One of China’s biggest smartphone makers isn’t exactly a big name in the United States yet. But Huawei hopes to change that, and one part of the company’s strategy appears to be a new online storefront where customers can order unlocked phones straight from Huawei.
It’s easier than getting wireless carriers to offer your phone, I guess… but other unlocked phones like the Google Nexus 5 and Motorola Moto X aren’t exactly household names outside of geek circles.
Anyway, Huawei’s kicking things off by taking pre-orders for the $300 Huawei Ascend Mate 2 smartphone with a 6.1 inch screen.
The Ascend Mate II is a phone for folks that want a big screen, a big battery, and who would rather buy a phone outright than spread out their payments over the course of a wireless contract.
Spec-wise, it’s hardly the most powerful phone on the market. But it’s not a bad looking phone, and it has a few things going for it including an enormous 3900mAh battery which provides up to 25 hours of talk time.
Here are some of the phone’s highlights:
- 6.1 inch, 1280 x 720 pixel Gorilla Glass 3 display
- 1.6 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core CPU
- 2GB RAM
- 16GB storage + microSD card reader
- Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
- 13MP rear camera and 5MP front-facing camera
- 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0
The Huawei Ascend Mate II is a GSM phone with support for 3G and 4G LTE. It should work on AT&T’s network, and when you order the phone Huawei will through in a SIM card good for a free month with MVNO Net 10, which operates on AT&T’s network, and which offers a range of pre-paid voice and data plans that are much cheaper than AT&T’s own.
via Android Police
What ever happened to the Huawei Tron. They announced it in January, then not a single word about it after that. The January announcement said it would launch in May. Instead it seems to have sailed into the bermuda triangle
The headline should read “phone” instead of “phones”. There’s only
1 model for sale.
I’d like to see unlocked dual SIM phones for sale,as the dual
SIM models sold on Amazon and eBay are either from
less-than-stellar sellers or defective merchandise, or are from
overseas dealers that charge outrageous prices for their products.
If not Huaweoi, then ZTE or Xiaomi, who are both also entering
the US market.
Game Changer for sure, 6.1″ It seemed like everybody in China had this phone.. Quite decent specs for the pricing!
I feel bad for Apple! tiny screen has lost billions in sales
Nice specs, but what about the built quality? Less than stellar build quality and battery life tend to be the downfall of cheaper devices.
And I can’t see a phone with a six inch screen being a game changer. Far too big for most people.
Did you not even fucking read the review? “enormous 3900mAh battery which provides up to 25 hours of talk time.” ….Dumbass -.-
The build quality on the P1 and P6 is very good. I’d assume this is the same.
Not for $299, Maybe at $250.
It includes $50 in airtime and $30 in phone cover. Ignoring the cover, the airtime deal puts it at $250.