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The so-called "premium" section of the smartphone market is as competitive as Formula 1. Fractions of a millimetre separate the teams at the expensive end of the market, with Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony and every tech company you can think of chucking out a high-end model at a whopping great price.
Nexus 5
Google and friend LG produced a winner in the Nexus 5, managing to offer the best tech specs late 2013 had to offer at an official RRP of £300. And there's a red one, too. Given that it's cheaper than the P7, it makes the Nexus 5 a much better bet.
The P7 beats the Nexus 5 in terms of camera app performance and the front-facing monster "selfie" cam, but for performance and a guarantee of regular software updates from Google, the Nexus remains a better bet than Huawei's latest effort.
LG G2
The LG G2 is a little old now in smartphone terms, first launching way back in… 2013. This means it's now been discounted, and can usually be picked up for a snip - undercutting the Ascend P7 by quite a margin.
It's well worth plumping for LG's flagship model over the P7, as for less money you get more phone -- a larger 5.2-inch display, the known power of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and a larger 3,000mAh battery.
It's a chunkier phone than the P7 and the front-facing camera is a mere 2.1MP, but the G2 beats the P7 on most other counts.
Samsung Galaxy S5
Clearly the one everyone wants to beat is the Samsung Galaxy S5. Huawei competes well on a few areas, given that the P7 is cheaper than the Samsung, plus it's lighter and has a UI that's substantially less cluttered than Samsung's take on Android.
The problem for Huawei is that the S5 has a larger and longer lasting battery, a very impressive camera plus a logo that says "Samsung" on it. Huawei has made many big steps in recent years, but convincing people to dump their Galaxys for an Ascend P7 is perhaps a bit much to ask just yet.
