First look at the Huawei Ascend W1 Windows Phone

By Daniel Rubino
last updated

Huawei. We’ve heard about them in the past year and the Ascend W1 is probably one of the most interesting-but-not-really-interesting phones we’ve covered. Truth be told, the phone is akin to the Samsung ATIV Odyssey—it’s specs don’t impress the gadget geeks out here but it’s a solid feeling little phone that feels leaps and bound better than some of the LG garbage produced in the Windows Phone 7 days. For that, we’re welcoming Huawei to the fold.

The phone features a 4” WVGA display, dual core 1.2 GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM and a 5MP rear shoot (with a 0.3 MP front facing cam). The body has a soft-touch paint feel to it which gives it a smooth, soft texture that’s quite nice too hold. While the phone is very square it doesn’t feel odd at all seeing as the 4” display keeps things in check when holding it one handed.

Will the Ascend W1 set the world afire? Hardly. But for emerging markets and for those who just want Windows Phone on a budget, we okay with this device taking the reins. Look for the W1 in the coming weeks.

Check our hands on video and photos after the break.

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007, when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and watches. He has been reviewing laptops since 2015 and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, ARM processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.