Huawei, the Chinese phone maker that is fighting to gain traction in the United States with its low-cost handsets, took a few pot shots at Samsung on Monday at CES 2013, announcing a device that pushed the definition of "phone" itself. The company unveiled its new Ascend Mate, calling it "the world's biggest smartphone" with a screen that measures a whopping 6.1 inches diagonally. Whether this breaks into the category of "phablet" is open to question, but Huawei is calling it a phone. The company also launched the Ascend D2, a smaller phone but with a range of impressive specs.
The Ascend D2′s screen featured 442 pixels per inch, a higher resolution than the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the iPhone 5, which has 325 PPI. The phone also had a high screen-to-frame ratio of 0.693, a 13-megapixel camera, and better quality speaker phone capabilities for hands-free calls.
The D2's battery life is also pretty impressive: 2,000mAh Large battery, “double the battery charge of an iPhone 5,” according to Huawei's presentation. The battery on this phone typically lasts for 2 days; the iPhone 5 lasts for one. The Ascend D2 is also dust and water resistant.
The larger, Ascend Mate, new challenger in the so-called "Phablet wars," featured a huge screen measuring 6.1 inches diagonally and making it slightly bigger than the Samsung Galaxy Note. It's battery life is even longer than the Ascend D2 and Huawei also touted its “magic tough” technology, allowing users to effectively touch the phone's screen when wearing a glove. Great for cold countries.
The Ascend Mate also integrates a new navigation service into the phone using augmented reality, but Huawei did not go into detail about the service.
All in all the Huawei's presentation suggested it was making big strides to shake off its image as a low-end competitor to phones made by Samsung and Apple. The company has managed to break into the United States on the back of its relationships with local carriers, through providing their back-end telecommunications services, but it still lacks the clout that Samsung has in terms of relationships with key carriers.
In fact, Huawei had no carrier deals to announce for either phone on Monday, though it is in talks with U.S. network providers. The Ascend Mate and Ascend D2 are available to order online.
