Huawei is proud of its fast 4G phones, as we saw last year from the speedy P2. This year it wants to combine massive screen size with massive speed, announcing the Ascend Mate 2 with a 6.1-inch screen and Category 4 LTE capabilities.
It’s a 6.1-inch device with a 720p IPS panel, complete with a Qualcomm MSM8928 1.6GHz quad-core processor (rather than a bespoke Huawei-made chip), 2GB of RAM and a 13-megapixel camera on the rear. It comes with 16GB of storage, 32GB worth of expandable storage, the new Emotion UI 2.0 and Android 4.3. The Mate 2 promises to have a thinner bezel at 3.1mm and slimmer body at 9.5mm.
It also supports the Category 4 LTE standard, which means it’s capable of speeds greater than any 4G smartphone on the market right now.
Category 3 devices are only capable of 4G speeds up to 100Mbps, but a Category 4 device charges that right up to 150Mbps down. Compare that to previous wireless generations and you find that DC-HSPA is only capable of 42Mbps, while HSPA+ can only muster 21Mbps.
Telstra and Vodafone both have Category 4 LTE in Australia in selected markets, with more rolling out around the country throughout 2014.
Huawei is pushing not just speed and size with the Mate 2, it’s also pushing all-day battery life with that massive 4050mAh battery and a lower resolution screen to save power. Huawei is promising two full days of “uninterrupted performance” from the Mate 2.
Huawei is so confident in the Mate 2’s battery life, that it will allow the device to actually charge your friend’s iPhone or Android devices.
Cheeky.
Huawei Australia hasn’t given us a release date or pricing for the device just yet. We’ll wait and see when it comes to Australia.