Hands on with the Huawei Ascend P1/P1S

After Huawei's song-and-dance this morning at CES, the press got some quality hands-on time with the company's newest flagship device, the Ascend P1/P1S. The P1S is the thinnest smartphone on the market today (the P1 has an LTE radio and therefore is a bit fatter -- you'll see in some comparison shots in the gallery), and it's a fact that is immediately recognizable. The device is impossibly thin and light, and truly has the potential to live up to its promise and propel Huawei into the thick of the US smartphone market. Hit the break for my full impressions.

As I said, the Ascend P1/P1S is a beautiful device. It packs a gorgeous 4.3 inch Super AMOLED display with minimal bezel, and while it isn't 720p resolution as we've been seeing, it's as vibrant a screen as I've seen to date. Colors are crisp and bright, and viewing angles are nothing to balk at. I did not, however, enjoy the fingerprints that the screen attracted. I would have liked to see Huawei include some coating but here's hoping they'll change their minds before the P1 launches (March in Europe, "summer" for the US.)

Under the hood you've got a dual-core TI OMAP A9 processor that Huawei says is the fastest on the market (it's got the Quadrant scores to back it up). Until we can put it head to head with the main muscle (Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S II, Droid RAZR, etc.), we're hesistant to abide by that title. But from what I saw in my brief time with the device, it's blazing fast. It pushes Ice Cream Sandwich along without a hitch, and it's certainly got the juice to do some major processing.

What I really enjoy about the P1/P1S is the attention to detail. It looks like Huawei put their heart and soul into this product. It's not just powerful; it's fun. It comes in a host of different colors (black, white, red, pink), and it's definitely a phone you'd want to show off. It's got Dolby Mobile 3.0 Plus inside, along with an "industry-leading" camera. Those who are getting a bit tired of the industrial designs behind a lot of Android devices will find comfort in the details that Huawei is paying attention to. I'm also excited by what Huawei says its doing with battery life: you'll supossedly see 40% more efficiency here, which, if true, is pretty darn cool and will certainly help the battery last a full day.

Until we get our paws on one for the long haul. we'll have to settle for some hands-on photos and video below. And a note: the official title of the new Ascend device is the P1/P1S, not the PS1 as I may or may not have called it in the video. Carry on.