Yes, I know. Whenever the headline reads “less than £200” you know it’s going to be 1p less. But hey, it’s a good price for a great handset. The P1 has a definite “Galaxy SII” feel about it but we were suitably impressed in out Ascend P1 review.
Now the non-LTE SIM-free version is available to buy on Expansys for £199.99 with free shipping. Specs include a 4.3″ 540×960 Super AMOLED screen with Gorilla Glass, Android ICS (without any frilly extras additions), dual-core 1.5GHz CPU, 1GB RAM, 4GB ROM and a microSD card slot for extra storage. For connectivity there’s WiFi, aGPS, Bluetooth 3.0 and DLNA. It’s powered by a 1670mAh battery and has dual cameras (8 megapixel with dual LED flash & 1.3 megapixel up front).
More details – Huawei Ascend P1 (Buy) – Ascend P1 review
If the phone come with ICS without any frilly additions, so it is stock android, why not put the latest version on it?
I got one of these just before Xmas, and its worth noting the finish on the one I got from Expansys is different from most of the photos you see. I know there was talk about an upgraded ‘premium feel’ version being released for the UK market (e.g. http://www.talkandroid.com/128017-huawei-ascend-p1-to-be-enhanced-with-a-premium-feel-ahead-of-its-uk-launch/ ) , so maybe these are the ones Expansys have. Certainly mine has a more matt / rubberised back to it rather than the shiny one you see in all the photos (even at Expansys!). I wanted a reasonably priced thin phone that took a ‘normal’ sim, and for the money this was a good deal.