Huawei Ascend Mate7 - review

Introduction of Huawei Ascend Mate7

The Huawei Ascend Mate7 is the company's first tablet ready for primetime, with two credible midrangers in the Mate series giving Huawei the confidence to stand up to rival flagships. Never mind the digit in the title, the Mate7 is actually a 6" device with premium looks, solid display and a capable chipset. It was built to stand out, outlast and outperform the competition and looks keen to muscle its way to the top instead of sneakily undercutting the competition. The Ascend Mate7 is trying to impress in pretty much every aspect. Its body is made of aluminum, but the focus is well on the 6" IPS display of 1080p resolution. Huawei is very own Kirin 925 chipset is powering the Mate7, which offers all-round connectivity options and a capable 13MP snapper.

Huawei maybe a novice in fingerprint security, at least on paper, but comes across as a quick learner - to say the least. Huawei's implementation are superior to some of the popular solutions on other handhelds by major manufacturers. The phablet comes with built-in and easy to access scanner, which is fast and secure enough, offering touch&pay via NFC. And before we proceed with exploring the complete feature set there is no way we miss mentioning the massive 4,100mAh battery hidden inside the Mate7. Huawei promises incredible battery times and you bet we'll test these claims with the dedicated Ultra Power Saving mode off.

Now it's time for the key features list:-

Key features of Huawei Ascend Mate7

·         Cat. 6 LTE connectivity, 300Mbps rated download speed

·         Optional dual-SIM model for certain markets and you choose to use the second slot as either a SIM or a microSD slot)

·         6" 16M-color 1080p IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with Gorilla Glass 3, usable with gloves

·         Android OS v4.4.2 KitKat with Emotion UI v3.0

·         Quad-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.3GHz Cortex-A7, Mali-T628 GPU; 2GB or 3GB of RAM; Huawei Kirin 925 chipset

·         13MP autofocus camera with LED flash, 1080p video recording @ 30fps

·         5MP front-facing camera, 720p video recording, selfie panorama mode

·         Fingerprint sensor

·         16GB or 32GB of built-in storage, side-mounted microSD card slot, hot-swap

·         FM radio

·         Standard 3.5mm audio jack

·         Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic

·         4,100mAh battery

Disadvantages of Huawei Ascend Mate7

·         Non-exchangeable battery

·         No 4K or 1080p video recording @ 60fps

·         Will compete against QHD screens in this price range

·         Below average loudspeaker performance

Specifications of Huawei Ascend Mate7

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100
	4G Network	LTE 700/800/850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100/2600 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28)
		TD-LTE 2300
	SIM	Micro-SIM
	Announced	2014, September
	Status	Coming soon. Exp. release 2014, Q4

BODY	Dimensions	157 x 81 x 7.9 mm (6.18 x 3.19 x 0.31 in)
	Weight	185 g (6.53 oz)
		- Fingerprint sensor

DISPLAY	Type	IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	1080 x 1920 pixels, 6.0 inches (~368 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
	Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 3
		- Emotion UI 3.0

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration, MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes
		- DTS Surround sound enhancement

MEMORY	Card slot	microSD
	Internal	16 GB, 2 GB RAM/ 32 GB, 3 GB RAM

DATA	GPRS	Yes
	EDGE	Yes
	Speed	HSDPA, 42 Mbps, HSUPA, 5.8 Mbps; LTE, Cat6, 50 Mbps UL, 300 Mbps DL
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	v4.0, A2DP, EDR, LE
	NFC	Yes
	USB	microUSB v2.0, USB Host, USB On-the-go

CAMERA	Primary	13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, autofocus, LED flash.
	Features	Geo-tagging, face detection, HDR, panorama
	Video	1080p@30fps.
	Secondary	5 MP, 720p

FEATURES	OS	Android OS, v4.4 (KitKat)
	Chipset	HiSilicon Kirin 925
	CPU	Quad-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7
	GPU	Mali-T628
	Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
	Messaging	SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email
	Browser	HTML5
	Radio	TBC
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS
	Java	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
	Colors	Obsidian black, Moonlight silver, Amber gold
		- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - DivX/XviD/MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player - MP3/eAAC+/WMA/WAV/Flac player - Organizer - Document editor - Photo/video viewer/editor - Voice memo/dial/commands - Predictive text input

BATTERY		Non-removable Li-Po 4100 mAh battery
	Stand-by	(2G) / Up to 648 h (3G)

TESTS	Performance	Basemark OS II: 830 / Basemark X: 6501
	Display	Contrast ratio: 1428:1 (nominal), 2.024 (sunlight)
	Camera	Photo / Video
	Loudspeaker	Voice 66dB / Noise 65dB / Ring 75dB
	Battery life	Endurance rating 67h

Diwali 2014 - Diet tips to make your Diwali healthy

Diwali is the time when families and friends come together to celebrate the festival of lights. Apart from the fire crackers, sweets and snacks are an indispensable part of this festive  season. It can be a trying occasion for you as you battle between indulging and abstaining from the festive treats. With all the binge-eating and ghee-infused diet you end up doing quite a bit of harm to your health. Here are a few tips that will help you enjoy your Diwali guilt-free without compromising on your health.

·         Prefer home-made sweets 

When there are plenty of colourful ladoos and kaju katlis of different shapes and sizes everywhere, it becomes very difficult to resist them. According to nutritionist Sneha Sadhwani, in India where most of us are genetically prone to diabetes, it especially becomes very important to restrict our sugar intake.  Sweets found in the market are high in calories. You cannot modify the caloric content of sweets when you buy them from outside, but you have the option of giving them a healthy touch at your home. Sneha advises to avoid the use of artificial sweeteners and use natural sweeteners such as dates, jaggery and figs when you prepare them at home. Choose to make your home-made desserts with skimmed milk and honey.

·         Stay hydrated

With so much going on during the Diwali, most of us forget to drink enough water. Low fluid intake can make you feel weak or tired as it inhibits the absorption of other macronutrients in the body. Many a times people replace water with sugary beverages or aerated drinks. Hydration does not mean having such drinks. Sneha Sadhwani advises to include healthy beverages such as nimbu pani with less sugar, iced green tea, buttermilk, and infused water. Also, serve your guests these healthy beverages rather than the sugary ones.

·         Distribute healthy gifts

Gifts are a symbol of friendship and hospitality of this festival. Choose sensible gifts for your family and friends this Diwali. Try gifting them low-calorie sweets and snacks instead of ghee-laden sweets. Set an example by sending hampers of fruits and dry fruits to your relatives. Fruits are less calorie laden and dry fruits make a good option as they are good sources of protein and minerals such as zinc, potassium and magnesium which are not present in those sweets.

·         Eat healthy snacks

Sneha adds, ‘During Diwali not just the consumption of sugar is high, but the intake of salt and fat in forms of namkeen and farsan is high too. A very healthy way to modify these snacks is to bake them rather than frying. Baked chaklis and puris, low-fat khakras and roasted chivda are all healthy snack options which are low in fat as well as calories as compared to our traditional deep-fried snacks.’

·         Say no to food colours and preservatives

Select your food wisely and stay away from artificial food colours, preservatives and chemicals. Sneha suggests opting for a dry fruit barfi rather than a mawa or coconut barfi. Both are high in calories, but a dry fruit barfi will be more nutritious.  Also, avoid eating sweets with silver-coating as these coatings are adulterated with aluminium and can affect your health.