Huawei Vision review: Farsighted

Huawei Vision 360-degree spin

The Huawei Vision is one of the more compact phones to feature a 3.7" display. At 118 x 59.9 x 9.9 mm, it's a good fit in the hand. The slim unibody is very pleasant and comfortable to hold, and reasonably lightweight at 121 g.

Design and build quality

Looking at the Huawei Vision, parallels to the HTC Desire S are inevitable. Thanks to the unibody design, the overall look and feel are too similar to ignore.

But once you're past the first impression, you'll see that there are some major differences, especially at the front.

We're pleased with the ergonomics of the Vision - it's compact and easy to operate, while it still manages to offer respectable screen real estate. For comparison's sake, the Vision is shorter than an iPhone but offers a bigger, 3.7" screen.

Compared to its Huawei siblings, the vision fits right between the Honor and the Sonic.

The Honor, Vision and Sonic side by side

The Vision's LCD screen has WVGA (480 x 800) resolution and pixel density of 255 ppi. The contrast was a pleasant surprise but the screen is a little short of brightness. Add the reflective coating and you get less than stellar outdoor visibility. Other than that, this could easily rate as an above average screen and we're happy with its behavior indoors.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio
Motorola RAZR XT910	0	215	∞	0	361	∞
HTC Sensation	0.21	173	809	0.61	438	720
Huawei Vision	0.20	244	1127	0.36	396	1136
HTC Rhyme	0.43	265	609	0.58	402	694
HTC Sensation XE	0.23	172	761	0.64	484	752
Samsung I9070 Galaxy S Advance	0	185	∞	0	326	∞
Samsung I9103 Galaxy R	0.51	407	806	0.92	785	858
Samsung I9001 Galaxy S Plus	0	251	∞	0	408	∞
LG Optimus Black	0.127	332	1228	0.65	749	1161

The front of the Vision

Under the display you'll find four capacitive keys for Menu, Home, Back and Search. They light up upon touch and are placed at a safe distance from the touchscreen to not get in the way. Above the screen there's a video call camera, a proximity sensor to disable the screen during calls and an ambient light sensor.

Above and below the display

The right side of the handset is bare - exactly like in the HTC Desire S, whose unibody styling the Vision uses as an inspiration.

The right side of the phone

On the left you'll find a single-piece volume rocker.

The volume rocker on the left side

Where the Vision disagrees with the original is the USB port placement. The HTC Desire S has it on the side, a position, which favors landscape use. On the Vision, the microUSB port for both charging and file transfers is at the bottom. That's where the mouthpiece is too.

The bottom of the phone

The top features the 3.5 mm headphone jack and the power/lock button.

The top of the Vision

There's a secondary microphone for active noise cancellation at the back of the Vision. That's where we find the speaker grille, the 5 MP camera lens and a single LED flash.

The plastic bit at the bottom slides open to reveal the SIM card compartment and microSD slot. As soon as you pop the cover off, the phone shuts down automatically, meaning the microSD card slot isn't hot-swappable.

The back of the device

The Vision is a very pleasant device to hold and operate. It has a nice solid feel - we wouldn't call it premium but reassuring and seemingly durable. We liked the compact size too. Those who aren't too obsessed with smartphone display size will be more than happy with the Vision's 3.7" touchscreen.

Huawei Vision live shots

The unibody borrowed from HTC is nothing fresh or original but the Vision doesn't feel like a cheap replica. It's lucky to do without the cheap gloss of the Huawei Honor.