Chinese manufacturer Huawei is steadily growing its presence in the Western world, and the Ascend P7 is its latest attempt to win over consumers.
Succeeding the Ascend P6, the P7 borrows the same stylings and functions, but provides a slightly better design and some increased power under the hood. While this is Hauwei's flagship device, it's not in the same league as the Samsung Galaxy S5, HTC One M8 or Sony Xperia Z2.
In fact with a price tag of €449 (around £370, $625, AU$690), the Ascend P7 finds itself towards the top end of the middle tier of mobiles, but it's not a pricing anomaly like the OnePlus One.
That said, a quick flick through the spec sheet and the Ascend P7 isn't exactly poorly equipped, with a lot of similar features to last year's HTC One. On
the front there's a full HD 5-inch display, while under the bonnet
you'll find a 1.8GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, Mali 450 MP4 GPU,
16GB internal storage and 2500mAh battery.
Round the back there's a 13MP Sony camera while on the front the Ascend P7 is equipped with a selfie-tastic 8MP lens.
It also boasts CAT 4 LTE technology, allowing you to take advantage of the fastest 4G speeds currently available, while Android 4.4 KitKat sits at the heart of the operation. In
the same way that HTC and Samsung tinker with Google's platform, Huawei
has stuck its own Emotion UI interface on the Ascend P7. It's version
2.3 of the overlay, and the P7 is the first phone to come running it.
As I've already mentioned when it comes to design there's not a lot to choose between the Ascend P7 and P6, and indeed the Ascend G6 too. There have been a few handy changes, though. I bemoaned the position of the headphone jack on the P6 and G6, where it's placed on the side. Huawei
has heeded the call and shifted it to the top of handset, making it far
easier to pocket when you've got headphones plugged in.
The
microUSB port has also shifted from the top of the P6 to the base of
the Ascend P7 - the best location when it comes to using your phone
while it's charging.
Pick the Ascend P7 up and you'll
immediately notice its extremely slender frame - impressive considering
the level of tech Huawei has crammed inside the device. That said the P7 isn't as thin as the Ascend P6 which clocked in at a sultry 6.18mm, but considering it's only grown to 6.5mm it's still thinner than Galaxy S5 and iPhone 5S.
Clad
in Gorilla Glass 3 front and back, and with a metal frame running round
the sides, the Ascend P7 is the best looking and feeling Huawei device
to date. It's premium in the hand and the solid build means there's no
uneasy flexing.
Slender bezels run down either side of
the display and Huawei has managed to keep the extra space above and
below to a minimum, partly thanks to the navigation keys being on
screen. Down
the right hand side you'll find an almost central, circular power/lock
key which falls comfortably under thumb or forefinger - depending on
which hand you're holding the P7 in.
It isn't as big as
the button on Sony's current flock of Xperia handsets, but I can't help
notice a similarity in the layout, with the volume rocker switch just
above.
That's not all for the right side though, as below
the power/lock key are two trays - one for the microSIM and the other
for a microSD card. That
gives you a hint that you can't remove the rear of the Ascend P7, so
the battery is locked out of sight. No swapping out a flat one for a
fully charged power pack on the go.
There's a clever
fearture surrounding the microSD slot too, as instead of stick a storage
card in it the tray is also compatible with a nanoSIM. This allows you
to make the Ascend P7 a dual SIM, if you so wish.
The
compact dimensions of the Ascend P7 (139.8 x 68.8 x 6.5mm) and its 124g
weight make it easy to hold in the hand, although the angular edges mean
it doesn't sit as nicely as handsets with more of a curved design.
These
dimensions also meant I was able to reach all areas of the 5-inch
display with one handed operation and no awkward shuffling was required.
With a full HD resolution, the 5-inch LCD screen on the
Huawei Ascend P7 is crisp, clear and bright making text easy to read and
images look impressive.
A pixel density of 445ppi means you'll be able to comfortably watch movies on the P7 without suffering any major visual issues.
Part
of the reason Huawei has been able to make the Ascend P7 so thin is
thanks to the JDI screen used in the handset, which itself is extremely
slender as well as reducing reflections.
It's not all
good news though: that screen also highlights the rather childish
Emotion UI overlay, which detracts from the Ascend P7's premium appeal. For the Android purists out there the removal of the app draw may be a step too far, but for those less tech savvy the simplified interface employed by Huawei makes the Ascend P7 easier to navigate. You can make things even simpler with the option to switch from the standard interface to the Simple UI - a feature which debuted on the Ascend Y530. This feature will really come into its own for smartphone users with accessibility issues, with large on-screen buttons for the core features and none of the additional fuss of extra settings and controls. I
got hands-on with an Ascend P7 that wasn't running final software, and I
did find that general operation could be a little slow at times.
From
time to time there was some noticeable lag when I opened applications,
but hopefully these things will be ironed out ahead of its launch in
stores.
The performance does make me worry about the
processor inside the Huawei Ascend P7 (it's a HiSilicon Kirin 910T), as
it's produced by relatively unknown a Huawei-owned company instead of
coming from an established brand such as Qualcomm or Nvidia.
While
I couldn't properly put the processor to the test during my hands on
time, it's something that will be fully tested during our in depth
Ascend P7 review.
Huawei has also included some additional features in its Emotion UI 2.3 overlay, the first of which is 'shake to align' apps.
Because
the Ascend P7 doesn't have an app tray all your applications live on a
series of homescreens and as you move them around, download new ones and
delete the ones you no longer need everything can start to look a bit
messy. Hold
down on any app to enter edit mode and then shake the Ascend P7, and
the applications will automatically align, removing any blank spaces
between icons.
It's hardly a standout feature, nor one
you're likely to be using all the time, but it is a nice touch which
allows you to keep your house in order - and one I'd love to see on the
likes of the Galaxy S5 or iPhone 5S.
The Suspend Button
is something else Huawei has added into its Emotion UI, and it provides
additional tools and shortcuts via an onscreen menu. The
function wasn't working properly with the development software running
on the unit I got hands-on with, so you'll have to wait for the full
review to find out how, and if, it works.
Another feature
is the ability to snap a picture in under a second with a double click
of the down volume key on the side of the handset. Again, this wasn't
properly working on the development software so we'll have to wait for
the full review to get more information.
Turning
attention to the cameras on the Ascend P7 and you'll be pleasantly
surprised by the 13MP snapper with Sony 4th Gen BSI senor bolted on the
rear. It has a single LED flash and a whole host of features, modes and effects including HDR, panorama and Audio Photo.
The latter, Audio Photo, is basically the same concept as "Sound and shot" which arrived on the Galaxy S4 - a gimmicky feature which records 10 seconds of audio and attaches it to an image file. I spent some time shooting with the Ascend P7 during my hands-on, and generally it took some decent images. The shutter speed isn't the quickest I've experienced, but that could be down to the software not being finalised quite yet. Another
bonus on the Ascend P7 is the 8MP front facing camera which Huawei is
really pushing at the selfie-obsessed youth market.
It's even included a selfie preview window so you can make sure your beautiful mug is in the right place, plus a selfie panorama mode to capture the vista behind you. A feature that made it into the MediaPad X1 and M1 tablets was the ability to charge another device via the USB port - and that has also been brought to the Ascend P7.I
can't see its worth on a smartphone though, as usually it's the phone
you'll want to charge rather than another device from your handset's
battery - which itself is smaller than the ones you find in tablets.
This
backwards charging capability also requires a cable which has to be
purchased separately, which makes it even less likely to be used on the
P7.
The Huawei Ascend P7 release date is scheduled for
June 7 in 30 countries including the UK, with wider global availability
following soon afterwards.
Early verdict
The Huawei Ascend P7 is the firm's best designed handset to date, but while it's the flagship model for Huawei it isn't a market leader. Its specs are more suited to a flagship device from 2013, which places the Ascend P7 in a different league to the One M8, Xperia Z2, Galaxy S5 and company. The Emotion UI won't to be to everyone's taste, but there's plenty going for the Ascend P7 - especially as it's cheaper than the top-end mobiles. If you're looking for real market leading handset though you'll need to look elsewhere.
