Hands-on with the world's thinnest smartphone, Huawei's Ascend P6

Chinese manufacturer Huawei claims its new [[artnid:465292|Ascend P6]] phone is the "world's slimmest smartphone". It has also equipped it with an "industry leading" 5-megapixel front-facing camera. We've been lucky enough to get a first look, so let's go hands-on!

Our Ascend P6 review unit arrived in an unbranded box. Australian packaging will obviously differ.
There's no reference to a smartphone, until you get to the label on the bottom.
Unboxing the [[artnid:465413|Huawei Ascend P6]].
Huawei has put some detail into the packaging, but the absense of its logo is surprising given the company's push to market its brand.
The Ascend P6 comes with an AC adapter, a USB to micro-USB cable and a pair of headphones with in-line microphone. Obviously Australian models will come with our local AC adapter and not the one shown in the image above.
Huawei also bundles a case with the Ascend P6, a rarity for today's smartphones.
The case is a simple, soft-touch silicone sleeve.
The Ascend P6 weighs just 120g so its size and weight compares very favourably against the alternatives from more established brands like Samsung, HTC and Sony.
The metallic body feels very well constructed and we can't fault the craftsmanship at all. It will be available in black and white colour variants in Australia.
This is what the world's slimmest smatphone looks like. That's 6.18mm thick, if you wanted to know.
Huawei has had to make some odd decisions in order to keep the thickness down. The micro-USB port is strangely located at the top.
The headphone jack is on the left side of the Ascend P6, right near the bottom. It's plugged by a metal pin that conveniently opens the micro-SIM and microSD card slots on the opposite side. However, it's easily lost due to its small size.
The right side of the Ascend P6 is certainly busy. There's micro-SIM and microSD card slots, along with a power/lock button and a volume rocker. The buttons are a little flat and do require a firm press.
The rear-facing 8-megapixel camera has an f2.0 aperture, a 4cm macro view, and a panorama mode. It also doubles as a full HD video recorder.
The speaker on the back is pretty well positioned, so it shouldn't be blocked regardless of which way you hold the phone.
The front-facing camera uses a 5-megapixel sensor. Most competing smartphones use a 2-megapixel front camera.
The 4.7in display of the Ascend P6 has a 720p resolution of 1280x720, so it won't display the same crisp text as full HD screens. However, the difference is pretty small and shouldn't detract from the overall user experience.
The Huawei Ascend P6 runs the latest 4.2 Jelly Bean version of Google's operating system, but is skinned with Huawei's proprietary Emotion UI.
The Emotion UI doesn't include an applications drawer, so all apps sit either on the home screens or the dock.
We aren't a real fan of the look, take for example the boxes that third-party apps are placed in.
[[artnid:472325|The Huawei Ascend P6 will go on sale through retailers JB Hi-Fi and Dick Smith]] for $499 from Monday, 15 July. As with most of Huawei's smartphones, it won't be sold through traditional carriers like Telstra, Optus and Vodafone.

Show Comments

Follow Good Gear Guide: