Huawei Ascend P7 Hopes To Crack Western Smartphone Market

Huawei has taken the wraps off its new flagship smartphone, the Huawei Ascend P7, as the Chinese manufacturer looks to expand its share of the global smartphone market.

The five-inch handset boasts a number of imaging features, connectivity options and usability improvements, while at 6.55mm it also claims to be one of the slimmest 4G smartphones on the market.

The Ascend P7 will be available in a number of colours, including black, white and pink, and the company claims the smartphone’s design has been influenced by both the East and the West in an effort to appeal to as many markets as possible.

Huawei Ascend P7

“Huawei’s relentless commitment to developing premium quality smartphones over the past three years has paid off,” says Richard Yu, CEO, Huawei Consumer Business Group. “We are now ranked number three globally in terms of smartphone shipments, and our brand recognition is growing steadily in key regions such as China and Western Europe.

“Today, the launch of Huawei Ascend P7 once again challenges existing industry standards by redefining smartphone design, camera experience, and connectivity, to provide people with an unprecedented mobile experience.”

The device is powered by a 1.8GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of memory and 16GB of storage while it runs Android 4.2.2 KitKat. On top of the operating system it has Huawei’s Emotion UI 2.3, which promises a raft of customisation options.

Take a groufie

It has a 13 megapixel rear facing camera, but also a particularly powerful eight megapixel front facing camera that is optimised for not only selfies, but also ‘groufies’ – that is selfies taken with a group of people using a panoramic lens (no, they aren’t called groupies). The rear camera uses Sony technology for low-light optimisation, while the Ascend P6’s image signal processor (ISP) offers many options available on professional SLRs, such as autofocus and white balance.

The smartphone features NFC compatibility while its 4G connection is boosted by dual antenna technology and smart network switching that minimises battery drainage. Battery life is enhanced by a number of other measures, such as the automatic switching off of background apps, while a super power saving mode will shut down all non-essential features at ten percent battery remaining.

Users can still make phone calls and view contracts, but their phone will last for up to 24 hours without charging, mimicking a similar feature on the Samsung Galaxy S5.

The Huawei Ascend P7 will cost €449 without a contract when it launches in China and a number of European countries, including the UK, in May. It is the successor to the Ascend P6, which launched last year.

What do you know about IT in China? Take our quiz!