Huawei Ascend Mate7 Pro Reviews

Price-wise, the Ascend Mate 7 will set you back around $525 unlocked and off-contract, which seems like the perfect amount of money to pay. It doesn’t pack the same ultra-high-end quality as the $700 Galaxy Note 4 or the $800+ iPhone 6 Plus, but it’s a reasonable high end contender with a massive screen that presents decent value to anyone who buys it.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and the Huawei Ascend Mate7 are two of the best options on the market right now, if you’re looking for a smartphone with a large screen. With this in mind, the 6-inch Mate7 may be a bit too steep of a form factor for some, with its wide screen that is harder to operate with one hand, so before looking into the specs, we do recommend you considering the size difference with these two. With the Galaxy Note 4, Samsung has made some big strides forward - the metal frame, new elegant design, and the simplified TouchWiz are all steps in the right direction. The Mate7, on its part, is even better in terms of style and build quality is solid with its sturdy metal back, but the software often feels like a blatant clone of iOS. Then, we’re in love with the 16-megapixel OIS camera on the Note 4, a shooter capable of capturing some of the best images of any smartphone, while the Mate7 is good but not that great. The Snapdragon 805 chip is also a level above Huawei’s own HiSilicon chip - the Qualcomm chip is faster in terms of both CPU and GPU.

The Huawei Ascend Mate7 isn't for everybody. Certainly, the 6-inch screen will put off a sizable portion of potential customers, as that's obviously way into phablet territory. On the bright side, however, the Mate7 is a really compact device relative to its screen size, and, design-wise, leaves very little to desire. It's a well-built, sturdy metal phone that leaves no room for doubt concerning its high-end, premium status. In fact, looking at the full picture, it's hard to pinpoint any one segment in which the Mate7 under-delivered on its high-end promise. That doesn't mean it's perfect – the camera could use some work, and the UI has some kinks to straighten out. But in every other way, this is a great pick, especially if you're looking for a phablet.