Huawei Ascend P2 review

Key Features: Quad-core 1.5GHz CPU; 1GB of RAM; 16GB internal memory; Android 4.1.2 with EmotionUI 1.6; NFC, 4G

Huawei Ascend P2 review

What is the Huawei Ascend P2?

According to Huawei, the Ascend P2 is the ‘world’s fastest smartphone’. What that actually means is that this 4G smartphone features Category 4 LTE to enable download speeds of up to 150Mbps, not that it has the fastest processor.

Blistering transfer speeds aside, the 4.7-inch P2 has the kind of specs that puts it amongst high mid-range smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, the HTC One Mini and the oldie, but still great Samsung Galaxy S3. Having sewn up the ‘world's slimmest smartphone’ accolade courtesy of the Huawei Ascend P6, is the P2 a worthy contender?

Huawei Ascend P2 – Design

The P2's predominantly plastic body stays true to the roots of the Ascent P range. It's not curvaceous like the S4, it prefers defined edges and a more angular look. The back has a rough, almost sandpapery-feel to it that might that help the handset stay put, but also feels mildly irritating against the skin. It’s a largely uninspiring design, so if you are looking for HTC One sleekness, prepare for disappointment.

The P2 is not P6-slim but at 8.4mm thick, it's marginally slimmer than the 4.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S3 (8.6mm). It weighs just 122g making it lighter than the S3 as well. Crucially, it's as light in the pocket as it is in the hand.

Up top is the headphone jack and micro USB charging port. On the left is the volume rocker. Over on the right is the on/off button and Micro SIM card slot guarded by a small flap. Further down is the dedicated camera button and around the back is the 13-megapixel main camera and speaker. The back is not removable, so that battery is going nowhere.

Huawei Ascend P2 - Screen

The P2's 4.7-inch, 720 x 1,280 screen matches the P6 and is protected by second generation Corning Gorilla Glass. It claims a maximum 500 nits brightness rating, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, while the 312 pixels-per-inch puts it just behind the iPhone 5 in terms of clarity levels, which is more than good enough.

It might not be Full HD, but the display is still supremely impressive. Images are sharp, and colours are rich and vibrant. Good brightness and contrast make it great for watching films and the IPS panel ensures an excellent viewing angle. It’s up there with the HTC One Mini for overall quality.

The display reacts well to presses, swipes, and gestures like pinch and zoom. There's even a 'Gloves' mode to increase responsiveness, which works very well. It’s a great display and one that matches the HTC Mini One, which set a new standard for mid-range phones.

Huawei Ascend P2 - Software, Performance and Camera

Huawei Ascend P2 – Software

The Huawei Ascend P2 runs on Android 4.1.2 with Huawei’s Emotion 1.5 User Interface putting its own distinct take on the Google mobile operating system. Here the P2 melds apps menu and home screens, piling core features into folders that have a very iOS look.

EmotionUI is also replete with animated transitions and custom icon graphics. Huawei also includes a range of Themes that can transform the entire look and feel of the UI including the design of the app icons.



Huawaei also includes its own native applications, including the browser and Kingsoft Office to edit documents. The virtual keyboard looks cramped in comparison to Samsung and HTC’s versions, but it doesn’t really affect typing accuracy. It lacks the new gesture keyboard introduced in Android 4.3, but it does have a dedicated smileys button if you love that kind of thing.



If you're an experienced Android user, it feels rather alien at first. There is no app launcher; everything is put into folders. iOS users will be at home, but it's an odd approach to take for an Android phone. It’s anything but sleek and is more childish in look and feel than stock Android. It's far from as polished HTC Sense 5 or the latest Android/TouchWiz UI mash-up, and is a notable black mark against the Huawei P2.

There’s 16GB on board. This actually translates to around 10GB that you can use to save images, videos and apps. This puts the emphasis on using cloud storage services like Dropbox and makes the lack of a MicroSD card slot a potential issue.

Huawei Ascend P2 – Performance

The Huawei Ascend P2 runs on a 1.5GHz quad-core CPU with 1GB of RAM, which on paper puts it up there with Android big boys like the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4. It handles day-to-day gaming, web browsing, downloading apps and jumping in and out of Facebook and Twitter with ease. There can be some slight lag switching between different app,  but the quad-core innards are more than capable of keeping things running smoothly.

But benchmarks show that appearances can be deceiving. It handles the likes of Dead Trigger, Into the Dead and the pre-installed Riptide GP well. But in the Unreal Engine-powered Epic Citadel benchmark test, the P2 scored 31.4fps. In comparison, the S4 Mini managed a score of 54.7fps and the dual-core powered HTC One Mini scored 56fps.

This isn't a serious problem as most people won't notice the difference in normal use, but it's a reminder that 'quad-core' doesn't necessarily mean superior performance.



Where it trumps such rivals is 4G-ready, LTE CAT4 support that supports download speeds of up to 150Mbps. EE’s 4G service currently offers average speeds of 25-30Mbps topping at 150Mbps, so it’s up there with the 4G provider and ensures the handset is future-proofed. It’s also worth noting that you can use the P2 as a portable internet hotspot, letting you share the 4G love with other mobile devices. 

Huawei Ascend P2 – Camera

This is a perfect case where megapixels don't equal superior photos. The P2's camera is good, but its shots won't blow you away. The 13-megapixel main camera with BSI sensor is backed up by a standard LED flash. Unlike the P6’s 5-megapixel front-facing camera, Huawei opts for a 1.3-megapixel 720p HD camera for the P2.

Menus, sub menus and on-screen functions are intuitively laid out and easily accessible. It can’t match Samsung’s multitude of picture modes, but it does have Panorama, HDR and Burst modes among others.


13-megapixel photo with HDR

From afar, images are sharp and offer good levels of detail. But up close, like the majority of smartphone cameras, it really struggles. Colours can look washed out and overexposure is an issue here as well. Things don’t get much better in low-light environments where noise is very noticeable.


13-megapixel photo with HDR

The P2 can capture Full HD 1080p video, but it’s nothing to get too excited about. Footage again looks great from a distance but up close things start to get noisy and lack a general sharpness.

Huawei Ascend P2 - Call Quality, Battery Life and Verdict

Huawei Ascend P2 – Call Quality

Like the P6, the P2’s call quality performance is helped by a secondary microphone. This delivers active noise cancellation to drown out background noise to keep calls loud and clear.

The noise cancelling mic lives up to its impressive billing, as does the earpiece speaker. Calls have good clarity and volume, and we had no complaints from the other end, either.

Huawei Ascend P2 – Battery life

The Huawei Ascend P2 has a non-removable 2,420 mAh battery, which is about what we'd expect for phone of this size and price. It surpasses the battery size of the P6, but falls below the 3,000mAh battery stored inside the 5-inch Ascend D2.

In general use the P2 comfortably manages a day and a half. When you hit critical battery levels and need a quick charge, the P2 picks up power nice and quick. Within 20 minutes of charging, the P2 jumped from 7% back up to 25%.

Should I buy the Huawei Ascend P2?

The Huawei Ascend P2 is a good phone, but it won’t blow you away in any particular department. 

The screen is the pick of the features and is up there with the HTC One Mini's screen. While the quad-core processor sounds impressive on paper, in reality there isn’t much difference between the P2 and dual-core offerings like the One Mini and the S4 Mini in terms of performance. In fact, in games it's a little slower.

But it's Huawei’s Emotion UI that could prove the decisive factor. It won't be to everyone’s tastes. It wasn’t for us and we’d opt for the HTC One Mini, Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini or even the Galaxy S3 ahead of the P2.

Verdict

The Huawei Ascend P2 has a great screen and is fast enough for most, but the software is not as slick as other Android offerings and there’s simply not enough going on to help the P2 stand out from the smartphone crowd.