[CES 2012] Huawei Shocks with Ascend P1 S: World’s Slimmest Smartphone

Huawei Ascend P1 S
Huawei Ascend P1 S. Image source: theunwired
Huawei Ascend P1 S
Huawei Ascend P1 S. Image source: theunwired

China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the world’s second largest telecom equipment maker revealed a shocker at CES 2012. Huawei unveiled the Ascend P1 S, officially the world’s thinnest smartphone, beating the already ultra thin Motorola Droid RAZR and Samsung GALAXY S II.

If there’s one thing to know, is that the Chinese, as shown by companies like Huawei and ZTE, learn and catch up fast. The gap between them and frontrunners like Samsung and Apple are decreasing at an astonishing pace. Enter the Ascend P1 – a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED (yes, you heard right) super phone which supports 960 x 540 pixel resolution and sports the mighty 1.5Ghz TI OMAP 4460 dual-core Cortex-A9 processor with SGX 540 graphics. It will be packed with 1GB of RAM and 4GB of ROM. The superphone will come with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

The Huawei Ascend P1 S measures an unbelievable 6.68mm, while its younger sibling Ascend P1 is lightly thicker at 7.69mm. From official photography, the form factor does resemble the Droid RAZR in exterior outlook. The Ascend P1 S sports an 8MP camera on the rear with support for 1080p video recording. Like Apple’s iPhone 4S, it is a backside-illuminated (BSI) camera. On the front there is a 1.3MP camera for video chats.

Connectivity-wise, both smartphones support quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE and pentaband UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA, WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0 HS. Despite its scant dimensions, Huawei has managed to squeeze an 1800mAh battery, which is quite a mean feat.

No pricing revealed as yet but the smartphone is expected to be available in Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, Australia, Middle East and China in Q2 2012. Available in metallic black, ceramic white and cherry-blossom.

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, is the world’s second-largest telecom equipment maker and China’s largest telephone-network equipment maker. Huawei also produces and sells a variety of devices under its own name, such as the IDEOS smartphones and tablet PCs. Recent products include U8800, E220, Ascend, U7519, and U8150. In 2010, Huawei Devices shipped 120 million devices around the world. 30 million cell phones, of which 3.3 million units were smartphones. Huawei’s Devices division grew 24.4% in 2010 to record US$4.7 billion revenue.

Source: theunwired, Wikipedia

Vernon
Vernon is the founder and chief editor of Vernonchan.com. A graphic designer by profession, he has a deep love for technology, cars, gadgets, food, and travel. He tweets too much and is also known as a caffeine bacterium ("life's too short for bad coffee"). Bleeds Blue (go Chelsea FC!) and considers BMW, Porsche, Alfa Romeo cars to have in the garage--hallmarks of a true petrolhead.