Huawei Mate S Hands On Impression: The Stylish Powerhouse!

Remember when I said few months back that I'm craving to hold the Mate S? I finally made it few days ago in a Huawei shop at SM Megamall Cyberzone as I was able to spend quite some time with this stunningly crafted handset.

Huawei Mate S hands on experience

In case you missed it, the Mate S is the successor of the highly acclaimed Mate 7 who inspired a lot of handsets globally in terms of design, features and functionality. Actually in what I saw and in my opinion, it's sto effectively designed that lead a lot of mobile makers in China to produce more Mate inspired phones than iPhone clones. Going back, the Mate S appears to be a worthy successor of that mobile phone, it boast an improved specs, slimmer design and now has that sexy 2.5D curved glass display.

Huawei Mate S PH Specs

Display: 5.7 Inch FHD IPS 1920 x 1080 2.5D curved screen w/ Gorilla Glass 4 protection at 401 ppi

CPU: Kirin 935 octa core processor

GPU: Mali T628

RAM: 3 GB LPDDR4

ROM: 32 / 64 / 128 GB expandable via micro SD card slot up to 128 GB

Back Camera: 13 MP f/2.0 w/ AF, OIS, BSI and dual LED / dual tone flash

Selfie Camera: 8 MP f/2.4 w/ FF

Battery: 2,700 mAh non removable

OS: Android 5.1 Lollipop w/ EMUI 3.1 upgradable to Marshamallow

Connectivity: WiFi, 3G, dual LTE, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, GPS, A GPS, Dual SIM

Others: Fingerprint Sensor

Dimensions: 149.8 x 75.3 x 7.2 mm

Weight: 156 g

Price: Starts at 31,990 Pesos

Build Quality / Design

At the back of the Mate S where-in you can find the fingerprint scanner, camera, flash and nfc

As I've said earlier, the Mate S still follows the effective design tradition of the stunning Mate 7 with few improvements. It's still made out of carefully crafted well machined metal alloy in a smaller frame that's now slimmer and lighter as well. That doesn't mean that this beast it less durable, I got a feeling that Huawei used a specialized type of aluminum alloy here that made it feel very tough that adds to its sophisticated premium feel.

The power button and the volume rocker nicely placed on the left side to locate easily

On the right side you'll see the SIM card slot

There's a pin hole microphone on top together with the 3.5 mm female port for headphones

Below you'll find the speaker grills together witht he micro USB data / charging port

It boast one of the best screens today due to its amazing color reproduction, balance and viewing angles

It also boast a slightly curved back design that makes it particularly easy to hold and gives you a good grip and feel even if it's quite a large phone. In addition to that Huawei managed to incorporate the tough Gorilla Glass 4 protection to its 2.5D glass that should be great enough to prevent hairline scratches and accidental breakage.

To sum it up, the Huawei Mate S is one of the most stylish phone that I ever held that also feels tough and comfortable at the same time. Making it definitely worthy of a flagship moniker.

Camera Samples

It's slightly yellowish here probably due to the lighting of the store, but still super sharp and detailed  at 13 MP
The camera software reminds me of the Honor 6 Plus with more options and faster shutter speed and focus

The clear and natural looking sample of the 8 MP selfie shot

Some did a sample light painting using that phone

Specs and features analysis

On paper, the Mate S is a slightly smaller variant of the Mate 7 with an improved 2.5 D screen. The result, you get better viewing angles and the look of having a bezel less design. In terms of power there's an upgrade too, this beast is now using the Kirin 935 octa core processor that's touted to be 20% faster than its predecessor. GPU-wise it utilizes the capable Mali T628 chip that should be good enough for your heavy gaming requirement, though I would have liked it better if they used the more powerful T760 here.

In terms of multitasking this should not give you problems, the Mate S boast a 3 GB RAM that can handle a lot of things all at the same time, especially for a mobile phone. The Mate S is also using a 2,700 mAh of battery, which is a little bit of a disappointment if you're coming from the Mate 7 with 4,100 mAh of juice. Fortunately, given the fact that Huawei is well regarded in battery management, they must have done something nice here to help you get through the day on a single charge. The Mate S also has world class connectivity as it houses a dual LTE connection, Bluetooth 4.1 and NFC. It also has that highly touted fingerprint sensor at the back for unlocking your device and security purposes. When it comes to storage, most won't also have a problem as the base model we're getting here will start at 32 GB that's expandable up to 128 GB.

What made the Mate S create buzz internationally is it is the first handset to feature the "Force Touch" technology which gives you a whole lot of options when you press the icon of an app that was later popularized by the iPhone 6s series. However, the Mate S that I was able to hold doesn't have that feature.

Note: Will still confirm if all models here in the country won't have the Force Touch feature

Now I hope to get a full review of the said handset to further explore it as it appears to be a solid "Flagship worthy" phone.

Pro's - Top notch build quality, good specs, appears to be great camera, fingerprint sensor, beautiful design and display
Con's - Where's the force touch?, priced quite high, smaller battery against Mate 7

As of the moment

If you're looking for a phone with the sweet combination of style, performance and build, the Huawei Mate S is a fantastic for that recognition. However, the pricing of this phone is a bit steep to my liking. If you have the budget, this would still be a great buy especially if you take a good look to its level of craftsmanship.

What do you think guys?