Few people are privy, but back in October 2015, Huawei’s first attempt at a Nexus phone for Google resulted in one of the best Android devices of 2015. So it’s no surprise their recently launched Mate 8 is a range-topping phablet that pleases owners and impresses incredulous Apple/Samsung fanboys.
First up is the stunning design. Featuring a huge 6-inch display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4, the screen’s 95% colour saturation is higher than both the Mate 7 (71%) and iPhone 6 Plus (68%). Built with aerospace grade aluminium, their well-received fingerprint scanner is also twice as fast as before, allowing instant unlocking.
Performance is driven by Huawei’s own octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 950 processor, delivering whopping power. According to some, it even edges the Samsung Exynos 7420 (that powers most Galaxy phones) in both single-core and multi-core tests.
And you just might retire that cumbersome external battery. Housing a gigantic 4,000 mAh battery, with judicious usage, you can easily go for two full days on a single charge. But their coup de grâce is the 16-megapixel rear-facing camera with optical image stabilisation, LED flash, slow motion, continuous capture mode and for semi-pros, you can even set shooting parameters. On the front camera is an 8-megapixel camera, hosting a 5mp selfie shooter.
Not forgetting security concerns, the Mate 8 provides automatic encryption and decryption every time owners read or write data. Even if the MicroSD gets stolen and plugged into another device, password prompts protect your privacy and offer peace of mind.
An astounding productivity driven smartphone, packed chockful of pragmatic features, you’d be hard-pressed to find equals who offer this much value.