MWC 2013 Hands On: Huawei Ascend P2, Ascend Mate & Ascend W1

Huawei has announced several new devices at MWC 2013, Barcelona that comprises a new flagship smart phone and a large phone-tablet device. Firstly its current Huawei Ascend P1 is now replaced with a newer Ascend P2 that comes with a larger 4.7″ screen. quad-core processor and with LTE connectivity.

Riding the trend of larger phone-tablet hybrids, they have also introduced the new Ascend Mate which they claim to be the largest screen ever for a smart phone at 6.1″. The claim of largest is rather debatable as there are devices up to 8″ display with calling features. Last but not least, we have also taken a quick look at Huawei’s mid-range Windows Phone 8 device, the Ascend W1 as well.

So far there’s no word on availability in Malaysia currently but you can expect Huawei to price them competitively against its rival models. Read more on the devices accompanied with photos and videos after the break.

Huawei Ascend P2

Huawei is calling their Ascend P2 the world’s fastest 4G LTE smart phone which is powered with their very own Huawei K3V2 Quad core processor running at 1.5GHz with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. Unfortunately there’s no microSD expansion slot. The 4.7″ IPS display does 1280×720 pixels resolution which gives a display density of 315 ppi. Overall the design looks clean with an all black front which slops towards the bottom mimicking an infinity pool. Packed with a rather generous 2,420mAh battery, the Ascend P2 is only 8.4mm thick and weighs 122 grams.

The camera at the back is a 13MP shooter which comes with back light illumination and it shoots HDR videos. The inclusion of a dedicated camera button is a nice touch and it is placed on the right side of the device. Over at the front it comes with a 1.3MP camera. Internally it runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean which is skinned with Huawei’s emotion UI.

One thing we noticed is that they have removed the typical app listing interface and everything is kept on the home screen. This somewhat simply things for new Android users and there’s no longer a need to create shortcuts since the apps are now shown on the home screen panels.

The Ascend P2 comes in 2 colours – Black and White and personally we prefer the Black version with its nice matte finish. The white glossy version looks quite cheap and fingerprints are rather noticable. In terms of 4G LTE compatibility, it does support LTE Band 7 of 2600MHz. Check out the comparison between the Ascend P1 and Ascend P2 below, courtesy of Amanz.

Huawei Ascend Mate

Next is the Huawei Ascend Mate with a huge 6.1″ IPS+ display that pushes 1280×720 pixels resolution. Just like the Ascend P2, it runs on a quad-core K3V2 1.5GHz processor. On-board it comes with 2GB of RAM and 8GB/32GB storage which can be expanded with microSD. Over at the back, there’s a 8MP camera and there’s also a front facing 1MP camera. There are 2 colours available – Black and White, where the Black version has a “carbon-fibre” like weave design that’s covered with a glossy reflective surface.

In the hands, it feels quite big at 85.7mm width (5mm more than a Note II) but it has a decent thickness of 9.9mm. The Ascend Mate is quite heavy as well at 198 grams but it isn’t that bad considering it packs a huge 4,050mAh battery which is 950mAh more than the Note II.

With a bigger screen, Huawei has added some touches such as a smaller numeric and keypads to make single-handed operation possible. Just like the Ascend P2, they have eliminated the separate App Listing interface and everything you’ll need is found on the scrolling home screen. Following the trend of pop-up/floating apps, the Ascend Mate also has them as well which is accessible by pressing the transparent overlay dot on the screen. Overall, the Huawei Ascend Mate is a great addition for those craving for a big screen and the 4,050mAh certainly helps to prolong usage with a single charge. The device feels snappy and the device feels solid. Now if only Huawei could stay away from glossy plastics for a more premium looking appearance.

Huawei Ascend W1

Finally we have the Ascend W1 which is their first Windows Phone 8. Being a mid-tier device, it comes with a 4.0″ display pushing 800×480, a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage. If you need more space, storage is expandable with microSD. There’s a 5MP main shooter and a front facing VGA camera. It comes with a variety of colours – Black, White, Red and Blue. Personally we like the white colour version which comes with a pearl-like finish. Battery wise, it is rather generous at 1,950mAh and it weighs 130 grams.