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 Php8,990USD 153INR 12,987EUR 146CNY 1,116 in stores and available in blue, red and black. Check us back for the full review in a week or two.

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

11 Comments

Sumatori-kun says:

12 years ago

This is not a bad product. Way better than what Nokia offers for the same price.
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Anonymous says:

12 years ago

I fail to see how this is way better than the 520 at all. It’s only advantages would be the led and front facing camera. The battery has yet to be distinguished as an advantage since even if it has a higher mah doesn’t mean it’ll last longer.

rk says:

12 years ago

boring!!!…
boring design…
boring OS…
lonely apps…
boring brand…
… shhhh … atin lang to ha… the communist china monitors your smartphone activities thru their dummy companies such as ZTE and Huawei… buy at your own risk… (google nyo lang) :)
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kanor_chan says:

12 years ago

Kung nagsasabi ka ng totoo, post mo dito yung link!

Bleh says:

12 years ago

File-heavy games on WP8? They don’t exist!!!
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lawrence says:

12 years ago

naka-WP8 phone po ba kayo?

malamang hindi. kasi parang meron naman e…
http://www.gameloft.com/windows-phone-games/

lawrence says:

12 years ago

Can you please confirm if it has gorilla glass?

http://www.o2.co.uk/huawei/ascend-w1
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El says:

12 years ago

Any distributor here in PH? Where to buy?
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weryou@ says:

12 years ago

I actually saw units of these at MX Express in SM. Although the SRP is Php 8990, they were selling it at Php 9690. What a bummer! I asked them why they were pricing it that way but the staff just gave me a cold shoulder (or probably because I pointed out that the SRP is below that price and it’s announced on the Web). Anyone here has similar experiences?
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tu9tifive says:

12 years ago

baka naman installent price yun. I will check that out tomorrow together with Nokia Lumia 520. Interesting…kasi hanggang ngayon naka Nokia C7 pa din ako, Symbian Belle FP1 and I’m enjoying it. Imagine, after 3 solid years! kaso lagging and hanging are getting more frequent than I can tolerate at I do not really have a feeling for Windows Phone 7, 7.5 or 7.8…maybe Windows 8 may change my mind.

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10 years ago

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- Reply