First impressions aren't everything, but feeling good out of the box doesn't hurt.
It's been a little while since Huawei officially unveiled the Ascend P6 in London, but we've finally got our hands on the new ultra-slim device for a proper look. Just in case you need a little refresher, the Ascend P6 is fantastically thin at just 6.18mm, and still packs in many high-end features you'd expect in a phone today. The P6 has a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, an 8MP camera, 4.7-inch 720p display, 2000mAh battery and is powered by Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
All of that is wrapped up in a nice metal and plastic body that looks great to our eyes and feels nice in the hand by our first impressions. Stick around after the break for a more detailed look at the Ascend P6 in pictures and video.
After spending a little time with the Ascend P6 getting it set up with our accounts and apps, we have to say we're quite impressed with the build quality. This is a big step up over some of its offerings last year, and even over what it announced just at CES in January. It is incredibly thin and relatively light as well, without feeling cheap or flimsy and the use of different metals along with small plastic accents is quite nice. The display also looks crisp and bright despite only being 720p (although the resolution is quite acceptable at 4.7-inches), and the device is overall refreshingly small compared to the ballooning sizes of recent handsets
While it's going to take a while to get ahold of the software, it's clear that Huawei is continuing its efforts to have a strong design and brand identity with its customizations. Most things have been changed aesthetically — with a new launcher, skinned settings and bundled apps — on the Ascend P6, but still function much the same as you would expect with stock Jelly Bean. We can tell already that this stock launcher probably isn't going to work for us, but that's easily remedied.
Now that we have our hands on the device, we'll be giving the Huawei Ascend P6 the complete review treatment over the coming week, so look forward to our in-depth coverage as it is released. For now, take a look at the hands-on video above and pictures below to get a good impression of what to expect from this handset.
Reader comments
Huawei Ascend P6 first look pictures and video
I thought 3000MAh & up batteries are the norm now? My added 2 cents worth, I'm wondering if this company & Sammy are working together? OK, you may disagree, but I don't trust either company.
Looks like a nice fone but will it in typical Huawei fashion never get a software update??
Nice looking hardware and don't care about the UI since Nova launcher would fix all those issues and comes with its own app drawer anyway. My only complaints are wierd/unorthodox placement of microUSB port and headphone jack, id lose that jack cover in a few secs.
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I like it, looks great. Waiting for the n5 but I miss removable storage. Everyone pushes the cloud but where I live service sux.
from my lean mean jelly bean machine N7!
I like the look of the phone. I'd rather have the charge port and headphone jack in the same area but that might not stop me from checking out eBay to try this out :p
It's a really nice phone but I'm totally spoiled to removable batteries. I can't remember the last time I had to plug my GS3 in to charge it. I love being able to go from 0 to 100 battery in less than 1 minute.
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Am I the only one who doesn't want their phone to be superthin? I have enough trouble holding my EVO 4G LTE without a case.
Hey, how about doubling the battery capacity and making it a few mm thicker?
Apple is going to freak out with this phone. The side bezel is JUST THE SAME as the iphone 4.
It actually looks pretty nice considering its manufacturer. Not something I would get myself but pretty nice anyways.
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Like this phone a lot, even from a quick hands on in London you could tell it wasn't a bad proposition. The price makes it even more enticing.
Love the grey slate looking back and the aluminium sides.
What a beautiful phone. If it wasn't for the HTC One I'd be extremely tempted.
I have to admit, Huawei high-end devices do tend to look the part if nothing else. Wouldn't mind trying one out.
I really like this device. But since I run vanilla android I will be flashing CM 10 on it....I hate companies ballooing android! However, I will get one if (I doubt it) ever comes out! Its nice!
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The only misstep on this device is the screen size. 5" would have been perfect
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Holding it for a half a day now, I'm happy with the screen size. It's refreshing to have a phone that isn't gigantic.
Looks really nice!
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On ebay they all have only 8GB storage. I can't believe a company would put 2 GB of RAM and only 8GB of ROM in a phone. This should be outlawed.
it has an SD card slot.
8GB of ROM? What does it need 8GB of ROM for?
Looks like this phone has TMOBILE AWS bands. Sweet.
It does, I'm using it on T-Mobile right now.
Where did you get yours?
i wont mind getting this if it comes to tmobile usa.
Until the Chinese start to play on a more level business/trade playing field, I just won't buy their products.
This comment couldn't be ignorant. There are plenty of companies outside of China, in the US for instance that also have shady business practices. You just never hear about it. US bashes on China through the media, same goes for the Chinese. Why don't you look at Nike, Oregon based company using child labor in Vietnam, Indonesia and China.
Your ignorant statement can also be traced to Apple, California based, using labor from Foxconn which has terrible working conditions. But Apple clearly doesn't care. I'm sure Google and Microsoft have had their fair share of illegal or poor business practices as well that you don't hear about. E.G Google spying on other countries.
I think the person was specifically talking about theft of IP from U.S. companies.
Do a search on Huawei IP theft and add either Motorola or Cisco.
Also:
"The fact that Ren Zhengfei, the company’s chief executive, was an engineer in China’s People’s Liberation Army before founding Huawei, and that the firm’s ownership structure is not transparent, have created lingering suspicions that Huawei might be an agent for the Chinese military."
Huawei, not a good company....
What propaganda bullshit
I couldn't care less about the thinness if it led to not having a replaceable battery and a micro SD card.
It has an SDcard slot, right next to the SIM slot. And there are many phones much thicker than this without either a removable battery or SDcard...
Way to copy the iphone.. c'mon.
Yeah... because a black slap is the purview of Apple & only Apple...
That's a good looking phone.
@5:03 What color is "impressed"? That might be the color I choose for my MotoX. :)
o_o
Definitely a nice looking phone, but no app drawer? What idiot approved that? Such a fail.
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It's something that has carried over from many custom ROMs out of Asia such as MIUI. It's a popular look that likely got picked up from the craze of making things look/act like iOS.
In reality it's not bad at all if you're not a heavy app user. And luckily you can always just change the launcher.
That issue is a very quick fix by applying something like nova launcher
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Got one from the Philippines when I was there couple weeks ago. Loving it so far. Works great on my T-Mobile $30 plan. Feels great in my hand, looks gorgeous, and battery life is decent. I'm having problem with Google + earlier, but a quick upgrade to B107 and everything works dandy.
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The B107 update fixed my force close issue with Google+ also.
At first glance it looks nice but the fact that it has a charging port at the top is annoying. Its the 2nd biggest problem with the Nokia Lumia 928. First is pretty obvious (No Google love)
Posted via The Awesome Android Central App on the Nexus 7 (2013) Yeahuhhh
I don't find myself using a phone while plugged in all that often, but when I do the top charging port doesn't seem to bother me... it's never in the way of your hand like bottom and side-mounted ones are. Why is the top port bothersome?
If you, like me, have a dockingstation for android it is essential to have the charging port on the bottom of the phone (maybe on the side as well)
I use a dock charging cradle at home so its just wierd to have to dock it upside down and then have to use mods to let the lock & homescreens 180 degree autorotate just to look at them
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Dat battery..
It's because 6.18 mm.
Posted from my pure Google Nexus 4 using the Android Central app.
it's bigger than your ajiphoney battery
Nice looking hardware. First thing I would do is change that launcher. Will that phone be available for the US Market? Hopefully they will add some internal memory instead of the pathetic standard 16. That to me is the most irritating spec on the high end smartphones of Android today. Just freaken ridiculous. Someday I hope they learn to sell phones like Apple, all versions to all Carriers all at once. The only way. These US Carriers are just too damn greedy and the phone manufacturers should come together and put an end to this bull.
It's because 6.18 mm.
Posted from my pure Google Nexus 4 using the Android Central app.
sorry to disappoint you..this has only 8gb
The back looks like it has a nice texture to it and the device itself looks like it is of premium quality.
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Leave it up to "smaller" companies like this to give premium cased phones unlike Samsung's habit of glossy plastic (which on the other hand isn't all that bad ツ)
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Looks like an iPhone 4 from the side bezel and antennas, also can't stand phones with charging ports on the top of the device!
Just what I was thinking!
Me too!
It's necessary because of the metal casing. Though I think they could have done with a plastic chin on the top as well and put the radios there, or went the HTC route. Why reinvent the wheel?
I like what they did, the device is great save for the positioning of the headphone jack and mic.