The Nexus 6P looked great. Ditto the Honor 5X, also made by Huawei. But I’d argue the Huawei Mate 8 looks better than both of them put together. The handset is super premium, crafted entirely out of aluminium and looks utterly stunning from pretty much every angle, unlike the Nexus 6P, which is kind of dull looking front-onwards.
It is big, measuring in at 157.1 x 80.6mm, and it does have a 6in 1080p display, but phones this size are practically the norm now so I do not see this as a negative at all; people like BIG phones these days. Hell, even Apple is making them!
Still, Huawei is a big deal in its native China, which also happens to be the biggest tech market on the planet. Huawei is heavily invested in mobile data, infrastructure and modems and has been for years — it was doing this before it decided to make phones.
The company also does mobile processors, too. And the octa-core 2.3GHz Kirin 950 chipset inside the Mate 8 is an absolute monster when it comes to processing grunt. It scored an INSANE 6,210 in Geekbench 3's multicore test, the fastest score we’ve ever seen — almost 2,000 points in front of the iPhone 6S, and around 1,200 points ahead of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.
As I said before, the Huawei Mate 8 looks stunning and while it is a little on the large side it is still fairly easy to handle thanks to shape and lovely chamfered edges which not only look great, but also aid grip. I’m also loving this trend of putting fingerprint scanners on the back of the handset — it makes so much sense! Wonder how long before Apple switches TouchID to the back of the iPhone?
It doesn’t have an app tray, has WAY too many random applications and, generally speaking, feels just too busy. Of course, this is my personal preference; some of you may find this type of custom skin appealing — it certainly has a lot of features and customisation options.
I get what Huawei is doing here: custom UXs give the phone an identity, something that differentiates it from its peers, and they also allow the OEM to integrate its own services and data-gathering apps. But as Samsung finally discovered 18 months ago, nobody cares about or likes all of these services.
Google Play has everything you could possibly need in this regard and with app stores the choice to download and install something is always the user’s choice. Bloatware should not exist in this day and age. Users are too savvy and phone makers should have better ideas/initiatives for collecting data and making their products unique.
I personally prefer stock Android on my phone. I like everything out of the way and minimal bloatware hogging my phone’s memory. Basically, if I want something I will download it; I don’t want EVERY conceivable app known to man included just in case I might one day happen to find a use for them. Samsung gets this, so too does Motorola and HTC is slowly warming to the idea. Huawei, you’re next.
However, none of this matters because Huawei, unlike WAY TOO MANY Android phone makers, has left the Mate 8’s bootloader open, so you can flash whatever the hell you like onto the Mate 8 and THAT means you don’t have to deal with the hell that is EMUI 4. I’d recommend Cyanogen if you’re after a ROM that’s stable and regularly updated.
Nothing else I’ve used has even come close to this handset in this regard. Not the iPhone 6 Plus. Not the Nexus 6P. Nothing — the Mate 8 is in a class of its own. And who do we have to thank for this? Simple: Mr. 1090p display and Mrs. Mega Battery, a match made in battery performance heaven.
It is big, measuring in at 157.1 x 80.6mm, and it does have a 6in 1080p display, but phones this size are practically the norm now so I do not see this as a negative at all; people like BIG phones these days. Hell, even Apple is making them!
Huawei Mate 8: It’s Super FAST
Huawei’s Kirin CPU isn’t that well known in the West. The CPU market is hugely competitive with massive barriers to entry. Like, BILLIONS of dollars-massive, and players like Qualcomm, NVIDIA and Samsung want to keep it that way for the foreseeable.Still, Huawei is a big deal in its native China, which also happens to be the biggest tech market on the planet. Huawei is heavily invested in mobile data, infrastructure and modems and has been for years — it was doing this before it decided to make phones.
The company also does mobile processors, too. And the octa-core 2.3GHz Kirin 950 chipset inside the Mate 8 is an absolute monster when it comes to processing grunt. It scored an INSANE 6,210 in Geekbench 3's multicore test, the fastest score we’ve ever seen — almost 2,000 points in front of the iPhone 6S, and around 1,200 points ahead of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.
Huawei Mate 8: Physically, It’s As Good As The Nexus 6P
In terms of looks, design and functionality — key placement, fingerprint scanner — this handset is easily as good, if not better, than the Nexus 6P in terms of gross physicality.As I said before, the Huawei Mate 8 looks stunning and while it is a little on the large side it is still fairly easy to handle thanks to shape and lovely chamfered edges which not only look great, but also aid grip. I’m also loving this trend of putting fingerprint scanners on the back of the handset — it makes so much sense! Wonder how long before Apple switches TouchID to the back of the iPhone?
Huawei Mate 8 : The Software is HORRID — But It Doesn’t Matter
I could rant and rave about Huawei’s EMUI UX for hours. Like 99.9% of custom skins, I utterly despise it because it aims to do way too much and is essentially nothing more than an exercise in bloatware — think what Samsung was doing 2012/13 and then times by a thousand and you’re about half way there.It doesn’t have an app tray, has WAY too many random applications and, generally speaking, feels just too busy. Of course, this is my personal preference; some of you may find this type of custom skin appealing — it certainly has a lot of features and customisation options.
I get what Huawei is doing here: custom UXs give the phone an identity, something that differentiates it from its peers, and they also allow the OEM to integrate its own services and data-gathering apps. But as Samsung finally discovered 18 months ago, nobody cares about or likes all of these services.
Google Play has everything you could possibly need in this regard and with app stores the choice to download and install something is always the user’s choice. Bloatware should not exist in this day and age. Users are too savvy and phone makers should have better ideas/initiatives for collecting data and making their products unique.
I personally prefer stock Android on my phone. I like everything out of the way and minimal bloatware hogging my phone’s memory. Basically, if I want something I will download it; I don’t want EVERY conceivable app known to man included just in case I might one day happen to find a use for them. Samsung gets this, so too does Motorola and HTC is slowly warming to the idea. Huawei, you’re next.
Huawei Mate 8: The Battery Life is INSANE
The Mate 8 doesn’t have a QHD display — a thing I am completely, 100% fine with — but it does have a 4000Mah battery and this, if you were wondering, translates into some pretty INSANE levels of battery endurance — we’re talking DAYS here. Even with heavy use.Nothing else I’ve used has even come close to this handset in this regard. Not the iPhone 6 Plus. Not the Nexus 6P. Nothing — the Mate 8 is in a class of its own. And who do we have to thank for this? Simple: Mr. 1090p display and Mrs. Mega Battery, a match made in battery performance heaven.
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Huawei Mate 8: It’s A LOT Cheaper Than Most of Its Peers
The 32GB Huawei Mate 8 costs £429, making it A LOT cheaper than nearly all of its closet rivals — the iPhone 6s Plus, Samsung Galaxy S6 EDGE+ and the soon to be released Galaxy S7 and LG G5.
That’s A LOT of phone and the price, once MWC is out of the way, will likely be reduced even more, making the Mate 8 an all the more attractive proposition with its unlocked bootloader, awesome design and INSANE battery performance.
That’s A LOT of phone and the price, once MWC is out of the way, will likely be reduced even more, making the Mate 8 an all the more attractive proposition with its unlocked bootloader, awesome design and INSANE battery performance.
- - 2.3 GHz Octa Core Kirin 950 Processor
- - 3GB RAM With 32GB ROM
- - 6-Inch FHD 2.5D Glass Touch Screen Display
- - Hybrid Dual SIM
- - 16MP Rear Camera With Dual Tone LED Flash
- - 8MP Front Facing Camera
- - 4G
- - Wi-Fi
- - Bluetooth 4.0 With BLE
- - 4000 MAh Battery.
Ayush Tyagi is professional web-designer and the founder of Howtodohtd.com, who love to learn new things and share them.
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