Huawei Ascend P1 out now on Vodafone

Huawei Ascend P1
Yours for £26 a month

Vodafone has announced it's now selling the Huawei Ascend P1 smartphone.

The handset has been a long time coming, seeing as it was first announced back at CES in January.

It's one of the slimmest smartphones around, standing just 7.69mm thick. And it's pretty affordable too, being free on a £26 a month contract.

Chinese company Huawei has traditionally offered budget mobiles, but this is a step-up for the brand. The Ascend P1 has a soft-touch matt finish, and doesn't scrimp on the specs.

It comes running Android Ice Cream Sandwich, but there's no word on whether it'll get the upgrade to Jelly Bean anytime soon. The Super AMOLED (960x540-pixels) screen is 4.3-inches. Inside is a 1.5GHz dual-core processor. And on the back sits an 8MP camera, while a 1.3MP front-facer takes care of video calling duties.

The Ascend P1 scored a very respectable four out of five in our review.

ICS on a budget

It joins the ZTE Grand X, which is another budget Ice Cream Sandwich handset that launched this month. The Grand X is slightly less powerful than the P1, with a dual-core 1GHz processor inside. The screen is still 4.3-inches, but the camera isn't as good either, being 5MP to the P1's 8MP.

It's also slightly more expensive, starting at £27 a month.

So while Jelly Bean may not be on as many handsets as we'd like, at least it is pushing down the price of those coming with Ice Cream Sandwich.

Joe Svetlik

Joe has been writing about tech for 17 years, first on staff at T3 magazine, then in a freelance capacity for Stuff, The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, Men's Health, GQ, The Mirror, Trusted Reviews, TechRadar and many more (including What Hi-Fi?). His specialities include all things mobile, headphones and speakers that he can't justifying spending money on.

Latest in Huawei Phones
Holding the Huawei Mate XT in-hand
I thought the tri-folding Huawei Mate XT was a gimmick, but then I held it
The Huawei Mate X6 on a pink background
The Huawei Mate X6 looks like a huge step forward for foldable phone photography, and I’m annoyed that I probably won’t be able to get one
The Huawei Mate XT and PS5 Pro side-by-side
Huawei's tri-fold phone is so expensive you could buy four PS5 Pros for the same price
Huawei Mate XT
Huawei posts the first official image of the tri-fold Mate XT, and reveals storage options
Samsung's tri-folding display technology unveiled at the SID Display Week 2021 online event
Huawei finally confirms the name of its tri-fold smartphone in new teaser video
Samsung's tri-folding display technology unveiled at the SID Display Week 2021 online event
Huawei sets the date for its tri-foldable phone launch, with a 10-inch display and high price rumored
Latest in News
EA Sports F1 25 promotional image featuring drivers Oscar Piastri, Carlos Sainz and Oliver Bearman.
F1 25 has been officially announced, with this year's entry marking a return for Braking Point and a 'significant overhaul' for My Team mode
Garmin clippd integration
Garmin's golf watches just got a big software integration upgrade to help you improve your game
Robert Downey Jr reveals himself as Doctor Doom to a delighted crowd at San Diego Comic-Con 2024
Marvel is currently making a major announcement about Avengers: Doomsday's cast on YouTube, and I think it's going to be a long-winded reveal
Samsung QN90F on yellow background
Samsung announces US prices for its 2025 mini-LED TV lineup, and it’s good and bad news
Nintendo Switch Lite
Forget the Nintendo Switch 2, the original Switch is getting one last hurrah in a surprise Nintendo Direct tomorrow
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge on display the January 22, 2025 Galaxy Unpacked event.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge colors seemingly revealed in new video, and there’s another sign of an imminent launch