It all started with Samsung’s creation of phablet – a fusion of a smartphone and a tablet. Critics were initially laughing about it; dismissing the phablet idea as ridiculous. Or is it?
Fast forward to today and the best smartphones belong to Samsung. But also included in its line of high-performance handsets are the phablets, specifically its Samsung Note series. Just the look alone, marked by the supersized 5.5” HD display, boasts of power and performance. No doubt, Samsung’s Note is one of the best smartphones today.
But there seems to be a willing challenger to the Korean-made phablet. And it comes from Chinese handset maker Huawei.
Huawei has been around for quite a while now. But it’s only recently that the company is making waves with its smartphone series. The company has even further raised its game, resulting to its shocking claim of the third spot in the smartphone wars. Huawei is trailing closely behind industry leaders Apple and Samsung in 2012 and it looks like the Chinese company wants more.
As if to further challenge industry giants Apple and Samsung, Huawei releases Ascend Mate. And it may be the biggest smartphone yet; even bigger than Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2.
‘The Bigger the Better’
Samsung’s success in the phablet niche may be rubbing off on the Chinese company. Because once you see Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2, its screen proves to be its biggest selling point – literally. This may be the reason why Huawei came up with Ascend Mate. And it literally screams ‘the bigger the better’.
Huawei’s Ascend Mate has a gigantic 6.1-inch display screen, toppling Galaxy Note 2’s 5.5-inch screen. That’s going to provide gamers and video enthusiasts a pretty good reason to buy it. No doubt, the huge screen can be quite a persuasive selling point. But is the Ascend Mate just that – the smartphone with the biggest screen? Apparently, it not.
What’s Inside Counts
Ascend Mate’s LCD touchscreen screen has a 1280×720 display resolution, the same with Galaxy Note’s. It has a 1.5 GHz quad-core Hi-Silicon processor and a 2-GB RAM. It runs on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) OS and takes pretty good photos and videos on its 8-MP rear-facing camera and 1-MP front-facing camera.
Because of the big screen, buyers are expected to use it mainly for entertainment. Businessmen, on the other hand, will likely use it as part of their extensive business phone systems. It’s only right that a powerful 4050 mAh battery is packed in this beast to compensate for such heavy usage.
The phone’s capacity includes a 16GB internal storage. Unfortunately, a micro-SD slot isn’t available, which is pretty much a let down.
A Serious Phablet Contender
Huawei’s Ascend Mate is one strong challenger versus Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2. Remember though that big can also be disadvantageous. For one, pocketability just isn’t possible for this monster. The glossy plastic back isn’t helping either as it may cause the phone to slip from your grip.
Overall, however, Huawei’s Ascend Mate is serious contender in the phablet wars. And if you think that bigger is better, then this may be the perfect smartphone for you.
