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Huawei Ascend P2 Review

Sections

Verdict

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Pros

  • Great battery life
  • Bright, vibrant screen
  • Solid, robust design

Cons

  • Uninspiring look
  • Childish Emotion UI
  • No MicroSD slot

Key Specifications

  • Review Price: £399.00
  • Quad-core 1.5GHz CPU
  • 1GB of RAM
  • 16GB internal memory
  • Android 4.1.2 with EmotionUI 1.6
  • NFC, 4G

What is the Huawei Ascend P2?

According to Huawei, the Ascend P2 is the ‘world’s fastest smartphone’. What that actually means is that this 4G smartphone features Category 4 LTE to enable download speeds of up to 150Mbps, not that it has the fastest processor.

Blistering transfer speeds aside, the 4.7-inch P2 has the kind of specs that puts it amongst high mid-range smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, the HTC One Mini and the oldie, but still great Samsung Galaxy S3. Having sewn up the ‘world’s slimmest smartphone’ accolade courtesy of the Huawei Ascend P6, is the P2 a worthy contender?

Want only the best? Head to our best phones 2013 round-up.

Huawei Ascend P2 smartphone lying on a wooden surface.

Huawei Ascend P2 – Design

The P2’s predominantly plastic body stays true to the roots of the Ascent P range. It’s not curvaceous like the S4, it prefers defined edges and a more angular look. The back has a rough, almost sandpapery-feel to it that might that help the handset stay put, but also feels mildly irritating against the skin. It’s a largely uninspiring design, so if you are looking for HTC One sleekness, prepare for disappointment.

The P2 is not P6-slim but at 8.4mm thick, it’s marginally slimmer than the 4.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S3 (8.6mm). It weighs just 122g making it lighter than the S3 as well. Crucially, it’s as light in the pocket as it is in the hand.

Up top is the headphone jack and micro USB charging port. On the left is the volume rocker. Over on the right is the on/off button and Micro SIM card slot guarded by a small flap. Further down is the dedicated camera button and around the back is the 13-megapixel main camera and speaker. The back is not removable, so that battery is going nowhere.

Huawei Ascend P2 smartphone lying on wooden planks

Huawei Ascend P2 – Screen

The P2’s 4.7-inch, 720 x 1,280 screen matches the P6 and is protected by second generation Corning Gorilla Glass. It claims a maximum 500 nits brightness rating, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, while the 312 pixels-per-inch puts it just behind the iPhone 5 in terms of clarity levels, which is more than good enough.

It might not be Full HD, but the display is still supremely impressive. Images are sharp, and colours are rich and vibrant. Good brightness and contrast make it great for watching films and the IPS panel ensures an excellent viewing angle. It’s up there with the HTC One Mini for overall quality.

The display reacts well to presses, swipes, and gestures like pinch and zoom. There’s even a ‘Gloves’ mode to increase responsiveness, which works very well. It’s a great display and one that matches the HTC Mini One, which set a new standard for mid-range phones.

We test every mobile phone we review thoroughly. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly and we use the phone as our main device over the review period. We’ll always tell you what we find and we never, ever, accept money to review a product.

Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.

Used as our main phone for the review period

Reviewed using respected industry benchmarks and real world testing

Always has a SIM card installed

Tested with phone calls, games and popular apps

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