back to article The new Huawei is the world's fastest phone

Huawei can today boast the fastest smartphone in the world - besting even the iPhone 6s in key benchmarks. We got a decent idea of what the new Mate 8 feels like having had a preview at Huawei's Shenzhen HQ at the tail end of last year. Anandtech has performed the first and only comprehensive benchmarks on the new 6-inch …

  1. Oli 1

    Had to agree with your round up of the year in phones, there are no winners - except the manufacturers. Find it harder and harder to justify a new phone as i get older and with them all at circa £5-600 its a no from me.

    Started looking away from the flagship models at the end of last year and was quite taken with the honor 7 but storage and battery stopped me

    this is a contender....

    1. Davidmb

      Honor 7 storage and battery

      It takes an SD card, and the battery lasts at least 2 days (for me at least). If you want more than that in the world of 2016 smartphones, you'll be lucky.

      1. Oli 1

        Re: Honor 7 storage and battery

        I'll be taking another look then, as the site i nearly bought from said no SD.

        Thanks!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I'd nominate the Motorola Moto X Force as phone of the year for just for it's shatter proof display.

  2. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. m0rt

      @1980s_coder

      No. A test it was.

      you passed with flying colours.

      Congratulations!

  3. A Butler

    To pricey for a Huawei

    Price kills the device; Huawei is a Chinese brand that cannot command Apple prices no matter how much the reviewer loves the device. Its doomed.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: To pricey for a Huawei

      What does made in China have to do with anything, hmm, where are i devices made? Please remind me.....

    2. djstardust

      Re: To pricey for a Huawei

      But Apple manufacture in China too. You are just paying the Cupertino tax on top.

      1. DropBear

        Re: To pricey for a Huawei

        "You are just paying the Cupertino tax on top."

        That's just it. The tech might well be as good or better that Apple's - the "made in china" is not relevant; however, "not made by Apple" is. Not sure who's prepared to pay top-of-the-line flagship prices (for what may well be a top-of-the-line flagship indeed) in 2016 for a phone that isn't bought for its brand, unless you simply must have the absolute bleeding edge and nothing less will do. Do Huawei now have a reality distortion field of their own that I haven't heard of yet? Because if they don't, the whole impetus of the recent Conquest of the Cheap Chinese Phone (CCCP) hinges on it being significantly cheaper at comparable functionality - which of course this phone isn't.

        Are you willing to pay a proper Cupertino tax for a non-Cupertino phone just because it's supposed to be even faster?

  4. Caff

    smaller phones?

    Phone looks enormous, while the battery life appears great I still don't understand why there are not more high end phones that would comfortably fit in a jeans pocket around the 4.5" range

    1. wolfetone Silver badge

      Re: smaller phones?

      The real question is why aren't there more high end phones of the clam shell type. It was actually so cool to just flip the phone up and answer the call straight away.

      Alternatively just pick it up, see who's ringing you, lift up the lid (which answered the call) and then press the hang up button on them. A technique employed by my old man, as he only knew that opening the phone answered a call, pressing the green button would make a call, and red would end it. My sister and me would tell him to just close the lid on the phone, but he was adamant that it wouldn't end the call and it'd just keep the person on the line.

      1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

        Re: smaller phones?

        Ah, the childish joy of ending a call with the satisfying snap of closing the phone was great when I had my trusty old Motorola Razr. Much nicer than just pushing a button. It's a real shame.

        I still think my ideal form factor would be something like the old Razr with a 4G radio and WiFi sharing, so I could read the odd email on a slightly improved screen - but could resort to a small tethered tablet for any actual smart stuff.

        Or I'd be happy with sensibly priced 2 SIM deals, where I can have data only for my tablet, and a bit of both on the phone. But I think my wishlist is too unusual to be catered for.

        Even on a 4.8" phone, the Lumia 735 I use, I find browsing the web not very pleasant. I only do it when there's no alternative. I'd much rather tether my iPad. My brother's got the big iPhone 6, and I admit that the web's a much more pleasant experience on that - or a Galaxy / Galaxy Note - but they are a bit too big to hold comfortably on long phonecalls. And speaking to people is what I have the phone for. Apps are mostly what the tablet is for.

        1. Roq D. Kasba

          Re: smaller phones?

          Ideal form factor for me would be about the size of a box of matches, but with a 7 inch screen. Looking forward to when physics catches up :)

  5. Calleb III

    Elephant int the room

    Looks like everyone is ignoring the elephant in the room - the graphics performance, which is abysmal.

    1. Boothy

      Re: Elephant int the room

      Game playing on a phone is a minor consideration to most people.

      1. John Savard

        Re: Elephant int the room

        How important graphics is depends on which game you're playing.

        But it's probably still not a good idea for them to hire Gaioz Nigalidze as a pitchman.

    2. Oli 1

      Re: Elephant int the room

      generally not bothered as long as it can play a video without stuttering.

      i dont game...

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Elephant int the room

      I would have thought that since this is supposed to be a phone the main information presented would be how well does it perform as a phone. The tablet part is secondary and while interesting should not detract from the phone function.

      1. Roq D. Kasba

        Re: Elephant int the room

        Good to know it's the fastest phone, surely that means shorter conversations?

    4. John Savard

      Re: Elephant int the room

      The article seemed to imply that, at least when power efficiency was considered, its graphics performance was among the best for Android phones. That could still be abysmal by PC standards, of course, or you may be referring to a source article referenced that had more complete test results for this phone.

    5. John Savard

      Re: Elephant int the room

      Looked at the Anandtech review now. Their graphics performance is less than half of that of the iPhone 6 Plus, but apparently that's still fairly good performance for a smartphone - it isn't using one of the best available smartphone GPUs, but what it is using is still respectable in the second tier.

      While that's far from abysmal, one would have expected more on a phone with the fastest CPU around.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Elephant int the room

        "While that's far from abysmal, one would have expected more on a phone with the fastest CPU around."

        Where do you get that it is the fastest CPU around? The benchmarking shows it performing quite poorly against an A9.

  6. BurnT'offering

    Faster phone?

    Great - completing my phone calls in half the time will be a real productivity booster

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: Faster phone?

      It injects a dose of speed into your ear, as you talk, while sending a signal to the other person's phone with your weight and the dose it's given, so that their phone can dose them up to a roughly similar level.

      They're working on a helium supply for the next model, so that your faster speech also achieves the correct level of squeakiness...

  7. goldcd

    typo

    "which is complaint with the Qualcomm standard"

    Actually I quite like this phrase, shall reuse it in scenarios where items notionally compliant to a standard re-use to play ball.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: typo

      refuse?

      /irony

    2. PNGuinn
      Headmaster

      Re: typo @goldcd

      Balls are made to be dropped, not reused.

      Unless you're a dog.....

      1. Jonathan Richards 1
        Coat

        Re: typo @goldcd

        ... or unless you're pre-adolescent, when they haven't, yet.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Decent overview...

    ...apart from neglecting to explicitly mention whether that battery is replaceable or a glued-in-place timebomb... or the phone's provision/omission of removable memory. So probably safe to assume the wrong answer on both. Perhaps Reg could come up with some sort of "essential points check-list" for this sort of stuff? Decent job all the same. If this splaff gets straight through without languishing* behind a dissentwall or being "disappeared" then I'll have to seriously consider renewing my subscription.

    *Edit: Nope. It didnt. :(

    1. Vector

      Re: Decent overview...

      I'm afraid these days you can assume no SD/removable battery, so if there's no mention of either, they're not there.

      Shame really.

  9. Steve Todd

    Faster charging?

    Only by dint of using a 9V, 2A power adapter, thus throwing out the window the commitment of phone manufacturers to ensure that everything charges via USB.

    1. Boothy

      Re: Faster charging?

      It will still charge at 5v, just slower. So doesn't the 'commitment' you mention (which is voluntary anyway). Many tablets have been doing this for years, so it's nothing new.

      Although it is a shame they are not just using an updated USB Power Delivery Specification, as this allows for up to 20 Volts at 5 Amps, so no need to do something custom.

      They seem to be using a micro connector and USB 2.0, when for a new device, I'd expect USB 3.1, and a Type-C connector.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    errr... I can only see it beating the iPhone 6s in one of the benchmarks (basemark memory one).

  11. RaidOne

    Mate 2

    For more than a year now I am using a Huawei Mate 2. I like it's big screen (6.1 in), even if it's 720p only, and most of all the big battery - I charge it every 3 days in normal use, where before each phone I had (I changed them yearly) would barely last one day.

    Now I am looking for a replacement, but it's not easy to find. While many phones now have big 6 in screens, none I could find have a big 3 day battery, support an SD card, and preferably cost less than $400. I may have to live a bit more with the Mate 2. The Mate 8 may be a replacement, depending on how long the battery will last in real world tests and the no contract cost.

  12. x 7

    "The new Huawei is the world's fastest phone"

    but .......who cares? Its a phone....the real speed limiter is how fast you or I can talk

    1. P. Lee

      Re: who cares how fast it is

      If you just want a phone it doesn't matter.

      If you want a pocket computer with a phone attached, it might.

  13. Sanctimonious Prick
    Black Helicopters

    And despite the NSA's best effort...

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    the world's fastest phone

    why would I want, or even need, the fastest phone in the world? Never mind, for 450 squid they can f... off and die, even if they made it 10 x as fast (with10 x larger battery :)

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    phones 're getting bigger

    because they have to fit a bigger, flatter battery :D

  16. Chika
    Alert

    Huawei to criticise?

    Actually, I'm on my second Huawei, an Honor 6 which I bought at the start of 2015.

    OK, so they aren't the prettiest machines ever made and they do insist on using that EMUI thing to try to make it look like an iPhone (or there's a screen that switches it so that it looks like a WinPhone) but they work.

    My Ascend G330 is in its third year and is still good enough to act as a backup should I need it. The fact that it made it comfortably through two years' use was what persuaded me to go for another, hence the Honor 6.

    I bought mine based on the fact that so many of the high end phones are cutting various features off their phones. My current phone will take an SD card and the battery lasts quite a long time (a couple of days depending on what I do with it).

    The fact that the battery isn't removable wasn't a deal killer for me given the price, but it can be for quite a few phones - consider that the phone is effectively bricked once the battery cannot take a charge unless you can figure out a way in and can find a replacement.

    Actually, my biggest gripe with Huawei is that it is bloody awful when it comes to OS support. You might get an update (actually I got a complete new UI skin and a few changes some months ago) but you can whistle for any updates when it comes to Android itself. They're not alone in that, but it's worth calling them out on it, especially considering the sheer number of new models they seem to produce each year.

    That's why I'm a little dubious about this new Mate.

    1. Chairo

      Re: Huawei to criticise?

      Actually, my biggest gripe with Huawei is that it is bloody awful when it comes to OS support.

      That, and exactly that is the deal killer with Huawei for me. Nice hardware for sure, but lousy to non existent support. Interestingly they seem to have a much better support inside China, but if you are outside China, Huawei effectively doesn't give support in any meaningful way.

  17. bigp2

    Fastest?

    So how is it the world's fastest phone?

  18. Alistair
    Windows

    Fastest phone?

    Wait till phones get to be the size of a hoverboard, then we can worry about how phast they are.

    1. Chika
      Trollface

      Re: Fastest phone?

      A proper hoverboard as seen in Back to the Future II or one of those stupid things with a wheel on each end that seems to end up on Fail compilations?

  19. Minimaul

    Not actually the fastest phone

    Winning a handful of android specific benchmarks and a memory test does not a fastest phone make.

    Apple's A9 SoC still has a commanding lead in actual performance.

  20. x 7

    Huawei

    the name alone should be enough to put you off

    Do you really want a smart phone manufactured by a company that is a shell front for the Chinese equivalent of the KGB?

    1. Chika
      Mushroom

      I've still to see any concrete evidence of that much beyond the rantings and FUD of certain US officials and, given the whole NSA thing, I could comfortably call bullshit on that much. The name (it means "achievement", by the way) is no less of a deterrent than Xiaomi, Zhongxing or, need I say it, Foxconn.

  21. Andrew Hodgkinson

    I'll get ignored and/or downvoted, but - "world's fastest"?!

    Not that benchmarks really matter all that much unless you're an engineer, but your claim in this article is absurd, as one or two other commenters have pointed out.

    Let's look at that Anandtech link which is the only thing you provide as a possible basis for the claim. The differences in results aren't small here - they're quite big jumps:

    Kraken - iPhone is fastest

    Octane - iPhone is fastest

    WebXPRT - iPhone and Note are fastest

    OS II System - iPhone is fastest

    OS II Memory - Huawei is fastest

    OS II Graphics - Almost everything is faster, Huawei tanks

    OS II Web - iPhone is fastest

    OS II Overall - iPhone is fastest

    PC Mark - only tests Android and Huawei wins

    I have no special love for today's Apple, their software quality is horrific, but on every benchmark except Android-only or *one* result for OS II, iPhone beats it.

    "World's fastest phone"? What are you smoking?

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