Huawei Mate 8 review

Introduction

The Huawei Mate 8 is the latest phablet by the Chinese phone manufacturer. It's a premium device all around and it surely doesn't come cheap. But for the price you pay for it, you are certainly treated to an excellent user experience and some of the best specs in the industry.

Following in the footsteps of the Mate7, the new phablet is also one seriously good-looking smartphone. It's like a tuxedo in a world of jeans and sweaters. It clearly means business.

The Mate 8 comes with what has become known as a hybrid DualSIM/microSD card slot. What it means is that there are two card slots on the phone - the first one is for your main SIM card and it can connect to LTE networks. The second slot however can either be used as a secondary SIM slot (2G-only) or for a microSD card. Depending on your needs, this can be a good or bad thing.

One of the best aspects of the Mate 8 is its fingerprint sensor on the back. It's is one the best implementations on the market, always on, blazing fast, and rarely erring. The sensor is always on, and it will unlock the smartphone and take you to the homescreen in what can be described only as a 'mere instant'. You can also set it up to take photos, answer calls or turn off your alarm.

Display

The 6-inch display on Huawei Mate 8 has FullHD resolution, which equals 1080 x 1920 pixels. At 368ppi, it's comfortably above what Apple coined as Retina resolution, and should be less taxing on the battery and graphics chip.

Design and build quality

The Mate 8 has an unmatched high-end vibe, thanks to precision-machined metal and glass components, and sharper, bolder edges.

The Huawei Mate 8 is very compact for a 6-inch smartphone. It is, in fact, 4.2mm shorter than the 5.7-inch Huawei-made Nexus 6P, and a millimeter shorter than the iPhone 6s Plus, which only has a 5.5-inch display.

The Mate 8 features an aluminum unibody, well befitting its flagship status (and price, too). The back has been sandblasted for a fine satin finish. However it's not removable and you have no access to the battery.

Battery life

The Mate 8 battery comes with an extra large capacity - 4,000mAh. The phone supports fast charging and can recharge the 9V/2A fast-charging technology can recharge that large battery in 2.5h. There is no wireless charging support. A mere 30-minute charge is rated to provide a full day of use.

Photo camera

The Huawei Mate 8 camera uses a 1/2.8" sensor with 16MP resolution made by Sony. There's optical image stabilization too and phase detection auto focus. A dual-tone LED flash can help out in the dark and will also produce more realistic flash photos.

The camera outputs noticeably soft images, which lack the detail and texture we've come to expect from high-end smartphones. There also was an awful lot of noise in all but the brightest portions of the images.

Colors are rendered on the conservative side - punchy is not what they are. In broad daylight, the Mate 8 exposes consistently accurately, without variations from shot to shot. Dynamic range is decent, with only a slight tendency to clip the highlights.

The front camera of the Mate 8 is an 8MP unit. There is enough detail, little noise, good dynamic range and pleasing colors. There is also a nice-looking background blurring.