Test: Huawei Mate 8

At this point, you know Huawei a lot more for their mobile device business just as much (or possibly even more) than when it comes to their other businesses. And they’ve been hitting it out of the park with their latest smartphones, including the Nexus 6P and we’ve been seeing some good things online about the Huawei P9 (we’re looking to get our hands on the phone).

But these aren’t what we’re paying close attention to here. What we’ve been able to play around with thanks to Globe Telecom giving us a unit of our own is the behemoth of a phone, the Huawei Mate 8. How does it perform as a daily driver? I give my impressions and judgments on it after spending well over a month with it.

• That’s one gigantic device. There’s no getting around the size of the Mate 8. With its 6-inch display, it’s imposing in-hand and in pockets (or bags). One-handed use is a bit of a struggle for my regular-sized girl hands. There’s a bit of hand maneuvering going on when I try to use it with just one hand. It’s possible, especially since you can shrink the display (but such a waste of screen real estate), but better just have both hands ready when using this phone. Despite its size though, it still manages to be slim enough to not feel heavy even after extended periods of use (or the occasional marathon Asphalt 8 races).
• Durable as it gets. My inner klutz was put to the test while using the Mate 8. I’ve dropped it on pavement and on my face. Both times showing off the durability of this all-metal phablet. There was that heart-stopping moment when it hit concrete but upon inspection, the case hardly felt the tumble. And yes, my face felt the impact of the phone falling on it. It felt like I was punched on the cheek (it fell from a shelf above my bed). Of course, that doesn’t mean it can handle your incessant abuse. It has no IP ratings so don’t go thinking this can take a swim with you. You’ll brick it once you attempt to do that.
• Quite the looker. While I don’t like the look of the circular ring protecting the camera lens at the rear, the Mate 8 is without a doubt a looker. I’ve had people compliment the phone while I was using it. It feels premium all around from the gigantic and clear display, the chamfered edges, down to the metal case. It’s one sexy machine.
• Zooming in on that display. One of the things you might fault the Mate 8 on is its 1080p display because at this point, people just expect Quad HD displays from everyone. But the Mate 8 is plenty enough bright and clear for me. The time you’ll fault it is if you decide to use it as a virtual reality device or you want to watch 4K online videos (which you can’t do, of course). For daily use, it’s good enough, even when used outdoors. And there’s another great thing about having a lower resolution display, which I’ll tackle further on the next point, is its positive impact on battery life.
• It keeps going and going and going. I most likely need a new descriptor or pop culture reference to fall back on when discussing really impressive battery life of some smartphones. Aside from its size, the one thing the Mate 8 is known for is that amazing battery life. Even with regular use, I can comfortably get two working days out of it. There was a time I was watching videos on it and it was on for a great part of the day and from 100 percent at 9 a.m., it was still at 33 percent by 6:41 p.m. My average screen on time is around six to seven percent. This is great for such a big device. If you’re extra judicious and follow the Mate 8’s rather pushy suggestions on how to save battery, maybe getting three to four days on a single charge won’t be too far-fetched.
• On its best behavior. Can’t say it’s given me much of a headache when it comes to performance. Apps crashing happen occasionally but not enough to cause alarm. It easily launches apps, switches between them, etc. I’m just pleased with how it performs. Same goes for the fingerprint scanner on this device. It has spoiled me in the sense that now I just hope my other phones give that same ease (except they don’t have fingerprint sensors, so those dash my dreams).
• Not picture perfect. It automatically smoothens out a lot of the imperfections and blemishes but I’ve seen its fellow Chinese competitor OPPO do the same thing. It’s not my thing. But I know some people like that. When it gets it right, it’s definitely a great shot. But images are generally a bit understaturated with highlights that too overblown for my taste. That carries over to video, too, which sadly can only record up to 1080p @ 60fps max, too. Its camera app isn’t as intuitive as well and you’ll need to dig around the menu to adjust things. What I do like about it is the implementation of the Manual or Professional mode, in this case, on the Mate 8.

• The work that needs to be done. No phone is perfect, at least none of them are yet. And the Mate 8 isn’t an exception. Bottom firing speakers still aren’t the most ideal placement and we see that here with the Mate 8. Audio quality isn’t as good either. Just stick to earphones with this one. And I don’t like the Emotion UI either and the lack of an app drawer. This trend of trying to be more Apple like is something I’ve noticed Chinese manufacturers do. But after all the versions I’ve seen of it, I still like being able to hide away my apps in an app drawer. The notification bar up top has one swipe too many for me, too. And this smoked translucent overlay it has going makes it hard to read notifications at times. Plus, the Mate 8 likes to warn you about everything, including which apps drain the battery. While these can be useful, a filled up notification tray gets too cluttered for my taste.
• The odd duck. Before I wrap up this review, there’s one feature worth noting on the Mate 8 that I’m really baffled about. Instead of the usual tap to wake (a useful feature I wish the Mate 8 adopted) and gesture support, Huawei changed their tactic with “knock gestures.” And just like its name suggests, you use your knuckle to do things like take screenshots or draw letters with them to open certain applications. And it won’t work with a light tap. You really have to tap on the screen like you want to hurt it (but you’ll just end up hurting yourself). It’s one of those cases of trying to be different for the sake of it without the feature being that functional or intuitive.

VERDICT
Huawei’s been on a roll lately and you can see that in the Mate 8. It’s such a solid piece of technology (literally and figuratively). And while it isn’t perfect. It’s as close to being that as possible. I’m excited to see what Huawei has in store for us in the future.

In case you didn’t know, Globe is offering the Huawei Mate 8 for free at myLifestyle Plan 2499. Of course, they are also offering it for other myLifestyle Plans, which you can check out in this link, but this particular plan seems like a compelling offer for us. You’ll get Unli Call & Text to Globe/TM subscribers, GoSURF 999 with a 5GB data allowance per month, Unli Text to all networks, free three months 1GB Spotify Premium or HOOQ, and free Facebook and Viber, among other perks.