Huawei Ascend Mate review: Gentle giant

Gentle giant

GSMArena team, 18 June 2013.

Display

The Huawei Ascend Mate flaunts a 6.1" IPS+ LCD of 720p resolution, which works out to 241ppi. While this is nowhere near the 400+ pixel density of current flagships, we should not forget that it's a completely different price range we're talking about. The Ascend Mate beats a direct rival in the face of the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3, too.

Huawei Ascend Mate
Huawei Ascend Mate 6.1" IPS+ display

The Huawei Ascend Mate's screen offers very good viewing angles with no color shift and only slight contrast loss when looking at the display at an a angle.

Display test 50% brightness 100% brightness
Black, cd/m2 White, cd/m2 Contrast ratio Black, cd/m2 White, cd/m2 Contrast ratio
Sony Xperia ZL - - - 0.44 575 1294
Sony Xperia Z - - - 0.70 492 705
Huawei Ascend Mate 0.23 222 982 0.67 711 1053
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 0.12 160 1364 0.32 440 1379
HTC One 0.13 205 1580 0.42 647 1541
HTC Butterfly 0.14 173 1200 0.45 501 1104
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4 0 201 0 404
Oppo Find 5 0.17 176 1123 0.51 565 1107
Samsung N7100 Galaxy Note II 0 215 0 402
LG Optimus G Pro - - - 0.41 611 1489
Nokia Lumia 920 - - - 0.48 513 1065
LG Optimus G 0.14 197 1445 0.33 417 1438
Apple iPhone 5 0.13 200 1490 0.48 640 1320

The brightness control in the notification area is a single virtual key with four steps: Automatic, 100%, 50% and 0% brightness. There's no brightness slider as in competing Android devices. There is an additional Smart Backlight toggle in the Display Settings - this could be On or Off and we're not sure how it affects the image quailty.

Sunlight contrast ratio

  • Nokia 808 PureView
    4.698
  • Apple iPhone 5
    3.997
  • Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
    3.419
  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    3.352
  • Samsung Omnia W
    3.301
  • Samsung Galaxy S
    3.155
  • Nokia N9
    3.069
  • Samsung Galaxy Note
    2.970
  • HTC One S
    2.901
  • Samsung Galaxy S II
    2.832
  • Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
    2.801
  • Huawei Ascend P1
    2.655
  • Nokia Lumia 900
    2.562
  • HTC One
    2.504
  • Sony Xperia Z
    2.462
  • Samsung Galaxy S III mini
    2.422
  • Motorola RAZR i
    2.366
  • Sony Xperia ZL
    2.352
  • Samsung Galaxy Note II
    2.307
  • Apple iPhone 4S
    2.269
  • HTC One X
    2.158
  • Nokia N8
    2.144
  • Oppo Find 5
    2.088
  • BlackBerry Z10
    2.051
  • Apple iPhone 4
    2.016
  • Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
    1.955
  • Samsung Galaxy Camera
    1.938
  • Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
    1.913
  • HTC Butterfly
    1.873
  • Huawei Ascend Mate
    1.845
  • Sony Xperia V
    1.792
  • Sony Xperia U
    1.758
  • LG Optimus 4X HD
    1.691
  • HTC One V
    1.685
  • LG Optimus Vu
    1.680
  • HTC Desire V
    1.646
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    1.552
  • LG Optimus 3D
    1.542
  • Nokia Asha 302
    1.537
  • Nokia Lumia 610
    1.432
  • Gigabyte GSmart G1355
    1.361
  • HTC Desire C
    1.300
  • LG Optimus L7
    1.269
  • LG Optimus L9
    1.227
  • Meizu MX
    1.221
  • Sony Xperia E dual
    1.203
  • Samsung Galaxy Pocket
    1.180
  • Sony Xperia tipo
    1.166
  • Samsung Galaxy mini 2
    1.114

You can find all about our display testing routines here.


Huawei Ascend Mate's screen under a microscope

The Huawei Ascend Mate also offers an option to adjust the color temperature. It's a slider that gives you control over color balance depending on how you like your display better - cooler or warmer.

Reader comments

  • junry1984
  • 01 Jun 2015
  • UD}

i played games with the charger on my huawei ascend mate, but suddenly it turns off and never on again. many times i try to on the power but its still the same result. what should i do? please do advice.

  • SD
  • 07 Mar 2015
  • dMW

Is there any way to view google maps with the case lid closed? I would love to protect the phone with the case, but when I close the lid I am unable to view google maps, only the two default views - clock and music. Google maps would be a needy addit...

  • jinx
  • 02 May 2014
  • t7X

How can i ipgrade my ascend mate to jellybean 4.2.4?