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Well, now you've read our Huawei Ascend G510 review (or skipped straight to this page), you'll have a pretty good idea of what we are going to say here.
We've had our chance to play with the Huawei Ascend G510, and while we encountered some problems along the way, on the whole the Chinese device held its own. And at its £130 (around AU$200/US$200) price point, Huawei could be on to a winner.
We liked
The design and build quality of the Huawei Ascend G510 is really impressive. The all-glass front and black bezel may look a lot like most smartphones that have ever been designed, but then if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Including a microSD port is also a major bonus, one that we are surprised isn't available on every smartphone going. It's also particularly necessary if you plan to store music and videos on the Huawei Ascend G510, since the internal storage is a bit small.
Shipping with Android Jelly Bean is also a major bonus, since it has the buttery smoothness and the added security that comes with the latest software.
The Huawei Ascend G510 is also a well connected device. NFC and DLNA streaming are still relatively new technologies, and until recently they've remained solely on higher end devices. Making its way onto cheaper devices will help NFC's adoption, and helps to future-proof the Huawei Ascend G510.
We disliked
When coming to Android customisation, just about every manufacturer has implemented some sort of overlay to the stock operating system, but Huawei's Emotion UI is one of the poorer ones we've seen. We commend its effort, since in many ways it provides a nice level of customisation, with different themes giving the Huawei Ascend G510 a new feel, should you choose.
On the flip-side, we feel that the omission of the app drawer is just one step too far, making it overly simple, and can make home screens seem cluttered if you don't spend time organising them.
With the inclusion of microSD support, it seems a little odd that we would mention the poor internal storage. That said, not every app can be moved across to the SD card, meaning that over time, the 2GB remaining space from the 4GB storage will become full.
We also have to mention the screen. While playing with the Huawei Ascend G510 inside, we found that it was more than usable. That all changes when you step outside. If you're lucky enough to get some sunshine, the screen becomes very difficult to see, which makes watching movies or taking photos very difficult.
Final verdict
We liked the Huawei Ascend G510. It provides some very nifty features at an attractive price point. The G510 shows that Huawei really does have the ability to compete against the well established smartphone manufacturers.
The Huawei Ascend G510 is definitely a phone that you won't be embarrassed to pull out of your pocket. Looks-wise, it is up there with some of the higher end phones. Not as high as the HTC One or the Sony Xperia Z, but then as their company's flagship phones, we can forgive that.
In everyday use, Huawei's offering managed to hold up under general use, but it started to struggle under heavier use. Watching a movie or playing games for any length of time manages to drain the battery a bit faster than we would like from a modern smartphone.
On the flip side, it packs in NFC and DLNA capabilities, which we expect to become more prevalent in daily life as the technology becomes cheaper and more widespread.
As with every phone, we can't tell you what to buy, since everyone has different needs. Overall, though, we would definitely suggest taking a look at the Huawei Ascend G510. With Android onboard, plus some nifty tech, it provides some stiff competition to the established competitors - the likes of the Sony Xperia U, LG Optimus L5 II and the Windows-toting Nokia Lumia 620.
