Introduction

Do we have a good one for you today – the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 goes up against the new Sony Xperia Z4.  Once again, we have the age-old battle of the all-metal Ascend Mate 7 squaring off with the glass and metal Xperia Z4.  Both of these devices are gorgeous to look at and a pleasure to hold…definitely are premium devices with a solid build.  Which one of these devices has the better specs and performance to win this comparison?

These devices do have a few things in common – they are both using the LCD display technology with a Full HD (FHD) resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and neither one has jumped to the Quad HD resolution.  They both use an octa-core processor, although different manufacturers and the Ascend Mate 7 uses a 32-bit architecture and the Xperia Z4 uses the newer 64-bit.  Both have 3GB of RAM and expandable internal storage via a microSD card.  They both have the usual suspects – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (4.0 for the Mate 7 and 4.1 for the Xperia Z4), GPS, are NFC capable, have a built-in FM radio, non-removable batteries and microUSB port for charging and data transfer.

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.

Specifications

Huawei Ascend Mate 7

The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 is probably one of the best-looking smartphones out there with its small bezels and the all-metal back, giving it a premium look and feel.  It certainly can hold its own with the Xperia Z4 and its glass and metal trim construction.  It comes with a huge 6-inch display, which can be a plus to some users, but can also be a deal breaker for most people.

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 quite up to the 424 PPI on the Xperia Z4, which is almost one inch smaller.  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 decent processor, the 64-bit Snapdragon 810 octa-core simply outclasses the Kirin 925 in both the processor area and the GPU.  The Ascend Mate 7 and the Xperia Z4 use the same 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory and both include a microSD Card slot to add additional memory.

The Ascend Mate 7 includes a decent 13MP sensor versus the 20.7MP in the Xperia Z4 – they both have autofocus and LED flash but no OIS.  The Ascend Mate 7 and Xperia Z4 both offer a rather large front-facing camera (FFC) – 5MP on the Mate 7 and 5.1MP on the Xperia Z4.  Both will allow excellent selfies and video chatting.  The non-removable battery in the Ascend Mate 7 is a huge 4100mAh and will give you excellent battery life…this compares to the non-removable 2930mAh battery found on the Xperia Z4, although the Z series has always had excellent battery life.

As far as other features, the Ascend Mate 7 does offer a fingerprint sensor on the back of the device, is running Android 4.4 Kit Kat and Huawei’s Emotion UI 3.0 is running on top…it is slated to get Android 5.0 Lollipop sometime in May.  A quick note on wireless radio support – the Ascend Mate 7 actually has fairly wide support for the typical bands on both LTE and HSPA+, covering most of the frequently used frequencies (700/850/900/1900/2100), while LTE support covers bands 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/20/28 on FDD and 40 on TDD.  This means the Mate 7 should be good to go on LTE networks basically anywhere, though as always check with your local carrier before making a purchase. It will cost you about $630 for the Gold colored 3GB with 32GB model.

Sony Xperia Z4

We read many leaks about the new Sony Xperia Z4 before it was officially announced but what we ended up with is a very close carbon copy of its predecessor, the Xperia Z3.  The basic structure is all Xperia Z series and retains the beautiful metal and glass construction with minor changes in colors.  The charging port is now on the bottom of the device rather than the side, and even though it is still waterproof, it no longer needs a sealed cover – a nice convenience.  They removed the magnetic charging pins on the side and then they consolidated the SIM card and microSD card slots – another nice convenience.

The Xperia Z4 sports the same 5.2-inch IPS LCD FHD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and 424 PPI as its predecessor.  It is using the same type FHD display as the Ascend Mate 7 with 368 PPI…while Samsung and LG have been selling the QHD displays for over a year. Sony made a good choice and went with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 64-bit 810 octa-core processor to power the smartphone and an Adreno 430 GPU for graphics.  The Ascend Mate 7 uses a lesser homegrown 32-bit HiSilicon Kirin 925 octa-core processor.  They both have 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal memory and come with an expandable storage via a microSD card.

The 20.7MP main camera with autofocus and LED Flash has remained the same, which is a fine choice, although Sony still has not added OIS…the Ascend Mate 7 is a little behind with only 13MP and no OIS.  The FFC on the Xperia Z4 went from a 2.2MP to a robust 5.1MP with a 25mm wide-angle lens for better group selfies and video chatting and this pairs up nicely with the 5MP in the Ascend Mate 7.

The new Xperia Z4 does offer IP68 certification for dust proofing and water resistance, dual front-mounted stereo speakers and has Quick Charge 2.0.  It will come in Black, White, Copper and Aqua Green and will be running the latest Lollipop.  We are looking at a possible May or June release with a price tag of about $630 off-contract.

…And The Winner Is…

Summary

This was a tough comparison, but I have to pick the Sony Xperia Z4 as the winner in this comparison.  The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 is a beautiful smartphone, but the large display with only a FHD resolution, the 32-bit Kirin processor and the lessor camera helped to put it behind the Xperia Z4.

With the Sony Xperia Z4, we are still only getting the FHD display, but at 5.2-inches, you still have 424 PPI.  It is packing the latest 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 quad-core processor and has one of the best cameras on a smartphone at 20.7MP for the main shooter and 5.1MP for the FFC.  The Xperia Z4 is IP68 certified for dust and water – take it down under to 3-feet for 30 minutes and snap some photos or shoot a short video.  It also has dual mounted front speakers and because of its relationship to Qualcomm, you get the advantages of Quick Charge 2.0.

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