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iPhone 6 Plus vs. Huawei Ascend Mate 7

The iPhone 6 is one of the top stories on the internet right now, either because of the new features on the iOS 8, Apple Pay or because recent reports say that the iPhone 6 won’t hold up in your pocket without bending. Huawei is also top news because it has officially become the OEM of choice of the Chinese government, who has banned the use of iPhones and Samsung phones by government employees due to security concerns.

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The iPhone 6 Plus is the phablet edition of the iPhone 6 and the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 is the current flagship/phablet from the Chinese OEM. The Ascend Mate 7 has turned heads because it packs high-end specs and has an affordable price tag. The iPhone 6 Plus, however, is among the most expensive phablets out there, with the maxed out version with 128 GB storage costing $950. The Huawei Ascend Mate on the other hand will set you back either $500 or $600, based on the storage configuration.

The most striking feature that should be the first to be compared between the iPhone 6 Plus and Huawei Ascend Mate 7 is the fingerprint sensor. As you all know, Apple has advertised that the fingerprint sensor on the new iPhone 6 is improved and works faster and better in order to cater to the newly implemented Apple Pay mobile payment functions. The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 also has a fingerprint sensor, and Huawei said that it would be the best on the market with an extra-sensitive sensor which can detect your fingerprint even if your hands are wet. The company also said that the sensor on the Mate 7 will be much faster than the Touch ID on the iPhone 6 or the sensors on the Samsung Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note Edge and Galaxy S5.

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The Ascend Mate 7 has been a praised phablet among reviewers because it packs quite a punch for its price. It can easily compete with the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, Galaxy S5, Lumia 1520 and even the Galaxy Note 4. Since the iPhone 6 Plus was intended to compete with the same types of phablets, we have to see how the Ascend Mate 7 and iPhone 6 Plus size up next to each other.

First off, the design of the Apple iPhone 6 Plus consists of a metal unibody with stripes along the top and bottom, which kind of give it a cheap look, but that depends on the onlooker. The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 is also made of aluminium and is a 6 inch device, which does appeal to a fair segment of consumers, but impacts its maneuverability a little. The iPhone 6 Plus is 10 grams lighter than the Mate 7, weighing 172 grams. The iPhone 6 is also thinner than the Mate 7, with a 7.1 mm thickness compared to the 7.9 mm of the Ascend Mate 7. The iPhone 6 Plus is a more handy device, but those who are used to the iPhone 5s will probably find the device difficult to handle in the beginning. You’ll get better at it, though.

The Mate 7 sports a 6 inch 1080p display, whilst the iPhone 6 Plus has a 5.5 inch 1080p display. Obviously, pixel density is better on the iPhone 6(401 ppi). The Mate 7 screen(368ppi) is pretty bright and vivid, so you won’t see an enormous difference unless you put the two phablets side by side. The Mate 7 runs on Android 4.4 KitKat with Emotion UI 3.0 on top whilst the iPhone 6 Plus runs the brand new iOS 8. When it comes to OS, it depends on user preference to determine which is better. iOS 8 runs faster than iOS 7 and with an optimal configuration, there won’t be any issues with the OS. iOS8 also offers pretty nice device integration so that you can easily switch tasks between your iOS or OS X Yosemite devices. Android 4.4 KitKat runs just the same, with users appreciating the continuous updates from Google and looking forward to the release of Android 5.0 L next month or in November, the latest.

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The iPhone 6 Plus has an 8 MP rear iSight camera with optical image stabilization and a 1.2 MP selfie camera, whilst the Ascend Mate 7 sports a 13 MP rear shooter and 5 MP front sensor. The iPhone 6 Plus has a built-in dual LED flash, but the LED flash on the Ascend Mate 7 should be enough for most users, too. The selfie camera on the Mate 7 is decidedly of higher performance and quality, but there aren’t many camera samples out there to compare what the rear cameras are capable of. Both phones have great camera apps, but the iPhone 6 Plus has more features.

The iPhone 6 Plus is powered by Apple’s own A8 CPU with the M8 coprocessor on board, relying on 1 GB RAM and either 16, 64 or 128 GB internal storage. The Mate 7, on the other hand, uses the octa core HiSilicone Kirin 925 CPU, with 2 GB RAM for the 32 GB internal storage version and 3 GB for the 64 GB internal storage version. The Mate 7 also has a microSD card slot which is absent from the iPhone 6 Plus. Both phablets have NFCs, but neither have IR blasters. The NFC chip on the iPhone 6 Plus is locked to Apple Pay at the moment, though.

The Ascend Mate 7 has DTS surround sound speakers built-in and a whopping 4100 mAH tablet-sized battery to power the whole package. Battery life on the iPhone 6 Plus is supplied by a 2915 mAH battery and reviewers have already started to complain about a poor life-expectancy for the iPhone 6 Plus battery. The Ascend Mate 7 can hold up for a day and half with mixed use, which is a pretty impressive time for a phablet with such a big screen. The octa-core processor surely helps out with energy saving.

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If we were to compare the iPhone 6 Plus with the Huawei Ascend Mate, we would have seen the iPhone 6 Plus emerge as the clear winner, but that is not the case against the Huawei Ascend Mate 7. At least not yet, since the Mate 7 hasn’t been released to the public yet, there’s few reviewers out there. But those that already had the chance to use the phone praise its build, performance and battery life.

If you want Apple support and to benefit from features like HealthKit and HomeKit and are keen on trying iOS 8 out with the iPhone 6 Plus, and don’t mind spending a fair amount of cash on it, then the iPhone 6 Plus would fit nicely into your hands. The handset is more maneuverable and slimmer than the Huawei Ascend Mate 7, and it will be much easier to get as well. On the other hand, if Android is your OS of choice, you like behemoths and consider yourself a power user who wants to have a future-proof device, the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 would suit you better than the iPhone 6 Plus. But this is just a preliminary conclusion. It is fun to see how a smartphone that has an UI and a design close to the iOS 8 and iPhone, might actually outdo its model. Each of these phablets are at the beginning of the road and users are just starting to get accustomed to them, so things might change in the long run.

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About Egon Kilin

My life-long dream has been to test out every gadget on the market! Considering the fact that I've rapidly destroyed almost every gadget I've had so far, I'm not inclined to owning something, so my ideal outcome would be to have a different gadget each month. I'm really into smartphones, wearables and tablets and I love Playstation and Xbox, I'm sure I'll beat you at your own game (after a month of training... or two)

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