Huawei Mate 8 (reviews, photos are posted later in the article) is a phablet Chinese manufacturer November 2015 sample. In many respects, this device belongs to the premium class, which determines its high cost. But what you get for your money is ease of use and some of the best specifications in the industry.
Huawei Mate 8: reviews, specifications
The main technical characteristics of the phone are as follows:
- Display 6.0", 1920 pixels.
- Camera 16 MP, video 1080p.
- Processor 8-core Hisilicon Kirin 950 with a frequency of 2.3 GHz.
- Size random access memory- 3 or 4 GB, flash memory - 32 or 64 GB, additional memory - up to 128 GB.
- Lithium polymer battery with a capacity of 4000 mAh.
- Weight - 185 g.
- Dimensions - 157 x 81 x 7.9 mm.
Following in the footsteps of the Mate 7, the phablet is also a serious and good-looking smartphone. He loudly declares: this is business.
But the high price ($450), some characteristics that do not correspond to premium phones, and reviews suggest that the phablet is not worth that kind of money. The best alternative are Nexus 6P and Galaxy Note 5. Same size, they offer sharper, brighter images and a top-notch camera.
Design and build quality
The design of Huawei Mate 8 is highly rated by customer reviews. The phone has an unrivaled business-class aura with precision machined metal and glass parts, sharper, bolder edges. Available in gold, silver, gray and coffee finishes.
For a 6-inch smartphone, the device is very compact. The phone is 4.2mm shorter than the 5.7-inch Nexus 6P from the same manufacturer, and smaller by a millimeter than the iPhone 6s Plus, which only has a 5.5-inch diagonal display.
The phablet features an aluminum unibody design befitting its flagship status. The back panel features a fine satin finish. True, it is not removable, and there is no access to the battery.
Hybrid slot
The Mate 8 comes with what's called a hybrid DualSIM/MicroSD card slot. This means that the phone has two card slots. The first is for the main SIM card and can connect to LTE networks. The second slot can be used to connect a second SIM card (2G only) or a MicroSD memory card. Depending on your needs, this can be either good or bad.
The best fingerprint scanner
One of the best aspects that distinguishes the Huawei Mate 8 smartphone, user reviews note, is the presence of a fingerprint sensor located on the rear panel. This is one of the best implementations on the market: the sensor is always on, blazing fast and rarely makes mistakes. Unlocking and displaying the start screen occurs almost instantly. In addition, the sensor can be configured to take pictures, answer calls, or turn off alarms.
Display
The 6-inch display has Full resolution HD, which corresponds to 1080 x 1920 pixels. The 368 pixels per inch density is both higher than what Apple calls Retina and should be easy on the battery and graphics chip.
The phablet uses an IPS-NEO LCD panel with JDI, which provides greater black depth. User reviews call the black Huawei Mate 8 not as impressive as AMOLED displays.
The maximum brightness level when displaying white is 471 nits. Although this is not an outstanding result, it is still quite a lot. The stated contrast ratio is nevertheless excellent - 1361:1. In Huawei Mate 8, owner reviews note good readability of the display in bright sunlight.
In terms of color accuracy, the phablet's screen has an average Delta E deviation of 6.1, which is a little higher than what we would ideally like. But even many flagship devices perform worse, so... this smartphone is located somewhere in the middle. To consider the screen to be correctly calibrated, its maximum deviation should not exceed 4.
Battery life
Mate 8 comes with an ultra-high capacity 4000mAh battery. The phone supports fast charging and can recharge such a large capacity battery using 9V/2A technology in just 2.5 hours. With a charging speed of 49.33 mAh/min, the phablet is among the fastest charging smartphones. When using stock memory, the Mate 8 is on par with the Galaxy S6 and Note 5. The Nexus 6P is a bit slower, and the LG G4 and Honor 7 are far behind. The speed is constant (from 0 to 85%) for about 75 minutes and then slows down significantly. This is something to keep in mind when you need to quickly restore your phone. not supported. 30 minutes of charge should be enough for a full day of device operation.
Special testing has shown that the Mate 8 has an endurance rating of 103 hours in single SIM mode. This is an estimate of how long the phone will last if used for an hour of calls, web browsing, and video playback per day.
This scheme may not correspond to an individual scenario, but it allows you to compare the operating time of different devices.
103 hours of operation in this mode is an excellent result. There are only a few smartphones that can reach three digits. Moreover, no current competitor in the upper segment is able to come close to this phone in terms of Internet surfing time, even if there are some that surpass it in video playback mode.
The long-term operation of the phablet is partly due to the fact that Android 6 has an energy-saving utility called Doze. Marshmallow puts some apps into a deep sleep when in standby mode, reducing power consumption. In addition, the manufacturer offers the ability to block or allow individual applications to run in background. The battery manager also identifies the most energy-consuming applications.
The entire Mate line supports the ability to charge another phone.
Audio
The design of the case with holes for two speakers can be misleading. Music lovers will be disappointed to discover that sound only comes from the right one, and the left one is just for show. The phablet is equipped with a 3.5 mm jack, but the headphones, unlike the Mate S, do not reproduce DTS sound. is not a big drawback, since it is very difficult to discern the difference.
The loudspeaker volume of the Huawei Mate 8 (32 GB) is rated below average by user reviews. The Galaxy Note5 and LG V10 are a bit louder, but the XL is superior in this regard.
Nevertheless, the phablet exceeded all expectations in terms of sound quality through the 3.5 mm jack.
When connected to a powered external amplifier, the smartphone's output is clear and its volume is well above average, making it one of the best among its competitors.
What's even more impressive is that connecting headphones does not cause distortion - even the usual crosstalk in stereo mode is very small, and the end result is excellent. Other characteristics are also intact and the volume level is high.
Camera
The smartphone's camera uses a 1/2.8" Sony sensor with a resolution of 16 megapixels. There is optical image stabilization and phase detection autofocus. A two-tone LED flash is useful in the dark and will allow you to take more realistic photos.
User reviews call photos taken by Huawei Mate 8 too soft. Although on paper the characteristics of the device are more than sufficient, in practice they are not confirmed. Photos lack the detail and texture common to high-end smartphones. Additionally, all but the brightest parts of the image are riddled with noise.
Colors are displayed conservatively - they cannot be called energetic. During the day, exposure is consistently accurate, with no variation from shot to shot. Dynamic range is decent, with only a slight tendency to limit bright areas.
The front 8-megapixel camera of Huawei Mate 8 is rated positively by users. Detail is good, there is little noise, good dynamic range and nice colors. Also present beautiful blur background.
Overall, compared to images taken on the Galaxy S6, Sony Xperia Z5 and LG G4, photos are pale. This is not a phone for avid photography enthusiasts, but for documenting Everyday life and posting photos on social networks, cameras will do.
Camcorder
The smartphone can record video in resolutions up to 1080p at 30 or 60 frames per second. Oddly enough, the phablet does not support recording in 2160p and 4K format, although most of its competitors already offer this capability.
At least when recording video, the optical image stabilization system is used, and the result is good and stable even when shooting handheld. True, stabilization in the Galaxy Note 5 works better.
User reviews call the video quality of Huawei Mate 8 insufficient. Images lack the detail you'd expect from such clarity and have limited dynamic range. The good news is that there are no annoying focus jumps, the image is smooth and stable.
Software
Used in smartphone operating system"Android 6.0 Marshmallow" with its own interface EmotionUI v.4.0. The latter, to put it mildly, has much less in common with Android than with iOS. For faithful followers of traditions, the manufacturer has left the option of replacing the user interface.
The lock screen of a smartphone is filled with many things and events, from alternating screensavers after each activation of the device (each time the user is greeted with a different stunning wallpaper) and ending with many other functions.
As is common in Chinese Android interfaces, the app bar does not appear after the lock screen.
Movement tracking also plays a significant role. There are flip gestures, as well as gathering, tilting, and even things like joint detection and drawing. All of them can be customized to the user's taste.
The interface looks like it is designed for a user with low vision. The default settings are to stretch content across the full 6 inches of the screen. But this can be corrected if you select medium or small display mode in the display settings instead of large.
Multi-window
The Huawei Mate 8 (32GB) smartphone is considered good by customer reviews due to its potentially convenient, if used in practice, limited multi-window functionality. It is launched by sliding a knuckle or, much more logically, holding down the recent applications button. Allows you to view two applications simultaneously. You can resize windows and swap them around. True, the choice of supported programs is limited, and the much-needed browser is not among them.
Performance testing
The Mate 8 uses the Kirin 950 chipset made by HiSilicon, a subsidiary of Huawei. This is not the first in-house chip from a manufacturer that continually puts effort into creating its own designs. electronic circuits. All Kirin chips have traditionally had problems with graphics performance, but when it comes to the Mali-T880 integrated graphics processor in the Huawei Ascend Mate 8, user reviews report no such shortcomings.
Tests show that at the time of its appearance, the phablet was one of the fastest smartphones on the market. It outperformed quite a few phones like the Galaxy Note5, Nexus Plus and V10.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages:
- The size of a 6-inch phablet does not exceed the size of 5.7-inch devices.
- Long battery life.
- Android 6.0.
- All metal body.
- Good and fast working fingerprint sensor.
- Two SIM cards.
- Leader in the class on the finer details of settings and granting rights to applications.
- Great sounding headphones.
Flaws:
- The photo and video camera are mediocre.
- 2160p and 4K formats are missing.
- Low resolution.
Huawei Mate 8: reviews, overall review
At one time, the phablet was the best 6-inch smartphone, only the diagonal size is critical. The phone certainly makes a very convincing case in its favor. Take the display, which has high contrast and exceptional readability of the LCD panel in sunlight. Battery life is also admirable. The processor will do everything you need, and even much more.
Unfortunately, the image and video quality of the Huawei Mate 8 (32GB) is called mediocre by user reviews. Not everyone will like EmotionUI, even though the interface offers best-in-class app management capabilities.
The Ascend sub-brand no longer exists - the predecessor of the Mate 8, we recall, was called Ascend Mate 7 - now Huawei has gotten rid of the additional word in the name as unnecessary. And this is for the best - why create entities. Mate 7, let us remind you, was very successful model— it was from there that Huawei began to be perceived as a truly serious smartphone manufacturer, not only in terms of the number of handsets sold, but also in terms of the level of products produced. Very good both in terms of characteristics and impressions of working with it, the Mate 7 sagged a little except in the performance of the proprietary Kirin 925 platform, and did not have a sufficiently high-quality camera.
In the fall, we received the development of the ideas of Mate 7 in a slightly more compact Mate S model with an improved system-on-chip, AMOLED display, but at the same time a less capacious battery. Now let's talk about a full update of the Mate 7 - with the same six-inch screen (again IPS, again Full HD), about the same battery, but with improvements in all other characteristics. Are Apple iPhone 6s Plus and Samsung GALAXY Note 5 worth it? be afraid of a newcomer - or is the Chinese flagship not a threat to them?
⇡ Specifications
| Huawei Mate 8 | Huawei Mate S | Samsung GALAXY Note 5 | Google Nexus 6P | LG V10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 6 inches, IPS, 1920 × 1080 pixels, 368 ppi, capacitive multi-touch | 5.5 inches, AMOLED, 1920 × 1080 pixels, 401 ppi, capacitive multi-touch | 5.7 inches, AMOLED, 2560 × 1440 pixels, 515 ppi, capacitive multi-touch, S Pen stylus support | 5.7 inches, AMOLED, 2560 × 1440 pixels, 515 ppi, capacitive multi-touch | 5.7 inches, 2560 × 1440, IPS, 515 ppi, capacitive multi-touch |
| Additional display | No | No | No | No | 2.09 inches, 1040 × 160 pixels, IPS; Gesture support |
| Air gap | No | No | No | No | No |
| Protective glass | Corning Gorilla Glass 4 | Corning Gorilla Glass 4 | Corning Gorilla Glass 4 on both sides | Corning Gorilla Glass 4 | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| CPU | HiSilicon Kirin 950 (four ARM Cortex-A72 cores, 2.3 GHz; four ARM Cortex-A53 cores, 1.8 GHz) + IntelliSense i5 coprocessor | HiSilicon Kirin 935 (four ARM Cortex-A53 cores, 1.5 GHz; four ARM Cortex-A53e cores, 2.2 GHz) | Samsung Exynos 7420 (four ARM Cortex-A57 cores, 2.1 GHz; four ARM Cortex-A53 cores, 1.5 GHz) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (four ARM Cortex-A53 cores, 1.55 GHz + two ARM Cortex-A57 cores, 2 GHz) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (four ARM Cortex-A53 cores, 1.4 GHz + two ARM Cortex-A57 cores, 1.82 GHz) |
| Graphics controller | Mali-T880 MP4 | Mali-T628MP4 | Mali-T760 MP8 | Adreno 430 | Adreno 418 |
| RAM | 3/4 GB | 3 GB | 4 GB | 3 GB | 4 GB |
| Flash memory | 32/64 GB | 32/64/128 GB | 32/64 GB | 32/64/128 GB | 64 GB |
| Memory card support | There is | There is | No | No | There is |
| Connectors | microUSB, mini-jack 3.5 mm | microUSB, mini-jack 3.5 mm | microUSB, mini-jack 3.5 mm | USB-C, 3.5 mm minijack | microUSB, 3.5 mm minijack |
| SIM cards | two nanoSIM | two nanoSIM | one nanoSIM | one nanoSIM | two nanoSIM |
| Cellular connection 2G | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz | |
| Cellular 3G | UMTS 800/850/900/1900/2100 MHz | UMTS 850/900/1900/2100 MHz | HSPA 850/900/1900/2100 MHz | HSDPA 850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100 MHz | HDSPA 850/900/1900/2100 MHz |
| Cellular 4G | FDD LTE Cat. 6 (up to 300 Mbit/s): bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 17, 19, 20, 26, 38, 39, 40 | FDD LTE Cat. 4 (up to 150 Mbit/s): bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 17, 20, 38, 39, 40, 41 | FDD LTE Cat. 9 (up to 450/50 Mbit/s): bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26 | LTE Cat. 6 (up to 300 Mbit/s): bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 17, 19, 20, 28, 38, 39, 40, 41 | LTE Cat. 4 (up to 150 Mbit/s), bands 1, 3, 7 |
| WiFi | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac | 802.11b/g/n | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac |
| Bluetooth | 4.2 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.1 |
| NFC | There is | There is | There is | There is | There is |
| IR port | No | No | No | No | There is |
| Navigation | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS (BeiDou for the Chinese market) | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou |
| Sensors | Illumination, proximity, accelerometer/gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass), barometer | Illumination, proximity, accelerometer/gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass) | Illumination, proximity, accelerometer, barometer, magnetometer (digital compass), heart rate sensor | Illumination, proximity, accelerometer/gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass), pedometer | |
| Light, proximity sensor, pressure sensor, accelerometer/gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass), pedometer | |||||
| Fingerprint's scanner | There is | There is | There is | There is | There is |
| Main camera | 16 MP, ƒ/2.0, autofocus, optical stabilization, LED flash, Full HD video recording | 13 MP, ƒ/2.0, autofocus, optical stabilization, LED flash, Full HD video recording | 16 MP, ƒ/1.9, laser autofocus, LED flash, optical stabilization, 4K video recording | 12.3 MP, ƒ/2.0, laser autofocus, LED flash, 4K video recording | 16 MP, ƒ/1.8, laser autofocus, LED flash, optical stabilization, Full HD video recording |
| Front-camera | 8 MP, fixed focus | 8 MP, fixed focus | 5 MP, fixed focus | 8 MP, fixed focus | 5 MP, fixed focus, 80° viewing angle + 5 MP, fixed focus, 120° viewing angle |
| Nutrition | Non-removable 15.2 Wh battery (4000 mAh, 3.8 V) | Non-removable battery 10.26 Wh (2700 mAh, 3.8 V) |
Non-removable 13.11 Wh battery (3450 mAh, 3.8 V) | Removable 11.4 Wh battery (3000 mAh, 3.8 V) | |
| Size | 157.1 × 80.6 × 7.9 mm | 137 × 72 × 9.8 mm | 153 × 76 × 7.6 mm | 159.3 × 77.8 × 7.3 mm | 160 × 80 × 8.6 mm |
| Weight | 185 grams | 156 grams | 171 grams | 178 grams | 192 grams |
| Housing protection | No | No | No | No | No |
| operating system | Android 6.0 Marshmallow, own EMUI 4.0 shell | Android 5.1 Lolliipop, own EMUI 3.1 shell | Android 5.1 Lolliipop, Samsung's own TouchWiz shell | Android 6.0 Marshmallow | Android 5.1 Lolliipop |
| Current price | 600-700 euros (not yet sold in Russia) | 41,000 rubles (for version with 64 GB of memory) | 44,000-49,000 rubles (depending on memory capacity) | 49,990-56,990 rubles (depending on memory capacity) | 50,990 rubles |
⇡ Appearance and ergonomics
The design has not changed too much compared to the Mate 7 - the general outlines remain the same, all the changes affected the details. But it no longer occurs to compare the device with any HTC. Firstly, the Taiwanese company’s smartphones themselves have changed a lot, just take a look at the One M9+ or One A9. Secondly, the younger models of the Honor line (for example, 5X) have adopted many of the solutions - and now this style can already be called proprietary to Huawei, if, of course, you can discern some “family” features in it. Huawei smartphones are nice, but, subjectively, they still lack some kind of proprietary character.
Huawei Mate 8, front panel: above the display there is an earpiece, front-camera, light sensor and miniature status indicator
Huawei Mate 8, rear panel: at the top there is a camera module with a dual LED flash, below it is a fingerprint scanner; above and below we see plastic inserts above the antennas
The Mate 8 is no exception, although formally there is nothing to complain about here: the body is made of metal and tempered glass, the assembly is excellent, the colors are interesting (gold, silver, gray, chocolate) - but can you distinguish Huawei from other top smartphones at first glance? ? However, similar claims can now be made against many people, starting with Apple.
Huawei Mate 8, top edge: second microphone hole and 3.5 mm mini-jack
There are practically no frames around the display - due to this, we managed to save a lot of space and the Mate 8 turned out to be more compact than many smartphones with a smaller display diagonal.
It has also become even thinner than the Mate 7, with the camera protruding less from the body. Actually it turned out funny. Last time they announced a thickness of 7.9 millimeters, now we are told that they managed to reduce it by 0.4 mm - and it turned out... 7.9 millimeters. Amazing things are happening, almost on a Bulgakov scale. However, just as you couldn’t make any complaints about the Mate 7 - you’re supposedly too fat - you can’t find fault with the Mate 8 either. It is rather too thin - holding it is not very comfortable because of this; but the ease of use of 6-inch smartphones is generally a separate topic that can be debated forever.
Huawei Mate 8, right side: standard set of volume rocker and power key located under it
Huawei Mate 8, left side: single slot for both nanoSIM cards and microSD card
Other differences from the Mate 7: the main speaker has moved to the bottom edge, which now does not overlap if the smartphone is lying on the back; reduced “swelling” of the rear panel; modified form of the camera module and fingerprint scanner; a single slot for two SIM cards and a memory card (previously there was one SIM card and two slots).
We made it. Smartphone manufacturers are now competing to see which fingerprint scanner is more accurate and faster - at least this is what Huawei boasted at the presentation of the device in Las Vegas. And she boasted about it. The Mate 8 uses Android 6.0 with a scanner supported by default; you don’t even need to create your own software.
|
|
|
|
The scanner works very quickly and accurately, allowing you to unlock your device in the blink of an eye. It is noteworthy that it is suitable not only for unlocking: it is also possible to take photographs by touching the sensor, which is especially convenient when taking selfies. But you can’t scroll through photos in the gallery, like on the Mate S, for example. The scanner remains primarily a convenient way to protect a smartphone; its other uses are secondary.
⇡ Software
We have already written in detail about Android 6.0 in the review of the first smartphone with a pure version of this OS -
Obviously, smartphones with a screen diagonal of no more than five inches are considered convenient for communicating and carrying with you. However, if the gadget is used, for example, to watch videos or as a navigator in a car, then a larger screen diagonal is required. The Huawei Mate 8 smartpad was created for such purposes. Let’s see what the new “Chinese” can please.
Specifications and performance
- Octa-core Huawei Kirin 950 processor with a clock frequency of 2.3 GHz;
- video accelerator Mali-T880 MP4;
- Android OS latest version 6.0;
- 3 GB RAM and 32 GB internal memory;
- slot for microSDXC memory cards up to 128 GB;
- Dual SIM support;
- GPS navigation;
- light and proximity sensors, barometer, digital compass;
- Fingerprint's scanner;
- battery capacity 4000 mAh.
As you can see, the Huawei Mate 8 has solid hardware. Performance is more than sufficient for smooth operation of the interface and most everyday applications. There are no problems when watching videos in high resolution. You can also play modern 3D games on your smartphone without any problems.
The appearance of the device is flagship. The case is metal, its thickness is 7.9 mm. The surface is matte, so there are no fingerprints on it, and the smartphone does not slip in the hand. The manufacturer offers four body color options: silver, black, gold and golden brown. The assembly of the case is perfect, the smartphone feels monolithic, even with strong twisting there are no creaks.
The front panel is covered with protective 2.5D glass. The side frames around are very thin. Despite its six-inch screen, the Huawei Mate 8 doesn't look like a clumsy shovel. The smartphone is convenient to use with one hand.
Screen
The 6-inch screen has a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels, pixelation is impossible to detect with the naked eye, the picture is clear, the colors are natural and saturated. The tilt angles are maximum, the device can be tilted as you like, and the image quality does not change at all. The display has high contrast and correct color reproduction, which can be customized to suit your needs.
The maximum brightness is sufficient for using the device under bright sunlight; the smallest font is easy to read. The light sensor intelligently and quickly adapts to the surrounding environment. Multi-touch confidently and clearly perceives up to ten simultaneous touches.
Camera
Huawei Mate 8 has a 16-gapixel camera made by Sony. The main camera is equipped with dual LED flash and autofocus. There are a huge number of functions and settings in the application; there is even a “professional” mode that offers fine settings. The quality of the pictures it produces Huawei camera Mate 8 actually high level, sufficient under any conditions. It is worth noting that auto mode It also allows you to take clear and beautiful pictures.
The front camera is equipped with an 8-megapixel sensor with autofocus. She does a great job with video calls and takes beautiful selfies that you are not ashamed to post on social networks.
Results
We can confidently call it a flagship model. It is well thought out from an ergonomic point of view, it has a large and high-quality screen, powerful hardware and excellent cameras. Also pleases accumulator battery 4000 mAh capacity, which allows you to use your smartphone all day without interruption. You can buy Huawei Mate 8 for $490.
Video Huawei review Mate 8
Huawei Mate 8 is a stylish smartpad for the business segment. This is indicated by both the technical characteristics and design of this device, as well as the dimensions of its 6-inch screen. This gadget was presented to the general public at CES 2015. It replaced the previous iteration of smartphones. According to the Chinese developers, they did not plan to redesign the appearance of the device. This, rather, can be called a kind of work on bugs and updating the successful Huawei Mate 7.
What the 8th Mate model can please you with, he will tell you about it this review Huawei Mate 8.
Before starting a detailed review of the Huawei Mate 8, let's take a quick look at technical characteristics of this device:
| Weight | 186 g; |
| Dimensions | 7.9×80.6×157.1 mm; |
| Battery capacity | 4000 mAh, non-removable type; |
| RAM capacity | 3 Gb; |
| Volume internal memory | 32 Gb; |
| Screen | 6-inch, 368 ppi, 1080×1920; |
| Cameras | main - 16-megapixel (with autofocus and flash), front - 8-megapixel; |
| Sensors | fingerprint scanner, microscope, compass, barometer, proximity and light sensors; |
| Navigation | Glonass, GPS; |
| Wireless interfaces | NFC, bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi Direct and 802.11 ac/n/g/b/a; |
| SIM cards | 2 nano-SIM cards; |
| Connection | LTE 1, 3, 7, 20 || UMTS 2100/1900/900/850 MHz || GSM 1900/1800/900/850 MHz; |
| Supported memory cards | micro SDXC up to 128 Gb; |
| Graphics accelerator | Mali-T880 MP4; |
| Chipset | 8-core Huawei Kirin 950, 2.3 GHz; |
| OS | Android 6.0 + EMUI 4.0. |
Equipment
Huawei Mate 8 is sold in a beautiful black cardboard box, the front of which is decorated with the model name printed in gold letters.
Everything in the box is stacked in layers. On top there is a special box for the Huawei Mate 8 itself. Below it there are 3 boxes with accessories. The smartpad is equipped with a bumper that can be used to protect the ends, a set of documents, a clip for removing the nano-SIM tray, a stereo headset, a power adapter with a current of up to 2 A, and a USB cable.
Design
A review of the Huawei Mate 8 smartphone is impossible without a detailed consideration of the device’s design. The device has a truly flagship design: 100% metal body, small-sized, for a 6-inch display. The case is only 7.9 millimeters thick, its matte surface created by sandblasting.
The flat sides of the smartphone have the texture of rolled metal. The edges are decorated with shiny chamfers. Strict headbands look very stylish and noble. The phone is available in brown, black and silver colors. The build quality of the case is almost perfect; it does not deform and does not produce any sounds during various manipulations.
The front of Huawei Mate 8 is covered with 2.5D high-strength protective glass. The display occupies 86% of the front part. The fields below and above are decorated with a subtle pattern in the form of funny circles, which can only be seen from a certain angle and only in extremely bright lighting. On the field below there is a manufacturer's logo, above which there are virtual control keys.
In the center above the smartphone display there is a speaker, to the right of which you can see the front camera lens, as well as light level sensors.
The back cover of Huawei Mate 8 is made of aluminum and is non-removable. It has perfectly fitted plastic inserts of the same color as the body of the device.
At the top center of the back panel you can see the main camera, housed in an aluminum disc with a shiny edge. On the left there is a dual LED flash, under which there is a fingerprint sensor with a shiny bevel.
The right side of the smartphone is equipped with a power button and a volume rocker.
The left side is equipped with a clamp-openable tray for 2 nano-SIM cards.
At the top end of Huawei Mate 8 there is a 3.5 mm audio output and a hole for a microphone.
In the central part of the lower end there is micro USB port, on the sides of which a pair of grilles are symmetrically located, under which there are microphones and an audio speaker.
There is also a standard decoration for Huawei smartphones - a pair of star screws.
Display
Mate 8 received a 6-inch IPS matrix with FullHD resolution (1080×1920). The pixel density level is 368 pixels per 1 inch. Compared to competitors' devices, in which this figure exceeds 500, Huawei Mate 8 looks rather weak, but it is not the numbers that should be assessed, but the quality of the screen itself. It is impossible to see any jagged or pixelated fonts here without a magnifying glass. This is not the most correct technique in terms of image, but in terms of ease of use everything is excellent.
The capacitive touch surface of Huawei Mate 8 is capable of recognizing 10 simultaneous touches. You can use the device with gloves, although without much convenience, but, in any case, you will be able to accept or reject a call.
The maximum screen brightness is 490 cd/m2, and the lowest brightness is 49 cd/m2. Due to the absence of a special air gap and the presence of a polarizing filter, the user can comfortably use the device even in bright light.
The lowest black field level is 0.33 cd/m2, which is quite good for an LCD screen. The contrast level is also at a decent level - 1310:1. The use of LCD, rather than the more modern AMOLED, has led to the fact that the contrast image quality is more pleasing than the huge resolution, but on a small screen.
The situation with color Huawei screen Mate 8 is so-so. Gamma reaches a value of 2.11, which is not fatal against the standard of 2.2. But the average DeltaE deviation of 5.37 is not encouraging. This deviation is explained by the fact that the color gamut significantly exceeds sRGB standards.
The color temperature of the Huawei Mate 8 screen is 7500K, which is “colder” than the norm of 6500K. This is not critical, since you can easily switch in the settings color profiles, adjusting them to your liking.
Excellent viewing angles are made in the best traditions of IPS: even with a significant deviation from the perpendicular, color distortion does not occur, and the contrast drops slightly.
Sound
Despite a pair of decorative grilles located on the lower end of the Huawei Mate 8, underneath there is only one speaker, the maximum volume of which is not amazing. The microphone coverage angle is 125°, which is extremely important for hands-free communication.
There is an option for DTS audio enhancement in the headphone settings. The sound quality in the headphones is good. The Music app can play FLAC files.
You can listen to the radio through an FM tuner, for the operation of which you must connect a wired headset that functions as a short-wave antenna. The presence of 3 microphones allows you to record high-quality sound using a voice recorder with a highly effective noise suppression system in the “Interview” and “Meeting” special modes.
Cameras
The main camera of the Huawei Mate 8 uses a 16-megapixel Sony IMX298 sensor, the maximum lens aperture of which is f/2.0. The LED dual photoflash is capable of illuminating the subject in continuous and pulsed modes.
With the vertical orientation of the Huawei Mate 8, on the main screen at the top you can see icons for setting up the flash, going to the menu for switching modes and changing cameras (main/front).
There are 5 links to special shooting modes in a line along the bottom edge:
- "Time period";
- "Video mode";
- "Photo mode";
- "Decoration";
- "Light".
Switching between these modes is carried out by horizontal movement across the surface of the screen. Below the line there are icons for calling up a menu of various special effects filters and going to the gallery, as well as a shutter key.
There are 9 items in the special shooting modes menu:
- "Text recognition";
- "Audio notes";
- "Slowdown";
- "Water marks";
- "Autofocus";
- Pre-mode;
- "Night Shot";
- Panoramic special mode.
Default mode involves a manual option for setting photographic parameters, which are displayed in the form of icons arranged in an arc. Using another similar scale, parameters are selected for making adjustments, which include: white balance, type of focusing, exposure compensation, shutter speed, ISO sensitivity level. If necessary, this scale can be easily collapsed by touching the arrow.
Using the video and photo shooting parameters in the main menu, you can only adjust the frame proportions and resolution. Other points are related to all sorts of auxiliary capabilities for autofocus, the use of on-screen and physical keys.
The Huawei Mate 8 camera can take excellent photos in auto mode in good lighting. You can also get good shots with night photography. In the most difficult conditions, for highly efficient shooting, it is best to use the free mode. In a special mode called “Light”, for high-quality shooting you should use special accessories - a tripod and a clamp.
The main camera is capable of shooting panoramas at high resolution and perfectly coordinates the exposure option for individual frames. But this program is not capable of removing all kinds of rapidly moving objects from the middle and foreground.
In the special “Focus” mode, you can take photographs in a special, original, special format. This is a stack consisting of several photos, which allows you to enable correction of the shooting distance and record images in separate files while working with captured photographic material.
The front camera is equipped with an 8-megapixel sensor and a lens with a strictly fixed photo focus without a flash. Its aperture is f/2.4. It does an excellent job of photographing self-portraits, producing high-quality, clear photographs with competent color rendition in daylight.
Memory and memory card
The smartphone is offered in two versions: with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal memory and with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal memory.
We are reviewing Huawei Mate 8 with 32 GB and 3 GB RAM. Of the 32 GB of internal memory, no more than 24 GB are available to the user. It should be recalled that the Mate 7 tested at one time had only 16 Gb. The memory of the Mate 8 can be increased by inserting a 128 GB micro SD/XC/HC memory card instead of the second SIM card (the previous model was limited to 64 GB). In addition, support for special USB-OTG technology makes it possible to connect a flash drive.
Connection
Huawei Mate 8 works with a pair of nano-SIM cards in Dual stand-by mode: these two cards have only one transmitter. Thus, during activity on one SIM card, the second one is deactivated. The smartphone works with SIM cards according to the standard scheme; there are no special features here.
The Huawei Mate 8 smartphone supports NFC, bluetooth 4.2 LE, wi-fi standard 802.11ac in addition to standard n/g/b. There is support for LTE category 6, capable of transmitting data at speeds of more than 300 Mb/s. In our country, there are no problems with LTE; the list contains the necessary bands.
Mate 8 supports these navigation systems, like BeiDou (PRC), Glonass, GPS-A, GPS. The phone functions perfectly in navigation mode - it instantly finds satellites. Mate 8 connects to 20 satellites with 6-meter accuracy in 15 seconds. In general, this 6-inch smartphone can be used by car owners as a navigator.
Battery life and performance
This smartpad uses a non-removable battery with a capacity of 4000 mAh. Under extremely intense loads and 75% brightness, the device can last almost the entire day without recharging.
With moderate operation, the smartphone can work for approximately 30 hours, and when activating the energy-saving mode, even more than 2 days.
In addition, a fully charged battery of the smartphone in question allows you to:
Watch videos at maximum brightness for 10 hours;
Play graphically heavy video games (for example, WoT) - 5 hours;
The smartphone supports fast charging, which allows you to charge the battery by 70% in 30 minutes.
Together with Mate 8, the debut of the new 8-core HiSilicon Kirin 950 chipset, created according to the 16-nm process technology, by the Taiwanese company TSMC, took place. It has 4 powerful ARM Cortex-A72 cores with a frequency of 2.3 GHz and 4 Cortex-A53 cores with a frequency of 1.8 GHz.
High-quality processing of graphic data is provided by the ARM Mali-T880 MP4 accelerator with 4 execution units with a frequency of 900 MHz.
The Smart i5 coprocessor is responsible for the operation of the fingerprint scanner and other sensors. In addition to the latest ISP designed for image processing, the chipset integrates an LTE modem that supports Cat.6 and a dual-channel LPDDR4/LPDDR3 memory controller.
The performance of the Kirin 950 processor is 100% greater than that of the Kirin 925, which is used in previous version smartphone, energy efficiency - by 70%, and the graphics accelerator has become 126% more powerful. Despite this, latest processor noticeably inferior to Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and Samsung Exons 8890.
operating system
The Huawei Mate 8 smartphone operates on Android 6.0 OS with EMUI 4.0 shell. Huawei, as before, “shoveled” the entire Android, trying to improve it and make it more functional. The device supports Smart Dial and the Russian language, there are a lot of settings for the behavior of the phone, proprietary applications for solving many tasks, ranging from notes to a file manager.
Bottom line
Carrying out a detailed review of the Huawei Mate 8, we can say that it is a truly balanced modern smartphone, fully worthy of its flagship status. The powerful filling does not prevent this device from working autonomously for a long time.
Other advantages of this flagship include a compact and beautiful body, extremely narrow frames around the screen, great camera with an optical stabilization system, an operative fingerprint scanner.
The only drawback of the Huawei Mate 8 is its high cost of $800. The low screen resolution for a flagship smartphone and the lack of a separate slot for a memory card do not seem to be too big drawbacks.
Huawei Mate 8 video review
The review presented above perfectly complements the video review of Huawei Mate 8. It will allow you to finally understand what this smartphone is and how suitable it is for you.
A year after the announcement of its 6-inch flagship phablet Ascend Mate 7, Huawei introduced its successor - the Mate 8 smartphone. The new product received a premium design and one of the most powerful fillings for today. Detailed review new device from Huawei in our material today.
Design and Construction
Huawei is positioning its new smartphone as a gadget for business people, and the design of the device emphasizes this. It would not be a shame to take such a smartphone out of the pocket of an expensive suit at a presentation or negotiation.
On the other hand, the device in its rather large metal case looks quite brutal, not only because of the all-metal case, but also because of the dimensions: almost 16 cm in length and 8 cm in width and weighing 185 g.
It is worth noting that the manufacturer tried, if possible, not to increase the size of the device: the smartphone does not have side frames, but the 6-inch display does not allow the Mate 8 to easily fit into any pocket.
In the metal body of the phablet, plastic inserts are noticeable at the bottom and top to solve the problem of signal shielding.
The front panel is completely covered protective glass Corning Gorilla Glass 4. There are no physical or capacitive keys under the screen. The buttons appear only when the screen is turned on and disappear when they are not needed, for example, in games and when watching videos. This solution allowed us to save a couple of extra millimeters in the length of the case.
On the right side panel there is a power button, as well as a volume rocker.
There is only one slot on the left side of the case, but it can accommodate 2 cards at once – nanoSIM and microSD. If you need to install 2 SIM cards, you will have to sacrifice a microSD card. Quite often, Samsung resorts to the same measures in its smartphones, but such compromises in top-end devices are a little frustrating.
At the bottom end of the smartphone there is a connector for microUSB 2.0, as well as a speaker grille, so that when listening to music, the sound is not muffled, even if the smartphone is lying on the table. At the top end of the device there is a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a microphone.
At the top of the front panel there is a speaker, to the right of it is a front camera module with a flash. To the left of the speaker is the smartphone status indicator. If the device is charged and there are no new notifications, then this indicator is invisible.
Back panel. The Mate 8 has a round main camera module with dual flash and a fingerprint scanner. Personally, I like this design better than the squarer elements on the back of the Mate 7.
The body itself also received small roundings at the corners, and back panel It has a barely noticeable thickening in the middle, making it convenient to take the smartphone from a table or other horizontal surfaces. The gadget also lies quite comfortably in the hand, even for a device of such dimensions.
Screen
Unlike last year's Mate S, the smartphone did not receive AMOLED display. There is a 6-inch installed here IPS screen with a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels. According to Huawei, 2K displays in modern smartphones are overkill, and in general the Mate 8 confirms this. With a pixel density of 327 ppi, the fonts on the screen are clear, the picture looks bright and contrasty.
Quite often, various smartphone displays have a noticeable “cool” or “warm” tint. Huawei has given users the ability to customize the screen color temperature as they wish.
The display supports up to 10 simultaneous touches, as well as glove mode. I would like to advise those who decide to use it: press harder or choose thinner gloves. You can perform some simple actions like answering or rejecting a call while wearing gloves, but to fully work with your smartphone you will have to take them off.
One of the most attractive aspects of the smartphone, besides the design, of course, is the 8-core HiSilicon Kirin 950 chipset of Huawei's own production. Kirin 950 with Big.Little architecture has 4 high-performance Cortex-A72 cores (clocked at 2.3 GHz) and 4 energy-efficient Cortex-A53 cores ( clock frequency 1.8 GHz).
The device uses a Mali-T880 MP4 chip as a graphics accelerator. In addition, a special i5 coprocessor processes information coming from the smartphone’s sensors. Kirin 950 also has support for high-speed LTE Cat.6 networks.
At the time of its announcement in November last year, the Kirin 950 chip scored just over 80,000 points in AnTuTu. The smartphone that ended up in my hands scores 91,114 points in AnTuTu, which allows it to outperform competitors such as Meizu Pro 5 in the benchmark rating. Samsung Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge, as well as Xiaomi flagships.
Of course, at the MWC 2016 exhibition held not long ago, more powerful mobile new products with 6 GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 820 chip were presented, but all of them have not yet gone on sale (Le Max Pro with the first batch of a thousand copies does not count), so that Huawei Mate 8 can rightfully be called one of the most productive smartphones today.
The device is available in versions with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of flash memory or 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal memory. The device supports memory cards up to 128 GB.
We had a 3 GB version of the smartphone in our review, and during a week of use we did not notice any slowdowns, including when working with “heavy” and graphics-demanding mobile “toys” like Asphalt 8.
In addition to standard communication modules (Wi-Fi and Bluetooth), the gadget, as befits a modern flagship, includes a module for NFC contactless payments. For now, a Belarusian user is unlikely to be able to use it often, but it may come in handy in the future.
Usage
In addition, Huawei has equipped its phablet with the ability fast charging(Quick Charge version 3.0). According to the manufacturer, the gadget charges to 100% in 2.5 hours. It took me a little over 3 hours.
Conclusion
The new Huawei Mate 8 smartphone should appeal to users who are looking for smartphones large screens, style and functionality. It should also appeal to avid tech fans. The latter will appreciate the various additional options smartphone, as well as good autonomy And productive filling. Those who pay a lot of attention to the camera will also have something to play with in the new phablet – a large number of settings and light painting mode make it possible to experiment. Overall impressions of use new Huawei Mate 8 is purely positive for me. This is a gadget for those who value their image and are willing to pay from 11.5 million Bel. rubles for its maintenance.
Nadezhda Abramchuk