Review: Huawei hopes to Ascend to smartphone dominance with P7

Smartphone makers have been put on their guard: Huawei is coming. If you haven't heard of Huawei, you soon will. And there is a good chance that you already have some of the company's products in your home; it specialises in making network equipment, including modems and wifi dongles that have become more popular in recent years.

The company has turned its attention to smartphones, more specifically, to smartphones that are a little more affordable than your average premium brand.

The P7 is the newest smartphone from the Chinese firm and the one that it is hoping will put it on the map when it comes to winning over consumers in Western Europe. So how does it stack up in the battle of the Android brands?

The good . . .

The bonus points of the P7 are obvious as soon as you look at it. It has a big screen, at 5 inches, and Gorilla Glass front and back to give it that extra premium look. It’s thinner and lighter than many of its rivals, and has slimmed down the bezel so that although you get some extra screen space, it doesn’t make the phone unwieldy.

The rear-facing camera may not come near the Xperia Z2’s 20.7 megapixels, but it does offer 13 megapixel resolution and five elements to improve image quality. The resulting photographs are a cut above what we’ve come to expect.

Good news for selfie fans too: the front-facing camera has been designed with ego- boosting portrait shots in mind. Not only is it eight megapixels in resolution, but you can apply “beauty” effects, which essentially airbrushes your face to get rid of any blemishes, and the preview pane forces your eyeline in the right direction for maximum impact.

The P7 has ditched the P6’s earphone jack cover, which was far too easily lost.

But the best selling point is its price; at €449, it’s cheaper than its premium rivals.

. . . the bad

The phone is thin and light, but the Emotion user interface that Huawei has slapped on the software could do with a little work. It ditches the traditional Android grid, which is a bold move, but the built-in themes that it offers are not up to scratch. Yes, it’s colourful, and yes, it makes it stand out, but not for the right reasons. A premium smartphone deserves a premium look all over, and sadly, the Dream theme – and the Emotion UI just doesn’t do it for us. It’s a little too childish.

The screen, while lovely, doesn’t quite meet the standards set by the HTC One M8 or the Galaxy S5. It doesn’t seem quite as bright or sharp, though you would have to scrutinise it closely to pick out the difference. And the quad-core 1.8ghz processor seems like it should be sharper than it is at times.

. . . and the rest

The P7 runs Android KitKat, which makes it bang up-to-date on the software front. It also comes with 2GB of RAM, which will look after your apps, and 16GB of storage space built in, which can be expanded with a memory card.

The Ascend P7 is also available in a dual sim version, which co- opts the SD card slow for a nano sim. If you’re a frequent traveller, this is invaluable.

The smartphone tries to go the extra mile for users, including a new “groufie” option that allows you to take group self portraits, just in case you need to prove that you have actual friends that go places with you. More puzzling is the mirror option, which uses the front facing camera and a some fancy frames to ape a reflective surface, and the option to fog up your screen, which was demonstrated at its launch.

The P7 has its own super low power battery mode, which not only knocks off the unneeded wireless connections, but also turns the screen black and white to eke out a little more battery life. It may save your skin on more than one occasion.

The verdict

Huawei’s Ascend P7 builds on the company’s ambition to be a force in the smartphone market. If you want something budget friendly but with a more premium look, the P7 is a good bet.