Huawei Ascend P6 review: Zen droid slim

Controls

With the navigation keys moved over to the screen, the things to note at the front of the Huawei Ascend P6 are above the 4.7" IPS+ LCD. There's a status LED and sensors left of the earpiece and a 5MP front camera on the right.

Yep, that's a five megapixel camera up there and Huawei is really proud of its front-facer. It's a fixed focus unit, but one that does some great portrait shots and has the Beauty Face option available. It also shoots 720p videos @ 30fps. We'll get into more detail there in the camera chapter of the review.

Huawei Ascend P6's front

In terms of controls, we've got a pretty crowded right side with a Power/Lock key and a volume rocker, followed by microSIM and microSD card slots compartments. These are small trays that take an eject pin to open.

Now, as far as we know, there is also a regionally available Dual SIM version of the Ascend P6. In the dual SIM case, both metallic trays accommodate SIM cards and there is no microSD slot. To make up for that, the dual SIM version comes with 16GB of storage instead of only 8GB.

The right side of the Huawei Ascend P6

The eject pin is inserted into the 3.5mm audio jack on the left-hand side of the device - that's an unusual solution, but we can see the point: that way the eject tool is always available and it also protects the port from getting filled with dust.

On the other hand though, one risks misplacing the eject tool every time they need to plug a headset -the tiny piece is really easy to lose.

The 3.5mm audio jack on the left

The top of the Huawei Ascend P6 accommodates the microUSB port and the secondary microphone, which is used for active noise cancellation in calls.

A look at the top of the Ascend P6

Across at the bottom, the primary microphone is the only thing of interest.

The primary mic pinhole at the bottom

The 8 megapixel camera lens is placed in the top left corner of phone's back. The single-LED flash is next to it too. The discrete loudspeaker grille is in the bottom left corner.

The 8MP camera lens at the back

The Huawei Ascend P6 comes with a nice rubber case in the box that tightly wraps around the handset. The case is transparent so the phone's good looks aren't sacrificed and it will do a nice job of keeping it safe. It inevitably adds to the thickness though.

Huawei Ascend P6 original bumper case

The Huawei Ascend P6 is powered by a 2000 mAh Li-Ion battery. The phone scored a very reasonable 46-hour rating in our real-life battery test. The moderately-sized screen and the energy-efficient chipset might actually deserve the credit for this good performance. Find the complete breakdown here.

Display

The Huawei Ascend P6 has a 4.7" IPS+ LCD of 720p resolution. This works out to a pixel density of 312ppi, which is almost the same as what the Apple iPhone 5 has.

Huawei Ascend P6 4.7" IPS+ display

The Ascend P6 offers wide viewing angles with no color shift and little contrast loss when you view the display at an angle. The colors are spot on, the contrast is great and generally we are very pleased with the image quality.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio
Huawei Ascend P6	0.14	136	986	0.62	670	1080
Sony Xperia ZL	-	-	-	0.44	575	1294
Sony Xperia Z	-	-	-	0.70	492	705
Huawei Ascend Mate	0.23	222	982	0.67	711	1053
HTC One	0.13	205	1580	0.42	647	1541
HTC Butterfly	0.14	173	1200	0.45	501	1104
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4	0	201	∞	0	404	∞
Oppo Find 5	0.17	176	1123	0.51	565	1107
Samsung N7100 Galaxy Note II	0	215	∞	0	402	∞
LG Optimus G Pro	-	-	-	0.41	611	1489
Nokia Lumia 920	-	-	-	0.48	513	1065
LG Optimus G	0.14	197	1445	0.33	417	1438
Nexus 4	0.22	314	1447	0.45	608	1341
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III	0	174	∞	0	330	∞
Apple iPhone 5	0.13	200	1490	0.48	640	1320

The screen brightness control in the Android notification area is a single virtual key with four steps: Automatic, 100%, 50% and 0% brightness. There's no brightness slider as in competing Android devices.

Hidden further down in the Display settings, there is an additional Smart Backlight toggle - this could be enabled to assure the automatic brightness control doesn't do rapid jumps when adjusting the illumination level. If switched on, the Ascend P6 will calculate the next light transition point in a bright lighting environment and maintain a gradient brightness variation .

Sunlight contrast ratio

• Nokia 808 PureView
  4.698
• Apple iPhone 5
  3.997
• Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
  3.419
• Nokia Lumia 925
  3.402
• Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4
  3.352
• Samsung Omnia W
  3.301
• Samsung Galaxy S
  3.155
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  3.127
• Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom
  3.118
• Nokia N9
  3.069
• Samsung Galaxy Note
  2.970
• HTC One S
  2.901
• Samsung Galaxy S II
  2.832
• Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
  2.801
• Huawei Ascend P1
  2.655
• Sony Xperia ZR
  2.672
• Nokia Lumia 900
  2.562
• Nokia Lumia 720
  2.512
• HTC One
  2.504
• Sony Xperia Z
  2.462
• Samsung Galaxy S III mini
  2.422
• Motorola RAZR i
  2.366
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  2.307
• Apple iPhone 4S
  2.269
• HTC One X
  2.158
• Nokia N8
  2.144
• Oppo Find 5
  2.088
• BlackBerry Z10
  2.051
• Apple iPhone 4
  2.016
• HTC One mini
  2.003
• Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
  1.955
• Samsung Galaxy Camera
  1.938
• HTC Butterfly
  1.873
• Huawei Ascend P6
  1.865
• Sony Xperia V
  1.792
• Sony Xperia U
  1.758
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  1.691
• HTC One V
  1.685
• BlackBerry Q5
  1.682
• LG Optimus Vu
  1.680
• LG Optimus GJ
  1.666
• HTC Desire V
  1.646
• LG Optimus G Pro
  1.552
• LG Optimus 3D
  1.542
• Nokia Asha 302
  1.537
• Nokia Lumia 610
  1.432
• Gigabyte GSmart G1355
  1.361
• HTC Desire C
  1.300
• Nokia Asha 501
  1.270
• LG Optimus L7
  1.269
• LG Optimus L9
  1.227
• Meizu MX
  1.221
• Sony Xperia E dual
  1.203
• Samsung Galaxy Pocket
  1.180
• Sony Xperia tipo
  1.166
• Samsung Galaxy mini 2
  1.114

You can find all about our display testing routines here.

Huawei Ascend P6 screen under a microscope

The Huawei Ascend P6 also offers the rare option to adjust the screen's color temperature. It's a slider that gives you control on whether the screen has a cooler or warmer (blue vs. amber) tint.

Finally, the 4.7" IPS 720p touchscreen is also highly sensitive thanks to the Magic Touch tech, which allows you to use it even with gloves, a feature that will surely come in handy in cold weather.