Huawei Ascend Mate2 review: An imperfect, but capable cheap, phablet

The line between smartphone phablet has blurred, with a hful of flagship smartphones reaching almost-tablet sizes, like the 5.5-inch G3 Samsung’s insanely large, 7-inch Galaxy /a>. Huawei is also looking to win your heart over with a phablet of it’s own, the 6.1-inch Ascend Mate2.

In smartphone years, the Ascend Mate2 is a bit old, as it was announced earlier this year at CES. Still, that doesn’t make it a bad phone in any way, especially when you look at its $300 off-contract price tag.

Hardware that fits the bill

The Ascend Mate2 ships with capable hardware, despite it not being a step behind its more expensive competition. The 1.6GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 is snappy there was never a time that it seemed like the Mate2 was lagging behind with regular use.

The Mate2 ships with a 6.1-inch 720p display, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, 13 megapixel camera, 5 megapixel front-facing camera, Cat 4 E support, Micro SD card slot, massive 3,900 mAh battery. There are definitely more powerful phones on the market, but Huawei’s Mate2 can easily hold its own against similarly-priced competitors.

The obvious selling point of the Ascend Mate2 is its large, 6.1-inch display. The I (pixels per inch) is rather low, coming in at only 240, but colors are represented well HD video looks nice crisp. Due to its large display, the Mate2 feels massive in the hs, even with the somewhat small bezel around the screen.

Above the large display is where the earpiece, 5 megapixel front-facing camera, sensors for proximity ambient light are found. The left side is bare, with the right edge housing the volume rocker the power button in the center. The headphone jack is found on the top, which may have some users wishing it was at the bottom, next to the micro B port.

The back of the Mate2 continues with the subtle design language found on the front. Here you’ll only find the 13 megapixel camera with single D flash, loudspeaker, Huawei logo. The slightly textured battery cover is removable, giving access to the Micro SIM Micro SD card slot.

Huawei lets the user to take advantage of the large battery on the Mate2 in more than one way, as it can charge other devices with a specific, one-way Micro B cable that will be available at launch.

ssable software with a few tricks

The software on the Ascend Mate2 is nothing to write home about, looks like it was designed in 2011, complete with clunky widgets you’ll likely never use. Aesthetics aside, Huawei’s Emotion UI is still robust, with features to get you where you need to go. If you’re not a huge fan of the Emotion UI on the Mate2, home screen replacements can help. Nova launcher looks particularly nice sprawled across the large display.

O. (ndow Over ndow) allows you to run mini apps on top of what your current screen. Helpful for jotting down a quick note getting to your calculator or calendar. Other nifty software features on the Mate2 include one-hed mode, glove mode, Simple UI, Huawei’s simplified home screen experience.

Ok camera with ok features.

Huawei didn’t pack the Mate2 to the brim with camera features, but you’ll still get a few modes found on most cameras today, including HDR, norama, a few more like Beauty Sound & shot. The slimmed down set of features will be appreciated by those looking for a simple approach to taking photos.

The Ascend Mate2’s camera can produce some crisp shots, but colors to seem to run on the oversaturated side. As is the case with many phones, the camera suffers in low-light situations, but I’ve seen much worse before.

In good lighting conditions, the Mate2’s photos are bright but oversaturated.

A battery to behold

As expected, the 3,900 mAh battery on the Mate2 doesn’t disappoint. In our battery test, it managed to squeeze out almost 20 hours of straight HD video playback. If you were concerned that it didn’t have a removable battery, you shouldn’t be. th regular usage, you could easily go two days, if not more, on a single charge.

Is the Ascend Mate2 the right phablet at the right price?

The Huawei Ascend Mate2 has a lot going for it, but it’s a smartphone that is faced with some challenges. The only way you’ll be able to easily get your hs on this Huawei phablet is through GetHuawei.com, the company’s new site for buying its products in the U.S. us, it supports T-Mobile AT&T only, giving Huawei no advantages.

For only $50 more, someone can buy a Nexus 5, which needs no introduction. Still, with an out-of-this-world battery a larger display, Huawei’s offering might suit you well.

If you’re looking for a new phablet, Huawei’s Mate2 might be the cheapest option you can get off-contract without many sacrifices, that’s an impressive feat.