The price? How does a mere £119.99 on prepay grab you? On contracts that works out at just £13.50 per month and makes this a bargain-basement Windows Phone. Huawei state that they are the ones bringing “Windows Phone to the masses” (not those Nokia people) and you can buy this handset in either “electric blue ” from March 7th or .. err.. “electric pink” from March 18th.
We gave it a spin last night and it seems to operate very smoothly. The 5 megapixel camera did struggle somewhat but for less than £120 on Pay and Go it seems like a very well built device. It has a 4″ IPS LCD screen (480×800) and a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm CPU with a graphics co-processor. Huawei have also added a 1950mAh battery and it has 4GB of memory with an additional 32GB available through the microSD card slot.
Now I have to say, after spending a whole day here and walking around the halls, Windows Phone devices are sparse to say the least. There’s no Windows Phone stand, no Microsoft stand and the only Windows Phone handsets we’ve seen were on the Nokia stand until now.
Full press release below..
Huawei and O2 bring Windows Phone to the masses as Ascend W1 debuts
Huawei Ascend W1 launches in electric blue and electric pink exclusively with O2 UK for £119 on prepay
London, UK, February 26, 2013: Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, is announcing today that its powerful entry-level Windows Phone smartphone, the Ascend W1, will be on sale exclusively with Telefónica O2 UK from March 7.
The Huawei Ascend W1 will be available in store and online for £119.99 on prepay and for free on contracts from £13.50 per month. It will be available in ‘Electric Blue’ from March 7 and in ‘Electric Pink’ also from March 18. The Ascend W1 will be supported by a significant ATL marketing campaign across UK media.
The Ascend W1 is designed for hectic modern lives; for users to make the most of their precious time by giving order and access simultaneously to their social and business worlds. It combines latest smartphone hardware and functionality with the innovative Windows Phone 8 operating system to enable quick and easy access to people, information and entertainment.
The Windows Phone 8 start-screen lets you customise and pin Live Tiles with topics of personal interest, providing real-time updates that are uniquely yours. Additionally, a dynamic lock screen allows you to select the photos or updates most important to you and have them ready at a glance, even when the phone is locked.
The Ascend W1 brings this powerful experience to a broader audience, and underpins it with great hardware. Its bright 4-inch IPS LCD 480 x 800 touchscreen has a low reflective IPS LCD display with full lamination technology, providing brilliant visibility under different lighting conditions. Its 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor and Adreno 305 GPU combine as a powerful engine for immersive video streaming and game-play.
In addition, the Ascend W1’s 1950mAh battery provides the longest standby time of smartphones in its class. It also features a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, and includes 4GB on-board memory, expandable to 32GB with a micro SD card.
The Ascend W1 is a smart and stylish alternative for consumers looking for great technology at the right price.
So, remember the Huawei Ascend W1? Of course you do. We already knew that it was set to arrive on O2 soon, but we didn’t know exactly when until just now. O2 UK have bagged the exclusive on this cheap Windows Phone 8 handset and we gave it a try last night.