Huawei Ascend P1 - Rising Dragon

Overview 

Huawei first announced the Ascend P1 along with its slimmer counterpart, the P1 S in January 2012. Our hands-on with the devices and impressive specs sheets left us feeling impressed. Despite being the youngest phone vendor in the market, Huawei is slowly but surely becoming a serious contender in the mobile space. Is the Ascend P1 what the Chinese company needs to take on the big guys? Well, this is what we intend to find out by the end of our analysis and review. Before we dive into greater details, here is a quick look of its specs: -

Key highlights of the Huawei Ascend P1 Android 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich) 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display / 960 x 540 pixels TI OMAP 4460 dual-core 1.5GHz processor 1GB RAM 4GB internal memory (with microSD support up to 32GB) 8-megapixel BSI rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p video capture 1.3-megapixel HD front facing camera 1670mAh battery 130g 129 x 64.8 x 7.69mm Available now at S$648

Design 

Plastic is the dominant material in the construction of the Huawei Ascend P1, and that is both a blessing and a curse. On a positive note, it keeps the Ascend P1 lightweight at 130g compared to other 4.3-inch Android models such as the Sony Xperia S (144g). Handling wise, you will have no problem using it over extended periods of time.

As with phones with a mostly plastic build, we found that it makes the Ascend P1 look somwhat cheap although aesthetically, the Ascend P1 is one of the more stylish 'upper mid-range' Android smartphones around. However, the glossy plastic surface is a magnet for fingerprints and smudges, hence you will find yourself cleaning the phone quite often.

It is commendable that Huawei managed to streamline the Ascend P1 to a mere 7.69mm thin, which is just marginally thicker than the ultra sleek Motorola Razr (7.1mm), and edges out the HTC One S (7.8mm) and ASUS PadFone (9.2mm). Having said that, the Ascend P1 is extremely pocketable and should sit itself comfortably in your jeans' pocket.

The front face of the Ascend P1 is dominated by a 4.3-inch display, a screen size that is becoming the standard for Android smartphones entering the market these days. Below the display are three touch sensitive navigation buttons (Menu, Home, Back). Similar to HTC, Motorola and most Samsung devices, Huawei did not follow the on-screen-button system on the Galaxy Nexus and ASUS PadFone. 

On the Ascend P1, you will find the common connectivity ports and features such as the 3.5mm audio output jack, micro-USB port (for charging and transfer of files) and a microSD card slot. The Power / Sleep button is found on the right side of the device while the volume controls are housed on the left. Both buttons are made using metallic materials and slightly raised, hence making it very easy to reach them.

Features

The Huawei Ascend P1 runs on Android 4.0.3 out of the box. Similar to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and ASUS PadFone, it keeps its interface clean with an almost stock Android user interface (UI). This is unlike the deep customization seen on the HTC One X and Samsung Galaxy S III. However, Huawei throws in a 3D launcher for users who may want a more interesting UI.

Performance

The Huawei Ascend P1 shares the same TI OMAP 4460 dual-core processor as the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, albeit with a higher clock speed at 1.5GHz. If you've noticed, the Motorola Razr Maxx is powered by an older generation TI OMAP 4430 chipset. The main differences between the two generations of processors are the faster clocked CPU and GPU; otherwise they are pretty much similar.

To gauge the performance of the Huawei Ascend P1, we compared it to the scores of other (almost) similarly spec-ed phones of its class which include the ASUS PadFone, HTC One S, Motorola Razr Maxx and Sony Xperia S. As per usual, we will use the Quadrant benchmark to evaluate the CPU, memory, I/O and 3D graphics of the Android devices.

Based on the scores above, the Huawei Ascend P1 performed decently against the competition. It is obviously outmatched by the newer and more advanced Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor of the ASUS PadFone but held its own against the HTC One S. The Ascent P1 also had a comfortable lead over the Motorola Razr Maxx and Sony Xperia S.

Synthetic benchmarking aside, the user experience on the Ascend P1 was generally positive. Navigation and multitasking were smooth and apps loaded quickly. In short, there was nothing to complain about the overall performance of the device.

Imaging Performance

Like many of its counterparts, the Ascend P1 is equipped with a Super AMOLED display. Colors are bright and vibrant, with good viewing angles under sunlight. The resolution of 960 x 540 pixels is pretty standard for a phone with this screen size. The display is also reinforced with Corning Gorilla Glass, so you can be assured that scratches won't appear that easily. On the camera imaging quality aspect, as seen in the photos above, the camera managed to capture pretty good details. If there's something to nitpick, it would have been the slightly bluish tinge (cooler colors) noticed in most of our shots. Given that it's after all captured from a smartphone, we were generally satisfied with the shots.

Battery Mileage

Using the same 480 x 800 pixels resolution video that we use across all our mobile device battery tests, we set the same test parameters which includes having the video looped under the following conditions:

• Brightness and volume at 100%
  
   
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity turned on
  
   
• Constant data streaming through email and Twitter

The Huawei Ascend P1 lasted about 7 hours and 32 minutes, which ranked second behind the leader, the Motorola Razr Maxx. If we take the 3,300mAh battery of the Motorola Razr Maxx out of the picture, Huawei actually did a commendable job with the Ascend P1. Generally, devices with Super AMOLED displays tend to perform better in this aspect due to their more power efficient screens. This is evident in the Power Consumption chart, where the Ascend P1 registered the lowest power consumption figures among all the devices. Likewise, the Ascend P1 also ranked quite high in the Portability Index, where where each device is assessed on its ability to balance battery mileage with its size and portability. Having the thinnest side profile (7.69mm) and a rather lightweight form factor (130g) certainly helped propel the Huawei phone to a podium finish.

Under normal daily usage conditions, we were able to squeeze out about a day of battery life from the Ascend P1. This is pretty normal for smartphones today, when consumers usually perform some moderate web surfing, text messaging and make a few phone calls throughout the day. Do take note that our battery test simulates fairly stressful usage conditions and that actual battery mileage varies under different usage conditions. Even so, it seems that the Huawei Ascent P1 has what it takes to be a strong performer.

Conclusion

In terms of hardware, we are impressed with its sleek design though the plastic build doesn't really bring out the best out of the Ascent P1. We're not against a full plastic build, but a textured matte finish of the right color would give the phone a much better first impression and add to its design score. Build aside, its 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display makes the Ascend P1 an excellent multimedia device and further boosts the device's battery life. In fact, it's one of the most power optimized smartphone among the competition and can easily last a day's worth of usage before needing a charge.

Software-wise, the Ascend P1 should please Android purists with its almost stock user interface, which is fluid in operation. Though it runs on a dual-core processor, the Ascend P1 gave a solid performance and can certainly give the other Android vendors a run for their money. Other performance aspects like its battery life and imaging quality were satisfactory too.

At S$648, the Huawei Ascend P1 is the most affordable among the phones that we've compared in this review and comes across as a well-rounded mid-range Android smartphone. Consumers should really consider the Ascend P1 if they are looking for an affordable mid-range Android smartphone that can handle most needs without burning a hole in their wallets.

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