Introduction
Do we have a good one for you today – the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 goes up against the new Samsung Galaxy S6…the all-metal Mate 7 takes on the metal and glass Galaxy S6. One of the best looking and premium devices from China battles the new premium looking device from South Korea. Does the Mate 7 have enough specifications and features to defeat the new kid on the block…or did Samsung pack enough into the Galaxy S6 to ward off the Mate 7?
As we mentioned earlier, both devices are premium in every sense of the word – built from solid materials of metal and glass and a nice feel in your hand, although the Mate 7 is larger (over 10cm wider) and more of a handful. It may be that the 6-inch display is too large for most people to use as their daily driver, but that is something that only you can determine. As different as these two devices are, they do have a few things in common – they both carry a great fingerprint sensor…the Mate 7’s is on the back and the Galaxy S6 is on the home button. They both use a homegrown octa-core chipset, although they are quite different from one another. Both devices use a 5MP sensor for the front-facing camera (FFC), although the Galaxy S6 adds a few worthwhile extras. They both have the usual suspects – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (4.0 on the Mate 7 and 4.1 on the Galaxy S6), GPS, NFC capabilities, a microUSB port for charging and data transfer and non-removable batteries, although the Mate 7 has a mammoth 4100mAh versus the smaller 2550mAh in the Galaxy S6.
Please take a deliberate look at the detailed Specifications Comparison chart below and here you will see just how these two great devices stack up against one another – click on the “View Full Comparison” link at the end of the chart to expand the details. After that, we will look at each individual device in greater detail and point out some of its pros and cons. From all of this information we will try to determine the winner based on specs and execution of design and functions.
Huawei Ascend Mate 7
The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 is a beautiful smartphone…there is no denying that fact. It may be one of the best-looking smartphones with small bezels and the all-metal back to give it a premium look and feel, reminiscent of the HTC One M9. It comes with a huge 6-inch display that may be too large for a lot of people.
Like I mentioned earlier, the Ascend Mate 7 comes with a 6-inch FHD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and 368 pixels-per-inch (PPI) – a very good display, but not up to the QHD display on the Galaxy S6, which is about an inch smaller with a 577 PPI. The Ascend Mate 7 also uses Huawei’s Hisilicon 32-bit Kirin 925 octa-core processor clocked at 1.8GHz (4-cores) and 1.3GHz (4-cores). While this is a good processor, the 64-bit Exynos octa-core with 14nm technology simply outclasses the Kirin 925. The Ascend Mate 7 uses the same 3GB of RAM found in the Galaxy S6 and it comes with 32GB of internal memory, although there is a microSD Card slot to add an additional memory. The Galaxy S6 offers a 32GB, 64GB and 128GB model with no room for expansion.
The Ascend Mate 7 includes a decent 13MP sensor (versus 16MP in the Galaxy S6) and where the Mate 7 has autofocus and LED flash, the Galaxy S6 adds OIS, a wide f/1.9 aperture and Live HDR shots. The Ascend Mate 7 and Galaxy S6 both offer a rather large 5MP FFC, but the Galaxy S6 adds the f/1.9 aperture, a 120 wide-angle option and Live HDR. Both will allow excellent selfies and video chatting, although the Galaxy S6 will take better low-light and wider group shots. The battery in the Ascend Mate 7 is a huge 4100mAh and will give you excellent battery life over the 2550mAh battery found on the Galaxy S6.
As far as additional features go, the Ascend Mate 7 does offer a fingerprint sensor, as does the Galaxy S6. It is running Android 4.4 Kit Kat with Huawei’s Emotion UI 3.0 running on top and will work on GSM and LTE networks of T-Mobile and the HSPA+ on AT&T. It uses the LTE FDD Bands 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/20/28…be sure to check with your carrier. It will cost you about $630 for the Gold colored 3GB with 32GB model.
Samsung Galaxy S6
The new Samsung Galaxy S6 is a real turning point for Samsung and its smartphones – gone is all of the plastic and faux leather and now we have an all-metal unibody construction with glass adorning the display and the back on the phone. It is elegant, sturdy and premium looking from all directions – but unmistakably a Galaxy S device. We are assuming that Samsung will also surprise us with the Fall rendition of the Galaxy Note 5 and a new Note Edge.
The Galaxy S6 sports a 5.1-inch Quad HD display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels and 577 pixels-per-inch (PPI) compared to FHD display and 367 PPI on the Mate 7. Samsung made a bold decision not to use a Qualcomm processor this time around and instead went with their 64-bit Exynos 7420 octa-core processor. There are four cores clocked at 1.5GHz and four cores clocked at 2.1GHz. The Mate 7’s 32-bit octa-core processor is simply not up the challenge of the new 14nm processor from Samsung. The Galaxy S6 is packing 3GB of DDR4 RAM, compared to 3GB of DDR3 RAM used in the Mate 7, and it comes with Samsung’s new, faster, UFS 2.0 flash memory offering 32GB/64GB/128GB models with no room for expansion – another first for Samsung’s Galaxy S series.
The camera has a 16MP Sony sensor, autofocus, LED Flash, a wide f/1.9 aperture, Live HDR and OIS. The increase in aperture and OIS make this the best camera Samsung has ever put into a smartphone. The camera app increased in speed and now takes less than a second to open and be ready to shoot. Samsung increased the FFC to 5MP and they wisely added the f/1.9 aperture and Live HDR for excellent low-light selfies and video chatting. If that was not enough, they made it a 120-degree wide-angle lens for better group shots. The Mate 7 camera area is just missing too many key ingredients to top the Galaxy S6’s cameras. The 2550mAh battery is much smaller than the 4100mAh in the Mate 7, but it should easily get you through the entire day with moderate usage. However, if you run into trouble, the new Samsung non-removable battery can charge up to 4 hours of usage in only 10 minutes and they included built-in wireless charging for the first time.
Extras the Galaxy S6 has over the Mate 7 – it has a QHD display, it is Samsung Pay ready, its fingerprint sensor is PayPal certified, includes a heart rate monitor, an oxygen saturation sensor, bottom mounted speaker, quick charge and wireless charging for both Qi and PMA standards. It comes in White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum and an exclusive Blue Topaz. It is running Android 5.0.2 Lollipop and will cost you about $200 on a two-year contract and $600 off-contract for a 32GB model.
…And The Winner Is…
Summary
I have to pick the Samsung Galaxy S6 as the winner of this spec comparison. The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 is a terrific device, but it just lacks too many specs that the Galaxy S6 includes.
The Galaxy S6 is first and foremost available on all major US carriers and can take advantage of the 4G LTE speeds – if you use strictly Wi-Fi, then this may not affect you as much. It has a much better display in technology and pixel density…not to mention a better 5.1-inch screen size for most users as an everyday driver. The 64-bit Exynos 7420 octa-core processor with 14nm technology is vastly superior. The Galaxy S6 uses faster DDR4 RAM and faster UFS 2.0 Flash memory, as it runs the latest 5.0 Lollipop from Android. While they both have a fingerprint sensor, the Galaxy S6 adds a heart rate sensor and an Oxygen saturation sensor. The Galaxy S6 also has Samsung Pay capabilities, a built-in IR blaster, a quick charge battery and built-in wireless charging for both Qi and PMA standards.
The Mate 7 does allow for expandable memory, has a built-in FM radio and a much larger battery…but once you look past those couple of features, and the fact that they both cost the same, I think you will agree that the Samsung Galaxy S6 is the winner of this comparison.
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