Huawei Ascend P1 Review
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Learn how to pronounce Huawei ("Wa - way"), since the company not only got its foot in the door of the smartphone business, but is intent on ripping it off the hinges and becoming one of the best value for money Android manufacturers out there.
The Huawei Ascend P1 was the first element in this strategy that was announced at CES before the quad-core monsters we handled at MWC, and just as the company promised it is on our dissection table in the beginning of the summer.
It won’t be much of a dissection since the unibody design of the phone sports a sealed battery compartment, but the Ascend P1 delivers on every other mid-range front. It has a fast dual-core processor, 8MP cam capable of 1080p video and large qHD AMOLED display.
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In the box:
- Travel charger
- microUSB cable
Design:
Very thin is the right way to describe the Huawei Ascend P1, even if we count the “humps” at the bottom and around the camera module. Another recent handset that leaves a similar experience in the hand is the Panasonic Eluga, since the P1 is also very light at just 3.88oz (110g).
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The Huawei Ascend P1 has a compact and stylish with a catchy two-tone design | ||
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You can compare the Huawei Ascend P1 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.
Huawei has not only managed to make one of the most compact Androids out there with a 4.3” screen, but it is also very stylish, in a two-tone black and white body. The white overlaps the black on the sides, while the black flows over the white at the top and bottom, fusing the handset in an Yin-Yang harmony in our version, but there are also a pink and a completely black variants.
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Front camera | Android keys |
The push-in regular SIM card slot with a protective lid and the microUSB port are unobtrusively situated at the top until you need them, joined by the audio jack. The power/lock key is right under your thumb on the right and is easy to feel with good tactile feedback, as is the volume rocker on the left. Thankfully we also have a microSD slot on the right for storage expansion.
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Left edge | Volume rocker | Top |
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Right side | microSD card slot and power key | Bottom |
The sides of the Huawei Ascend P1 | ||
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Back | Rear camera | Speaker grill |
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Display:
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Is it Pentile? Why, yes of course, but if you didn’t know what the alternative PenTile matrix arrangement is you would never get worked up about it like you are now. See what we did there? You can see some “screen door” pixel structure and jaggies if you are deliberately staring at solid colors or enlarged text, but that’s about it. And once you experience the deep contrast of AMOLED watching video on a phone with it, it’s hard to go back anyway.
Drag the picture or use the keyboard arrows to rotate the phone. Double click or press keyboard Space to zoom in/out
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Huawei Ascend P1
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18 Comments
1. kshell1 posted on 01 Jun 2012, 06:18 8
If priced correctly it could be a device worth the look for some people. Not for me I target the highest end phones.
2. Nathan_ingx posted on 01 Jun 2012, 07:28 2
The back still looks Chinese-y...no offence!!
But it looks sleek none the less.
6. kshell1 posted on 01 Jun 2012, 08:15 7
Considering it looks nothing like the iphone it must really be a rip off >.>
13. nicholassss posted on 14 Jun 2012, 10:10 0
the average american probably wont be able to pronounce it. IF they ever blow up stateside everyone will be saying "howie" I'm sure.
7. JayRaj posted on 01 Jun 2012, 13:18 1
Just 7 for such a device?! I've seriously started doubting u guys' rating...
9. bobsen posted on 01 Jun 2012, 13:50 1
Thanks for the review. Were all the photos taken with default settings? I would like to see some photos with the saturation turned up.
10. slaggyb posted on 01 Jun 2012, 20:49 1
This is a very capable phone for power users and it got stock ICS with a pentaband 3G frequency how many phones currently in the market can boast of that? Apart from the limited internal memory and a high price of 500bucks this indeed is a well buit and equipped phone....Good job Huawei atleast when your newer and higher end phones with HD resolution are released later on this year it be able to compete with the likes of the SAMSUNG GALAXY S iii and the HTC ONE X....
11. Utipod posted on 02 Jun 2012, 07:13 0
How long before Apple sues them for building a rectangle?
12. groupsacc posted on 02 Jun 2012, 19:36 0
Better not say anything bad about this device, allotta chinese around here
15. avivaus posted on 22 Jun 2012, 02:37 0
is the ascend p1 have OTG?
and it is flash supported?
16. TechnoViel posted on 12 Jul 2012, 08:56 0
Nice Review, nice phone - if the price drops I'll surely consider it for a buy!
One question: I see the mcro-SD slot is externally accessible... can you change the SD card without shutting down the phone? USB OTG would also be nice to know...
@avivaus: Flash ist still available, but Adobe is withdrawing the app from the play store (I think July 15th - so very soon!) and will not support Android 4.1 / Jelly Bean. But this apply to any Android phone!
17. eekiguy posted on 26 Jul 2012, 02:38 0
TechnoViel @ I cant get OTG working on my P1 with the cable i have, but the SD slot is good enough, dont like to keep a cable in my pocket anyw.
I feel some of the US reviews are way to negative on Huawei, i dont know if its cos of high pricing in US or they just dont like Chinese phone brands giving other big players a though competition.
The P1 is a great phone for this price, in China for about 315-375USD, i dont see any other phone come near this price tag with its specs.
Did a search and found it for 369USD + shipping from hotmid:
http://hotmid.com/huawei-ascend-p1-4-3-inch-super-amoled-android-4-0-mobile-phone.html
18. TechnoViel posted on 26 Jul 2012, 07:31 0
@eekiguy: Thanks for your reply. What a pity about OTG, but you're right, the microSD slot partly makes up for that. I might start using microSD cards in my camaera, so I can bump these into the phone and send some shots home ;-)
Here in Europe it's still at ~385 EUR, that's >450USD :-(
Still a very nice phone :)
(I'm planning to review it against Xperia P and One S on www.technoviel.de, but wait for confirmation on the test units)
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