As tipped yesterday, Huawei has unveiled a new flagship smartphone. However, one major European publication has refused to do a review, claiming that the model they were given was a pre-production model and not a shipping model as “promised”.
Huawei, which is struggling to find retailers or carriers to sell their smartphones in Australia, is set to use the Ascend P6 to try and take market share away from the popular HTC One and the Galaxy S4 and Apple iPhone. The only problem is that the new version will only run on a 3G network. A 4G version is due in October, however it is not known who will range the device.
Huawei chief executive officer of consumer business group Richard Yu unveiled the Ascend P6 in London, claiming it is the thinnest in the world, measuring in at just 6.18mm.
The P6 will feature an aluminium frame and a 4.7in 720p HD touchscreen. Under the bonnet is Google’s latest Android OS 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, which is overlaid with Huawei’s custom Emotion user interface.
It has a Huawei-developed 1.5GHz quad core K3V2+ processor and 2GB RAM. Huawei claims its processors will offer users unprecedented data connection speeds. It will launch as a 3G device, with a 4G version due in October.
Huawei claims the P6 has a faster processor than the Samsung Galaxy S4. It will also feature an 18MP camera, which the Chinese company claims will outmatch the S4’s 13MP unit, using the company’s Imagesmart Engine technology. V3 claims that details of how the photo-enhancing technology works remain vague.
“Today we want to launch a new product: the Ascend P6, the slimmest smartphone in the world. Many people ask if we gave it a six to challenge with the iPhone 6, but it’s because it’s just 6mm thick,” said Yu.
Samsung chief executive officer JK Shin confirmed the firm is working on an upgraded Galaxy S4 featuring Samsung’s integrated LTE-Advanced 4G technology. The P6 will be released in black, white and pink colours.
ChannelNews understands that two carriers are currently assessing the P6 with a view to ranging it in Australia at selected retail outlets.
