More and more companies dare to enter phablet territory with 5-inch devices, but very few to surpass them. We present a comparison of what, so far, are the two largest smartphones for those who, when switching to phablets, do so thinking especially about having a larger size for your screen: the now classic Galaxy Note II and the newcomer Huawei Ascend Mate.
Design, size and weight
When dealing with devices with screens larger than 5 inches, as you can guess, these are devices that are much larger than the average smartphone and, obviously, also considerably heavier. But, to what extent is the difference between supporting a screen of 5,5 inches or one of 6.1 inches? The truth is that it is quite noticeable, in some aspects at least: the Ascend Mate es more than 1 cm longer (151 mm against 163,5 mm) and half a centimeter wider (85,7 mm against 80,5 mm).
The difference is less significant in terms of weight y thickness, Nevertheless. Neither phablet is particularly fine, with 9,9 mm el Ascend Mate y 9,4 mm el Galaxy Note II, but both are quite similar. Something similar happens with weight: both the Samsung like Huawei are heavy compared, for example, with the iPhone 5 or Nexus 4, or even compared to other phablets, going through quite 150 grams, but between them the difference is not very bulky (198 grams el Ascend Mate y 182 grams el Galaxy Note II).
Screen
The success of the Galaxy Note II has encouraged many companies to enter the phablet realm, but few have dared to reach the 5.5 inches, with the notable exception of Ascend Mate and its 6.1 inches, how controversial it has been precisely for this reason. In any case, if we are interested in having a really large screen on which to enjoy photos, videos or games, these are the devices to take the most into account.
Although they do not reach the resolution that has come to seem so common to us after the launch of the HTC Butterfly (HTC Droid DNA in the United States), both the Galaxy Note II such as Ascend Mate they have a more than acceptable image quality. They both have the same resolution, 720 x 1080, although the different screen size translates into a slightly higher pixel density for the phablet of Samsung (PPI 265 against PPI 241). The Galaxy Note It also has the plus of the image quality of the screens Super AMOLED of the South Koreans, while the phablet of Huawei has its technology going for it Magic Touch, which allows us to use the screen comfortably even with gloves.
Performance
In the performance section, the advantage seems to be on the side of the Galaxy Note II, even despite being a slightly older device. Meanwhile he Ascend Mate has only 1 GB from memory RAM, the phablet of Samsung has 2 GB. It also appears that the Exynos 4 of South Koreans is above the K3V2 de Huawei, as shown by test of performance, although both are quite solvent.
With regard to the CPU, both have chips 4 nuclei, although the power of the Exynos 4 is something older1,6 GHz against 1,5 GHz). Also in the graphic section the GPU ARM Mali-400 shown somewhat higher than that mounted by the phablet of Huawei.
Storage
The data is even more favorable to Galaxy Note 2 as far as storage capacity is concerned. Not only can you get the phablet from Samsung in three different versions, one of 16 GB, another one 32 GB and another 64 GB, but also has a groove micro-SD to further expand your memory. Neither of these two characteristics are found in the Ascend Mate, which will be available only with 16 GB of storage space and that you will not have the option of expanding your memory with micro-SD cards. 16 GB is a lot of space, more than many tablets offer, but without a doubt it is a disadvantage for those who pay special attention to this issue on their mobile devices.
Connectivity
Connectivity is a new plus for the Galaxy Note II, which has all the options we could want: Wi-Fi, DLNA, Bluetooth 4.0 y NFC. Bill Ascend Mate It also has all of them, except the connection NFC. Obviously, the importance of this lack will vary from one user to another, since it is not really one of the most important or most frequently used connection types.
Camera
The characteristics of the Galaxy Note II when it comes to cameras, although the differences are not really great. The back camera, the most important, is 8 MP on both devices, and although the phablet of Samsung has the addition of recording video to 1080pThat of Huawei has technology going for it HDR. In the frontal cameraHowever, the difference is wide, with a camera of 1,9 MP el Galaxy Note 2 and one of 1 MP el Ascend Mate. However, the front camera has less use, normally.
Battery
If at any point the Ascend Mate it's on the drums, as his is pretty powerful. With 4050 mAh, is close to the figures that we normally find in tablets. The battery of the Galaxy Note II is also good, with 3100 mAh, It is one of the most solid that we find in phablets, but the difference is remarkable. It should be noted, of course, that the battery power always has to be seen in relation to the consumption of the device and, in this sense, it is possible that despite the previous difference, the Ascend Mate lose out: we only have estimates from Huawei regarding time in stand-by, but the one offered by Samsung for Galaxy Note II is much higher (216 hours the first, 890 hours the second). However, these are only estimates offered by the company, so you always have to take these data with caution.
Price
El Ascend Mate es, of the phablets presented in the CES, about which we have fewer clues about the price that will hit the market, so it is impossible to speculate on which of the two contenders will have a better price. The Galaxy Note 2 is currently being sold free for between 550 and 600 euros, and it is quite likely that the phablet of Huawei it has a price that can rival this, but at the moment there is no data on which to judge seriously.
| Huawei Ascend Mate | Samsung Galaxy Note 2 | |
| Size | 163.5 x 85.7 x 9.9 mm | 151 x 80.5 x 9.4 mm |
| Screen | 6.1 '' super-IPS multi-touch | 5.55 '' Super AMOLED multi-touch IPS |
| Decision | 720 x 1280 (241 PPI) | 720 x 1280 (265 PPI) |
| Thickness | 9.9 mm | 9.4 mm |
| Weight : | 198 grams | 182 grams |
| Operating system | Android (4.1.2) | Android (4.1.2) |
| Processor | Hi-Silicon K3V2: CPU: Quad core, 1500 MHz | Samsung Exynos 4 (4412) CPU: Quad core, 1600MHz GPU: ARM Mali-400 MP4 |
| RAM | 1024 MB RAM | 2048 MB RAM |
| Conference proceedings | 16 GB | 16GB / 32GB / 64GB + microSD up to 32GB |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi, DLNA, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC | Wi-Fi, DLNA, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC |
| Camera | Front: 8 MP Rear: 1 MP |
Front: 1,9 MP Rear: 8 MP (Video: 1080p HD) |
| Battery | 4050 mAh | 3100 mAh |