fbpx

Huawei Ascend P1 first impression

The first time I saw the Ascend P1 was over a month ago when I was having lunch with folks from Huawei Philippines. They were showing me the Ascend Y200 though and I never got the chance to check the other phone one of the reps were using.

During the last Huawei event, I managed to borrow the handset for a closer look.

Apparently, the Ascend P1 holds the record as one of the thinnest smartphones at 7.7mm. The specs isn’t that bad either. If Huawei is going to position this as their next midrange smartphone once they release this in the Philippines along with the Ascend D Quad, it should be a very promising one.

Huawei Ascend P1 specs:
4.3-inch AMOLED display @ 540×960 pixels, 256ppi
TI OMAP 4460 Cortex-A9 1.5GHz dual-core
PowerVR SGX540 graphics
1GB RAM
4GB ROM
up to 32GB via microSD
HSPA 14.4Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA
Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, HS
GPS with aGPS support
Dolby Mobile 3.0+
FM radio tuner
8MP autofocus rea camera with dual LED light
1080p video ecording @ 30fps
1.3MP front-facing camera
Android 4.0 ICS
Li-Ion 1670mAh battery
127.4 x 64.8 x 7.7mm (dimensions)
110 grams (weight)

The configuration above looks more than decent and can actually pass off as a flagship device to pit against the ones from Sony (Xperia Ion), Motorola (Razr Maxx) or even the older models like the LG Prada 3.0 or the Galaxy S2.

The Ascend P1 can also output video to an external display via the micro-USB port (as MHL). The unit that we tried is probably an engineering unit but it works just fine. It’s also running ICS and that Emotion UI which we saw in the Huawei Honor and Ascend Y200 looks clean and fluid (Huawei’s design team is based in Europe and their engineering team is based in the US).

The 7.7mm thickness might still be contested since the device has a reverse chin and the rear camera has a protruding base. Still, it feels really thin when you hold it. The device looks a bit plasticky though but that actually contributed to the very light net weight.

The device will b available in black, white and pink colors.

I am told that Huawei will release the Ascend P1 in the Philippines some time in September. They still don’t have a suggested retail price for this but if they will listen to me again (the same way they accepted my suggested for the SRP of the Y200), then I’d say put the SRP in the vicinity of Php18k and folks will see it as a good deal (since the Huawei Honor is in the 14k range).

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 561 other subscribers
Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

19 Responses

  1. Avatar for cris velasco cris velasco says:

    hi!sale pa ren b yong P1 nio? or P6? ano ang latest na pricedrop nio ngaun? ty

  2. Avatar for lyniegadaingan lyniegadaingan says:

    Sir kelan ulit mag si sale nang 6990 itong huawei ascend…sayang huli na kasi ng nabasa ko na till sept. 8 lang ang sale nito..napanood ko ito sa youtube at nagustuhan ko..gusto ko po sanang makabili sa presyo na nag sale kayo..pls. paki inform naman po ako kung mag promo ulit kayo..

  3. Avatar for Eric Eric says:

    Yes buy the Lenovo ! They won’t upgrade to Jelly Bean according to the last conversation i had with them on Facebook.
    And you know why ? They say that the hardware can’t support JB ! A dual core with 1GB memory can’t support JB ? They take their customers for fools ! Huawei never again.

  4. Avatar for EiEiEi EiEiEi says:

    I’d rather buy Lenovo K860

  5. Avatar for engie engie says:

    Is this upgradable to jelly bean?thanks

  6. Avatar for Eric Eric says:

    Well, i bought one for christmas (for my gf) everything is perfect except the essential… the microphone !!! The sound is too low and people always complain they don’t hear me well …

  7. Avatar for n0t0riouz n0t0riouz says:

    nung galing akong malaysia, nakita ko tong phone na to…
    mga nasa 13k ung price pag converted sa peso

  8. Avatar for momus momus says:

    any updates on this? it’s already october!

  9. Avatar for beetee beetee says:

    I;m wondering where this is available???

  10. Avatar for guyrony guyrony says:

    Being an underdog for now, it would be wise if this is priced below phones from HTC and Sony with the same qHD screen.

    I am still waiting for their Quad D which have been announced in MWC since the start of the year.

    Huawei needs to pick out its pace if it really intends to compete in the mobile phone category.

    But this is a very good start for them indeed.

  11. Avatar for Edsar Edsar says:

    18k for a not so popular brand in The Philippines won’t win against Sony, Samsung and Nokia as well as apples iPhone 3GS

  12. Avatar for Kenneth Kenneth says:

    18K? that would be more expensive than the RAZR or The Galaxy R!!!
    this unit will be slower than either in actual operation since it will be relying on micro sd as main storage.
    and it does not have “Gorilla Glass”

    • Avatar for Abe Olandres Abe Olandres says:

      You have a point but the Galaxy R only has 2GB ROM, 480×800 resolution, not Super AMOLED, runs Gingerbread at 1GHz. It’s a stretch if you want to compare it to the R.

    • Avatar for Ger Ger says:

      I agree, 18k wouldn’t mark a dent in the tough smartphone competition. Samsung galaxy nexus is priced also at 18k(widgetcity).

    • Avatar for Abe Olandres Abe Olandres says:

      It’s just SRP. If you’re quoting street price like the one on WC, then I’m sure the price of the P1 there will also be much lower, like 14k or even better.

    • Avatar for Ger Ger says:

      my reply above is for kenneth comment.

  13. Avatar for Regina Anne Dimaano Regina Anne Dimaano says:

    Looks neat! :D

  14. Avatar for simplynice93 simplynice93 says:

    Wow! Cant wait..

  15. Avatar for paolo paolo says:

    The design is close to the Samsung Galaxy S2. Maybe TOO close. :l

Leave a Reply
JOIN OUR TELEGRAM DISCUSSION

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *