the phablet. One slot is designed for installing a regular format SIM card. But the second one can be used to increase the amount of memory in the device or to install a second SIM card of a smaller format. On the back cover there is a peephole for the main camera, its single LED backlight, and the main speaker. Well, the manufacturer did not forget to place its logo here along with the fingerprint sensor.
CPU
It is the high performance and phenomenal energy efficiency of the central processor that is one of the key advantages of Huawei Ascend Mate 7. Premium - devices from other manufacturers with similar characteristics cannot boast of a similar combination. The device is based on the Kirin 925 computing platform, developed by Huawei subsidiary Hisilicon. According to the documentation, this chip includes 8 real computing cores that operate according to the big.LITTLE scheme. That is, at maximum and average load on the device, 4 computing modules based on the Cortex-A7 architecture are in operation. They are capable of accelerating at maximum load to 1.3 GHz. Their main advantage is high energy efficiency. It should also be noted that if 2 out of 4 cores are enough to solve the task, then the remaining 2 are simply turned off. Don’t forget that if there is an excess of computing power, the frequency of each active module is automatically reduced. As a result, we get a very energy-efficient system that adapts to the needs of the task at hand. When the computing resources of the first computing module of four cores are insufficient, it is turned off, and the second computing cluster automatically comes into operation. It also consists of 4 cores. But only in this case we are talking about the Cortex-A15 architecture. It delivers uncompromising levels of performance. Each of them can reach 1.8 GHz. Again, the frequency of computing modules in this case varies dynamically depending on the degree of complexity of the problem being solved. In exactly the same way as in the previous case, kernels that are not involved in work are deactivated. This allows you to run almost any task on this smartphone. The only exception is 64-bit applications, of which there are not so many now. It’s just that this chip is built on the basis of two 32-bit architectures - such software will definitely not be “too tough” for it. Everything mentioned above makes Huawei Ascend Mate 7 very similar to two flagship solutions from Samsung: S4 and S5. But this Chinese manufacturer went further and equipped this chip with another educational computing module, which was codenamed “i3”. Its clock frequency is only 230 MHz. He is responsible for maintaining sensors and sensors. Similar constructive solution allows you to significantly relieve the main computing resources of your smartphone and thereby further increase its performance and energy efficiency. No other manufacturer of mobile gadgets, including Apple or Samsung, can boast of such hardware optimization. Finally, it should be noted that this semiconductor crystal is manufactured in accordance with the standards of the 28-nm technological process.
Graphics accelerator
The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 smartphone is equipped with a very powerful Mali-T624MP4 graphics accelerator. This is a four-module video card that operates at 600 MHz. It cannot boast of great flexibility in terms of energy efficiency, like the processor itself in this device. On the other hand, you need to understand that this graphics accelerator must display the image on a 6-inch display, and even in HD quality. A perfectly installed video card copes with this task.
Display
A very high-quality display is used in Huawei Ascend Mate 7 Premium. An overview of its technical parameters is impressive even now, although quite a lot of time has passed since the start of sales. So, the parameters of this screen are as follows:
- The resolution is 1920x1080. That is, the image, as noted earlier, is displayed in “Full HD” quality. Let's add to this a pixel density of 368ppi and we get that a single point with such characteristics cannot be distinguished by the ordinary naked eye.
- The screen matrix is made using IPS technology. Added to this is the absence of an air gap between the touch panel and the matrix. The result is impeccable picture quality.
- To protect the display from possible damage, the front panel of the phablet is covered with protective glass “Gorilla Eye” of the 3rd revision. A special layer is also applied on top of it, which prevents fingerprints from appearing on the screen.
- The device also has a feature that can be used to automatically adjust the brightness of the display.
Sound
Huawei Ascend Mate 7 boasts high sound quality. The main nuance here is the presence of an additional Tensilica HiFi3 module, which is integrated directly into the central processor crystal. It processes the audio signal coming to both the earpiece and the main speaker. Also involved in processing the signal output to the 3.5 mm audio port. Therefore, the sound of this mobile gadget is much better than that of other competitors. But for this you also need an appropriate acoustic system. A complete stereo headset is certainly not like that, and lovers of high-quality sound will have to immediately think about buying a higher-quality accessory of this class.
Cameras
Another strong point of this device is the 13 MP main camera. It is based on the IMX214 sensor element produced by Sony Corporation. Of course, the developers did not forget to equip it with an autofocus system and an LED backlight system (in the dark it is simply irreplaceable). The photo quality is really excellent on this device and there are no complaints. The only significant drawback is that the camera eye itself protrudes against the background of the back cover of Huawei Ascend Mate 7. A case may not be superfluous for this device. With its help, you can avoid possible damage to the main camera eye. There is no separate button for controlling the camera in this gadget. But the opportunity to quickly capture an important moment still exists. To do this, you need to quickly press the volume down button of the device twice. As a result, the necessary application will launch and you can start taking photographs. There is also the ability to record video in Full HD format with an image refresh rate of 30 frames/sec. The front camera has a more modest sensor - 5 megapixels. But this is quite enough for its typical tasks: selfies and video calls. To process the received images, an additional coprocessor IMAGESmart Engine version 2.0 is used. It allows you to get a higher quality picture, and at the same time the resources of the central processor are practically not used. Another important point in optimizing this phablet.
Memory
Several versions of this gadget are on sale. The most modest of them is equipped with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage. Some of them (1 GB of RAM and about 4 GB of built-in storage) will be occupied by pre-installed software. There is also a more advanced version of Huawei Ascend Mate 7 - 32Gb, it has an integrated storage capacity, and it will have 3GB of RAM. Determining which version of the gadget you have in your hands is quite simple - by price: the advanced version of the flagship solution costs 1.5 times more. The single-SIM version of the phone does not have the option of installing an additional external storage device. But the dual-SIM version of the device allows you to do this. But at the same time, it is necessary to understand that the second slot will have to be sacrificed - because of this, the device will cease to be a dual-SIM device. The maximum capacity of the external drive in this case is 64 GB. But even the capacity of the integrated storage in the most economical version of the smartphone is quite enough for comfortable work. But to avoid losing the most important data in the event of a device failure or breakdown, you need to use cloud services and periodically save the most important information on them.
Gadget battery and autonomy
The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 smartphone is equipped with a built-in 4100 mAh battery. In reality, one charge is enough for 1-2 days battery life. Taking into account the display diagonal, the size of the device and the processing power of the central processor, this is an excellent indicator. If you use the maximum saving mode (it only allows you to make calls and send and receive SMS), you can count on 3 days. It’s certainly not possible to achieve anything more with such technical parameters and such battery capacity.
Interfaces
All main methods of transmitting information are supported by Huawei Ascend Mate 7. Its characteristics in this regard are as follows:
- Full support for all currently existing cellular networks is fully implemented in Huawei Ascend Mate 7. LTE, GSM and 3G - you will not have problems working in any of them.
- Wi-Fi is the main tool for transmitting data to the global web. You can also use it to download files of any size to your device.
- To exchange a small amount of information with similar “smart” phones, it would be best to use Bluetooth.
- This device can work with two ZhPS navigation systems at once and, of course, GLONASS.
- To connect using an interface cable to external devices, it is most rational to use a micro-USB port. It also charges the battery.
- Another wired interface is designed to output an audio signal to external speakers - a 3.5 mm audio port.
Additional protection
Huawei Ascend Mate 7 is equipped with additional security features. A review of its back cover indicates the presence of a fingerprint sensor. It is with its help that additional protection of the device is implemented. Now, in order to unlock your phone and gain access to personal data, you will have to confirm your personal presence using this procedure. This puts this device on a par with last year’s smartphone from Apple, the iPhone 6. Moreover, the operating algorithm of this sensor is an order of magnitude better than that of the flagship solution from the Apple company. And this is another serious plus of this phablet.
Sensor set
The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 boasts an impressive array of sensors. A review of the technical specifications indicates the presence of an electronic compass. With its help and with the appropriate software, turning this device into a regular compass will not be difficult. There is also a light sensor (it allows you to automatically adjust the brightness of the display) and distance detection (it automatically locks the screen during a call). This phablet also has a gyroscope and an accelerometer.
Device software
Initially, this device has a version of Android installed with serial number 4.4. When connecting to the Internet for the first time, Huawei Ascend Mate 7 update the system software will happen automatically. Currently version 5.1 is available. The manufacturer’s official plans also include a transition to an even more “fresh” version operating system- 6.0. But specific dates have not yet been announced. When this will happen is not entirely clear. In general, a powerful hardware platform allows you to install the latest versions of the operating system on this gadget and there will certainly be no problems. The proprietary Huawei Emotion UI shell is installed on top of the OS. Version 3.0 will be available from the box. But after installing the updates, its version will also change. The set of other software is quite solid and allows you to start using the device right out of the box.
Tests
Of course, now the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 has far from the flagship level of performance. Premium - devices latest generation- built on the basis of more powerful chips, and last year’s flagship is already difficult to compete with them. Therefore, one should not expect a fantastic number of scores in various test packages. But we can safely note one important nuance: the performance of this phablet is quite enough for comfortable playing Real Racing 3, Asphalt 8 or GTA 3. Moreover, you can run them even at maximum settings. Therefore, the level of performance of this gadget can be confidently called excessive. And the detailed situation will certainly continue over the next two years.
The cost of the phablet today
Like any other flagship device, Huawei Ascend Mate 7 cannot be cheap. The price for its more modest version starts at $400. Moreover, this is true for the black and silver versions of the case. If you want to purchase a stylish gold gadget, you will have to increase the indicated amount by $50. The more advanced version of Huawei Ascend Mate 7 costs even more. The price for silver and black smartphones starts at $480. Well, a gold device with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of integrated storage is priced by online stores at $520.
Owners' opinions about the smartphone
In reality, the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 gadget does not have any significant shortcomings. Reviews only confirm this. Some people complain about its rather large size. On the other hand, they knew its dimensions before purchasing and after that they complain about the inconvenience of working with one hand on it. And if such a drawback is already voiced, then everything suggests that this Chinese manufacturer really turned out to be an excellent phablet. But the advantages of the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 are many times greater. Reviews indicate the following:
- Impeccable build quality of the case. At the same time, its level of protection does not raise any complaints.
- A CPU that combines energy efficiency and performance.
- Large and high quality display.
- High degree of autonomy for a device of this size.
- Excellent cameras that allow you to take high-quality pictures and record videos in Full HD format.
- Constant updating of the device software.
Let's sum it up
Huawei Ascend Mate 7 is an excellent solution for those who want to get a relatively inexpensive, yet functional and reliable smartphone. Of course, its price of $400 is quite high today. But, on the other hand, you get a smartphone that will be relevant for many years. And the manufacturer himself will regularly “pump it up” with software updates.
Review of a phablet, expensive, but very competent
20.03.2015
I am the only shoemaker in the world without boots, a smartphone reviewer without my smartphone. You watch your professional colleagues - they are always thinking about whether to buy another Samsung/iPhone or not.
It's easier for me. My SIM card is always in one of the test devices. Constantly moving from smartphone to smartphone, of course, takes a little time, but it allows you to compare devices with each other based on your own experience and keep track of the bumps you’ve got on your own forehead.
Today you read the news on a classic five-inch flagship, tomorrow you move to a four-inch and very slow baby, and a week later - to some strange phablet without Google Play. And so on ad infinitum. The eyes are already dazzled by the constant change in screen sizes and resolutions, hardware power, and battery capacity. But the experience, don’t even argue, is extremely educational and useful.
Interesting fact. Perhaps for me the most important parameter of any smartphone in Lately became the screen diagonal. Not the power of the hardware (there is almost always enough), not the amount of memory (there is always little), not the battery capacity, not the quality of the camera and not the number of glitches. Oh, of course, they are all important too. But the diagonal... it's more important.
Nightmare. I recently realized with horror that I was uncomfortable at five inches. Moving from five to six inches is easy and painless - it’s like returning to your native cozy home. And the move from six to five is difficult. Everything seems small and uncomfortable - as if you are trying to fit into last year’s summer trousers in the spring and suddenly discover that they have significantly decreased in size over the winter.
So from the very beginning it was obvious to me that if Huawei didn’t screw up anywhere majorly, then I would have to like the Ascend Mate7. After all, it’s a “shovel”, and a fancy one at that.
I'm reporting. They didn't mess up.
Brief conclusion
Even the Haier W970, with all its budget, got 8 out of 10.
The most annoying exception is Alcatel POP S9, and even that one was not highly rated only because of obvious chronic defects and reluctance to be friends with memory cards.
| Chipset | Memory | Screen | Battery | Cameras | Price | |
| Huawei Ascend Mate7 | Kirin 925 | 2+16+SD | IPS 1080x1920 | 4100 | 13+5 | 30-35 thousand |
| Haier W970 | MTK6582 | 1+16+SD | IPS 720x1280 | 3000 | 13+5 | 8 thousand |
| Alcatel POP S9 | Snapdragon 400 | 1+8+SD | 5/9" IPS 720x1280 | 3400 | 8+2 | 9-10 thousand |
| ASUS Fonepad Note 6 | Intel Z2580 | 2+16+SD | IPS 1080x1920 | 3200 | 8+1.2 | 12-15 thousand |
| ASUS ZenFone 6 A600CG | Intel Z2580 | 2+16+SD | IPS 720x1280 | 3300 | 13+2 | 15-20 thousand |
| Sony Xperia T2 Ultra | Snapdragon 400 | 1+8+SD | TFT 720x1280 | 3000 | 13+1.1 | 16-19 thousand |
| Alcatel One Touch Hero 2 | MTK6592 | 2+16+SD | IPS 1080x1920 | 3100 | 13+5 | 17-20 thousand |
| Lenovo K920 Vibe Z2 Pro | Snapdragon 801 | 3+32 | IPS 1440x2560 | 4000 | 16+5 | 35-40 thousand |
| Google Nexus 6 | Snapdragon 805 | 3+32 | AMLD 1440x2560 | 3220 | 13+2 | 43-46 thousand |
| Samsung Galaxy Mega 2 | Exynos 4415 | 1.5+16+SD | S.LCD 720x1280 | 2800 | 8+2.1 | 20 thousand |
| LG G Pro 2 | Snapdragon 800 | 3+16+SD | 5.9" IPS 1080x1920 | 3200 | 13+2 | 21-24 thousand |
| Samsung Galaxy Note 3 | Exynos 5420 | 3+32+SD | 5.7" AMLD 1080x1920 | 3200 | 13+2 | 25-30 thousand |
| Samsung Galaxy Note 4 | Exynos 5433 | 3+32+SD | 5.7" AMLD 1440x2560 | 3220 | 16+3.7 | 35-50 thousand |
Equipment
Only the smartphone itself came to me, so I personally am not familiar with its full package.
Judging by the description on the official website, everything is standard there. Headphones, Micro-USB cord, charger, papers. I suspect that there is also a nail clip for removing the trays in which the SIM card and memory card are placed.
Appearance
| Weight | 185 gr. |
| Size | 157 x 81 x 7.9 mm |
The smartphone is big, naturally. And quite heavy.
Metal, non-separable. Looks nice, weighty.
To understand the scale of the disaster. Here it is next to a 5" Lenovo P70 and a 2.3" ear:
And next to the modest volume of Pushkin:
If I'm not mistaken, it's almost the narrowest of all six-inch devices. The side frames are tiny, you can’t really squeeze it in, there’s simply nowhere to go. So it’s not a tablet, holding it in one hand is not a problem. But, of course, it is extremely difficult to work with it with the same hand in which you hold it.
Holding it is not a problem, the problem is what to wear. Doesn't fit in every pocket.
Colors. The "premium" version of the smartphone is golden. “Regular” devices are black (on both sides) or silver-white (white on the front, silver on the back).
Boring details about appearance with photographs
The front is traditionally glass. Most of it is occupied, as you might guess, by the screen.
Below the screen is the Huawei logo. Android buttons are on-screen, drawn as needed.
Above the screen there is a speaker, sensors, and a front camera. There is also an LED (though very weak).
On the back there is a camera, flash, fingerprint sensor, external speaker. Most of the back is metal, but there are plastic strips on the top and bottom.
The camera protrudes slightly, the fingerprint sensor, on the contrary, is slightly concave.
Top. 3.5 mm audio output and noise canceling microphone.
Bottom. Micro-USB and main microphone.
Right. Buttons. Volume rocker and power-lock button.
Left. Trays for SIM cards (Micro-SIM, 1 pc.) and memory cards (Micro-USB). How to take out the trays and place the cards - watch the unpacking video.
Internals (iron)
| AnTuTu | 43777 (v5.6.1) |
| Chipset | HiSilicon Kirin 925 |
| Cores | 4 x Cortex-A15, 1.8 GHz |
| Cores | 4 x Cortex-A7, 1.3 GHz |
| GPU | Mali-T628 MP6 |
| RAM (free) | 2 GB (1.2 GB) |
| ROM (free) | 16 GB (11 GB) |
| Micro-SD | + |
Huawei's own chip, called the Kirin 925, is somewhat similar to the Exynos 5422 that Samsung uses in its Samsung Galaxy S5. The same cores and the same quantity, the same video accelerator.
As usual, I suggest you admire the plate with the results of my tests for elementary actions. As is easy to see, everything is more than good. Kirin 925 is faster than Snapdragon 801, not to mention cheaper hardware.
| Chipset | Pi | Brake Birds |
Big Page2 |
Heavy Book2 |
|
| Huawei Ascend Mate7 | Kirin 925 | 3.34 | 6.96 | 4.34 | 3.32 |
| Sony Xperia Z3 | Snapdragon 801 | 6.39 | 6.52 | 5.75 | 3.70 |
| Huawei Ascend G7 | Snapdragon 410 | 11.50 | 7.81 | 6.63 | 5.33 |
| Alcatel One Touch POP S9 | Snapdragon 400 | 14.01 | 8.34 | 7.66 | 6.18 |
| Fly IQ4514 Quad EVO Tech 4 | MTK6582 | 17.82 | 8.31 | 7.65 | 6.15 |
| Alcatel One Touch Hero 2 | MTK6592 | 11.04 | 7.54 | 5.92 | 4.54 |
| Sony Xperia Z3 | Snapdragon 801 | 6.39 | 6.52 | 5.75 | 3.70 |
Personal feelings confirm the test results: everything is more than good, fast, smooth and smooth.
It is possible to connect a Micro-SD memory card as the internal memory of a smartphone (i.e. it becomes /sdcard/), which can be useful for those who want to install a lot of heavy toys at the same time.
Personally, I didn’t have such a need, fortunately I already have 11 GB free.
Sensors Of the sensors, the only interesting one is the fingerprint one, which I have already mentioned. Everything else is standard. Gyroscope, accelerometer, compass. Lighting and proximity, naturally. There are no useful extras such as a pressure sensor or thermometer.
Communication with the outside world
Everything is there, everything works as it should. And LTE, and Wi-Fi and everything else. I didn't notice any problems.
iXBT in its review writes about the not very correct operation of MHL (the image is scaled and distorted). I didn't find this in myself. Everything was displayed clearly on my TV, as it should, and without distortion.
Screen
Nice screen. Classic high-quality IPS matrix, more than sufficient resolution, decent behavior in the sun, Gorilla Glass.
And there is nothing more to say about him.
Perhaps the oleophobic coating could be a little better. But I suspect it’s just a little worn out. Still, the smartphone is a test one and has clearly gone through many hands.
Operating system and other software
Operating system Android 4.4.2 KitKat plus proprietary shell Emotion UI 3.0.
Everything is quite ordinary, familiar and convenient. Traditionally, Huawei does not have a single list of applications, so you have to make at least minimal efforts to put order on your desktops.
There are not very many pre-installed third-party applications - Opera, VKontakte, ivi.ru, Polaris Office, Yandex search. Everything is quietly deleted except (surprise!) Opera.
A few words about the pedometer. There is such a pre-installed software there. More precisely, not even pre-installed, but “sewn” into the proprietary shell. You turn it on and the smartphone starts counting your steps. Convenient, funny, really liked it. The only thing is that it’s a pity that it doesn’t keep history, only for yesterday and today.
Battery
The average result of battery tests is 159% of the standard. Excellent result!
Metal tablet with an excellent camera and maximum performance
Following the flagship smartphone Huawei Ascend P7, which was separately presented in Paris this spring, the “seventh series” was replenished with two more new products at the very beginning of autumn. In addition to the curious and fairly balanced mid-price smartphone Huawei Ascend G7, a review of which we will also be sure to present soon, a very unusual tablet phone called Huawei Ascend Mate 7 was presented. The new product, thanks to its outstanding characteristics, turned out to be so noticeable that it immediately attracted attract the closest attention of the general public. Immediately after the presentation, the smartphone instantly gained popularity; visitors to the exhibition talked a lot about it, journalists and bloggers discussed it. The test copy we were given had already worked as a photo and video camera both at the exhibition itself and during the grandiose night fireworks festival that was taking place in Berlin at that moment, and also managed to visit the famous Berlin Zoo as a home user camera. And since one of the strongest points of the new Huawei Ascend Mate 7 is its outstanding camera, users will probably be interested to know how this device performed in normal, non-laboratory operating conditions. So this time the review will present much more different interesting photo and video materials captured on the camera of the sample under study during a trip to Berlin than we usually post in our reviews of mobile equipment. The smartphone is truly extraordinary, we have collected a lot of materials on it, so today we present to your attention detailed review of this mobile device.
“Today marks the beginning of a new era: we present our new product - the fastest and powerful smartphone with a big screen. “It is a symbol of our tireless commitment to the concept of “Make it Possible” to create innovative products of high quality for people around the world,” said the head of the company, CEO Huawei Consumer Business Group, Richard Yu, introducing its new smartphone. “Huawei Ascend Mate 7 is truly an example of such a product, combining a large screen, high performance, impressive power efficiency and one-touch fingerprint recognition technology.”
So, the Chinese industrial giant, Huawei, at the international exhibition IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin) 2014, held annually in Germany. introduced a new smartphone Ascend Mate 7 with a large 6-inch screen with Full HD resolution, a thin 7.9 mm thick body, a completely new 8-core processor of its own production and a huge battery with a capacity of as much as 4100 mAh. Among other things, the smartphone features one-touch fingerprint recognition technology and an updated EMUI 3.0 user interface. In general, Ascend Mate 7 turned out to be very interesting - at the moment it is, perhaps, one of the most powerful and advanced tablet phones, or, as they are also called, “smartpads”, on the global mobile market.
Video review
First, we suggest watching our video review of the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 smartphone:
Key Features of Huawei Ascend Mate 7 (MT7-L09)
| Huawei Ascend Mate 7 | Vivo Xplay 3S | Oppo Find 7 | LG G3 | |
| Screen | 6″, IPS | 6″, IPS | 5.5″, IPS | 5.5″, IPS |
| Permission | 1920×1080, 367 ppi | 2560×1440, 490 ppi | 2560×1440, 538 ppi | 2560×1440, 538 ppi |
| SoC | HiSilicon Kirin 925 (4x Cortex-A15 @1.7 GHz + 4x Cortex-A7 + i3) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (4 Krait 400 cores) @2.3 GHz | Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (4 Krait 400 cores) @2.5 GHz | |
| GPU | Mali-T628 MP4 | Adreno 330 | Adreno 330 | Adreno 330 |
| RAM | 2 GB | 3 GB | 3 GB | 2/3 GB |
| Flash memory | 16 GB | 32 GB | 32 GB | 16/32 GB |
| Memory card support | microSD | No | microSD | microSD |
| operating system | Google Android 4.4 | Google Android 4.3 | Google Android 4.3 | Google Android 4.4 |
| Battery | non-removable, 4100 mAh | non-removable, 3200 mAh | removable, 3000 mAh | removable, 3000 mAh |
| Cameras | rear (13 MP; video 1080p), front (5 MP) | rear (13 MP; 4K video), front (5 MP) | rear (13 MP; 4K video), front (2 MP) | |
| Dimensions and weight | 157×81×7.9 mm, 185 g | 158×83×8.7 mm, 174 g | 153×75×9.2 mm, 173 g | 146×75×8.8 mm, 155 g |
| Average model price | T-11036156 | T-10623253 | T-10752992 | T-10848744 |
| Huawei Ascend Mate 7 offers | L-11036156-10 | |||
- SoC HiSilicon Kirin 925, 8 cores ARM big.LITTLE (4 cores Cortex-A15 @1.7 GHz + 4 cores Cortex-A7) + Smart-l3 processor for working with sensors
- GPU Mali-T628 MP4
- Operating system Android 4.4 with Emotion UI 3.0 shell
- Touch display IPS, 6″, 1920×1080, 367 ppi
- Random access memory (RAM) 2 GB, internal memory 16 GB
- Supports microSD memory cards up to 128 GB
- Communication GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
- Communication WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz
- Data transmission LTE Cat 6 LTE FDD:B1/B3/B7 TD-LTE:B38/B39/B40/B41
- Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct
- Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
- USB OTG
- GPS (A-GPS), Glonass
- Camera 13 MP (Sony BSI 4th generation, f/2.0, autofocus, LED flash), video 1080p
- Camera 5 MP (front)
- TenSilica DAC
- Accelerometer, proximity and light sensors, gyroscope, fingerprint sensor, electronic compass
- Li-polymer battery 4100 mAh (non-removable)
- Dimensions 157×81×7.9 mm
- Weight 185 g
Contents of delivery
The smartphone is sold in premium packaging: a stylish black cardboard box is made in the form of a box with a hinged lid, on its surface there is a minimum of information and a stylish golden logo. Inside there are several compartments with separate boxes that fit into recessed slots. In general, the contents of the package are presented in a very pretentious manner.
The set of accessories consists of a large charger (output power 5 V, 2 A) and a separate Micro-USB connecting cable; ordinary headphones with a thin round wire without ear pads are placed in a separate pocket, like other accessories. Also in the box there was a paperclip key for removing the SIM card. The packaging is quite large, there would be enough space in it for more accessories, but expanded packaging is not in fashion these days.
Appearance and ease of use
The design of Huawei Ascend Mate 7 looks quite calm; there is nothing here for the eye to catch. Discreet appearance is compensated by neat execution and strict lines, and premium materials emphasize the status of the product. The smartphone looks quite expensive due to the use of metal in the case; the assembly does not raise the slightest complaints. The developers report that Ascend Mate 7 is made of more than 95% metal. The surfaces of the metal sides and back cover are matte, non-staining, there are no fingerprints left on them, but the metal can slip out of your hands. Like any other heavy metal object, the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 case does not hold as securely in your fingers as a plastic one.
Perhaps the only thing we can find fault with here is the very large dimensions and large weight, but they are due to the huge display area with a diagonal of 6 inches, so quibbles about the size of the device are inappropriate: we have a real tablet phone, the main purpose of which is combine the capabilities of a smartphone and a tablet, and in this case there can be no talk of miniature.
At the same time, the body of the device is quite thin, and the width and height of such a huge screen could be much larger: the screen here occupies 83% of the body area. The developers managed to make the side frames around the screen record thin (about 2.9 mm), which sometimes gives the impression that you are holding only a glowing screen in your hands without a body at all. That is, to put it simply, the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 smartphone, although huge in itself, is perhaps the smallest and thinnest among six-inch devices on the market, which its creators did not forget to mention during the presentation.
The back cover of the smartphone is not a removable element, the body is monolithic, so the method of installing cards is familiar for such cases: the memory card and SIM card are inserted into the side slots, moving in and out on a metal slide, to remove which you will have to resort to the supplied key or use any paperclip.
In principle, during the presentation the possibility of installing a second additional SIM card of Nano-SIM format in the memory card slot was mentioned, but here we are most likely talking about some kind of modification, since in the copy given to journalists it is possible to install a second SIM there was no card. Neither Nano-SIM nor Micro-SIM fit into the slide of the second slot. By the way, exactly the same story happened with the Ascend P7 issued to journalists in Paris, which also did not ultimately reveal the ability to install a second SIM card in place of the memory card, promised at the presentation. As for standard conditions, initially a Micro-SIM card must be inserted into one of the slots, and the other slot supports microSD memory cards up to 128 GB.
In addition to the usual camera eyes and flash, on the back wall of the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 you can find one not entirely familiar element. Just below the square glass of the rear camera, the developers installed a square touch panel of the same size for reading fingerprints. The 9.16 x 9.16mm fingerprint sensor stores up to five sets of different fingerprints for regular and guest modes, giving the user the ability to switch modes to enhance the security of access to personal folders or applications.
The sensor has a high sensitivity coefficient (508 ppi), which increases reading accuracy even in rain or wet hands. Integrated ARM TrustZone technology allows encrypted fingerprint data to be stored in the chipset for better protection SecureOS system and prevents direct access to data by third parties. The developers themselves praise the one-touch fingerprint recognition technology, and they can be understood: just put your finger on this square at any angle, and the fingerprint will be recognized. At the same time, the screen is immediately unlocked, that is, the smartphone can really be awakened with just one touch, which is extremely convenient. By the way, by touching this sensor you can also take pictures with the camera, which is especially convenient when taking “selfies” with the front camera.
The camera window on the back wall is framed by a metal rim that slightly raises it above the surface. Nearby you can see an LED flash, consisting of one section, which can work as a flashlight using a preinstalled program.
Below is the main speaker grille, made in the form of an array of small round holes. Apparently, some of the holes are not blocked by a hard surface when the smartphone is usually placed with the screen facing up, since the sound of the device lying on the table is practically not muffled.
The front panel is completely covered with scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass 3. In the upper part of the glass there is a slot cut out for the speaker grille, and the eyes of the sensors and the front camera are visible nearby. An LED notification indicator is embedded even further to the right, shining as a dim dot only when the screen is off. There is a special item in the settings menu to turn off the indicator.
There is very little free space left at the bottom of the screen; the traditional row of control buttons has moved to the screen here, so there is nothing else at the bottom except the company logo.
Mechanical controls are located on the right side of the device: closer to the center there is a power and lock button, and above it there is a paired volume key. This arrangement of the keys is very convenient; with one finger you can easily reach any of the buttons, both right-handed and left-handed. The keys themselves are small, but finding them blindly is not difficult. The button travel is elastic and distinct, and in general there are no complaints about the mechanical controls.
The headphone audio jack (3.5 mm) is located at the top, and the universal Micro-USB connector supporting OTG mode is at the bottom. The connectors and outputs of the smartphone are not covered with any plugs, since the device is not protected from water and dirt. There is also no strap mount on the Huawei Ascend Mate 7.
The smartphone is available on the market in only three color versions: silver, black and gold. The latter, by the way, is a more advanced option and is equipped, among other things, with not two, but three gigabytes random access memory. It is not known for certain in what packaging the premium gold version is delivered to the shelves, but as for the other two, black and white, they will both go on sale in identical black boxes with a gold logo.
Screen
The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 smartphone is equipped with an IPS touch matrix. The screen dimensions are 75x132 mm, diagonal - 6 inches, resolution - 1920x1080 pixels. The flagship model Oppo Find 7, for example, with a similar physical size, has a screen resolution that is almost twice as high (in area), and therefore a higher pixel density. The Oppo device has 537 ppi, while today's hero has a pixel density of 367 ppi. This is far from a record figure.
The thickness of the side frames from the edge of the screen to the edge of the body is even less than 3 mm (about 2.9) - the frames are extremely narrow, and with such huge dimensions they look even thinner. By the way, very little space is also left above and below, just to compactly place all the necessary elements, so the developers cannot be accused of wasting space.
The display brightness can be adjusted manually, or you can use automatic adjustment. Multi-touch technology here allows you to process 10 simultaneous touches. When you bring it to your ear, the screen locks using the proximity sensor. It is also possible to work with the screen while wearing gloves, but by default this function disabled because the display becomes too sensitive to normal touch.
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A detailed examination using measuring instruments was carried out by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections, Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.
The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are no worse than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) screen (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, on the right - Huawei Ascend Mate 7, then they can be distinguished by size):
The screen of the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 is insignificantly darker (brightness according to photographs is 108 versus 109 for the Nexus 7). The ghosting of reflected objects in the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 screen is very weak, this indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (more specifically, between the outer glass and the surface of the LCD matrix) (OGS - One Glass Solution type screen). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass-air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of strong external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. The outer surface of the screen has a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (very effective, slightly better than the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much more easily and appear at a slower rate than with regular glass.
When manually controlling the brightness and displaying the white field in full screen, the maximum brightness value was about 460 cd/m², the minimum was 10 cd/m². The maximum brightness is high, which means, given the excellent anti-glare properties, readability even on a sunny day outdoors should be at a good level. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor (located to the left of the camera eye on the front panel). In automatic mode, as external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment slider. If it is 100%, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 120 cd/m² (a bit too much), in an office illuminated by artificial light (about 400 lux) it sets it to 320 cd/m² (it could have been lower), in very bright environment (corresponds to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more), the brightness increases to 460 cd/m² (to the maximum - this is how it should be); if the adjustment is approximately 75% (the standard brightness adjustment scale is very non-linear), then the values are as follows: 40, 230 and 460 cd/m² (acceptable values), the regulator at 0% is 10, 36 and 235 cd/m² (the values are underestimated, which logical). As a result, the auto-brightness function works quite adequately. At any brightness level, there is virtually no backlight modulation, so there is no screen flickering.
This smartphone uses an IPS matrix. The microphotographs show a typical IPS subpixel structure:
For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.
The screen has good viewing angles without significant color shift even with large viewing deviations from perpendicular to the screen and without inverting shades. For comparison, here are photographs in which the same images are displayed on the screens of Huawei Ascend Mate 7 and Nexus 7, while the screen brightness is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera is forcibly switched to 6500 K. There is a white field perpendicular to the screens:
Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field. And a test picture:
Color reproduction is good and colors are rich on both screens, but the color balance is slightly different. Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:
It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens, but on the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 the contrast has decreased to a greater extent due to the strong highlighting of blacks. And a white field:
The brightness at an angle of the screens has decreased (at least 5 times, based on the difference in shutter speed), but the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 has a slightly lighter screen (brightness according to photographs is 232 versus 228 for the Nexus 7). When deviated diagonally, the black field becomes very bright and acquires a slight red-violet tint. The photographs below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is the same!):
And from another angle:
When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the black field is average:
The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is high - 1270:1. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 21 ms (11 ms on + 10 ms off). The transition between halftones of gray 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes a total of 32 ms. The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal any blockage in either the highlights or the shadows. The exponent of the approximating power function is 2.16, which is close to the standard value of 2.2. In this case, the real gamma curve almost does not deviate from the power-law dependence:
Color gamut is sRGB:
The spectra show that the matrix filters moderately mix the components with each other:
As a result, visually the colors have a natural saturation. The balance of shades on the gray scale is a bit of a compromise, since the color temperature is not much higher than the standard 6500 K, but the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is more than 10, which is not considered a very good indicator even for a consumer device. At the same time, color temperature and ΔE change little from hue to hue - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since there is no color balance of great importance, and the measurement error color characteristics at low brightness it is large.)
This device has the ability to adjust the color balance by adjusting the tint warmer or cooler. The curves in the graphs above Without corr. correspond to the results without any color balance correction, and the curves Corr.— data obtained after shifting the correction slider to the “warm” side before setting the target 6500 K on the white field. It can be seen that the change in balance corresponds to the expected result, since the color temperature became closer to the standard over most of the gray scale, but ΔE, unfortunately, increased slightly.
To summarize: the screen has a high maximum brightness and has good anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors without any problems, even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. It is also possible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works adequately. Also, the advantages of the screen include an effective oleophobic coating, the absence of flicker and air gaps in the layers of the screen, high contrast, sRGB color gamut and good - when visually assessed - color balance. The disadvantages are the low stability of black to the deviation of the gaze from perpendicular to the screen plane and the low uniformity of the black field. Nevertheless, taking into account the importance of characteristics for this particular class of devices, the quality of the screen can be considered high.
Sound
The smartphone has quite good sound quality; for this it has a special sound chip (TenSilica DAC) and support for DTS technology. The sound is loud and bassy, it is not deprived of low frequencies, and at the maximum volume level the speaker does not wheeze, the sound remains clear. The interlocutor’s speech is recognized confidently, and the earpiece clearly conveys all the intonations and timbre of the voice. There are practically no sound settings in the music player, you only have the ability to turn on or off DTS sound enhancement technology. The smartphone comes standard with an FM radio, and there is also a voice recorder. The radio will not work without headphones connected as an external antenna.
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The main rear camera has a 13 megapixel matrix with a 4th generation Sony BSI sensor and f/2.0 aperture. The camera is equipped with autofocus and LED flash, video recording is limited to 1080p resolution (there is no 4K support).
When shooting at maximum resolution, photos are 4160x3120 (13 megapixels). The organization and design of the camera control interface in the new Emotion UI 3.0 shell has been completely changed compared to previous versions. It cannot be said that the flagship Huawei Ascend P7 with its Emotion UI 2.3 camera control interface was in any way inconvenient, but here everything has become even more concise, clear and intuitive. Most menu functions are collected in a single vertical block. Besides automatic mode shooting, there are several specific modes, such as successful photos, decoration, panorama, HDR, etc. Using a separate mode, you can play around and adjust the focus on different areas of the already captured photograph. It is worth noting that by touching the fingerprint sensor located on the back, you can instantly take a photo, which is sometimes convenient.
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The camera can shoot video at a maximum resolution of 1080p. The ability to shoot in UHD (4K) was not provided here, and this is not a very serious problem at the moment, but a 1080p mode at 60 frames per second would definitely not hurt such a luxurious camera. Examples of test videos shot under different lighting conditions are presented below.
- Video No. 1 (80 MB, 1920×1080, in the dark)
- Video No. 2 (59 MB, 1920×1080, street)
- Video #3 (76 MB, 1920×1080, bright sunlight)
- Video No. 4 (76 MB, 1920×1080, aquarium)
- Video No. 5 (76 MB, 1920×1080, close-up)
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Good sharpness and shadow work. |
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Excellent sharpness across the entire frame. |
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Noise in the shadows is practically invisible. |
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Sharpness in the central area is excellent, but falls off at the edges. |
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The sharpness in the background is a little worse, but in the foreground it is still good. |
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Good sharpness across the entire field and in plans. |
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With distance, sharpness noticeably drops only on the left side of the frame. |
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The too rough operation of the noise reduction is clearly visible. |
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On non-uniform surfaces, the noise reduction work is almost unnoticeable. |
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Under certain conditions, artifacts from noise reduction are completely lost. |
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When the light sensitivity is lowered to values within ISO 400, the quality improves noticeably. |
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The camera does macro photography well; there is even some bokeh. |
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In low light the macro is still decent. |
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The flash does not always work moderately, but overall it improves clarity. |
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The text is well-produced and practically free of artifacts. |
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The flash improves the situation a little. |
Below are a few more pictures from the camera of Huawei Ascend Mate 7, taken in different conditions.
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The Chinese have been producing flagship-level smartphones for a long time, and many of them perform very well, including in terms of camera quality. There are, of course, models that are far from ideal, but some are already able to compete with famous flagships in terms of image quality. Huawei smartphones entered their number quite suddenly but effectively. The Huawei Ascend Mate 7's camera is definitely a success, although it does have some problems. In any case, for a pre-sale sample this is already very good, and definitely better than what we saw in preliminary testing.
The camera has decent field and plane sharpness. The overall picture is slightly spoiled by a drop in sharpness in the corners of the frame and periodically appearing blur zones at the edges. Overall, the camera's optics are quite good. The situation with the sensor is a little worse: it is noticeably noisy when shooting indoors. Noise, or rather the result of their processing, becomes noticeable at sensitivity values of ISO 400 and above. At the same time, the camera still produces a certain result even in the dark, which is quite acceptable if “you really need it.” In good lighting, the situation changes dramatically: there is practically no noise in the shadows, the sharpness across the field of the frame and across the plans is quite uniform. Yes, as soon as the lighting deteriorates a little, problems begin, but they are noticeable only when examined pixel by pixel, and on a large monitor, a picture reduced to its resolution looks nice.
Another issue concerns exposure. Exposure metering works well, but it doesn't always set the parameters wisely. Considering that the camera copes with noise quite well up to ISO 400, reducing light sensitivity by increasing shutter speed is not very correct. In addition, shutter speeds of 1/25 second or more are already long enough for camera and handheld shooting. Thus, shooting indoors in low light is key weak side cameras. Moreover, even in such conditions it is quite possible to get a good picture, but it’s up to the camera to decide.
The camera is quite a bit short of current flagships, and there is no point in comparing it with them yet. This is confirmed by a laboratory test. At the same time, the camera behaves quite decently, and there remains hope that the manufacturer will still improve the software. But even in this form, the camera is quite suitable for many different use scenarios.
Telephone and communications
The smartphone works as standard in modern 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA networks, and also has support for fourth-generation 4G networks, and the latest LTE Cat6 is implemented here, which theoretically can provide wireless data transfer speeds of up to 300 Mbit/s. In practice, with a SIM card from the domestic operator MTS, the smartphone confidently recognizes and works with 4G networks. The network capabilities of the smartphone are extensive and correspond to a truly top level: there is support for NFC technology, two Wi-Fi bands (2.4 and 5 GHz), Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display, as standard you can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi channels Fi or Bluetooth. The mode for connecting external devices (USB Host, USB OTG) is supported, so you can connect flash drives and mice with keyboards to the Micro-USB port. The navigation module works with both GPS and the domestic Glonass system.
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No spontaneous reboots/shutdowns were observed during testing. The screen of the smartphone is large, so drawing letters and numbers on the virtual keyboard is quite comfortable to control. There is no dedicated top row with numbers on the standard keyboard - you will have to switch the layout every time. Using the settings, the virtual keyboard can be reduced in size for ease of operation with the fingers of one hand. Naturally, the ability to enter using the continuous writing method (Swype) is also supported. The phone application supports Smart Dial, that is, while dialing a phone number, you can immediately search for contacts.
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OS and software
The system used in the device is the Google Android software platform version 4.4.2 and a very recent version of the proprietary graphical interface called Emotion UI 3.0. The interface has been greatly redesigned graphically, and there are also organizational internal changes. However, most of them are, rather, only cosmetic in nature. For example, a timeline has appeared in the notification drop-down menu, showing the exact time of the recorded event. Some settings items have moved to other menu items. In principle, all the innovations add comfort to use, and as for the graphic part, we can say that the shell has become more solid and strict in appearance. Separate menu installed applications is still missing, all icons are evenly distributed across desktops, folder creation is supported. As before, quite a lot of attention was paid to working with gestures, some things were added, for example, the mode of operation in the case. A mode for reducing the working screen has also been implemented for ease of operation using the fingers of one hand, as well as a special software control button that calls up a pop-up menu for quick access to some frequently used applications. It is possible to reassign the bottom row of navigation control buttons at your discretion; traditionally, there is a good energy-saving mode that monitors the most power-hungry applications and gives advice on saving energy.
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Performance
The Ascend Mate 7 hardware platform is based on the latest single-chip system (SoC) of Huawei's own production - HiSilicon Kirin 925, which is almost identical in characteristics to the Kirin 920, announced a little earlier and installed in Huawei Honor 6, but differs from it in the presence of an additional processor responsible for operation of sensors and fingerprint scanner. The new SoC includes two quad-core processors that implement the ARM big.LITTLE concept: one with Cortex A-15 cores (operating at 1.8 GHz), and the second with Cortex-A7 cores (1.3 GHz), which allows dynamic switch between CPUs depending on application needs. There is also another processor called Smart i3, which allows you to save even more energy by taking over the work with the fingerprint sensor and sensors.
The modern high-performance video accelerator Mali-T628 MP4 is responsible for processing graphics in the SoC. The smartphone's RAM capacity is 2 GB; about 11 GB of flash memory out of 16 nominal is available for the user's needs. In the future, the release of a more advanced modification with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of ROM is promised. Memory capacity can be increased using microSD memory cards up to 128 GB. You can also connect external flash drives, keyboards and mice to the Micro-USB port using a special OTG adapter.
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To get an idea of the performance of the platform of the smartphone under test, we will conduct a standard set of tests.
For convenience, we have compiled all the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks into tables. The table usually adds several other devices from different segments, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry figures). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions of benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain “behind the scenes” - due to the fact that they once passed the “obstacle course” on previous versions of test programs.
Testing in MobileXPRT, as well as in the latest versions of AnTuTu and GeekBench 3:
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According to benchmark testing results, the new product showed amazing performance results. In the AnTuTu 5.x test, the test subject showed even higher results than the generally recognized world leaders had demonstrated before him. True, it is not yet entirely clear how the results of the two versions of the popular benchmark correlate with each other, because now the fourth version has been replaced by the fifth, and all new devices are now tested in it. It is unknown whether the developers have brought everything to a common denominator, so for now we will have to mark on the plates with which versions of the benchmark this or that model was tested. However, the difference is probably not that big, and in any case, the hardware capabilities of the smartphone will be enough for a long time to complete any assigned tasks.
When testing in 3DMark, the most powerful smartphones now have the ability to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).
Results of testing the graphics subsystem in the Epic Citadel gaming test, as well as Basemark X and Bonsai Benchmark:
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Browser cross-platform tests:
As for benchmarks for assessing the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowance for the fact that their results significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly correct on the same OS and browsers, and this is possible during testing not always. For Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.
Playing video
To test the omnivorous nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone. Also, you shouldn’t expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it.
According to the test results, the smartphone, unfortunately, did not please us with the presence of full support for all the necessary decoders in its smartphones. To fully play most of the most common files on the network, you will have to resort to the help of a third-party player - for example, MX Player. True, even in it you will first have to change the settings, switching from hardware decoding to software or to a new mode called Hardware+(not supported by all smartphones).
| Format | Container, video, sound | MX Video Player | Standard video player |
| DVDRip | AVI, XviD 720×400 2200 Kbps, MP3+AC3 | plays normally | plays normally |
| Web-DL SD | AVI, XviD 720×400 1400 Kbps, MP3+AC3 | plays normally | plays normally |
| Web-DL HD | MKV, H.264 1280×720 3000 Kbps, AC3 | Hardware+ | |
| BDRip 720p | MKV, H.264 1280×720 4000 Kbps, AC3 | plays fine with decoder Hardware+ | The video plays fine, but there is no sound¹ |
| BDRip 1080p | MKV, H.264 1920×1080 8000 Kbps, AC3 | plays fine with decoder Hardware+ | The video plays fine, but there is no sound¹ |
¹ MX Video Player only played sound after switching to software decoding or a new mode Hardware+; The standard player does not have this setting
Additionally, the MHL interface was tested. To test it, we used the LG IPS237L monitor, which supports direct MHL connection using a passive adapter cable from micro-USB to HDMI. In this case, output via MHL was carried out at a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels at a frequency of 30 frames/s. With an active MHL connection, regardless of the actual orientation of the smartphone, the image is displayed on its screen and monitor in landscape orientation (with the exception of the start screen and windows of some programs, which are forced to be displayed in portrait orientation), while the image on the monitor is slightly smaller than the display area ( narrow black stripes are displayed around the perimeter).
This scaling is completely inappropriate and significantly reduces image clarity. Sound is output via MHL (in this case, the sounds were heard through headphones connected to the monitor, since there are no speakers in the monitor itself) and is of good quality. In this case, multimedia sounds are not output through the loudspeaker of the smartphone itself, and the volume is adjusted using buttons on the smartphone body. The smartphone connected via MHL is charging (at least this is indicated by the charge indicator).
Next, using a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Method for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)”), we checked how the video is displayed on the screen of the device under test. Screenshots with a shutter speed of 1 s helped determine the nature of the output of frames of video files with various parameters: the resolution varied: 1280 by 720 (720p) and 1920 by 1080 (1080p) pixels and frame rates of 24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 fps. In the tests, we used the MX Player video player in the “Hardware+” mode. The results of this (block entitled “Smartphone Screen”) and the next test are summarized in the table:
Note: If in both columns Uniformity And Passes Green ratings are given, this means that, most likely, when watching films, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and frame skipping will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect the viewing comfort. Red marks indicate possible problems related to the playback of the corresponding files.
In general, according to the criterion of frame output, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is good, since frames (or groups of frames) can be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without skipping frames. When playing video files with a resolution of 1080p (1920 by 1080 pixels), the image of the video file itself is displayed one-on-one, exactly along the border of the screen, in the original Full HD resolution. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235 - in the shadows and in the highlights, only a couple of shades are indistinguishable in brightness from black and white respectively.
With a monitor connected via MHL, when playing video in hardware acceleration mode, only the image of the video file is displayed on the monitor, and on the smartphone screen both the image itself and information elements and virtual controls are displayed (but they are also hidden after a couple of seconds):
When playing video files with a resolution of 1080p (1920 by 1080 pixels) on the monitor screen, the image of the actual video file is still smaller than the display area, so the actual resolution is reduced. The brightness range displayed on the monitor is equal to the standard range of 16-235 - all the necessary gradations of shades are displayed in shadows and highlights.
The results of the monitor output tests are shown in the table above in the “MHL (monitor output)” block. We do not show the results for files with 50 and 60 fps, since this does not make sense due to the output mode of 30 fps. For games where it is desirable to increase the frame rate, you can use external adapters that provide output at 60 fps with a 720p signal. According to the frame alternation criterion, output via MHL is not fundamentally different from output on the screen of the smartphone itself.
It turns out that connecting to external monitors, TVs and projectors using MHL can, in principle, be used for gaming, watching movies, displaying web pages and other activities that benefit from multiplying the screen size. But the image has reduced clarity and does not occupy the entire available screen area.
Battery life
Huawei Ascend Mate 7 has a powerful battery, its capacity is as much as 4100 mAh. It is not surprising that the test subject performed excellently in all our tests, coping with standard operating modes quite adequately, although he did not demonstrate any records.
| Battery capacity | Reading mode | Video mode | 3D Game Mode | |
| Huawei Mate 7 | 4100 mAh | 20:00 | 12:30 pm | 4 hours 25 minutes |
| Vivo Xplay 3S | 3200 mAh | 12:30 pm | 8:00 am | 3 hours 30 minutes |
| Oppo Find 7 | 3000 mAh | 9:00 a.m. | 6 hours 40 minutes | 3 hours 20 minutes |
| Oppo Find 7a | 2800 mAh | 16:40 | 8 a.m. 20 p.m. | 3:00 am |
| HTC One M8 | 2600 mAh | 22:10 | 13:20 | 3 hours 20 minutes |
| Samsung Galaxy S5 | 2800 mAh | 17:20 | 12:30 pm | 4 hours 30 minutes |
| Lenovo Vibe Z | 3050 mAh | 11:45 am | 8:00 am | 3 hours 30 minutes |
| Acer Liquid S2 | 3300 mAh | 16:40 | 7:40 a.m. | 6:00 am |
Continuous reading in the FBReader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd/m²) lasted 20 hours until the battery was completely discharged, and when continuously watching videos from YouTube in high quality (HQ) The device lasted 12.5 hours at the same brightness level via a home Wi-Fi network. In 3D gaming mode, the smartphone worked for almost 4.5 hours. The smartphone battery takes a long time to charge – more than 3 hours.
Bottom line
Times change. A truly Chinese company, which a few years ago produced OEM products for others, and a little later also earned an unflattering reputation for trying to copy other people's ideas, today has already reached third place in the world in the sale of mobile devices. Past “exploits” have been lost in time, Huawei already has a new, noble face and excellent quality products that are in no way inferior to first-rate manufacturers. True, the Chinese were not slow in raising prices to the same level, which is a little depressing. However, Huawei’s new tablet phone really turned out to be not just excellent, it is currently perhaps one of the best offers among smartphones with such a large screen on the mobile market. The device has practically no flaws, there is absolutely nothing to complain about here. An excellent screen, premium materials, unquestionable assembly, top-notch performance and an excellent camera, one of the best at the moment - all this deserves the highest praise. In addition, the smartphone is not without additional functions that are found only in the highest class devices, such as a fingerprint scanner, and even such an advanced one. Perhaps, the new product lacks only the built-in wireless charging function and water protection, but in all other respects the smartphone turned out to be up to par.
As for the cost of Huawei Ascend Mate 7, it is known that the recommended retail price of the standard Huawei Ascend Mate 7 (2 GB RAM and 16 GB internal memory) is 499 euros, while the premium Huawei Ascend Mate 7 (3 GB RAM and 32 GB of internal memory) will cost 599 euros. The smartphone will be available in more than 30 countries.
The September new products presented at IFA 2014 are gradually going on sale, and today we will get acquainted with one of the most interesting smartphones autumn – the flagship Huawei Mate7. How can a hero attract a buyer? For example, an all-metal case, a productive platform, good software optimization, and a capacious battery. But there are others in it positive sides, which we will talk about in our review.
Equipment
Huawei Mate7 comes in a stylish large box. Having opened it, you can see the smartphone itself on the pallet; documentation and a paper clip for removing SIM card and memory card trays are hidden in the lid of the package; under the smartphone there is a 2A charger, a cable and a simple headset.
Design and usability
Externally, Huawei Mate7 is a typical modern phablet.
The front panel is covered with protective glass, framed by a thin plastic edging that barely rises above its surface. Naturally, most of it is occupied by the screen (according to the manufacturer, 83% of the area).
The side frames are only 2.9 mm thick, the top – 10.5, bottom – 13 mm. The smartphone uses on-screen control keys, so you can only see the manufacturer’s logo under the display. Above the screen there is a set of sensors, a front camera, a narrow strip of earpiece and a small indicator light.
Most of the body is made of metal, Huawei Mate7 is pleasantly cool on the hand. Small plastic inserts can be seen only in the upper and lower parts of the back; behind them are hidden the antennas of the wireless modules. Here you can also find a slightly protruding camera lens, a flash diode, a fingerprint scanner recessed into the body and a small multimedia speaker grille.
The side edges are flat. The MicroSIM and MicroSD trays are located on the left, and the lock and volume keys are on the right. The main microphone and interface connector can be found at the bottom, and at the top there is an additional microphone and mini-jack.
The build quality is excellent, all the parts fit perfectly together, the smartphone looks and feels solid. For a six-inch device, Huawei Mate7 has no problems with ergonomics. The corners and edges of the case are rounded, so it fits comfortably in the hand and does not dig into the palm of anything.
The physical keys are clearly visible to the touch, have a clear action, and are comfortable to use. The lock button is made of metal and has notches on it. The volume control, on the contrary, is plastic and smooth, so it will be difficult to confuse the keys.
The manufacturer claims that in terms of ease of use, Huawei Mate7 is comparable to 5.7-inch smartphones. But this is cunning, after all, the same Note 4 is a couple of millimeters narrower and lower, which significantly affects the usability of the phablet.
If we talk about personal feelings, it was difficult for me to reach the upper third of the display; to do this, I need to tilt the smartphone towards me.
The review included a black version of the smartphone; in fact, it looks dark gray. In addition, Mate7 is available in silver and gold (bronze), but at first only black and silver models will be supplied to the Ukrainian market.
Display
Huawei Mate7 has an IPS display with a diagonal of 6 inches and a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. The JDI matrix is used, there is no air gap between the glass and the panel, and a protective film is glued to the screen out of the box.
Measurements showed that the minimum screen brightness is 8.8 cd/m2, the maximum is 372 cd/m2, the contrast is 1 in 1019. The quality of factory calibration is at a traditionally good level, deviations of most parameters are minimal. Auto brightness adjustment works correctly.
In the screen settings you can adjust the color temperature and turn off the indicator light. In the “Management” section you can enable “work with gloves”.
In addition, the Huawei Mate7 screen has maximum viewing angles, a normal oleophobic coating, good outdoor readability and a comfortable minimum brightness. The color rendition of the display is calm and natural, and the FullHD resolution (368 ppi) is enough to make even small font look smooth - in all respects we have a good screen.
Hardware platform
The heart of Huawei Mate7 is the HiSilicon Kirin 925 system-on-chip. The platform of the Huawei subsidiary is built according to the big.LITTLE (4+4+1) scheme, it contains energy-efficient 4 Cortex-A7 cores operating at frequencies up to 1.3 GHz, 4 productive Cortex-A15 cores (up to 1.8 GHz) and one auxiliary i3 core (0.23 GHz) providing operation of sensors and sensors. The video core is Mali-T624 MP4, 600 MHz. The processor is made according to the 28 nm process technology.
The solution used is similar to Samsung Exynos chips, which the company uses in and. The amount of RAM is 2 GB, built-in memory is 16 (11.5 GB free), there is a slot for memory cards. The communication capabilities of the smartphone include support for all common communication standards (except CDMA), Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.1 b/g/n, NFC.
In addition to the standard one (as in the review), there is a version of Huawei Mate7 with 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of permanent memory and support for two SIM cards. It will be available for sale later.
In synthetic tests, the Mate7 demonstrates results comparable to current flagships. Operating speed at normal use depends on the selected power consumption mode, of which there can be three in total: energy saving (only calls and messages), smart (automatically adjusting the processor frequency and network operation) and normal (maximum performance).
In general, the “Smart” mode is enough for daily comfortable use of a smartphone, especially if your usage profile is reading news, listening to music and others simple tasks. If a heavy application is launched in this mode or you begin to actively switch between programs, there may be slight delays in the smartphone’s response. In such cases, it is better to turn on the “Normal” power consumption mode - there are no complaints about the speed of operation, it is great for games and others resource-intensive applications.
We checked the operation of popular games (Real Racing 3, GTA 3, Asphalt 8), they all run without problems at maximum settings.
The operation of the Wi-Fi and GPS modules also did not raise any questions.
Calls, multimedia
Officially, the MT7-TL09 version will be sold in Ukraine - this is the international version of Mate7, it supports one SIM card. Other versions of the smartphone (international MT7-TL10 and others) support two SIM cards; a second Nano-SIM card can be installed instead of a memory card, such as in .
Telephone functionality is implemented in Huawei Mate7 at the proper level. The calling speaker turned out to be loud, it has a pleasant sound, although without a hint of volume. Conversation is also good, the voices of the interlocutors sound natural, the volume is enough in most situations. Due to the rather large and heavy body, the vibration alert turned out to be weaker than average, and sometimes you can miss it.
The smartphone supports many codecs and scores 500 points in the Antutu Video test. The quality of music playback deserves special attention. The SoC integrates a Tensilica HiFi 3 DSP processor, which is responsible for processing music, conversations and other audio signals. Such a solution will not provide the quality of a professional player or other “big” source, but it has produced results. Huawei Mate7 has detailed, clear sound with a good volume reserve. The smartphone easily copes not only with regular earplugs, but also with slightly larger headphones, for example, Creative Aurvana Live!
Operating system and shell
Huawei Mate7 runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system with EMUI 3.0 shell.
The general logic of the shell remains the same - all applications in it are placed on desktops and sorted into folders. It is possible to change the effects of scrolling through desktops that are familiar to EMUI, support for design themes that can be applied either completely or assemble your own theme from individual elements (icons, wallpapers, ringtones, fonts) of different themes.
Your smartphone has an application for creating backup copies and Phone Manager. The latter allows you to configure which applications will send notifications and which will not, which programs will have access to the Internet (Wi-Fi and mobile), you can immediately disable the background operation of selected programs, which will save battery power.
The interface has small optimizations for comfortable one-handed operation. These include docking text and telephone keyboards and on-screen keys to the edges of the screen. You can add two additional keys to the virtual keys to open the notification panel and collapse the block of buttons anywhere in the interface.
Fingerprint's scanner
More and more smartphones, along with a set of familiar sensors, receive a fingerprint scanner, and Huawei Mate7 is no exception. The scanner was placed in a recess under the camera.
Using the sensor, you can unlock your smartphone, provide access to selected applications, and deny access to selected files, which will be moved to the “Personal” category. Huawei Mate7 can store 5 fingerprints.
At the moment, among Android smartphones, the hero of the review has the best implementation of the scanner; in terms of accuracy, speed and percentage of successful operations, it is comparable to the iPhone 6 or even slightly superior to it. To unlock the screen, simply place your finger on the scanner; no additional actions or button presses are required from the user. If the device is lying on the table, you can simply enter a password or PIN code; no additional clicking of “OK” is required.
Working hours
The Huawei Mate7 case hides a non-removable battery with a capacity of 4100 mAh.
In normal average load mode, in “smart” energy saving mode, with auto-sync enabled, and a set of installed programs (messengers and others), the smartphone works for two days. With the inserted card “OGO!” and activated data transfer in the “normal” energy saving mode, you can count on about a day and a half of work, which can be considered quite good results.
In mode reading All wireless communications are turned off, including data transmission on the mobile network, and the display brightness is set to 200 cd/m². When listening music automatic data synchronization and data transfer worked. The sound volume in the headphones is at 12 out of 15 possible levels. All music files are in MP3 format, bitrate 320 Kbps.Navigation includes route planning in the Google Navigation application. The brightness is set to 200 cd/m², all data communication modules are disabled. During playback video Data transmission on the mobile network is active, the display brightness is set to 200 cd/m², the sound volume in the headphones is at level 12 out of a possible 15. Video file format is MKV, resolution 1024x432 pixels, frame rate 24. Playing video from Youtube was accompanied not only by working on a Wi-Fi network, but also by active data transfer. The display brightness is set to 200 cd/m², the sound volume in the headphones is set to 12 out of 15 possible levels. *– data were obtained under similar conditions, but with brightness set to 50% of possible You can get acquainted with the testing methodology in material.Cameras
The smartphone has two cameras. The main one uses a Sony IMX214 module with a resolution of 13 megapixels, has autofocus, LED flash, f/2.0. The front camera has a resolution of 5 megapixels. Image processing is provided by the IMAGESmart Engine 2.0 coprocessor.
The camera application has an extremely ascetic interface with a minimal number of settings. There are basic settings for resolution, where to save pictures, white balance, ISO and several shooting modes (auto, HDR, panorama, continuous shooting with selection of the best frame, watermark). You can use the fingerprint scanner to take pictures, and to quickly launch the camera, just turn the Mate7 horizontally and press the volume down key twice.
Photos taken with the main camera:
The manufacturer claims that the camera starts up in 1.3 seconds; the application informs about the startup time if the launch option with the creation of a photo is selected in the settings. Our sample usually launched the camera in 0.8-0.9 seconds, but such photos often turn out blurry, so it’s easier to launch the camera and take a photo by pressing the volume key again, then such problems are not observed.
An example of shooting FullHD video:
In general, the main camera of Huawei Mate7 demonstrates photo quality that is normal for modern flagships, autofocus is quite fast, and it takes good photos in low light.
Photos taken with the front camera:
Results
Huawei Mate7 is an excellent example of a modern, balanced phablet. It has a nice metal body, a fairly powerful hardware platform, an excellent FullHD screen, a capacious battery, good cameras and a bonus in the form of a convenient fingerprint scanner. On the one hand, there is nothing special about all this, but the combination of all these parameters in one device creates the feeling of a high-quality smartphone that deserves the title of flagship. Therefore, if you are looking for a device of this format, the Mate7 is worth paying attention to.
Unfortunately, all this is overshadowed by one fact. According to the latest information, Huawei Mate7 should go on sale at the end of December or beginning of January 2015. Due to currency exchange rate fluctuations, the expected cost of the smartphone will be 8,777 hryvnia, which is somewhat high, and the version with 3 GB of RAM will be priced at 9,999 hryvnia. At the same time, the smartphone has quite a lot of competitors - these are both already on sale and cheaper devices from 2014, so we cannot guarantee that the buyer will wait for his Mate7.
Liked:
Materials, case dimensions
Excellent FullHD screen
Sufficiently powerful hardware platform
Capacious battery, good autonomy
Main camera
Implementation of a fingerprint scanner, quality of music playback in headphones
Did not like:
- long time to market
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HUAWEI Ascend Mate 7 MT7-L09 (Black) 3,899 - 4,899 UAH Compare prices |
| Type | Smartphone |
| SIM card type | Micro-SIM |
| Standard | GSM 850/900/1800/1900, UMTS 850/900/1900/2100/AWS, LTE FDD 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/20/28 |
| High speed data transfer | GPRS, EDGE, HSPA+, HSDPA (up to 42 Mb/s), LTE Cat.6 UL (up to 300 Mb/s) |
| Number of SIM cards | 1/2 |
| operating system | Android 4.4 (KitKat) + Huawei Emotion UI 3.0 |
| RAM, GB | 2 |
| Built-in memory, GB | 16 |
| Expansion slot | microSD |
| Dimensions, mm | 157x81x7.9 |
| Weight, g | 185 |
| Protection from dust and moisture | — |
| Accumulator battery | 4100 mAh |
| Operating time (manufacturer's data) | no data |
| Diagonal, inches | 6 |
| Permission | 1920×1080 |
| Matrix type | IPS |
| PPI | 368 |
| Dimming sensor | + |
| Touch screen (type) | touch (capacitive) |
| Other | 16 million colors, protective glass Gorilla Glass 3 |
| CPU | Hisilicon Kirin 925 + GPU Mali-T628 MP4 |
| Kernel type | Cortex-A15 + Cortex-A7 |
| Number of Cores | 4+4+1 |
| Frequency, GHz | 1,8/1,3/0,23 |
| Main camera, MP | 13 |
| Autofocus | + |
| Video shooting | 1920x1080 pixels, 30 fps |
| Flash | LED |
| Front camera, MP | 5 |
| Other | digital zoom, image stabilization, touch focus, face detection, panoramic shooting |
| WiFi | 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct |
| Bluetooth | 4.0 |
| GPS | + (GLONASS) |
| IrDA | — |
| NFC | + |
| Interface connector | USB 2.0 (micro-USB) |
| Audio jack | 3.5 mm |
| MP3 player | + |
| FM radio | + |
| Type of shell | monoblock |
| Keyboard type | screen input |
| More | proximity and light sensors, accelerometer, E-compass, gyroscope, GPS receiver, vibration alert, fingerprint sensor, metal case |
The product was provided for testing by Huawei,
Today we will look at one of Huawei's flagships. A few years ago, few people were interested in the products of the Chinese company. But since last year, smartphones from Huawei have gathered a large number of fans. Which is actually not surprising, because their smartphones have decent characteristics and quite rightly compete with smartphones from well-known brands. One of these devices is the Huawei Mate 7 review, which will be discussed further.
A nice addition to the purchase of Huawei Ascend Mate 7 is a book case. The case is made of high-quality material that is pleasant to the touch. On the rear there are slots for the camera and fingerprint scanner. On the front there is a window in which, when the lid is closed, either a clock with notifications or an audio player is displayed.
The appearance of the Huawei Mate 7 is simply amazing. Not only did Huawei engineers equip the smartphone with a thin metal case with a 6-inch display, but they also managed to install almost top-of-the-line hardware. Special admiration is caused by the thin side frames around the screen, which make you feel as if they are not there at all. The upper and lower caps also have minimal dimensions. On the right side there is a power button and a volume rocker slightly above. There are 2 trays on the left side. The first tray is designed for microSIM cards, but the second tray gives you the choice to insert either a memory card or another SIM card in nanoSIM format. On the rear of the smartphone there is a camera eye with a flash, and a little lower there is a fingerprint scanner. For the most part, the body is made of durable metal that is pleasant to the touch and resistant to external influence. The assembly of the smartphone is also not satisfactory. No creaks or play were found. It is worth noting that the design of the smartphone is monolithic and it is not collapsible.
Most of the device is occupied by a 6-inch IPS screen. Of course, the screen of Huawei Mate 7 is slightly inferior to some flagships of other companies in resolution and pixel density, but in truth this display is more than enough and in real life it will be able to fully satisfy the user’s needs, providing excellent color rendition and sufficient brightness reserve.
Now about the camera. Huawei Mate 7 has a 13 MP camera with a 4th generation Sony sensor, and the settings menu will not cause problems because it is simple and clear. The smartphone also has a front-facing 5 MP camera, which distorts the image in low light conditions, trying to suppress noise and select color correction. But for video calls at night, this algorithm is quite useful. The main camera takes excellent pictures in good light and good ones in low light. The LED flash works well in complete darkness. However, if the battery charge is less than 10%, the flash will not work.
It is worth mentioning that there are 2 versions of the Mate 7 smartphone. The first version is equipped with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory, and the second (VIP) version has 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of main memory. There are no differences in other technical characteristics. The smartphone received a processor of Huawei's own production - an 8-core HiSilicon Kirin 925 and an additional 9-core, which is responsible for the sensor in the fingerprint scanner. The Mali-T628 MP4 accelerator is responsible for the graphics component. The installed main and graphics processors are more than enough for comfortable work with everyday tasks and heavy games. Although, according to the results of synthetic tests, the Mate 7 is slightly inferior to some competitors, but as you know, benchmarks sometimes show good results for smartphones that are very laggy in real life. This phablet works without any delays - everything is fast and smooth, latest games go without any hesitation. Despite its thin size, the smartphone received a 4100 mAh battery.
In terms of fingerprint scanner performance, Huawei Mate 7 deserves the highest praise. When using your smartphone for the first time, you need to let the scanner capture 2 of your fingers and come up with a backup PIN code. The quality and speed of recognition is at the highest level. However, there are very rare cases when the sensor may not respond the first time. The location of the scanner is well thought out and reaching it with your index finger will not be a problem.
At the time of writing the review, the phablet was running Android 4.4.2 OS with the proprietary EMUI 3.0 shell. The latter will provide the user with a good experience and new interesting features that were added in version 3.0. As the reviewer from the video mentioned, the EMUI shell will reduce the time in setting up a smartphone, and its various capabilities can be seen in the video review of Huawei Mate 7 below the text.
The speakers in Huawei Ascend Mate7 have good volume and will not allow the user to miss an important call. Another advantage of the smartphone is that a separate chip is responsible for the sound quality in the headphones. There is also DTS technology that can be enabled in the player or settings.
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