Is it harder to buy than iPhone 6? Huawei Mate7 Standard Edition Review

Unlike the Honor series of mobile phones, which are positioned to be cost-effective and practical, Huawei's Mate series of mobile phones focus more on quality and connotation. As the latest flagship product in this series, the Mate7 has a 6-inch IPS screen, a full metal body and solemn wallpaper, all of which reveal a business atmosphere and aristocratic style. In this respect, the Mate7 is no less than the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus, which are currently hotly discussed. It is said that the Mate7 has surpassed the iPhone 6 to become the most difficult phone to buy. So what is the performance of the Mate7? For this white (moonlight silver) standard version of the Mate7, let's experience it together.

Appearance

Huawei Mate7 adopts an integrated all-metal body similar to iPhone 6. The screen adopts TFT material and IPS technology. The overall screen size follows the 6-inch specification of Mate 1 and Mate 2. It can give people a visual impact of a large screen. The screen resolution is 1920×1080 1080P, supporting all-format video playback. The actual frame of the screen is only 2.9mm, which is an ultra-narrow frame design. The screen-to-body ratio is as high as 83%. Such a mobile phone instantly feels much higher grade when held in the hand.

The metal body of Mate7 is worth mentioning. The back and frame are made of aviation-grade aluminum. The metal on the back is made of a symmetrical part of about 4mm at the top and bottom and a metal part in the middle. You can clearly feel the gap at the interface. The 3.5mm headphone jack is located on the right side of the top of the back. The camera protrudes slightly from the fingerprint reader and the flash are both located at the top of the back, so the fingerprint reader will mainly collect fingerprints from the index finger.

  Although it is a metal body, the weight of the whole machine is controlled at 185g, and the left and right side borders are only 2.9mm. It is rare to see such a large body with such a light design. The volume button and power button are located on the right side border, and the power button also incorporates the concentric circle element design style. However, I think it is inconvenient to design the power button and volume button on one side and in a very close position, especially for fast screenshots, which is quite inconvenient for users who are used to holding the phone with their right hand.

Compared with the right side frame, the left side is more reasonable, mainly for the card slot. Mate7 supports dual-card mode. From top to bottom, there are MicroSIM card slot and NanoSIM card slot. The card insertion method is the same as iPhone 6, which is embedded in the drawer, which saves space and is easy to operate. You only need to press it lightly with a needle or a microphone to open it. The only drawback is that the hole on the frame affects the overall design, as Luo said, and it is not beautiful enough.

Overall, the Huawei Mate7 has a grand and stylish appearance, first-class design, and top-quality materials, and can be regarded as a high-quality domestic mobile phone.

  hardware

The hardware level of Mate7 is also quite impressive. The CPU uses HiSilicon Kirin K925 octa-core processor, four 1.8GHz A15 chips + four 1.3GHz A7 chips + i3 coprocessor. Although it is not as widely used and popular as Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 and 801, it is still a strong player in the domestic field. From the AnTuTu running score, we can see that it is not afraid of Qualcomm products.

  It is undeniable that there is still a gap between domestic chip processors and Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series. The black screen problem that appeared in the previous generation K910 product when running "Need for Speed" has not been solved.

The built-in battery capacity of Mate7 is 4100mAh. Due to the non-removable design, we cannot see the whole battery. But the data alone shows that the capacity is huge, enough to support a 6-inch screen. In normal standby mode, the theoretical standby time under 3G network is up to 745 hours, and the talk time is up to 1320 hours. This is something that mainstream models such as Apple iPhone 6 plus and Samsung GALAXY Note 4 cannot achieve. Therefore, the charging time of the machine is slightly longer. At 5V voltage and 1000mAh output current, it takes 3.5-4 hours to fully charge. However, this does not affect the overall operation of Mate7.

In terms of memory and capacity, the standard version has 2GB RAM and 16GB ROM, while the high-end version has 3GB RAM. Both support microSD (TF) cards with a maximum expansion capacity of 128GB, ensuring that the storage capacity is not stretched.

The Mate7 has two cameras, the front camera is 5 megapixels and the rear camera is 13 megapixels. The front camera supports a maximum viewing angle of 88 degrees, and the rear camera uses a 5P aspherical lens. In normal light and weather, the Mate7 has a good shooting effect, but it will be greatly reduced at night or on cloudy days, and the noise is more obvious.

Rear camera and flash

Daytime shooting examples

Night scene example

Another highlight is that it is equipped with a fingerprint recognition function similar to Apple, and supports fingerprint unlocking in black screen state. It can also be combined with Huawei Wallet for payment. Up to five fingerprints can be recognized and confirmed by digital password or mixed password.

Fingerprint reader on the back

  system

The Mate 7's system is the self-developed EMUI 3.0 system based on Android 4.4. This system adds new features such as "family care", "one-touch" and "lazy mode", giving users a more humanized experience. However, I am more impressed by the virtual buttons, magazine lock screen function, and Huawei's built-in Yellow Pages service function.

The virtual buttons on this machine require a light swipe to display the Back button, Home button and Menu button from left to right. This design not only saves screen space, but also prevents accidental touches. After personal experience, the author found that this type of button is quite convenient.

Magazine lock screen is a major selling point of Huawei Mate7 system. Every time the screen changes from black to unlocking interface, a new lock screen wallpaper will be replaced until a new round is completed. Some of these wallpapers are directly connected to advertisements. These wallpapers will be automatically updated from time to time. For users who like to change screen wallpapers, it is simply a gift from God.

Huawei's built-in Yellow Pages life service function is also very special. From food to movies to mobile phone bill payment, everything is accurate to your location.

The desktop wallpaper of Mate7 is deep and elegant, full of business atmosphere. It supports 4×4, 4×5 and 5×5 layouts, and can hold more than 200 icons at most. However, there are relatively few desktop styles, only two styles, which is a big pity.

Summarize

Although Huawei Mate7 has flaws in chip compatibility and certain aspects of the system, as a flagship product it represents Huawei's highest standards and has had a significant impact on the entire domestic mobile phone market. It also provides inspiration to other manufacturers that the mid-to-high-end market also has great market competitiveness as long as the technology is strong and the reputation is good.

Compared with the products of Xiaomi, Meizu, Hammer, etc., which are mainly priced at 2,000 yuan, the Mate7 is priced higher, but it is still in a state of "hard to find". This is not easy. Now, some manufacturers have followed closely and are targeting the mid-to-high-end market. In the future, the main force of Chinese mobile phones may be concentrated on mid-to-high-end models priced at 3,000 yuan and above, but it must be noted that the design process and system hardware still need to be improved.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.