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Review: This smartphone is designed to take great selfies, but is that enough?

Huawei is making a significant push to become one of the top players in the European smartphone market, but is the Ascend P7 the phone that will kickstart this change?

HUAWEI IS A company on a mission. Usually associated with low and medium range phones over in this part of the world, the Chinese company is aiming to become a major player in the smartphone market, and is putting serious effort into its high end range.

Huawei’s first 4G smartphone, the Ascend P7, aims to be a cheaper alternative to Samsung’s Galaxy range and the HTC One (M8), but offering the same quality and experience. Yet it is a worthy rival to the Galaxy S5?

Unique selling points

  • 13MP camera and 8MP front facing camera.
  • Comprehensive photo editing features.
  • Phone management system for improving battery life & freeing up memory.
  • Ultra power saving mode.

Hardware and Software

The Ascend P7 doesn’t deviate too far from the design most Android phones follow. The now traditional 5-inch screen is crisp, and is the right size for watching a show on Netflix or playing games.

The phone is eloquently designed, using steel casing with a glass front and back, and makes it feels like a flatter version of the iPhone 4S. That’s not a bad thing by any means, the phone feels solid in your hand and it’s just the right weight.

Huawei Ascend P7 phone TheJournal.ie TheJournal.ie

The changes Huawei made to Android KitKat are purely cosmetic – at best it’s brighter and more colourful than the traditional Android look – but it can feel a little bland and it will take you a few moments to get used to the changes made with the interface.

Its performance, for the most part, is above par, with the only instance of lag occurring the few moments after you boot up the phone. Unless you turn your phone off regularly, this won’t be much of an issue, and it does a good job in running the more intensive apps out there.

Camera

With a 13MP camera, you expect the quality of photos taken to be good, and you would be correct. Considering it’s one of the phone’s main selling features, Huawei has gone all out in ensuring the camera app is the only one you need thanks to a rather comprehensive selection of editing tools.

You do have to be a little careful with lighting as high-quality photos on your phone may not translate well on a computer, but provided you get the focus right, it’s quite impressive.

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The real draw, however, is its 8MP front-facing camera, means the phone is geared towards one thing: selfies. Huawei ended up trademarking the term ‘groufie’ (that’s a selfie of a group for those who didn’t know) which shows how much importance it’s placing on the trend, something that prevalent in both the camera and editing tools available.

The first example you will encounter is beauty mode, an option of the camera which can detect your face and gently blurs the skin to provide a smoother look.

It’s a strange feature to have initially, but it’s really an introduction to the facial editing tools it has in store which allow you to make your face thinner, your nose smaller or increase the size of your eyes.

While it’s bizarrely fun to play around with these features, they’re really designed for those who are self(ie) obsessed. It works whenever it detects a face in a photo, so it has its uses if you happen to take a photo of someone in poor lighting.

Huawei Gif 4

Unique Selling Features

Apart from its front facing camera, one useful feature that the P7 has is its management system, which helps improve battery life, phone speed, and free up space.

While similar apps can be easily downloaded from the Google Play store, or are hidden deep within settings, it’s great to see such a feature made front and centre of a device and is an example that other manufacturers will hopefully follow.

Huawei Gif 3 TheJournal.ie TheJournal.ie

Ultra power saving mode is also a nice idea, a feature already included with the Samsung Galaxy S5, but while Huawei says it will provide 24 hour standby on 10% battery power, the results are less impressive.

Battery life in general will last you a good day through normal use anyway, but a phone with only 20% charge will last you roughly twelve hours in standby mode, meaning you will still need to keep your charger handy.

Conclusion

The Ascend P7 is a good phone, make no mistake, but apart from its forward-facing camera, it lacks any standout feature that separates it from its competition.

Yet that’s not really the point. Everything the Ascend P7 does, it does well and for most people, that’s all that really matters. Provided you’re not fussy about what phone you’re using, the Ascend P7 is a smartphone you can definitely warm to. Just don’t expect it to change your world.

The Huawei Ascend P7 costs €379 (pre-pay) and is available in Carphone Warehouse on Vodafone and Meteor networks

Read: Google’s new Android update is brighter and bolder than ever before >

Read: How much is the average mobile phone bill a month? >

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3 Comments
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    Mute Philip Nolan
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    Aug 31st 2011, 12:34 PM

    As a very frequent traveller, I have used the scanners in US airports and could care less to be honest. I’ve seen people more exposed in their photo albums on Facebook. The queues for the scanners are much quicker than the standard queues, the person instructing you how to stand can’t see the scan anyway (the images are monitored remotely) and it’s not like they’re going to discuss your naked form with anyone you know! In Schipol recently, I was subjected to a pat-down that would have been classed as a sexual assault in the real world and I was livid about it. I’d rather have been offered the option of the scanner.

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    Mute Bertie SirCastic
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    Aug 31st 2011, 12:28 PM

    Guy in the xray could do with a Steak sandwich or two!

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    Mute Robert LYNCH
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    Aug 31st 2011, 11:48 AM

    Great…NOT!!!… Dublin yet again are going to follow the example of London Airports it would seem… I personal have a problem with the level of intrusion and the general feeling of being treated like dirt that flying by plane has become. I am flying via London in a couple of weeks, but since I have now found out that this full-body scan is now mandatory there, I will no longer fly in our out of London unless it is my destination. As for the effectiveness of these scanners (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millimeter_wave_scanner), I have serious doubts in general that any of this treatment like cattle is improving anyone’s safety.

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    Mute Gain & Sustain
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    Aug 31st 2011, 12:28 PM

    Clearly you have something to hide, I think this system is great

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    Mute stephen corrigan
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    Aug 31st 2011, 3:47 PM

    1 question, bomb or scan?? Even drugs can be found so whats the problem.

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    Mute Robert LYNCH
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    Aug 31st 2011, 3:51 PM

    Maybe I do. However what I have to hide is not going to bring down a plane, e.g. prosthetics including breast prostheses, and other medical equipment normally hidden, such as colostomy bags are all things that someone may not want the people around him/her to be aware of. I am sure you can think of a whole range of other things that are the private business of individuals and of no concern to airport authorities. However all these things will be viewed and displayed by this machine with little if in any improvement to airport security.

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    Mute Terry Connolly
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    Aug 31st 2011, 12:30 PM

    love the belly button!

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    Mute EM
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    Aug 31st 2011, 12:47 PM

    If the image is as per the picture above then i’d have no issue with this tbh as it’s not particularly invasive.

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    Mute Denzer
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    Aug 31st 2011, 1:33 PM

    Id be more concerned with the potential radiation effects. Had a quick look through the literature… There is Very little peer reviewed information supporting it as non genotoxic- as claimed by manufacturers. May not be a concern for those who take a couple of flights a year but there could be legitimate concerns from frequent flyers with prolonged exposure to the technology.

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    Mute starflyergold
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    Aug 31st 2011, 2:08 PM

    Germany trialled these in Hamburg and the machines produced an staggering failure rate. 61% of pax passed through without a problem, 31% had to be padded down (hard). In 54% of cases a false alarm was recorded. Result: significant delays in processing passengers.

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    Mute Maura Murphy
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    Sep 1st 2011, 1:25 PM

    Germany has abandoned plans to use scanners at its airports and will not reconsider until the technology is more reliable and meets “high security standards,” interior minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said Wednesday

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    Mute Aidan M
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    Aug 31st 2011, 12:02 PM

    Stupid.

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    Mute Niall Carson
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    Aug 31st 2011, 5:06 PM

    What bunch of sheeple we have become. These are dangerous microwaves. Seriously read into this a bit more. There have been many problems with this in America. Not least the TSA agent who shot his colleagues because they made jokes about the size of his penis after a training scan.

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    Mute bob_mac_E
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    Aug 31st 2011, 1:55 PM

    Are xray machines not cancerous? Do the guards hide behind lead walls like a nurse at the hospital?

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    Mute hjGfIgAq
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    Aug 31st 2011, 2:06 PM

    @Bob – When I spoke to DAA earlier they were keen to stress that they’re not “x-ray machines”, in that their intensity is much lesser than a standard booth.

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    Mute Fred FedUp
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    Aug 31st 2011, 2:09 PM

    Yep, they are cancerous…No, guards not behind lead walls, just eating up the radiation like it’s good for them and getting cancer..From Chicago, TSA heads now have cancer from operating these type of machines.. http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/30/did-airport-scanners-give-boston-tsa-agents-cancer/ So, we’ve option A – groping and pat downs to make sure we’re not “dangerous” or option B – an invasive scan that will shower you in radiation..Just great…This is 1984 people…

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    Mute hjGfIgAq
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    Aug 31st 2011, 2:24 PM

    @Fred (and Bob): The machines that TIME article refers to are a different type of ‘booth’-style scanner than is being considered in Dublin.

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    Mute gareth byrne
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    Aug 31st 2011, 6:38 PM

    Jesus.These scanners are on TRAIL for 18 months in staff areas.Not been used in public areas.Which mean they are not coming in at dap untill ALL tests are carried out.What does it take for people to cop on.These are the times we live in.get used to it.

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    Mute Paddy O'Reilly
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    Aug 31st 2011, 9:13 PM

    Looks like milimeter wave scanners only penetrate the clothes and are stopped by skin. So why not just tape a load of contraband to your leg, then wrap it in pigskin (the most common human analog from Mythbusters). Sorted.

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    Mute Oil Foster
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    Aug 31st 2011, 8:14 PM

    Thank god for the Internet, giving people totally accurate and factual information.

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    Mute Bertie SirCastic
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    Aug 31st 2011, 3:09 PM

    Would be hilarious seeing Hugh Hefner pass through one off these the morning after…

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    Mute Patrick Halpin
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    Sep 2nd 2011, 7:45 AM

    Hh

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