Hardware

Huawei claim that the Ascend P6 is the world's thinnest smartphone. Some diehard smartphone fanatics may disagree but to the ordinary smartphone user the Ascend P6 is frighteningly slim. It measures at a mere 6.18mm thick and weighs in at a mere 120g which is easy to fit in any pocket or clutch bag. The right hand side of the phone contains the power/lock button, volume rocker and the micro SD card and micro sim card ports. The left hand side of the phone contains nothing but the 3.5mm headphone jack which is sealed by a small metallic cover that acts as a pin for ejecting the micro SD card and micro sim ports.

First Impressions

The first thing you think when you glance upon the P6 is it resembles the iPhone 5. However, Huawei has implemented enough originality and personal touches to distinguish it from Apples device. The sides of the phone are aluminium and look beautiful. The bottom of the P6 is curved which gives a nice look to the device. Lastly the Ascend P6 has a lovely frosted glass back which makes the phone feel even more premium. The headset is stunning to look at. The materials are good quality and overall the Ascend P6 has high end hardware at a mid-range smartphone price.

Processor and Screen

The headset is powerful enough for most tasks and the average smartphone user will find it very fast for all their needs. The P6 has a quad core processor with 2GB of RAM and this is more than adequate for any normal task. The phone copes excellently with multitasking such as messaging, emailing, social networking and casual browsing. The phone copes very well with these tasks and I never experienced any lag. The phones processor doesn't disappoint on intensive gaming either. Riptide GP zips along nicely and is a joy to play.

The screen is very nice to gaze upon. It has a screen size of 4.7 inches and has a resolution of 720p which displays nice colours and contrasts and provides an above average experience when viewing in direct sunlight. The screen doesn't give the same wow factor as full HD screen such as high end leading smartphones like the HTC one and the Galaxy S4. However the difference isn't that noticeable to most and only really makes a difference when watching movies which most people don't do a lot of with their smartphone.

Camera and Features

The Ascend P6 comes boasting an 8mp back camera with LED flash and an unusually high spec 5mp front facing camera which Huawei declare is perfect for taking selfies. The camera on the Ascend P6 is excellent. I was extremely pleased with the pictures produced from the front facing camera and the main snapper. Firstly focusing on the latter the main camera has a brilliant macro mode. This allows the cameras lens to take shots as close as 4cm and the images have great clarity. This in fact was one of my favourite features of the Ascend P6. I loved finding things to capture close up. It was fun and enjoyable.

The front facing camera is one of the Ascend P6's selling points and the results of the pictures are very pleasing. Skyping is a dream. I managed to make two calls to my brother in Melbourne and the clarity was more than adequate. I also found it quite amusing taking selfies with my friends on nights out. The perfect thing about the front facing camera is that although it doesn't contain an LED flash, the screen cleverly lights up and flashes before the image is captured. I was very impressed with this camera and it was perfect for easily posting to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The phones interface, Emotion UI is pleasant to look at but it is somewhat simplistic. It is similar to IOS as there is no app drawer and all downloaded apps appear on one of the 9 possible home screens. I found the user interface was adequate but I did not find too much use for the Me Widget because it was quite cramped and not very intuitive. I much preferred to use the dedicated apps.

The phone comes with 8 GB of on board storage which is quite paltry but a micro SD can be used to increase the storage.

Battery

Huawei has used a 2000mAh battery for powering the Ascend P6. The battery is enclosed in the phone and is non-removable which is the norm for smartphones today. It is an amazing achievement that Huawei have managed to keep the phone so skinny and light whilst not sacrificing the battery size. The battery is adequate to power the phone throughout the day with moderate use. The phone can easily cope with texting, a few calls, social networking and taking a few pictures throughout the day. However any intensive applications drain the battery quite fast. Watching YouTube or streaming videos are a big drain. Also having screen brightness up full sucks the battery life at a quick rate. Leaving push notifications turned on and using mobile date instead of wifi will be a big battery killer too. However, the phone performs admirable in comparison to most smartphones today.

Verdict

Pros
Slim, stylish, fast processor, great main camera and front facing camera.

Cons
Emotion UI looks slightly simple, the headphone jack cover pin is very fidgety and will more than likely be lost very easily, 8 GB of on board storage is small.

Huawei have created a brilliant device with the Ascend P6. It is slim, stylish and very fast. It accomplishes most tasks thrown at it with ease and still manages to have enough juice in the tank to see the day out. The camera is exceptional and can easily rival the top-end smartphones out there today. The front facing 5mp camera is fun and the macro mode is a great feature. The screen is bright and vibrant and pleasing to look at. The Ascend P6 is a very attractive alternative to Google's Nexus 4; it is more readily available and has a better camera.

All in all I would easily recommend the Ascend P6 to anyone. The price at €329.99 is very reasonable for the vast features and premium quality of the phone.

Performance: 9/10
Hardware: 9/10
Features: 8/10
Software: 7.5/10
Overall rating: 8.5/10

Review by Leo McGrane