The Chinese company Huawei is pushing forward with all its might to compete with brands such as Apple and Samsung, and ultimately become a trendsetter in the smartphone market. Until recently, it was impossible to even mention this, but today we are holding in our hands the premium metal phablet Huawei Mate 8, which is practically not inferior in price to the sacred iPhone 6s Plus and Samsung Galaxy S7 edge.
Huawei does not skimp on epithets when describing the advantages of the Mate 8’s exterior. There is an all-metal body, a 2.5D diamond-cut screen, and sandblasting of the surface - in general, everything is first-class. One cannot but agree with this - the device is truly of very high quality, truly beautiful, technologically advanced, and exudes the aura of an expensive business item. But let's be honest: its design is ordinary, there is no zest, no signature character.
It's too similar to last year's Huawei Ascend Mate7. Moreover, since Huawei is still a successful company, many other Chinese manufacturers boldly borrow its ideas, and therefore there are a lot of smartphones similar to our hero today. They'll even have the same fingerprint scanners on the back. By the way, compared to last year’s model, the scanner depth has been reduced by 0.45 mm, notes Huawei in the hope that we will all immediately take crispy bills out of our pockets.
Huawei Mate 8 is a classic phablet with a classic large IPS screen with a diagonal of 6 inches. A little more and there would be a tablet! At the same time, the device itself is by no means gigantic - the screen occupies 85% of the front panel area, there are practically no frames.
The resolution is 1920x1080, the density is 368 ppi, and this is not as much as we would like, because we are dealing with a flagship phablet, and we would like Quad HD. Moreover, if you use Huawei Mate 8 with virtual reality glasses, you will see pixels. To be fair, we’ll say that the pixels are visible even at higher resolutions, but we repeat – we have a flagship phablet in our hands, and you naturally expect the highest possible numbers from it.
There are no comments about the picture quality. The color rendition is true, the brightness is enough so that even in sunny weather you can watch videos, and even more so surf websites, text with WhatsApp, walk on Google Maps and “swipe” girls on Tinder during your lunch break on a bench.
Performance
Huawei Mate 8 is built on the proprietary HiSilicon Kirin 950 processor. And this is complete stuffing! An eight-core chipset based on ARM Cortex-A72, made using a 16-nanometer FinFET Plus process technology based on transistors with a 3D structure, flavored with a Mali-T880 GPU – sounds serious, doesn’t it?
When the Huawei Mate 8 with 3 GB of RAM was just born, it received the laurels of the most powerful smartphone in the world, leaving behind all competitors on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 and Samsung Exynos 7420. Now, when 2016 processors rule the roost, Huawei Mate 8 is already slipping somewhat in the ranking, but still falls into the top 10 most productive AnTuTu smartphones, taking the last tenth place.
Let's get a look. Having scored 91,665 points in AnTuTu, our hero was ahead of Samsung Galaxy Note 5, iPhone 6, Meizu Pro 5, Samsung Galaxy S6, i.e. the deadliest devices of 2015! However, today it is inferior to Meizu Pro 6, LG G5, iPhone SE, iPhone 6s and, of course, Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. Does this mean anything to the average user like you and me?
Absolutely nothing! The device simply flies and will continue to fly for a very, very long time. Absolutely all games run at maximum graphic settings - at least Modern Combat 5: Eclipse. What more could you want?
But let's look at the camera. Huawei Mate 8 became the first smartphone to receive a 16-megapixel Sony IMX298 photo module with f/2.0 aperture, phase detection autofocus and four-axis image stabilization. Matrix area 1/2.8 inches, pixel size 1.2 microns.
Indicators are worse than those of the iPhone 6s Plus! Yes, the pixel size is approximately the same, but the aperture is 0.2 larger. However, let's see how Huawei Mate 8 shoots.
In sunny weather, pictures are sharp, with a wide dynamic range and ideal exposure - without gaps in the shadows or white spots in the highlights.
At night, of course, there is noise. This is not to say that the camera produces any extraordinary results.
Macro photography demonstrates all the delights of high-aperture optics - Huawei Mate 8 can create beautiful bokeh. True, sharpness when shooting a moving object, be it a bee or a flower swaying in the wind, is not so easy.
An attempt to film the kittens playing in the room was unsuccessful. The miracle did not happen - the kittens were smeared, and nothing could be done about it.
Overall, the Huawei Mate 8 camera left a good impression. It's a pleasure to shoot with, it produces beautiful, sharp images. Macro photography is a particular pleasure, but only if there is a static object in the frame, otherwise you can get upset. The lack of flagship features is also a little frustrating: there is no laser autofocus and you cannot shoot 4K video.
Other features
Experts are sure that today there is a crisis of expensive things. People are in no hurry to buy expensive flagships because performance alone is not enough to convince them of the rationality of the purchase. Realizing this, manufacturers are trying to endow their devices with interesting little things.
Fingerprint's scanner. In Huawei Mate 8 it is located on the back side. It works at lightning speed, identifies the owner in just 0.5 seconds, and allows you to lock and unlock not only your smartphone, but also folders with personal content. If necessary, it will remember several fingerprints.
EMUI interface. Yes, Huawei Mate 8 runs on the Android platform, but the Chinese covered it with a proprietary interface that made communicating with the smartphone as simple as possible. Plus, there are some interesting things in it.
For example, control your smartphone with “knuckle movements.” We drew the letter “C” and launched the camera. Draw a line across the screen with your knuckle and turn on the two-window mode. By the way, note that this mode only works with some applications. For example, you can watch videos and photos at the same time, but you won’t be able to watch videos and surf in the Chrome browser.
The control button is another feature of the EMUI interface. It hangs on top of most of the screen, you can drag it back and forth and use it to open a menu with the buttons “Back”, “Work screen”, “Recent”, “Lock screen”, “Optimization”.
Supports two SIM cards. It seems that this is no longer a new product today, but not many flagship smartphones provide such luxury. Of the two SIM cards in Huawei Mate 8, only one can work in LTE Cat.6 networks, while the second can only work in 2G. It's sad that Huawei is sticking to the same tray design, which can accommodate either two SIM cards or one SIM card and a microSD memory card. But what if you need both a memory card and two SIM cards?
In general, there are a lot of such little things in Huawei Mate 8. However, we’ll leave the joy of discovering them to you, because the more you find them yourself, the more pleasant your communication with the phablet will be.
Working hours
So, we have a large screen and a powerful processor, and then a reasonable question: how long can this miracle go without recharging? Don't worry, this is all very well. The battery capacity is decent – 4000 mAh. There are energy saving modes. As a result, we have 2–2.5 days of battery life in mixed mode. At the same time, the smartphone takes only 45 minutes to charge 50%. Excellent performance!
Huawei made a great phablet. Comfortable, powerful, with a decent camera and excellent battery life. It’s not so easy to find fault with him, because everything here seems to be in the right mind. However, for that kind of money you want something more interesting - either in design, or in functions, or in everything at once. In the case of the iPhone 6s Plus, we understand what we are paying money for. After all, this is Apple. In the case of the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, it’s even more clear – just look at the curved screen. What about Huawei Mate 8? This is where you need to look at the roots, because behind the strict design lies a powerful, long-playing phablet, which may not be as interesting as its competitors, but is nevertheless more practical.
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Huawei Mate 8 (reviews, photos are posted later in the article) is a phablet from a Chinese manufacturer manufactured in November 2015. In many respects, this device belongs to the premium class, which determines its high cost. But what you get for your money is ease of use and some of the best specifications in the industry.
Huawei Mate 8: reviews, specifications
The main technical characteristics of the phone are as follows:
- Display 6.0", 1920 pixels.
- Camera 16 MP, video 1080p.
- Processor 8-core Hisilicon Kirin 950 with a frequency of 2.3 GHz.
- The size of RAM is 3 or 4 GB, flash memory is 32 or 64 GB, additional memory is up to 128 GB.
- Lithium polymer battery with a capacity of 4000 mAh.
- Weight - 185 g.
- Dimensions - 157 x 81 x 7.9 mm.
Following in the footsteps of the Mate 7, the phablet is also a serious and good-looking smartphone. He loudly declares: this is business.
But the high price ($450), some characteristics that do not correspond to premium phones, and reviews suggest that the phablet is not worth that kind of money. Better alternatives are the Nexus 6P and Galaxy Note 5. The same size, they offer sharper, brighter images and a top-notch camera.
Design and build quality
The design of Huawei Mate 8 is highly rated by customer reviews. The phone has an unrivaled business-class aura with precision machined metal and glass parts, sharper, bolder edges. Available in gold, silver, gray and coffee finishes.
For a 6-inch smartphone, the device is very compact. The phone is 4.2mm shorter than the 5.7-inch Nexus 6P from the same manufacturer, and smaller by a millimeter than the iPhone 6s Plus, which only has a 5.5-inch diagonal display.
The phablet features an aluminum unibody design befitting its flagship status. The back panel features a fine satin finish. True, it is not removable, and there is no access to the battery.
Hybrid slot
The Mate 8 comes with what's called a hybrid DualSIM/MicroSD card slot. This means that the phone has two card slots. The first is for the main SIM card and can connect to LTE networks. The second slot can be used to connect a second SIM card (2G only) or a MicroSD memory card. Depending on your needs, this can be either good or bad.
The best fingerprint scanner
One of the best aspects that distinguishes the Huawei Mate 8 smartphone, user reviews note, is the presence of a fingerprint sensor located on the rear panel. This is one of the best implementations on the market: the sensor is always on, blazing fast and rarely makes mistakes. Unlocking and displaying the start screen occurs almost instantly. In addition, the sensor can be configured to take pictures, answer calls, or turn off alarms.
Display
The 6-inch display has Full HD resolution, which corresponds to 1080 x 1920 pixels. The 368 pixels per inch density is both higher than what Apple calls Retina and should be easy on the battery and graphics chip.
The phablet uses an IPS-NEO LCD panel with JDI, which provides greater black depth. User reviews call the black Huawei Mate 8 not as impressive as AMOLED displays.
The maximum brightness level when displaying white is 471 nits. Although this is not an outstanding result, it is still quite a lot. The stated contrast ratio is nevertheless excellent - 1361:1. In Huawei Mate 8, owner reviews note good readability of the display in bright sunlight.
In terms of color accuracy, the phablet's screen has an average Delta E deviation of 6.1, which is a little higher than what we would ideally like. But even many flagship devices show worse results, so this smartphone falls somewhere in the middle. To consider the screen to be correctly calibrated, its maximum deviation should not exceed 4.
Battery life
Mate 8 comes with an ultra-high capacity 4000mAh battery. The phone supports fast charging and can recharge such a large capacity battery using 9V/2A technology in just 2.5 hours. With a charging speed of 49.33 mAh/min, the phablet is among the fastest charging smartphones. When using stock memory, the Mate 8 is on par with the Galaxy S6 and Note 5. The Nexus 6P is a bit slower, and the LG G4 and Honor 7 are far behind. The speed is constant (from 0 to 85%) for about 75 minutes and then slows down significantly. This is something to keep in mind when you need to quickly restore your phone. not supported. 30 minutes of charge should be enough for a full day of device operation.
Special testing has shown that the Mate 8 has an endurance rating of 103 hours in single SIM mode. This is an estimate of how long the phone will last if used for an hour of calls, web browsing, and video playback per day.
This scheme may not correspond to an individual scenario, but it allows you to compare the operating time of different devices.
103 hours of operation in this mode is an excellent result. There are only a few smartphones that can reach three digits. Moreover, no current competitor in the upper segment is able to come close to this phone in terms of Internet surfing time, even if there are some that surpass it in video playback mode.
The long-term operation of the phablet is partly due to the fact that Android 6 has an energy-saving utility called Doze. Marshmallow puts some apps into a deep sleep when in standby mode, reducing power consumption. In addition, the manufacturer offers the ability to block or allow individual applications to run in the background. The battery manager also identifies the most energy-consuming applications.
The entire Mate line supports the ability to charge another phone.
Audio
The design of the case with holes for two speakers can be misleading. Music lovers will be disappointed to discover that sound only comes from the right one, and the left one is just for show. The phablet is equipped with a 3.5 mm jack, but the headphones, unlike the Mate S, do not reproduce DTS sound. is not a big drawback, since it is very difficult to discern the difference.
The loudspeaker volume of the Huawei Mate 8 (32 GB) is rated below average by user reviews. The Galaxy Note5 and LG V10 are a bit louder, but the XL is superior in this regard.
Nevertheless, the phablet exceeded all expectations in terms of sound quality through the 3.5 mm jack.
When connected to a powered external amplifier, the smartphone's output is clear and its volume is well above average, making it one of the best among its competitors.
What's even more impressive is that connecting headphones does not cause distortion - even the usual crosstalk in stereo mode is very small, and the end result is excellent. Other characteristics are also intact and the volume level is high.
Camera
The smartphone's camera uses a 1/2.8" Sony sensor with a resolution of 16 megapixels. There is optical image stabilization and phase detection autofocus. A two-tone LED flash is useful in the dark and will allow you to take more realistic photos.
User reviews call photos taken by Huawei Mate 8 too soft. Although on paper the characteristics of the device are more than sufficient, in practice they are not confirmed. Photos lack the detail and texture common to high-end smartphones. Additionally, all but the brightest parts of the image are riddled with noise.
Colors are displayed conservatively - they cannot be called energetic. During the day, exposure is consistently accurate, with no variation from shot to shot. Dynamic range is decent, with only a slight tendency to limit bright areas.
The front 8-megapixel camera of Huawei Mate 8 is rated positively by users. Detail is good, there is little noise, good dynamic range and nice colors. There is also a beautiful background blur.
Overall, compared to images taken on the Galaxy S6, Sony Xperia Z5 and LG G4, the photos are lackluster. This is not a phone for avid photography enthusiasts, but for documenting everyday life and posting photos on social networks, the cameras will do the job.
Camcorder
The smartphone can record video in resolutions up to 1080p at 30 or 60 frames per second. Oddly enough, the phablet does not support recording in 2160p and 4K format, although most of its competitors already offer this capability.
At least when recording video, the optical image stabilization system is used, and the result is good and stable even when shooting handheld. True, stabilization in the Galaxy Note 5 works better.
User reviews call the video quality of Huawei Mate 8 insufficient. Images lack the detail you'd expect from such clarity and have limited dynamic range. The good news is that there are no annoying focus jumps, the image is smooth and stable.
Software
The smartphone uses the Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system with its own interface EmotionUI v.4.0. The latter, to put it mildly, has much less in common with Android than with iOS. For faithful followers of traditions, the manufacturer has left the option of replacing the user interface.
The lock screen of a smartphone is filled with many things and events, from alternating screensavers after each activation of the device (each time the user is greeted with a different stunning wallpaper) and ending with many other functions.
As is common in Chinese Android interfaces, the app bar does not appear after the lock screen.
Movement tracking also plays a significant role. There are flip gestures, as well as gathering, tilting, and even things like joint detection and drawing. All of them can be customized to the user's taste.
The interface looks like it is designed for a user with low vision. The default settings are to stretch content across the full 6 inches of the screen. But this can be corrected if you select medium or small display mode in the display settings instead of large.
Multi-window
The Huawei Mate 8 (32GB) smartphone is considered good by customer reviews due to its potentially convenient, if used in practice, limited multi-window functionality. It is launched by sliding a knuckle or, much more logically, holding down the recent applications button. Allows you to view two applications simultaneously. You can resize windows and swap them around. True, the choice of supported programs is limited, and the much-needed browser is not among them.
Performance testing
The Mate 8 uses the Kirin 950 chipset made by HiSilicon, a subsidiary of Huawei. This is not the first in-house chip from the manufacturer, which is constantly putting efforts into creating its own electronic circuit designs. All Kirin chips have traditionally had problems with graphics performance, but when it comes to the Mali-T880 integrated graphics processor in the Huawei Ascend Mate 8, user reviews report no such shortcomings.
Tests show that at the time of its appearance, the phablet was one of the fastest smartphones on the market. It outperformed quite a few phones like the Galaxy Note5, Nexus Plus and V10.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages:
- The size of a 6-inch phablet does not exceed the size of 5.7-inch devices.
- Long battery life.
- Android 6.0.
- All metal body.
- Good and fast working fingerprint sensor.
- Two SIM cards.
- Leader in the class on the finer details of settings and granting rights to applications.
- Great sounding headphones.
Flaws:
- The photo and video camera are mediocre.
- 2160p and 4K formats are missing.
- Low resolution.
Huawei Mate 8: reviews, overall review
At one time, the phablet was the best 6-inch smartphone, only the diagonal size is critical. The phone certainly makes a very convincing case in its favor. Take the display, which has high contrast and exceptional readability of the LCD panel in sunlight. Battery life is also admirable. The processor will do everything you need, and even much more.
Unfortunately, the image and video quality of the Huawei Mate 8 (32GB) is called mediocre by user reviews. Not everyone will like EmotionUI, even though the interface offers best-in-class app management capabilities.
At the time of its announcement, this smartphone with a 6-inch screen showed record performance. At the same time, despite its size, the elegant metal case with a fingerprint sensor on the rear panel houses a fairly capacious battery. Vesti.Hi-tech noted all the advantages and disadvantages of Huawei Mate 8.
As you know, the Huawei Mate line of smartphones was once opened by the 6.1-inch Ascend Mate phablet. At the same time, from the moment of the announcement at IFA 2014 to the presentation to the whole world of Mate 8 (the Ascend sub-brand has sunk into oblivion) with the same 6-inch screen, more than a year has passed. Let us remember that the intermediate model Mate S received only a 5.5-inch screen. According to the manufacturer, the Mate 8 model continues Huawei's strategy aimed at creating premium devices that satisfy the needs of the most demanding users. In particular, the new product, designed for both professional use and entertainment, offers the optimal balance between long battery life and high performance. Moreover, as for the latter, on the eve of the official presentation of Mate 8, truly record results were obtained on the test sample. Although the situation has now changed, the new product still occupies a worthy position among its equally famous rivals.
Specifications
- Model: NXT-L29
- OS: Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with EUI 4.0 shell
- Processor: HiSilicon Kirin 950 8-core 64-bit processor, ARM big.LITTLE GTS architecture, ARMv8-A instruction set, (4 ARM Cortex-A72 cores, 2.3 GHz + 4 ARM Cortex-A53 cores, 1.8 GHz ), Smart i5 coprocessor for working with sensors
- Graphics subsystem: ARM Mali-T880 MP4 (900 MHz)
- RAM: 3 GB (LPDDR4, 1333 MHz), 2-channel, 64-bit
- Storage memory: 32 GB, microSD/HC/XC memory card slot (up to 128 GB)
- Interfaces: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz + 5 GHz), Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.2, microUSB for charging/syncing, 3.5 mm headphone jack, NFC, USB- OTG
- Screen: capacitive, JDI IPS-Neo, 6.0-inch diagonal, resolution 1920x1080 pixels, pixel density per inch 368 ppi, color gamut 95% NTSC, contrast ratio 1500:1, protective glass 2.5D Gorilla Glass 4, glove operation
- Cameras: main - 16 MP, Sony IMX298 (1/2.8 inch), f/2.0 aperture, 27 mm EGF, PDAF phase autofocus, optical stabilization, dual two-color flash, video recording 1080p@60 fps, slo-mo video 720p@120 fps, digital zoom 4x; front - 8 MP, Sony IMX179 (1/3.2 inches), f/2.4 aperture, EGF 26 mm, video 1080p@30 fps
- Network: 2G, 3G (HSPA+, up to 42 Mbit/s), 4G LTE Cat. 6 (up to 150/50 Mbit/s); LTE-FDD: band 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20.26; LTE-TDD: band 38, 39, 40
- SIM card configuration: nanoSIM (4FF format) + nanoSIM (4FF format)/microSD
- SIM card operating mode: Dual SIM Dual Standby (DSDS)
- Navigation: GPS/GLONASS/BDS, A-GPS
- Radio: FM tuner
- Sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, barometer, light and proximity sensors, fingerprint scanner
- Battery: non-removable, lithium polymer, 4,000 mAh (15.2 Wh), supports fast charging
- Colours: metallic silver, graphite gray
- Dimensions: 157.1x80.6x7.9 mm
- Weight: 185 grams
Design, ergonomics
The design of the new, “big” flagship from Huawei, of course, has changed a little, although the general concept remains the same.
In turn, the front camera, based on an 8-megapixel Sony IMX179 Exmor photo module (optical sensor size 1/3.2 inches), received a wide-angle lens with an EGF of 26 mm and an aperture of f/2.4. The maximum resolution here is 3264x2448 pixels (8 MP, 4:3) and 3264x1840 pixels (6 MP, 16:9), respectively.
Both cameras can shoot in Full HD resolution (1920x1080 pixels, 16:9) with a frame rate of 30 fps, while for the main camera the latter parameter can be increased to 60 fps. All content is saved in MP4 container files (AVC - video, AAC - audio). There is still no recording format with 4K resolution. However, there is the possibility of slow motion shooting (up to four times, 120 fps), as well as “time lapses”, all with HD quality (720p).
The Camera app now includes options such as Photos, Videos, Beautify (for enhancing portraits), Time Lapse (for time-lapses), and Lights (for low-light shooting with a tripod) ). The latter, in particular, contains the presets “Light of Lanterns”, “Light Graffiti”, “Water” and “Stars”.
In the settings menu, among other things, it is worth noting the “Professional” mode, where it is possible to manually select parameters such as exposure metering method, ISO, shutter speed, exposure compensation, focusing (including manual) and white balance on the “orbital” interface.
The front camera settings offer, in particular, the “Perfect Selfie” mode, where, along with the usual beautification effect, you can adjust additional parameters (“Smoothing”, “Whitening”, “Big eyes”, “Bright eyes”, “Narrow face” ).
Shooting can be done using the volume rocker, which can also be easily assigned to manually focus or zoom the image. The transition to the “Camera” application (also with simultaneous shooting) from the lock screen is traditionally suggested to be activated by double-clicking the volume rocker (down button). At the same time, you can initiate the shutter release with a voice command (the “Audio control” option).
By the way, for image processing, the Mate 8 abandoned the use of an external Altec ISP image processing coprocessor, and relied on the module integrated on the Kirin 950 chip. The new DSP, the creation of which was invested almost $100 million, supports working with 14-bit images.
Despite the two decorative grilles on the bottom end of the smartphone, underneath them there is only one “multimedia” speaker, the maximum volume of which is not amazing to the imagination, not to mention the ears. For headphones, in the settings, like those, it is possible to activate the DTS (Digital Theater System) sound enhancement option. At the same time, the proprietary Music application can play FLAC files.
Broadcasting radio stations via an FM tuner, the operation of which requires the connection of a wired audio headset as a short-wave antenna, can be output to a “multimedia” speaker. Thanks to the presence of three microphones, in the Voice Recorder application, in addition to working in normal mode, it is proposed to record stereo sound with effective noise suppression in the Meeting and Interview modes. By the way, the coverage angle of the “conversational” microphone is 120 degrees, which is especially important for “hands-free” calls.
Filling, performance
Along with the Mate 8, a new system-on-chip (SoC) HiSilicon Kirin 950 debuted. This chip is manufactured at the facilities of the Taiwanese company TSMC using the 16-nm FinFET Plus process technology, which avoids overheating problems.
The Kirin 950 is powered by an 8-core 64-bit processor with four ARM Cortex-A72 cores clocked at up to 2.3 GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores with a maximum frequency of 1.8 GHz in the ARM big.LITTLE GTS configuration. The ARM Mali-T880 MP4 accelerator with four execution units, the clock frequency of which has increased to 900 MHz, is responsible for processing graphics data. But the Smart i5 coprocessor handles the fingerprint scanner and the rest of the sensors. In addition to the new ISP for image processing, the chip also integrates a 2-channel LPDDR3/LPDDR4 memory controller and an LTE modem supporting Cat.6 (300/50 Mbit/s).
Compared to the Kirin 925, according to Huawei, the processor performance of the Kirin 950 has increased to 100%, the graphics accelerator has increased to 125%, and energy efficiency has increased to 70%. However, the new crystal is clearly inferior in power to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and Samsung Exynos 8890.
This, in particular, was reflected in the results of the AnTuTu Benchmark, where the top steps of the pedestal were occupied by the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (Exynos 8890) and Xiaomi Mi 5 (Snapdragon 820) smartphones. By the way, the difference between the results of the real and the “reference” Mate 8 is only about 1.3%.
When assessing the amount of horsepower and the efficiency of using processor cores (Geekbench 3, Vellamo), the smartphone topped the final tables.
At all settings of the Epic Citadel visual test (High Performance, High Quality and Ultra High Quality), the average frame rate differed by only tenths - 60.3 fps, 60.2 fps and 59.1 fps, respectively.
On the universal gaming benchmark 3DMark, where the smartphone was tested on the recommended Sling Shot set (ES 3.1), a result of 926 points was recorded.
But the total number of points earned by the Mate 8 on the cross-platform benchmark Base Mark OS II was 1,812.
Of the 32 GB of internal memory, approximately 24.63 GB is available, and, of course, even less is free (about 23 GB). Let us remind you that the one tested at one time (model MT7-L09) carried only 16 GB on board. To expand storage, the Mate 8 has a combined slot for a second nanoSIM or a microSD/HC/XC memory card up to 128 GB (the predecessor was limited to 64 GB). In addition, thanks to the support of USB-OTG technology, it is easy to connect a flash drive to the device.
Two nanoSIM (4FF) format subscriber identification modules are connected to one radio module and operate in Dual SIM Dual Standby mode (always active, but if one of them is busy, then the other is also unavailable at the same moment). In the SIM card settings, it is proposed to determine which subscriber identification module will work with 4G/3G networks, while the remaining one will be content with only 2G. Among the wide range of 4G frequency bands, among others, there is also the “Russian trio” - FDD-LTE Band 3 (1,800 MHz), Band 7 (2,600 MHz) and Band 20 (800 MHz). According to the manufacturer, Mate 8 works on mobile networks in 217 countries and regions, which is especially attractive for frequently traveling business users.
Among the flagship wireless communications, it is worth noting the 2-band Wi-Fi module 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 and 5 GHz), as well as Bluetooth 4.2 and NFC interfaces. Let us remind you that the implementation of Wi-Fi Direct allows a smartphone to communicate with another device without routers and hot spots. To improve speed, Wi-Fi+ settings are designed to enable smart switching between Wi-Fi networks and mobile data networks. But Signal+ technology helps the smartphone choose the most optimal communication mode, improving the quality of the connection while driving at high speed.
GPS, GLONASS and BDS satellite systems are used to determine location and navigation. A-GPS mode is also available.
The capacity of the non-removable battery of the Mate 8 compared to its predecessor has even decreased slightly (by 100 mAh) and amounted to 4,000 mAh. However, if you have a USB-OTG cable, you can recharge other gadgets from the battery of the “large” flagship. Judging by the published information, the new smartphone should come with a fast charger (9 V/2 A). When using such an adapter for 30 minutes, according to the manufacturer, the battery charge will be sufficient to operate the smartphone throughout the day. But with a 100% battery charge, you can count on about 22 days of standby time or two days of battery life.
For the Mate 8 battery, the AnTuTu Tester test program showed a good result - 10,060 points. Judging by the published information, the device should last up to 98 hours when listening to music, up to 28 hours on calls (3G), up to 17 hours when watching videos and up to 20 hours on web surfing (4G). At the same time, every hour of continuous playback of test videos (in MP4 format with hardware decoding in Full HD quality and at full brightness) reduced the battery charge by an average of 9.5% (estimated at 7 hours).
In the "Advanced Settings" (subsection "Battery Manager"), which also provides for optimization and monitoring of energy consumption, as usual, three modes are offered - "Productive" (online video, games), "Smart" (everyday work) and "Energy Saving" . The latter mode can be disabled altogether or activated when the battery level is low (8%, 20% or 30%). In this case, the device turns into a regular “dialer”, when you can only make voice calls, view contacts and exchange messages.
Software Features
The “big” flagship from Huawei runs the Android 6.0 operating system, the interface of which is now covered by a new version of the proprietary shell EMUI 4.0. Its appearance has not changed too noticeably, and there are not so many new opportunities.
Now, for example, it is enough to simply make video recordings from the screen (screencasts), as well as divide it along the larger side into two parts for different applications (for example, a video player and a file manager). In addition, as in the flagship, the ability to take “smart” screenshots, including “long” ones that occupy several screens, has been preserved.
Huawei notes that the effective recognition area of the Mate 8 fingerprint scanner has increased by 10%, while the unlocking speed has doubled. In practice, this process really looks lightning fast. By the way, simple pre-registration of up to five fingerprints allows you not only to quickly unlock your smartphone, but also to increase the level of security for access to personal folders or applications. Using the scanner's touch pad, you can also answer a call, turn off the alarm, and take a photo or video from the Camera application.
Purchase, conclusions
The “big” flagship from Huawei turned out to be a truly balanced device - the most powerful hardware does not prevent this smartphone from providing long-term battery life. Other advantages of the Mate 8 include a compact metal body, narrow frames around the 6-inch display, a camera with optical stabilization, and a fast fingerprint scanner.
The main disadvantage of the Mate 8 for Russian buyers was, of course, its price, which at the start of sales was announced at 54,990 rubles. However, in the current economic reality, perhaps not a single modern premium device can boast of a reasonable price tag. As for the relatively low screen resolution for a flagship (only Full HD) and the alternative installation of either a second nanoSIM card or microSD, these shortcomings no longer seem so significant.
Results of the review of the Huawei Mate 8 smartphone
Pros:
- Compact metal body
- The most powerful filling
- Narrow bezels around a large display
- Camera with optical stabilization
- Long battery life
- Fast fingerprint scanner
Minuses:
- High price
- "Non-flagship" screen resolution
- Alternative installation of either a second nanoSIM card or microSD
Huawei Mate 8 smartphone - review
Second desktop with applications. By default, several applications with a Chinese interface are installed here (search engine, browser, social networks, navigation), which, however, can be easily removed. Instead of the Google Play store, the HiApp store is installed here, which is better not allowed to install and update any recommended applications, because they will all be in Chinese.
Regarding the installation of Google services. Google Play Store is easily found by searching in HiApp and installed. And then the services you need are installed from the Google Play Store.
The only service that I somehow couldn't install from the Google Play Store is Google contacts synchronization. But this application was easily installed via GApps Installer (Google services installer). Quick switch icons.
They are easy to edit.
In the list of running tasks there is a "Clear" button (unload programs from memory).
Themes for the design of the shell and icons, as usual with Huawei, can be changed within very wide limits. Here, for example, is one of these topics - in a completely different style.
The shell supports two-window mode.
You can immediately call the camera from the lock window. Also, by swiping upward, the proprietary action and application bar appears.
View of the application bar on the lock window when an audio track is running.
Talk. There is a recording mode.
Testing the channel speed for 4G showed the expected speed. The same applied to the Wi-Fi speed - it was at maximum.
The quality of telephone communication was good, the subscriber could be heard very well. The noise reduction system worked quite effectively. Audio The sound of the built-in speaker is of surprisingly high quality: quite voluminous and even with some bass. The Myst Nail2 in-ear headphones are good: voluminous and fairly clear sound, decent highs and some bass.
Full-size Plantronics BackBeat Pro headphones in wired mode are not particularly good: the sound is more or less spacious, but slightly dull, decent bass, which lacks fullness, and not at all outstanding highs.
The tanks produced 58 FPS. 
Settings The settings, as usual with Huawei, are very advanced and varied. 
Settings for two SIM cards. One of them is 2G/3G/4G, the second is just 2G. However, 4G/3G can be assigned to any card.
Switching mode between Wi-Fi and mobile communications. By the way, a useful thing: when it is turned on, the smartphone does not cling to the dying Wi-Fi until the last moment, but switches to the mobile Internet.
The home screen can be switched to a simple mode with large icons and simple settings.
Display settings. You can change color temperature, viewing modes, typeface and font size.
Setting up notifications.
Notifications for each application.
Fingerprint control. With it, you can also take photos and videos, answer a call, turn off the alarm, and open the notification panel. By the way, the scanner works well and recognizes normally. (But, as usual, there are problems recognizing a wet hand.)
Setting up on-screen buttons.
Control.
Application Rights Manager.
Setting energy consumption.
Memory.
The smartphone saw a 128 GB memory card in exFAT without any problems.
Memory cleaning functions.
As usual, a wide variety of movements are supported.
Knuckle gestures are also quite convenient.
Shooting modes.
Settings.
Examples of pictures. (All are clickable.) At home in normal lighting. 
Bright sunny day. 
In room. 
Sunny day. 
Mainly cloudy. Cloudy. 
Night. 
Indoors in poor lighting. 
Evening. 
Selfie with front camera. 
Well, here's an example video.
I must say that the camera has been significantly improved. Now it shoots more or less at the level of other flagships. It is somewhat inferior in performance and quality, especially the Galaxy S6 edge+ and LG G4, but not too much. In general, the camera is quite decent, you can and should use it. Discomfort, as I experienced with the Mate 7 (although the camera there was also not terrible at all), is not observed here. The pictures are bright, saturated, the white balance is almost never wrong, the exposure is wrong within reason (and it’s easy to correct). It focuses well, but does not focus very quickly (compared to the S6 and LG G4). By the way, here the camera can still be called up (and immediately removed, if specified) from sleep mode by double-pressing the volume rocker. System data and performance CPU-Z data.
AnTuTu test. The highest index. First place in the table.
Geekbench tests.
Well, a PCMark test. By the way, the Galaxy S6 edge+ has 5260.
It looks like this really is the fastest smartphone on the market right now. Well, it’s practically clear that the device is very fast: everything turns and starts smoothly and without jerks, there are practically no lags. Using a smartphone is very comfortable. Battery life I remember that Mate 7 showed very good battery life. What happened here. Internet. The display brightness is set to a comfortable 50% without auto-adjustment. All wireless types of communication are turned on, the page in the browser is updated every 30 seconds. Almost exactly 12 hours - almost the same as the Mate 7 (and that platform is not as productive). Video. The screen is set to the comfortable 10th brightness level of the player (maximum 15th), the “Airplane” mode is turned on, and a television series with hardware decoding is playing in a loop in MX Player. 10 hours 10 minutes is good, but the Mate 7 lived noticeably longer. Reading. The screen is set to a comfortable 30% brightness without automatic backlighting, the page is automatically flipped in AllReader, and the “Airplane” mode is turned on. 18 hours 24 minutes. Synthetic test. At a comfortable screen brightness and with wireless communications turned on, PCMark conducted a test of mixed modes: surfing, photo processing, video, reading, and so on, that is, emulation of a good smartphone boot using various standard actions. This is what happened. In general, this is very cool, the Galaxy S6 edge+ has 7 hours 41 minutes. This test means that the smartphone will last a full day under the most active load.
Almost by the evening of the first day, with normal loading, the smartphone had about 70% charge left. And, in general, it lasted up to three days on one charge - in all-inclusive mode. If you optimize (turn off wireless communications and coordinate determination when not needed, turn off automatic synchronization), it can last up to five days. It also has well-optimized power consumption in standby mode: during the night it consumed only 2-3 percent of the charge. So in terms of battery life, everything is very good here. The smartphone supports fast charging in 9V/2A mode. At the same time, the smartphone is charged to 50% in literally 50 minutes, and a full charge from zero lasts about 2 hours 45 minutes. Observations during operation and conclusions During testing, I did not find any serious glitches, although occasionally it happened that the Play Market was switched off for some reason at startup. The back cover did not noticeably heat up even when using heavy applications. There was only one serious glitch. I was unable to install the Epic Citadel game: when I tried to download it from Google Play, Google Play was cut off at the moment the download started. And nothing helped here: neither an attempt to download via 4G, and not via Wi-Fi (in some cases it helped), nor even a complete system reset. I don’t know why things didn’t work out with this toy. All other games and applications installed without any problems. What conclusions can I draw here? The device turned out to be very decent. Powerful platform, excellent equipment, very high-quality display, excellent battery life, the camera is not top-end, but quite high quality. If we compare this model in price with the Galaxy S6 edge+, then in Russia Mate 8 starts from 35 thousand, and S6 edge+ - where- then from 42 thousand, that is, S6 edge+ is about 1.2 times more expensive. Moreover, compared to the S6 edge+, the Mate 8:
- there is support for a second SIM card or memory card; larger display (but we remember about the on-screen buttons) with similar dimensions; more powerful platform; noticeably better battery life; The sound in the headphones is a little worse; slightly worse camera; less impressive design.
Rising to new heights with the successful launch of Google Nexus 6P, consumers around the world are becoming more aware of the company thanks to the value phone. Huawei's remarkable 2015 launch continues in the new year with the announcement of the latest smartphone in the Mate line, the Huawei Mate 8, at CES 2016.
It's been over a year since its predecessor was released, and the level has been raised by the Nexus 6P, so there are great expectations for the Mate 8. Like the recent Mate S, you might be a little skeptical about its value based on its starting price of €599 (~$650).
Package contains:
- Huawei Mate 8 smartphone
- 2A charger
- Micro USB cable
- SIM Removal Tool
- Headphones
- Protective case
- User guide
Huawei has created a beautiful all-metal phone.
There is no doubt about this at present. Huawei is able to play on par with established industry brands like HTC when it comes to delivering a quality all-metal design. The Mate 8 is a beautifully crafted all-metal design with fine edges that shares many of the design features seen in the Mate series. The 6-inch screen does not feel bulky; it is quite thin and light. In no case does this mean that the device can be controlled with one hand, but aesthetics make it possible to neutralize the importance of dimensions.
Many design details have been carefully thought out, such as the placement of the SIM slot, which combines microSD, nanoSIM and microSIM slots into a single unit.
There is a built-in fingerprint sensor on the back of the case, the same as the Nexus 6P. It's surprisingly accurate and responsive, plus it has good placement when we hold the phone.
Display
The same oversaturated colors, but with more powerful brightness.
The Mate 8 comes with a 6-inch IPS LCD display with 1080p resolution. The resulting pixel density of 367 ppi is certainly sufficient for reading small text from a normal distance.
Thankfully, the display's brightness has improved significantly over the Mate S. In particular, its peak brightness reaches 492 nits, which improves screen readability in direct sunlight. Color reproduction remains on par with the Mate S, unlike the more accurate panels on the Ascend Mate 7. So colors look oversaturated, which some people won't mind, but the resulting picture doesn't always look natural.
Interface and functionality
EMUI 4.0 resorts to a 'bigger is better' strategy, but it can appear disorganized.
The Mate 8 comes with a new EMUI 4.0 interface on top of Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Having the latest build of Android is great news for fans, but the core UI still prides itself on being feature-rich. Whether this is good or bad depends on who you talk to. Huawei is making every effort, but EMUI 4.0 still lags a little behind Samsung and LG's interpretations.
Visually, the interface is present in all relevant areas, such as dialing and the calendar. Functionally, the shell has many features used by power users, such as one-handed mode, multitasking and gesture controls, but they are not as refined as we would like. For example, multitasking is limited to just a handful of native apps, a far cry from the more diverse support seen in TouchWiz.
While the core Android features are present, EMUI 4.0 is an attempt to have Android with a bunch of over-the-top specs, but the end result lacks cohesion and clear direction.
Performance
Kirin-950 is a leader in test results.
Huawei promises to be a formidable force because of its unique 64-bit chip The in-house Kirin 950 produces impressive results with the Mate 8. Our particular review unit has 3GB random access memory, but there is another model with 4 GB. In any case, the benchmark results are through the roof.
In reality, every action will be accompanied by a pleasant level of responsiveness, but performance is not as close to the Nexus 6P with stock Android. Still, the smartphone continues to amaze with its above-average graphics processing performance.
In various performance tests, Huawei Mate 8 performed better than Samsung Galaxy Note 5, LG V10 and Huawei Ascend Mate7.
Internal memory 32 GB, in another version - 64 GB, there is room for memory expansion - a microSD slot.
Camera
You'll enjoy its many shooting and control modes, but the camera quality leaves a lot to be desired.
The love and care is evident in the abundance of camera hardware on the phone, which features a 16-megapixel 1/2.8” Sony IMX298 CMOS sensor along with an F/2.0 lens aperture, phase detection autofocus, three-axis optical image stabilization and dual-LED flash. The 8-megapixel front camera is more than enough for selfies. Even with the dreamy combination, the only chink in the armor is the fact that video recording doesn't exceed 1080p resolution.
In addition to a rich camera system, Huawei Mate 8 launches a variety of camera interfaces, largely repeating its EMUI shell. There's an extensive range of tools, shooting modes, and a manual mode to please advanced users, but for all its photo prowess, video recording is still largely automatic once the record button is pressed. Indeed, there is manual control over preset parameters, such as focus, but once recording starts, the parameters cannot be changed while shooting.
Image quality
The hardware sounds amazing on paper, but in reality, performance will be average at best. Scenes with plenty of light are handled beautifully by the camera, with a fair amount of detail and mostly neutral colors being stamped out. Walking indoors, the artificial light casts a noticeable greenish cast on our footage, while details become significantly washed out. And while noise levels are kept to a minimum, in low light the lack of detail in photos just makes everything look muted. Plus autofocus sometimes becomes unstable.
Video quality
You'd think that a smartphone of this caliber would be capable of 4K resolution when recording, but that's not the case. In general, its 1080p samples did not impress with the appearance of their calm tones - there simply is no significant presence of fine details. However, autofocus is fast and audio recording is mostly clear. The standard 30fps mode has stabilization, but the camera is very prone to a shaky, jelly-like effect when moving.
Multimedia
Nothing to complain about.
If you can stomach the display's color inaccuracies (or at least partially correct it by setting the white balance better), you'll find that the 6-inch Mate 8 is well-suited for media playback, like most high-end phablets.
Both video and music players are fairly basic and offer little more than you'd expect from built-in solutions. The gallery is actually a very powerful photo editor, combining pixelation functions for selective parts of the image and numerous filters that would normally be found elsewhere.
Unfortunately, the built-in speaker is not enough; its maximum volume is 71.4 dB. It is sufficient for small spaces and produces a neutral sound tone. Using the DTS-enabled headphone jack allows you to enjoy rich, rich sound.
Call quality
Listening through the ear goes without any problems, mainly because voices are clear and deep in tone, and also because the optional "loud voice" mode provides more volume for voices. However, on the other hand, the microphones used to capture our voices seem to give off a robotic tone to our callers. Lastly, the speaker can be used in moderately noisy environments - it simply won't cope in extremely noisy environments.
Battery
Long battery life.
You won't believe the slim profile, but Huawei has somehow managed to cram a 4,000mAh battery inside the Mate 8. The battery will easily last longer than a day. By the end of the day, the phone's charge level is usually in the range of 40% - 50%. And while the charging time of 156 minutes isn't the fastest compared to flagships, we have to keep in mind that the smartphone has a significantly larger battery than many of its contemporaries. 
conclusions
Huawei's sudden rise is obvious, and there's no denying its dramatic changes in just one year. Huawei Mate 8 is another device in the portfolio that shows that the company is not backing down anytime soon. The device quickly established itself as a premium phablet with Marshmallow on board. To be fair, there are some great things: premium all-metal construction, long battery life, and exceptional performance, but the high price makes it a tough sell.
The device is already available abroad at a starting price of €599 ($643). We already have several reviews of smartphones that have better features and performance, plus a few that are lower in price.
PROS
- Elegant all-metal construction
- Thin and light for its size
- Above average battery life
- Tons of features with EMUI 4.0
MINUSES
- Disorganized user interface
- Weak built-in speaker
- Greenish tints in indoor shots
- Shaky effect when recording video
previous records
Additionally
