Choosing a new mobile phone can be a tough decision these days. With so many different models on the market, it can be difficult to know which phone is the best for you. You obviously want to be satisfied with your purchase, and not regret buying a phone, especially since most of us only shop for a new mobile around once every two years or so, meaning that you’re going to be living with your decision for a while.
Top of the line phones can cost well over five hundred pounds, and the new iPhone 5S could cost you over seven hundred. This is a huge investment, and far more than most of us can afford to pay. You can get your hands on a budget smart phone for under a hundred and fifty pounds, and a mid-range model is going to come somewhere between those two extremes.
Top of the line models have great performance, but they also are often loaded with features that most of us don’t need or use, which can make them a waste of money. Budget smart phones, on the other hand, can be lacking in the kind of features and performance that you need, making them unreliable. A good mid-range phone is usually the best compromise for most people, giving you good performance for a good price.
If you want to know which mid-range device is going to be right for you, then comparing mobiles is the best way to go about it. However, comparing models might not be easy, since mobile phone feature lists and descriptions are generally crowded with technical data and language, making them tough to understand. We’re here to help you make your decision though.
We’ve taken some of the best-selling and most popular mid-range phones on the market and matched model up in head to head comparisons which easily let you see which phone is the better buy. If you want to know that you’re making a great decision, then keep reading to find out more about today’s chosen models.
Introducing the Two Phones…
Huawei is a Chinese manufacturer that is fairly new to the UK market. The company is already starting to get a great reputation for making good phones for good prices though. The Huawei Ascend Mate is a great mid-level device, and it’s a phablet too. A phablet is a combination between the functions of a phone and the larger screen of a tablet computer. The Mate is a pretty good bargain, but it does have a strong competitor…
Samsung is one of the biggest mobile brands in the world, best known for their high end Galaxy S4 model. The Galaxy S4 is a little expensive for our purposes, but fortunately Samsung have released another model called the Galaxy S4 Mini. The S4 Mini sacrifices a few features to get a lower price, but it’s still a great phone. Which of these two models will come out on top?
What You’ll be Paying…
If you want to buy your hand set SIM free, then the Huawei Ascend Mate will cost you around three hundred and twenty pounds, whilst the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini is a little more expensive at around three hundred and eighty pounds.
You can also get your mobile through an operator by signing an incentive contract. The best deal on the Huawei is through Vodafone, and you’ll pay no money down for the phone with monthly mobile phone tariffs of £25 a month. The best deal on the Galaxy is with O2, and again you’ll pay no money down, this time with monthly mobile phone tariffs of £17 a month.
The Similarities…
Both of these models are Android touch screen phones. They both have the same 8 MP camera resolution, which is fairly standard for this price range. Finally, they are both 4G devices. This means that you can get faster mobile internet speeds, though you will need a special 4G data plan from your operator to take advantage of this or your phone will simply connect over slower 3G by default.
The Huawei Ascend Mate…
The Huawei Ascend Mate only has a couple of advantages over the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, but they are quite significant ones. You get more storage on the Ascend, which has a 16 GB internal memory as compared to the 8 GB internal memory on the Galaxy. This means that you can keep double the amount of music, photos and other data on your device.
Because the Ascend is a phablet, it obviously has a larger screen, and it measures in at 6.1 inches versus the 4.3 inch screen on the Galaxy. This bigger screen means that you have a better viewing experience for videos and web pages, but it also means that on screen typing is a lot easier. The screen also has around eighty per cent higher screen resolution than the Samsung, so it’s brighter and clearer than that of the Galaxy.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini…
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini does have some advantages of its own though, starting with the processor. The Galaxy runs a 1700 MHz processor which makes it more powerful, faster and more responsive than the Ascend, which only has a 1500 MHz processor. Whilst the Ascend may have the bigger screen, the Galaxy has a Super AMOLED display (the Ascend gets the much older LCD style screen), so you get better colour reproduction.
The Galaxy is a much more portable device. There’s such a difference in screen size that the Galaxy ends up being literally half the size of the Ascend, and around ten per cent thinner as well. It’s also lighter, weighing in at 107 grams versus the 198 gram Samsung model. All of this means that the Galaxy is much easier to carry around in your pocket all day.
Which is Better?
Both of these are nice devices, and the extra processing power on the Galaxy is great. However, the larger screen and bigger memory on the Huawei just make it a far better investment.
Phil Turner was comparing mobile phone tariffs when he needed a new phone recently and ended up changing networks and getting a much better deal. He found all the help he needed on uSwitch and similar comparison sites.
This article is copyright protected.