Huawei Ascend Mate

If you're a follower of smartphones, you've probably heard of the iPhone, and the Samsung Galaxy S4, and the LG G2, and the HTC one, and all of the other major smartphones out there. And these phones do deserve some of the limelight; they're all high-quality devices that offer a great user experience for a reasonable price. That said, you may have missed a smartphone with a great offering of features and a very affordable price that has remained somewhat of an 'underdog' on the smartphone market: the Chinese-built, 6.1-inch, Huawei Ascend Mate.

The Ascend mate runs on Android 4.1, which is pretty standard for devices that aren't the latest and great. It's got an HD screen, which looks pretty sharp, albeit not quite as sharp as phone like the Galaxy S4 (but still sharp enough to read finite text and watch movies). It has a fairly unique skin added to it, so if you're looking for an alternative to TouchWiz or Sense UI, you'll be quite content with this phone. Videos look really great on the Mate, which is obviously pretty important on a device with a 6.1-inch display. It's also got a 3G connection, which, although not 4G, should satisfy most of your streaming needs.

Another quality aspect of the Mate is its battery life. Testing has shown that the Mate can last all day (and more) on a single charge, with moderate use. Again, battery life is a very important feature on a device as large as this, and the Mate delivers in this regard as well.

In terms of the screen size, it's, well, rather large. It's bigger than the Galaxy Note 3, which measure 5.7-inches, but can't quite claim the title of 'largest smartphone in the world', with the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 having snatched that bragging right for itself. The Mate takes advantage of this size by being able to display programs normally suited for tablets, which can be really handy for productivity and the like. In addition, the Mate comes with a smaller keyboard which hugs the right side of the screen for one-handed use, which is a nice feature to have. In general, the Ascend Mate comes with a lot of high-quality features that you may or may not end up using, a tactic that LG has utilized with its newer flagship smartphones, that spesification is not different with Spesifikasi Huawei Ascend P7.

The Mate comes with an 8-megapixel shooter, which should be great for most of your camera needs. At times, colors may become oversaturated, thus causing a decrease in visible detail in the photo, but this isn't a major concern. It also comes equipped with a 1-megapixel front-facing camera for videos calls and recording video in 720p HD, which isn't exactly top of the line, but which again should suit most of your needs.

In terms of processing power, the Mate isn't quite where it should be, unfortunately. It comes with a 1.5GHz processor backed up by 2 gigabyte of ram; in spite of this, tests have shown that the Mate lags frequently when performing basic operations, which can at time deter from one's overall enjoyment of the device. It doesn't freeze up, but it's too bad Huawei couldn't have ensured that a smoother experience was present, especially considering the beneficial aspects of the phone.

One of the best aspects of the Ascend Mate, though, is its price. You can buy this 6.1-inch behemoth for as little as $360 off-contract, which is a really great deal, especially considering that the Galaxy Note 3 can fetch a price as high as $800. For the quality features you'll get with this phone, I think you'll really be happy if you purchase this device. I especially like the price because it promotes the advancement of rapidly falling smartphone costs already being shipped by companies like Motorola and Google, something that is very beneficial to the end-user not only in terms of money saved, but also because it gives them more freedom to choose their wireless carrier, something I've discussed before.

All in all, in spite of the Mate not receiving much press, the Chinese-operated Huawei has succeeded in delivering a high-quality phablet to American markets. Despite several noticeable defects to the phone, such as a surprisingly sluggish processor and a somewhat lacking screen resolution, the Ascend Mate delivers where you need it to most. Best of all, you can snatch it up very cheaply off-contract compared to other phablet giants, which makes this device one of the best of its category on the market right now.