HUAWEI ASCEND P6 REVIEW

Remember the Ascend Mate ? If you do, then a lot of the following
specifications will sound pretty familiar (apart from that gargantuan
screen size, of course). We're dealing with the same 1.5GHz K3V2
home-brew silicon, the same 8-megapixel primary camera, the same
2GB of RAM, the same 8GB of internal storage and, yup, the same
1,280 x 720 display resolution (the Mate, as you may have guessed,
uses LCD as well). As for radios, there's no LTE; let's just get that out
of the way now. If you're okay with that, though, then the rest is as
you'd hope -- Bluetooth (3.0), GPS, GLONASS, 802.11b/g/n, etc.
The P6 is positively svelte by comparison to the Mate, though,
weighing just four ounces, and measuring 5.2 x 2.57 x 0.24 inches
(132.6 x 65.5 x 6.18mm), compared to the Mate's 6.5 x 3.4 x 0.4
inches of Android heft. That size difference is important; crammed
into that more diminutive form, it not only offers a greater ppi (312),
but also turns an otherwise middle-spec phablet into a much more
mass-market device. The specifications are still fairly modest, but the
hardware they come in -- plus a few other notable inclusions --
means that this is a completely different proposition than the Mate
altogether.
There's a black brushed-metal finish on the rear (there are white and
pink versions also) with drilled speaker holes at the bottom, and a
brushed-metal band around the edges of the device. The Ascend P6
instantly feels good, solid and, dare we say it, delightful. The
chamfered edges that lead into the Gorilla Glass display prove that
not only can Huawei do detail, it can also do it very well. Next to
Samsung's Galaxy S 4, for example, it makes the Korean flagship look
and feel shamefully thrown together. Even the dapper HTC One gets a
good run for its money in terms of style, fit and finish. Yes, it's fair
to say that Huawei has proven that a well-built phone isn't as much a
matter of means as it is intention.
It's not all solid, smooth lines. That metal band is broken up by the
occasional port. The micro-USB connection sits at the top, just off-
center. The right-hand side houses the power / standby button and
volume rocker, plus microSD and micro-SIM card trays. If there was
a small negative, it's that these buttons do jiggle slightly in place. Not
terribly so, but enough to indicate there's room for a tighter fit. The
back cover isn't removable -- hence the trays -- but Huawei has done
a good job at keeping them flush with the edges. One related design
note -- of mixed success -- is the 3.5mm headphone jack located at
the bottom of the left-hand side. You'd be forgiven for missing it,
first of all, as it's tightly plugged up. In fact, at first glance, the small
circular protrusion looks like an unusual design feature, like a rivet
added on at the end to conceal a functional cavity. It's only when
you inspect it a little further that you sense something else is going
on.
We tinkered around with this curiosity for a few moments, before
wondering if the Ascend P6 perhaps came with a stylus, as this small
silver disc could have easily been the top end of one. But a little
fingernail pulling and gentle wriggling actually revealed the truth: it's
a small, concealed pin to help eject the SIM and memory card trays.
Genius. Weird genius. The positive being that you never need to
worry about whether you have a paperclip or similar nearby, should
you wish to remove your SIM (not that paperclips usually work that
well). The negative, however, is that every time you want to use your
headphones, you have to remove -- and potentially lose -- the pin. In
our experience, getting the thing out wasn't exactly a smooth process
either. Still, it's a nice idea, and the sort of ingenuity we're loathe to
discourage.
One thing we would encourage? More internal storage. We're sorry
guys, but 8GB really isn't enough these days, especially when barely
any of that (less than 4GB) is accessible. Yes, there is the option to
expand (by a further 32GB), but that's more a common courtesy
rather than a reasonable solution. So, if you've liked what you've
heard so far, then be sure to add a memory card to your shopping
list, like, now. The memory issue is compounded by the -- albeit
pleasantly surprising -- inclusion of a 5-megapixel front-facing
camera. Those self-portraits are about to get a serious upgrade,
which is all the more reason to get your storage set from the get-go.
We'll cover the cameras (including the 8-megapixel main shooter) in
more detail later.
Rounding out the hardware side of things are a few significant
omissions. First, there's no LTE. It's simply not happening. So if
that's a dealbreaker, stop reading now. If it's not -- and there's
category 14 HSPA+ (up to 21 Mbps) to keep things moving -- then
you'll likely be expecting some returns elsewhere -- such as in the
longevity of the non-removable 2,000mAh battery. Again, more on
that later. If you got this far and were wondering about NFC, then
suffice to say, it's not here either, but you're okay with DLNA sharing
and Dolby Digital audio instead, right?
DISPLAY
At 4.7 inches across, with a resolution of 1,280 x 720, the Ascend P6
might not be in the (increasingly less) exclusive 1080p club, but the
720p "in-cell" LCD does a good enough job that you likely won't
mind. Compared to some of the larger flagships (heck, for some, 4.7
inches is almost "mini"), the P6's display might seem average -- but
it really does feel perfectly sized. You can reach your way across it
comfortably, and thanks to a minimal bezel, the phone should sit
snugly in most hands. We did find that the touchscreen was
occasionally less responsive to our pokes and gestures from time to
time. Pinching out from the home screen to bring up the zoomed-
out view sometimes took two or three attempts to register. Likewise
we sometimes found ourselves prodding more than once to get it to
realize that we were trying to open an app. There is a "gloves" mode,
which increases sensitivity, and we noticed the problem occurred less
frequently when this was activated, so you may prefer to keep this
switched on.
When you're not thumbing at it, the Ascend's LCD looks bright and
crisp, with excellent viewing angles. The screen is dimmer when gazed
at from anything other than straight on, and you'll definitely want to
keep the brightness set to no less than 50 percent for outdoor
viewing. Do that and colors will remain solid and blacks dark, making
photo and video viewing on the device a pleasant experience. Also,
we noticed that the screen displayed a pleasing resilience to
fingerprints -- definitely a plus point.
We already mentioned the 312-ppi pixel density, which is by no
means terrible despite an increasing number of phones cresting over
into the 400s. If you really want to be picky, you can spot a little bit
of pixelation on rendered text in websites, but you have to bring the
phone a lot closer to your face than is reasonable. Likewise, with no
visible hues or tones, we're inclined to give the Ascend P6 a solid
pass in the display department.
SOFTWARE
Huawei's invested more than just developer dollars on its Emotion
UI, so it's no surprise that it's sticking to that, ahem, theme here. In
fact, it's version 1.5 of the custom interface that you'll be dealing
with, keeping the stock Android Jelly Bean (4.2.2) out of sight.
Regional versions of the final production software may vary, but
we're giving you some impressions based on the version we got to
spend time with. If you've ever used Emotion UI, or at the very least,
read about it , then you'll largely know what to expect. If you've not
had the pleasure, then how about a brief refresher?
As Android skins go, Emotion UI is a largely inoffensive offering.
Much like TouchWiz , and Sense, it mainly manifests itself by
rearranging the home screen slightly, and offering up proprietary
widgets. Depending on your preference, this can be considered either
a positive or a negative. In our experience, the parts we liked were
similar to what we found useful in other skins such as the
aforementioned TouchWiz -- quick access to switches and toggles
alongside the notifications up top. The options you see here are
extensive (such as screen sharing) and also customizable. Likewise,
quick access to a profile selector will be a boon to those who hop
between meetings and public transport.