Huawei Mate S 4G LTE Smartphone Review

Huawei was previously known primarily as a manufacturer of cheap Android smartphones, routers, surf sticks and other network equipment. By Mate S, the manufacturer would now definitely in the premium smartphone segment. A high-quality metal case, a very good quality and innovative software features to the customer to purchase more.

High-quality metal body

Huawei provides the Mate S in the colors gray and champagne and delivers it in a high-quality acting cardboard box. The package includes a protective case, a power supply, a USB charging cable and a headset. The case protects the device very well and allowed the display of information through a small window with the front closed. Huawei did everything right for the body: It not only looks extremely good, it feels also very well and leaves a very high-quality impression. The entire back is made of metal, at the sides, the device is flat, so it is still neatly in your hand in spite of its enormous size. The entire front is covered with a laterally rounded glass, particularly in the use of swipe gestures is very pleasant. Next to the 13-megapixel camera, a fingerprint reader can be found, which is truly outstanding: The detection rate is very good and you can also use the sensor for gesture control to approximately scroll through galleries.

Fast processor and good LTE Modem

 

 

The Huawei Mate S we tested is a single-SIM version with combined MicroSD slot, the integrated memory of 32 GB and can therefore be expanded with a memory card. In other markets, there is also a dual-SIM version of the Huawei Mate S. The single-SIM version must be equipped with a nano-SIM card. The modem achieved up to 150 Mbit/s on LTE network, but may in the settings ” Carrier Aggregation “so LTE Advanced CAT6, are activated. This speeds up to 300 megabits per second in the downlink and 50 Mbit/s in the uplink are then possible with the Huawei Mate S. Of course, UMTS with up to 42.2 Mbit/s and GSM are supported together with EDGE. A bit of a shame: The Huawei Mate S can only use the 2.4 GHz frequency range at in the current WLAN standard AC, 5GHz is not supported. Given the high price that is incomprehensible, because other manufacturers already obstruct significantly cheaper smartphones with dual-band WLAN.

 

The processor in Mate S comes from Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon and has eight cores, each with up to 2.2 GHz clock rate. Along with the Android operating system and the user interface EMUI, the unit was very quick in the test and allowed a smooth operation. A special feature is the absence of a separate app menu, all apps are right on the home screens, so as it is known, for example from the Apple iPhone. For many users, this is certainly a good thing, since it facilitates the operation. Of course you can also install another launcher on the Google Play Store, so that again a separate app menu is available.

Camera with good night mode

The Huawei Mate S has two cameras, one with 13 megapixels on the back and an 8-megapixel on the front. The back camera has an optical image stabilizer, a two-color LED flash and has an aperture of f2.0. The photos were sharp and true color included in the test, particularly convinced night mode with which even in twilight very useful pictures can still be taken. Videos can record Full HD resolution, but Huawei waived 4K video.

 

Screen with “Knuckle Sense”

The AMOLED display of Huawei Mate S is 5.5 inches tall, has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and leaves a very good impression. In order to stand out from the competition, Huawei Mate S uses some software functions to improve the display. The so-called “Knuckle Sense” function allows you to take screenshots or the launch of Apps means knuckles. That works but not always reliable, sometimes the unit does not recognize the ankle and not performs the desired function. Another interesting feature is “Force touch”. Thus, the display should also recognize the pressure with which you press on the screen – something like the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus the 3D Touch technology. Unfortunately Force Touch is installed only in a premium version of Mate S, which is only available at some markets. The function would certainly have been interesting!

Conclusion: High-quality smartphone from Huawei

When Huawei Mate S is a premium smartphone – at least if you look at design, workmanship, materials and price. The technology is high, and LTE modem and processor is convincing with great photos and the speed. But there are also some negative points: WLAN missing in the 5 GHz range and the Knuckle Sense technology, for the operation of the display with the knuckles, does not seem mature. The Huawei Mate S is now available at www.4gltemall.com stores and mobile operators. If you like it, you can buy it.

 

Huawei Mate 8 VS Huawei Mate S 4G Smartphones

Huawei has introduced very interesting smartphone: the Mate S and Mate 8 in recent months. The Chinese producer Huawei went up to the third-largest smartphone seller in the German market in 2015 and the Mate 8 and Mate S would like to improve on this position. While the Mate S was presented at IFA in Berlin and a short time later went on sale; the Mate 8 has been presented only to CES in early 2016. The two mobile phones are technically and optically very similar at first glance, but take a closer look at the technical and visual details, there are much difference.

The Huawei Mate S distinguishes very little visually from Huawei Mate 8: The front is dominated by a huge screen and each very narrow margins, hardware keys do not exist. The display of Mate S measures 5.5 inches, which is slightly smaller than that of Mate 8, which measures 6 inches. Even if the difference in the data sheet appears small: at the latest when you have the mate S and 8 in the hand and compares, you will notice the difference in size significantly. The Mate 8 is bulky, but one hand can hand it, so you should not be regarded it as negative point.

The processing of both the Mate 8 as well as the Mate S is almost perfectly. The Mate S here nonetheless wins the comparison, because the back has two thin antenna strip of metal, while in Mate 8 has only a piece of plastic cover for the antennas used. The Mate 8 falls on the circular fingerprint scanner and the circular camera mount, while the Mate S has both built in classic rectangular design. Both Huawei Mate S and the Huawei Mate 8 have two colors: gray and white.

 

 
Basically, both the Huawei Mate S and the Huawei Mate 8 are a very good technical equipment, which is classified in the upper class. Let’s start with the display: the resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels in common, but the display technology is different: the Mate S uses an AMOLED panel while the Mate 8 uses an IPS panel. Colors, brightness and sharpness are excellent for both devices.
The internal memory is 32 gigabytes in size in each case and can be expanded via MicroSD memory card up to 128 GB. In addition, for Huawei Mate 8, there is still the possibility to take a second nano-SIM card instead of a mocro-SD card, so is it the ideal dual SIM smartphone. The simultaneous use of MicroSD card and dual SIM is not possible. Regarding the processor, the two devices differ only slightly, at least no difference in the speed. Nevertheless, the Huawei Mate 8 with the HiSilicon Kirin 950 is the significantly latest octa-core processor (Mate S: Kirin 935). Both devices come with 3 gigabytes of RAM and a very good fingerprint sensor.

 

Other differences are there between the radio links, here the Huawei Mate is 8 is clearly more superior than the Huawei Mate S: the Mate 8 has not only the aforementioned dual-SIM function, but also the LTE modem is significantly faster (LTE Cat6 instead LTE Cat4, ie up to 300 MBit/s instead of just up to 150 Mbit/s downstream). In addition, the Mate 8 the near-field wireless NFC, the Mate S has not. Even when the wireless topic Mate 8 has one step ahead: it supports Dual Band WLAN 802.11a/b/g/n/ac on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, while the Mate S only WLAN 802.11b/g/n supports 2.4 GHz.

The back camera of Mate S and Mate 8 has an optical image stabilizer (OIS) and a dual-LED flash. The Mate 8 can create photos with up to 16 megapixel resolution (4: 3 format) that Mate S can accommodate up to 13 megapixels. For videos, both devices are limited to Full HD.


The Huawei Mate 8 is already with the latest Android 6.0 operating system and making it more up to date than the Mate S, which currently runs on Android 5.1.1. Serious differences do not exist, both units are very fast and the functions differ only in details. Both devices have pre-installed the user interface EMUI that Mate 8 a slightly newer version. EMUI reminiscent of the appearance and operation of the forth something to Apple iOS and is very easy to use.

 

 
An important point must not be missed when comparing two smartphones: the battery. While the Huawei Mate S comes with a 2,700 mAh strong battery, only slightly thicker and heavier, Huawei Mate 8 has a 4,000 mAh strong battery on board. not be missed: The batteries are not changeable for the two devices, when Mate 8 has a fast-charging adapter included, which fully charges the device within approximately 2.5 hours.
During daily use, the higher capacity of the battery makes the Huawei Mate 8 clearly noticeable: while the Mate S just allow one day at normal use, two days at normal use are possible on Mate 8 easily. The Huawei Mate 8 is, like its predecessor Huawei Mate 7, a real endurance runner and currently certainly one of the smartphone with the best battery performance.

 

 

We can see Huawei Mate 8 dominates in many aspects, however, it must be noted that the Mate 8 is just appeared, while the S Mate is on the market for several months. After all Huawei Mate 8 is the latest new flagship for Huawei. The Huawei Mate S is currently cheaper than Mate 8 without a contract.  If you need a budget good smartphone, Huawie Mate S may be a good option.

 

Huawei Mate S New 4G Smartphone Available

As a part of the IFA exhibition in Berlin, Huawei has unveiled a new smartphone today: Huawei Mate S. With its 5.5 inch display, Huawei CEO Richard Yu put it in direct competition with Apple iPhone 6 Plus. Compared to the successful competitor iPhone, it seems Huawei has much better do. The Mate S is called the flagship of flagship. The display is able to take screenshots with the knuckles and the fingerprint sensor on the back now supports gestures such as scrolling through picture galleries. The Mate S will soon be available on the market in September.


The Huawei Mate S was one of the first smartphones Huawei installed a display with AMOLED technology, in which the colors should be again better than with an IPS display. The resolution is 1920 x 1080 pixels, which is very well and should allow a good battery runtime with the 2,700 mAh battery. The display is slightly curved toward the sides, as you would already know from many other smartphones such as the HTC One XL or the Samsung Galaxy S6.  Huawei Mate S has a full metal body, like its predecessor Huawei mate 7. And the fingerprint reader may is reinstalled on the back. The camera of Huawei Mate S is also very good. The main camera is 13 mega pixels and front camera is 8 Mega pixels. It can meet most of the requirements in our life.


The operating system of the Huawei Mate S is in Android 5.1.1, the user interface is the already known EMUI from older Huawei smartphones. Thus, the device runs smoothly and even the most demanding applications can be started, Huawei has installed a current chipset: the HiSilicon Kirin 935. The integrated chipset processor has 8 cores with a clock speed of up to 2.2 GHz per core, with a maximum of 4 cores simultaneously active. The memory is 3 gigabytes. In addition to the processor and the modem in the chipset is integrated, this can support all current wireless standards to LTE Advanced category 6, thus speeds up to 300 Mbit/s in the downlink and 50 Mbit/s in the uplink are possible.

As a shinning feature, the Huawei Mate S introduced a new technology named “Force Touch”, which should be also available in iPhone 6S. Huawei Mate S presented the function before iPhone 6S. This function is help the smartphone to give response different application per the strength of the user touch the screen. This feature make the phone more smart and user-friendly. We will experience more in near future and show our test on this new phone.