Huawei Ascend P2 Review

Introduction:

Can a mid-range Android handset possibly be the fastest smartphone in existence? Yes, apparently, but there's a catch. Introduced back in February during MWC, the Huawei Ascend P2 is marketed as the fastest LTE phone money can buy, with its support for 150Mbps peak download speeds. That is not the first thing that comes to mind when one picks up the world's “fastest” smartphone, but it is true that the device stands in a league of its own in that respect, at least in theory. That aside, the smartphone is a member of a mid-range category, but has a drool-worthy specs sheet. A quad-core processor powers the Ascend P2, while a 4.7-inch LCD display graces its front and a 13MP camera is embedded in its back. The slim profile and lightweight body are also among the device's main selling points. Is it worth buying, however? Well, that's what we're here to find out!

In the box:

• Wall charger
• microUSB cable
• Wired stereo headset with microphone
• SIM card ejector
• Warranty, Safety information, Quick start guide

Design:

A minimalist approach to handset design can yield great results, and the Huawei Ascend P2 serves a good example of that. The smartphone looks sleek and elegant, yet professional and unobtrusive, made to appeal visually to members of both genders. Moreover, the Ascend P2 is quite slim and very light for its size, as one instantly notices right after picking the device up.

But while it looks okay, the Huawei Ascend P2 can't impress us with the materials it is made of. The matte black variant that we're reviewing feels too ordinary to the touch, even with a hint of cheapness to it. At least its plastic surface repels fingerprints well.



The way the Huawei Ascend P2's sides are curved towards the back makes the handset easier to grasp, but the same design feature may potentially prevent the user's fingers from comfortably operating the volume and power buttons placed there. This is by no means a deal breaking issue, but it can't be ignored.

The Huawei Ascend P2 has a trio of capacitive buttons located underneath its display. These are used for navigating through the Android interface, of course, serving as “back”, “home”, and “menu” keys. We find nothing wrong with their placement and reaching any of them is quite easy.


Display:

The beautiful, 4.7-inch LCD touchscreen is among the Ascend P2's strongest assets. It has a resolution of 720 by 1280 pixels, which results in an eye-pleasing pixel density of 315ppi. Details in graphics and images look nice and sharp, while even small text can be read with little effort. Also, colors are well represented, without being over- or undersaturated. And while we find the color temperature accurately calibrated, one is free to adjust it to their own liking via the settings menu.

A neat feature is the so-called Glove Mode, which can be toggled on when needed. Simply put, it makes the screen extra sensitive, allowing one to operate the touchscreen even while wearing gloves.

As long as the sun is not shining straight at it, using the Huawei Ascend P2 outdoors isn't too difficult as its display has a very decent brightness output. The reflectance of its glass surface is also within norms.



Interface:

Customization – that's the cornerstone, upon which Huawei's Emotion UI 1.5 has been built. Running on top of Android 4.1.2, it brings a number of personalization features, including a whole bunch of UI themes, ranging from colorful and cartoonish to plain and minimalist in appearance. Furthermore, the user is free to pick among several lock screens and screen transition animations, while the wallpapers can be set to shuffle randomly at specific time intervals.


Functionality has not been overlooked either. The notification bar hosts a broad range of toggle buttons, which can be rearranged in accordance to the user's liking – a common and welcome modification. Different profiles can be set, changing the phone's volume settings and what not, depending on whether the user is at home, outdoors, or in a meeting.


Unlike most other Android interfaces we've come across, Emotion UI does not have an app drawer. Instead, icons for all installed applications are listed on the home screen in a manner inspired by iOS, which contradicts with Android's UI design principles. Nevertheless, we don't find this feature annoying at all. In fact, we're sure that some users will like the UI better as it is for its simplicity.

There are two on-screen keyboards pre-installed on the Huawei Ascend P2. One of them is the default Android keyboard, which we know and love, while the other is provided courtesy of Huawei itself. The latter is also comfortable, with easy-to-hit buttons. We like how symbols can be entered quickly just by swiping down on the respective key.



Processor and memory:

Huawei's very own K3V2 SoC is in use with the Ascend P2. It has a 1.5GHz quad-core processor backed up by 1GB of RAM, which is a combination delivering adequate performance for a mid-range smartphone. The chip is by no means a benchmark crusher, but in reality, it is powerful enough to get the basic tasks done. Navigating through the UI feels smooth in general, with slowdowns occurring on rare instances, usually while exiting or switching from a heavy application. Games, including the latest 3D titles, run at high framerates most of the time.

	Quadrant Standard	AnTuTu	GLBenchmark 2.5 (Egypt HD)	Vellamo (HTML5 / Metal)
Huawei Ascend P2	2653	11756	FAIL	1594 / 497
Sony Xperia SP	7866	16413	4970 / 44 fps	2013 / 755
Samsung Galaxy S4 mini	6783	13341	3762 / 33fps	2088 / 685
Huawei Ascend P6	5228	14220	2509 / 22 fps	1462/453

The Huawei Ascend P2 does not have a microSD card for storage expansion, which is a major drawback. Out of the 16GB present on board, only 11.83GB are available to the user, and while that will be sufficient for a great fraction of consumers, those who like to store lots of audio and media on their handset are in for a disappointment by the lack of free space.

Internet and connectivity:

The default Android web browser comes loaded on the Huawei Ascend P2 out of the box. That means there are no extra browsing tools added by the manufacturer. Just the default set of features are in stock, such as support for multiple tabs, embedded YouTube videos, saving pages for offline use, and the likes. The app's performance is satisfactory, but not quite perfect as even though pages are rendered fast, switching between them can sometimes take a while. The alternative web browsers that we tried didn't perform any better.


In theory, the Huawei Ascend P2 is capable of reaching peak download speeds of 150Mbps over an LTE network, which is crazy fast by today's standards. Most LTE networks across the world, however, probably can't provide as much bandwidth, but it is good to know that the smartphone is future-proof at least in that respect. Further connectivity features include the usual set: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC, and FM radio.

Camera:

Launching the camera app on the Huawei Ascend P2 can be done quickly, either via the lock screen shortcut, or by double-clicking the camera shutter key. Yup, there's a dedicated camera button on this device, which does make snapping photos easier. The shape of the handset, on the other hand, isn't ideal for the purpose, so one has to be careful while holding it in landscape mode. The camera UI is definitely not short on features and the arrangement of its menus is easy to get used to. With its 13MP camera, the Ascend P2 can take panoramic photos and 10 full-res shots in 1 second. There's also an HDR option for both photos and videos, although we weren't very happy with the results.


As for the photos taken with the Huawei Ascend P2, they are mostly okay, as long as there's enough light to work with. The high-resolution sensor can capture objects in detail and the presence of digital noise is kept well under control. Color representation is on the neutral side, which is good, but the dynamics could have been a bit better. Shooting in low light yields photos that are definitely noisier, with lifeless colors, while the LED flash struggles with providing enough light to illuminate the frame.


We've definitely seen better 1080p videos out of other 13MP cameraphones. Captured at 1080p resolution, the Ascend P2's footage is passable, but could have been smoother and with more detail. Indoor videos taken in low light are noisy and sometimes out of focus.

Huawei Ascend P2 Sample Video:



Huawei Ascend P2 Indoor Sample Video:



Multimedia:

The music player installed on the Huawei Ascend P2 matches the functionality of many other stock apps of this kind. It can list all loaded songs by artist or album name, and display album art as well. The mandatory lock screen controls and home screen widget are also present. There are several cool tricks thrown in as well, such as lyrics support and the ability to set any song as ringtone. The built-in Dolby Digital Plus feature serves as an equalizer with lots of presets.


With its single loudspeaker, which is positioned on the back side, the Huawei Ascend P2 provides average volume output. The sound is clear and undistorted, but should have been louder. We gave the stock earphones a try, but we weren't impressed. The sound is okay, but lacks in both the low and high frequency spectrum.

The best thing about the Ascend P2's video player is that it handles any video file format we throw at it. All our video sample files, from MKV and DivX to MPEG4 and QuickTime, ran perfectly at up to 1080p resolution. With its large, pretty screen, the smartphone is definitely suitable for watching video. The video player application, however, is extremely basic and has no advanced features whatsoever.

Call quality:

Phone calls made using the Huawei Ascend P2 sound loud, clear, and natural through the phone's earpiece. The microphone also works well, despite sounding a bit sharper at higher frequencies. No static or background noises disturb the conversation on either side of the line.

Battery life:

While battery life depends mostly on how a particular smartphone is used, we think the Huawei Ascend P2 won't disappoint. With its 2420mAh battery, the handset can deliver over 12hrs 3G talk time, which is very good. Stand-by time is listed as 11 days. The battery might last longer depending on what profile the phone is set at. From the Power Manager menu, the user can switch between performance and power-efficient modes, or manage which apps get loaded on start-up.

Conclusion:

All in all, the Huawei Ascend P2 is an okay mid-range Android smartphone. It is far from being the ultimate device of this class, but it gets the job done and it doesn't have any major drawbacks, save for the inexplicable lack of a microSD card slot. The pretty, 4.7-inch display tops the list of things we like about it, followed by the slim profile and lightweight body, so if these are the features you value the most, then the Ascend P2 won't disappoint.

Of course, there are a number of alternatives one should check out before getting the Huawei Ascend P2. The Sony Xperia SP, for example, is great, similarly-priced mid-range Android smartphone with a large, high-resolution screen and a capable processor. If design and appearance are your cup of tea, the Huawei Ascend P6, also known as the thinnest smartphone in existence, would be an excellent choice. Last year's Samsung Galaxy S III would also be a good pick as you should be able to grab one for as much as the Ascend P2 costs.

Software version of the reviewed unit:
Android 4.1.2
EmotionUI 1.5
Build Number: P2-6011V100R001C00B019

Huawei Ascend P2 Video Review: