Huawei Ascend W1 hands-on, first impressions

Huawei Philippines launched their very first Windows Phone 8 smartphone in the Philippines last week. The Huawei Ascend W1 is considered to be one of the more affordable WP8 in the local market.

Next to HTC, Nokia and Samsung, Huawei is only the 4th company to locally release a Windows Phone 8 in the country (although Samsung isn’t doing anything to push their WP8 handset).

Here’s a quick hands-on video of the device.

For an entry-level WP8 handset, the Ascend W1 looks really good — a 4-inch IPS display, a very capable Snapdragon Krait chip and good enough battery capacity. The build quality is pretty good and the design is simple, yet elegant. Reminds us a bit of the Xperia Sola where the glass display is slightly raised from the front panel.

The back side is somewhat flat and has a smooth, matte finish. The 5MP camera is at the center, flushed towards the top end along with the LED flash. The device feels good on the hands, has a bit of heft to it, considering the size, and also somewhat chunky at 10.5mm.

Windows Phone 8 runs very smoothly on the device, very fluid and snappy. We did not notice any custom apps done by Huawei to add to the OS but that’s alright since we didn’t really expect them to.

Huawei Ascend W1 specs:
4.0 inch IPS OGS display @ 480×800 pixels, 233ppi
Qualcomm MSM8230 Snapdragon 1.2GHz dual-core Krait
Adreno 305
512MB RAM
4GB internal storage (microSD card support)
3G/HSDPA up to 21Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1 w/ A2DP
5MP rear camera @ 720p
VGA front-facing camera
GPS w/ aGPS, GLONASS
Li-Ion 1950mAh battery
124.5 x 63.7 x 10.5 mm
130 g
Windows Phone 8

Despite the presence of an expandable mciroSD card, we’re a little concerned about the 4GB internal memory which is dedicated to the apps. Some might find it somewhat lacking, especially if they’re looking to install file-heavy games.

The Huawei Ascend W1 will retail for Php8,990 in stores and available in blue, red and black. Check us back for the full review in a week or two.

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Lumia 520 vs Ascend W1: Affordable WP8 face-off

On the red corner, we have the Nokia Lumia 520; on the blue corner, we have the Huawei Ascend W1 – both WP8 devices that sell for less than Php10k. Today, we put them in the spec stadium to see which device gives a better bang for the buck.

comparison

The Nokia Lumia 520 sells in for Php7,990 while the Huawei Ascend W1 goes for a higher Php8,990. That’s an exact Php1,000 difference. If you look at the chart down below, you can see that both have slight similarities and major differences.

specs sheet

The major categories in which the Nokia Lumia 520 trumps the Huawei Ascend W1 is in memory as it gives you double with 8GB of internal and up to 64GB of external. Also, it’s slightly thinner & lighter.  However, for an extra thousand, the Huawei Ascend W1 gives you a faster CPU, an LED flash, a front-facing camera and a bigger battery.

Which of the two will be getting your bet? We have yet to review these devices, so stay tuned as real world performance is greatly different from just specs.

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Ascend W1 is Huawei’s first Windows Phone 8

First leaked back in October last year, Huawei’s very first Windows Phone 8 handset is now official. It’s basically an entry-level model which will help bring WP8 to the masses.

The hardware configuration of the Ascend W1 looks decent.

Huawei Ascend W1 specs:
4.0 inch display @ 480×800 pixels, 233ppi
Qualcomm MSM8230 Snapdragon 1.2GHz dual-core Krait
Adreno 305
512MB RAM
4GB internal storage
3G/HSDPA 21Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1 w/ A2DP
5MP rear camera @ 720p
VGA front-facing camera
GPS w/ aGPS, GLONASS
Li-Ion 1950mAh battery
Windows Phone 8

My previous discussions from local Huawei rep is that they are bringing their WP8 handset to the Philippines later this year (not sure if it’s 2nd or 3rd quarter but that should help bring more affordable WP8 handsets in the country). The speculated price tage is in the vicinity of Php13k but we’re hoping it will be lower than that.

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