Event Coverage

Hands-on: Huawei Ascend D Quad and D1

By Sidney Wong - 27 Feb 2012

Hands-on: Huawei Ascend D Quad and D1

Hands-on with the Huawei Ascend D Quad and D1

If you think Huawei is just another company churning out mass market consumer devices, you may have to reconsider your perception.

In less than two years, Huawei has steadily built up a solid product portfolio. Its initial focus as an early entrant was to reach out to the mainstream market via the IDEOS branding. However, it does not want to just stick to one market segment and begun setting its sights on the top tier market segment. The introduction of the Huawei Honor, and the Ascend P1 S and P1 at CES 2012 paved the way for the Chinese company to position itself against industry heavyweights such as Samsung and HTC.

2012 may be the defining year for Huawei as it unveiled its strongest product offerings yet, which include the Ascend D Quad, D Quad XL and Ascend D1. The company also gave us a sneak preview of what's to expect for its upcoming MediaPad 10 Full HD (FHD).

Huawei enters the high end market space with its modest Ascend D1and D Quad devices.

As the first quad-core phone from the company, the Ascend D Quad holds the honor together with its twin brother, the D Quad XL, of running Huawei's very own K3V2 chipset. So what's the hype about its own system on chip (SoC)? Huawei stated that the development of its own processors allows it to better optimize both the hardware and software aspects on its devices. This will result in an overall better performance and longer battery mileage.

Huawei Ascend D Quad

.The 4.5-inch display on the Huawei Ascend D Quad is a treat for the eyes as it comes with a 32-bit true color graphic processor and a pixel density of 330ppi.

 Not to be left out of the compeition, the Huawei Ascend D Quad and D Quad XL run on Google Android 4.0 out of the box. During our hands-on with the Ascend D Quad, we experienced no lag. The interface transitions were smooth  and fluid.

The only differences between the two smartphones are the larger battery capacity, faster clock speed and a slightly thicker side profile (10.9mm) in the Ascend D Quad XL. Seen here is the 8.9mm thin Huawei Ascend D Quad.

Huawei makes it clear that it is not going to be part of the megapixel race by equipping both the Ascend D Quad and D Quad XL with an 8-megapixel BSI rear-facing cameras.

We like the matte back surface of the Huawei Ascend D Quad as it provides a firm grip. Huawei has certainly come a long way in the designing and handling aspects of its devices.

Besides wanting to be the fastest smartphone with the best imaging capabilities, Huawei also wants the Ascend D Quad to provide the best audio experience for the consumers. Not only does the Ascend D Quad have the renowned Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound feature, it also comes with Audience earSmart voice technology that helps filter out background noises during voice conversations. 

The Huawei Ascend D1 Quad (above) comes with a removable 1800mAh battery capacity. To power the 1.5GHz quad-core processor of the D Quad XL, it's expected that the latter will come with a larger battery capacity (2500mAh). Do expect to see a 3000mAh variant coming in the near future.

Huawei understands that using larger battery capacities to address the power requirements of multi-core processors is merely a short term or ineffective solution. The company has invested much research and development in its proprietary power management system which is said to provide up to 30% in energy savings.

Both the Huawei Ascend D Quad and D Quad XL will be available in China, Australia, Europe, Asia Pacific, North and South America, and the Middle East in Q2 2012. Huawei is currently still in discussion with global telco operators, hence the company is unable to provide an estimate on the pricing of the devices. Nevertheless, Huawei promised that the devices will be priced competitively and expects to sell about 60 million handsets this year, a significant increase of 40 million from 2011.

Highlights of Huawei Ascend D Quad / D Quad XL

 
Operating System
  • Google Android 4.0
  • Google Android 4.0
Processor
  • Huawei K3V2 quad-core 1.2GHz 
  • Huawei K3V2 quad-core 1.5GHz
Memory
  • 8GB ROM / 1GB RAM
  • 8GB ROM / 1GB RAM
Display
  • 4.5-inch IPS+ / 1280 x 720 HD touchscreen 
  • 4.5-inch IPS+ / 1280 x 720 HD touchscreen
Camera
  • 8-megapixel BSI sensor (rear) with autofocus 
     
  • 1.3-megpixel HD (front)
     
  • Dual LED flash
     
  • HDR 
     
  • 1080p video recording (rear camera)
  • 8-megapixel BSI sensor (rear) with autofocus
     
  • 1.3-megpixel HD (front)
     
  • Dual LED flash
     
  • HDR
     
  • 1080p video recording (rear camera)
Connectivity
  • Bluetooth 3.0
     
  • WI-FI 802.11 b/g/n
     
  • Bluetooth 3.0
     
  • WI-FI 802.11 b/g/n
     
Battery
  • 1800mAh
  • 2500mAh
Dimensions
  • 129 x 64 x 8.9mm
  • 129 x 64 x 10.9mm

 

Huawei Ascend D1

On the outside, the Huawei Ascend D1 looks no different from its more powerful siblings, the Ascend D Quad and D Quad XL. All three smartphones share many similarities such as the 4.5-inch high HD touchsreen, 5.1 surround sound with Dolby Mobile 3.0 Plus, 8-megapixel BSI rear-facing camera and run on Google Android 4.0. 

Guess which is the Huawei Ascend D1? Even we had a hard time telling the difference. The Huawei Ascend D1 is the device on the right.

The Huawei Ascend D1 is as thin as the Ascend D Quad at 8,9mm.

 You will find the same 8-megapixel BSI camera module sitting at the back of the Huawei Ascend D1.

  Key Highlights of the Huawei Ascend D1 

  • Google Android 4.0 
  • 4.5-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen / 1280 x 720 pixels   
  • TI OMAP4460 1.5GHz dual-core processor
  • 8GB ROM / 1GB RAM
  • Wi-Fi 802.11/b/g/n
  • 8-megapixel BSI rear-facing autofocus camera / 1080p full HD video capture / Dual-LED Flash + 1.3-megapixel HD front-facing camera / 720p HD video capture 
  • 5.1 surround sound with Dolby Mobile 3.0 Plus 
  • Bluetooth 3.0
  • 1670mAh battery
  • 129 x 64 x 8.9mm
     
  • Available from April 2012 in China, Australia, Europe, Asia Pacific, North and South America, and the Middle East 


Huawei MediPad 10 FHD

Slated to be the follow-up to the 7-inch MediaPad, Huawei gave us a sneak preview of the upcoming Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD (also known as full HD). The Chinese company wasn't able to reveal more details about the 10.1-inch MediaPad except that it will feature a full HD screen, a quad-core processor and a sleek design of 8.8mm.

No information is available at the moment as to when the Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD will arrive in the market.

As we were not allowed to touch the Huawei MediaPad 10 GWD, we could only snap pictures of it. The upcoming Huawei tablet sports an almost same look as the 7-inch MediaPad.

Look at how sleek the Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD is. 8.8mm thin!

The back of the Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD retains an excellent build quality.

 

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