No comparison: The Huawei Ascend Mate versus the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3

Available in the Philippine market right now is the 6.1-inch Huawei Ascend Mate and the 6.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3. These two represent the new breed of super-sized phablets.

The Huawei Ascend Mate is nicely priced at Php16,990. With a HD (720 x 1280) display, a quad core processor, 2 GB or RAM and a massive 4050 mAh battery, the Huawei Ascend Mate is a very good value for money proposition. It is easy to recommend it over the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8.

The Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 is being sold for as low as Php22,850.  It is tempting to compare these two head to head. The higher priced Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 has less RAM and a smaller battery at, 1.5 GB and 3200 mAh. Some may also point out that the Samsung only has a dual core processor. But the dual core Qualcomm Kraits in the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 do actually perform a bit better, and are more power efficient, than the quad core ARM Cortex A9’s powering the Huawei Ascend Mate.

Personally, I think a comparison is pointless. The Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 has an LTE radio, while the Huawei Ascend Mate is an HSPA+ device. So while the price gap between the two device may seem large, if you want LTE connectivity, the Samsung is well worth the money.

One other option is to get the Huawei Ascend Mate plus an LTE WiFi pocket router. An LTE pocket WiFi  router can share the connection with your smartphone, tablet and laptop. But that is not necessarily as good a deal as it looks. The battery of these LTE pocket WiFi  routers will give up at around 5 hours, and so you do not get all day connectivity. So if you want 24/7 connectivity for email, instant messaging, and social networking, the LTE WiFi pocket router is not a good option.

So there is no point comparing these two. The Huawei Ascend Mate is the best HSPA+ phablet in the Philippine market, while the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 is the best (and only) LTE phablet currently available in the Philippines.