The game is to replace your phone, tablet, laptop, camera and so on, with one converging device, but we'll leave to Mr Market to decide whether this can be done via a 6.1" smartphone successfully enough, be it one with "a screen-to-body ratio of 73% – the highest in the industry."
Apparently Huawei couldn't ring the manufacturer which produces Full HD displays at that size, and made do with 1280 x 720 pixels HD resolution for the IPS screen. The screen also sports the "Magic Touch" tech, allowing you to use it with gloves on.
The upside of the "mere" HD resolution is that there aren't as many pixels to push for the GPU, and a homebrew 1.5 GHz quad-core Hi-Silicon K3V2 processor is powering the handset, which should mean no slouch, as the K3V1 in the Ascend D was pretty fast in the first place. You also get an 8 MP rear camera with HDR, 1 MP at the front, pentaband HSPA radio, and dual-antenna design for improved reception.
The phone can be considered compact for the screen, thanks to the on-screen navigation buttons, and the 163.5 mm x 85.7 mm x 9.9 mm (6.5" x 3.4" x 0.4") chassis, but will still feel awkward to hold with one hand at that size, and at 198g of weight. The obligatory one-hand phablet UI is here, too, cramping the keyboard and dialpad left or right so you can reach them with your thumb without being Shaq.
On the plus side, Huawei has equipped it with the largest ever stock battery in a smartphone at 4050 mAh, so that you can keep watching'em movies on the subway for 10 hours, promises the company. With that screen size, it will be a shame if you don't come next month, when the phone will be launching in Huawei's homeland.
Las Vegas, U.S.A., January 7, 2013: Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, today launched the smartphone with the largest screen in the world, the HUAWEI Ascend Mate, at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The HUAWEI Ascend Mate features a huge 6.1-inch HD display, a 1.5 GHz Hi-Silicon quad-core processor and a 4050 mAh battery. Together with Huawei’s proprietary Quick Power Control (QPC) and Automated Discontinuous Reception (ADRX) battery efficiency technology and fast sharing technology, the HUAWEI Ascend Mate is proof that bigger is better.
"The HUAWEI Ascend Mate breaks barriers to deliver a supercharged entertainment, communication and creative experience for all your personal and professional needs," said Richard Yu, CEO, Huawei Consumer Business Group. "The HUAWEI Ascend Mate is an industry-leading smartphone and showcases our innovation as we continue to make great technology available to more people globally."
HUAWEI Ascend Mate has a screen-to-body ratio of 73% – the highest in the industry – which maximizes your viewing pleasure for emails, documents, video or games. The 6.1-inch HD IPS+ LCD screen has a resolution of 1280 x 720 for unsurpassed clarity and color accuracy, and ’Magic Touch’ which provides enhanced screen responsiveness even with gloves. The Ascend Mate is slim and stylish, designed to fit comfortably in a single hand at just 6.5mm thin at its narrowest part.
HUAWEI Ascend Mate features a 4050 mAh battery and Huawei’s Hi-Silicon 1.5 GHz quad-core processor. With Huawei’s QPC and ADRX smart power-saving technology, the smartphone provides up to two days of ordinary useage on a single charge. It has the fastest battery charging capability of smartphones in its range, which saves over 30% of battery charging time.
Together with global roaming functionality, the HUAWEI Ascend Mate supports five frequency bands making this smartphone perfect for international travelers. Its dual-antenna design supports high power data transmission and is optimized with maximum ratio combining method, to increase network reception by up to 2.5dB and providing an increase of 20 to 30% of overall network coverage.
Operating on Android 4.1 and featuring an 8.0-megapixel AF rear-facing camera with HDR and 1.0-megapixel HD front-facing camera, HUAWEI Ascend Mate also provides dual MIC noise reduction technology, Dolby® sound system and stereo recording. HUAWEI Ascend Mate features an Augmented Reality navigation application to help reach your destination, ’smart reading’ functionality allowing quick reference to dictionaries, Wikipedia and Google Search pages, and ’swift sharing’ to upload pictures, videos and other files two- to three-times faster than other smartphone users in a Wi-Fi environment.
Available in crystal black and pure white, the HUAWEI Ascend Mate will be on sale in China in Feburary 2013.
Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.
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