Huawei has officially announced the Huawei Ascend Mate 2 at CES 2014, bringing 4G LTE connectivity to its 6.1-inch phablet. The company is calling it the Ascend Mate 2 4G.

We liked the original Ascend Mate as it was one of the more affordable ways to get a huge handset, and now it's refreshed for 2014, with a bump in various specs.

The model is slimmed down to 9.5mm thick, compared to 9.9mm of the previous Mate, so it's likely to be a little easier to handle.

Internally there's a 1.6GHz quad-core processor and a 4050mAh battery, which we'd expect to last you through the day pretty easily, as it did before.

The IPS display stays at 6.1-inches, so it's among the largest of the phablet family and although Huawei hasn't confirmed the resolution, we suspect it will remain at 1280 x 720 pixels. This makes it a little on the low side compared to rivals, but that's likely to be reflected in the price.

The headline upgrade however is the incorporation of 4G LTE, so you'll be able to access fast data on the move.

The new device has a 13-megapixel camera around the back and a 5-megpixel sensor for selfies and video calls. The Android operating system is skinned with Huawei's Emotion UI 2.0, designed to make tasks easier when approaching them one-handed.

"With Huawei Ascend Mate2 4G, we are bringing the benefits and convenience of superfast connectivity to people everywhere," said Colin Giles, executive vice-president, Huawei consumer business group.

"Huawei Ascend Mate2 4G is power-packed for the mobile generation who want non-stop entertainment on the go, such as the ability to snap and download photo albums in seconds or use their smartphone as their mobile office."

We're still hunting down the last of the details, but we'll update as soon as we have them, as well as pricing and availability.