Huawei Ascend P1 Review
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You’d be surprised to hear this, but it’s precisely Huawei that might have found the golden ratio between a stock Android Ice Cream Sandwich interface as Google intended it, and manufacturer overlays. Simple - it is stock ICS by default but provides a variety of easy to switch themes to differentiate itself if you are so inclined.
There are three 2D “themes” you can choose from – the default stock ICS, then we have Breeze and Dusk, each one with different color scheme, icon art and above all - icon size - so there is something for even the most visually challenged. The underlying stock apps have the same appearance on all, just the homescreen dockand main menu icons change. There is also a 3D interface, which rotates homescreens and menu pages like in a cube, so all grounds are covered.
We liked that Huawei hasn't installed much if any bloatware. It just made a handy “Tools” folder for the homescreen, which nests the calculator, a flashlight app and so on, and also supplied a file browser, simple Notes app and an Office docs viewer. The only other app partnerships seem to be Music+, which adds Folder view to the music player, and SoundCloud.
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The Huawei Ascend P1 comes with Android Ice Cream Sandwich | |||
Thanks to the narrow elongated profile and the excellent Android ICS keyboard, typing with one hand on the Huawei Ascend P1 is easier than on most 4.3-inchers. Your thumb reaches across the on-screen keyboard with relative ease, and its nice light blue theme is catchy.
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The Android ICS keyboard | |
Processor and Memory:
A 1.5GHz dual-core Texas Instruments OMAP4460 processor is nothing to sniff at, and that's what powers the Huawei Ascend P1 with ease. The simple UI flies with it, and only the PowerVR SGX540 GPU can't measure up to Samsung's Mali-400 or the new Qualcomm Adreno 225 graphics processors. It is still a very capable PowerVR GPU, though, so you won't have troubles playing anything you throw at it.
The phone hosts 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal memory, of which only 2GB and change can be used for files, pics and videos, but thankfully you get an easily accessible microSD slot to add more.
| Quadrant Standard | AnTuTu | NenaMark 2 | |
| Huawei Ascend P1 | 3562 | 6145 | 36,4 |
| Samsung Galaxy S III | 5335 | 12016 | 58,6 |
| HTC One X | 4848 | 11024 | 47,4 |
| Samsung Galaxy Note | 3871 | 6409 | 40,9 |
Internet and Connectivity:
The stock ICS browser runs smooth as silk on the Ascend P1, powered by the TI OMAP processor. Scrolling, pinching to zoom and panning around are all quite fluid, and text reflow takes a split second to fit the article in the screen width for easier reading.
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The stock ICS browser runs smooth as silk on the Huawei Ascend P1 | |||
Good news for all Huawei Ascend P1 owners is that the phone is pentaband, meaning it will download stuff with up to 21Mbps on just any GSM network worldwide, including T-Mobile in the US. It also comes with a rich set of connectivity options – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, A-GPS, FM Radio and DLNA, which has a dedicated app to manage the streaming media. It doesn't sport NFC, but nobody is likely to cry over this, are they?
MHL comes standard to fuse the microUSB and HDMI ports in one, in case you want TV-out with the good old cable.
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Huawei Ascend P1
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18 Comments
1. kshell1 posted on 01 Jun 2012, 06:18 8 1
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 1
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 1
Considering it looks nothing like the iphone it must really be a rip off >.>
13. nicholassss posted on 14 Jun 2012, 10:10 0 1
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 3
Just 7 for such a device?! I've seriously started doubting u guys' rating...
9. bobsen posted on 01 Jun 2012, 13:50 1 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 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 1
How long before Apple sues them for building a rectangle?
12. groupsacc posted on 02 Jun 2012, 19:36 0 0
Better not say anything bad about this device, allotta chinese around here
15. avivaus posted on 22 Jun 2012, 02:37 0 0
is the ascend p1 have OTG?
and it is flash supported?
16. TechnoViel posted on 12 Jul 2012, 08:56 0 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 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 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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