Rumors are flying around about a possible 6.3-inch display for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, but the Huawei Ascend Mate is real, and it's here.
The Ascend Mate is a 6.1-inch smartphone/tablet hybrid, the largest smartphone on the market, dwarfing the comparably miniscule 5.5-inch proportions of the Galaxy Note II. And its price has just been slashed to $430 ahead of its launch in China next week.
The Chinese manufacturer has recently started focusing on high-end tech, in a bid to stay relevant in a changing marketplace, and the Ascend Mate is its crowning achievement.
Unveiled at CES 2013, the Mate received generally positive reviews. While it's a bit heavier and more difficult to hold than the Galaxy Note II, it's also much larger, and the build quality compares favorably.
Currently, the Mate has a listed price of €499, but this latest price drop for the Chinese market may presage a similar price cut for Europe, though no official release date has been announced.
The Huawei Ascend Mate features a 1.5 GHz quad-core Hi-Silicon KV32 processor, 2 GB of RAM, a 6.1-inch 1280x720 HD IPS+ display, 32 GB of internal storage, an SD card slot for up to another 32 GB, an 8 megapixel rear-facing camera, a 1 megapixel front-facing camera, a high-capacity 4,050mAh battery with a 22-hour talk time and runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
While the upcoming Galaxy Note 3 will have more impressive specs, it's not due out until later this year, perhaps September according to the latest rumors. Those same sources say the screen will only be 5.9 inches but that it will feature the Exynos 5 Octa processor used in some Galaxy S4 smartphones.