Huawei Ascend W2 hands-on emerges online
The first hands-on with the rumoured Huawei Ascend W2 smartphone has emerged online, providing the first official confirmation of the device.
A press shot of the Huawei Ascend W2 leaked online last month, but now the Windows Phone 8 smartphone has been spotted at the Mobile Asia Expo in the flesh.
Designed to be a value for money Windows Phone 8 device, the Huawei Ascend W2 has been unveiled at the Mobile Asia Expo in Shanghai without ceremony or pomp.
The Huawei Ascend W2 was spotted at the Huawei stand with a specs sheet listing its 4.3-inch 800 x 480p resolution display and a 1.4GHz Qualcomm MSM8230 SoC with 512MB of RAM.
That processor is the same as that included with the current Huawei Ascend W1 but faster.
Storage-wise the Huawei Ascend W2 has 8GB internally, bolstered by the addition of a microSD card slot. Instead of being on the outside of the device, the microSD card slot is located next to the removable 1,700mAh battery with a full-size SIM card slot as well.
The Huawei Ascend W2 comes with either a red or yellow back cover, but also changes the backlight colour of the soft keys to match the Windows Phone 8 theme, which is a nice touch for the affordable handset.
From the hands-on images taken by Engadget, the Huawei Ascend W2 also offers the glove mode functionality of the Nokia Lumia 920 that allows users to operate the handset in those chilly winter months.
Surprisingly there’s no mention of the camera specs for the Huawei Ascend W2, but previous leaks suggest it’ll pack an 8-megapixel rear-facing snapper.
Hopefully the Huawei Ascend W2 will build on the success of the original Huawei WP8 device, the Ascend W1. We gave it 9 out of 10 in our review due to its slick and fast performance, long battery life and call quality.
There’s no word on pricing or UK availability for the Huawei Ascend W2 yet.
Next, read our Windows Phone 8 tips and tricks.