Huawei just launched its latest Mate phablet, the 6-inch Huawei Mate 8, over in Vegas. Here’s five reasons why you should be excited about the Mate 8, from the powerful camera to the all-new super-fast fingerprint sensor.
Metal masterpiece
The Huawei Mate 8 is constructed from a single piece of sturdy metal, so not only does it look gorgeous, it should also prove quite hardy for full-time use. Plus the all-gold model looks ‘proper bling’, as we believe the kids say.
Spacious, beautiful screen
That 6-inch Full HD screen is designed to consume video and browse the web when you’re on the move, and can even help you stay productive in a pinch. It’s a shame it’s not a full-on Quad HD panel, but the Mate 8’s screen is still as sharp as an iPhone display.
All-day battery life
Huawei has packed a 4000mAh battery inside the Mate 8, which it claims delivers ‘outstanding battery life’. While we’re a little more reserved in our optimism, we’re expecting the Mate 8 to comfortably last a full 24 hours and hopefully survive well into a second day of use.
Super-powered
Rather than going for the Snapdragon 820, Huawei has used its very own octa-core Kirin 950 chip to power the Mate 8. In leaked benchmarking tests, the Kirin significantly outperformed Samsung’s 2015 powerhouse, the Exynos 7420, which produced blistering performance in the Galaxy S6. If that’s really the case, then the Mate 8 will be one of the beefcakiest phones of 2016.
Fastest finger
Like Huawei’s other premium phones, the Mate 8 boasts a fingerprint sensor for unlocking the phone and also opening up confidential documents. However, the rear-mounted sensor is supposedly twice as fast as previous scanners, so the Mate 8 should provide quick access to your important bits while keeping out thieving types.
Smart snapper
Huawei has put some serious focus on its smartphone cameras lately, with the Huawei P8’s snapper proving a serious highlight. The Huawei Mate 8 boosts the specs to a 16-megapixel camera, complete with a hybrid autofocus and image stabilisation to keep things sharp.
Selfie machine
Of course, an essential part of any smartphone is the selfie camera (sigh), and Huawei hasn’t skimped, installing an 8-megapixel snapper above the Mate 8’s screen. Expect crazy over-the-top beauty modes that make you look like an android/alien love child.
Huawei knows how to do phablets
We really like the Mate 7 and the Mate S, although they were a little overpriced compared with rival handsets. The Mate 8 doesn’t seem to waste a millimetre of body space, keeping things as slim and tight as possible while packing in all of the premium features you’d expect.
But…
We do have one reservation and that’s the Mate 8’s software. Huawei tends to take Android and maul it a bit, taking away key features like the ability to hide away least-used apps while adding rather ‘zany’ features like Knuckle Mode. Here’s hoping the Mate 8 sports some fresh new interface design, to take away any possible frustrations.
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