News & Reviews:   Huawei Ascend Mate 7

Despite already being available for pre-order at VMALL.my, Huawei Malaysia have officially launched their Honor 3C Lite smartphone recently in tandem with the FISE (Festival International Sports Extreme) world championship in Langkawi, Malaysia. For those not in the know, the FISE meet covers extreme sports including BMX bike riding, skateboarding, inline skates and other extreme sports with the world championships held in Langkawi recently. Sponsored by Huawei and spearheaded by Zach Catfish (who is himself a well-known BMX and extreme sportsman himself) the event saw usage of Huawei products like the TalkBand B1, Huawei Ascend Mate 7 and the aforementioned Honor 3C Lite. The Honor 3C Lite brings a number of tech specs and features to the Malaysian market including:

• 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor
• 1GB RAM
• 16GB storage + up to 32GB microSD
• 5-inch IPS display (1280 x 720 pixel resolution, 294 ppi)
• 8MP rear camera (LED flash, autofocus, f/2.0 wide aperture, 5P optical lens) + 2MP front camera
• 72.3 x 142.2 x 9.4mm | 156g
• supports Dual SIM (3G + 2G), WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
• features AirSharing,
• 2000 mAh battery
• Android 4.4.2 + Huawei Emotion UI 2.0
• Available in black and white

Huawei recently announced a special edition of the existing Ascend Mate 7 called the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 Monarch Edition. This special version retains the same design as the original phone but brings in a lot of other upgrades to justify the name. The Monarch version replaces the Gorilla Glass on its 6 inch 1080p display with a much more scratch resistant Sapphire glass. The company has also increased the internal storage from 32GB to 64GB of which 54GB is available to the user. This additional storage coupled with the expandable memory slot, which takes MicroSD cards up to 128GB increases the total storage to 182GB. The phone comes in gold color and its owners get a special VIP card which will give them 1 hour quick repair facility for any kind of problems with the device. Other tech specs are the same as the original model, which includes an octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 925 processor, 3GB RAM, 13MP rear camera, 5MP secondary camera, 4G LTE support and a fingerprint sensor. The device runs on Android 4.4.2 Kikat OS with Emotion UI 3.0 and comes with a large 4100 mAh battery. Huawei has priced the Mate 7 Monarch edition at $710 (RM2480). No details about a Malaysia release or pricing yet, but the original Ascend Mate 7 is available to purchase in the country for RM1799.  You can also check out our product demo of the original model as well. 

Fresh from announcing the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 are rumours about the other Huawei flagship smartphone, the Huawei Ascend P8. According to these rumours, tech specs for the Ascend P8 include a 5.2-inch full HD 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution display with a 2.5D glass cover. The smartphone could be using a metal frame body with a ceramic backside. Other tech specs include Huawei's latest 16nm octa-core Kirin 930 processor and it is expected to cost 2999CNY (RM). No Malaysia release dates or pricing yet but we expect it to come out next month to next year at the earliest.

Huawei has been teasing quite a lot of things at this upcoming IFA 2014 and this includes a video showing how the upcoming Huawei Ascend Mate 7 could be used. Tech specs and features of the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 include an octa-core processor, 2GB RAM, 13MP rear camera, 5MP front camera and possibly a fingerprint sensor as well. No news on Malaysia release dates or pricing but with the announcement date of 4 September just next week, we won't have to wait very long. In the meantime, check out the video for yourself.

The rumoured up and coming Huawei Ascend Mate 7 recently appeared at China's TENAA with two versions for the 6-inch display phablet. This confirms earlier rumours about two versions but it also offers some tech specs for the Huawei MT7-CL00 and the Huawei MT7-TL00. Nearly all of the tech specs and features are the same and this includes a 1.8GHz Octa-core processor, 2GB of RAM, a 6-inch display with full HD resolution, 13MP rear camera, 5MP front camera and 4G LTE support. There seems to be a fingerprint sensor or rear control on the back as well but there aren't cutting-edge features like 3GB of RAM or a 2K display as was rumoured earlier. As usual, there were no details on Malaysia pricing or release dates but we expect all of that to come on 4 September 2014 during the IFA 2014 event. For some reason, this feels a bit like an anti-climax, considering that Huawei earlier teased about "shocking" devices to be revealed at the IFA 2014 so we're hoping that more will come.