Huawei Ascend W2 Windows Phone leaked, maybe out in June

A leaked PR image of a new Windows Phone from Huawei is apparently the Ascend W2, according to reliable Twitter-based tech tipper evleaks.

If it's genuine, the W2 looks a thinner, more curvaceous mobile than the Chinese company's first Windows Phone 8 effort, the W1, which reached the UK a few months ago with no fanfare whatsoever.

The new blower could be officially launched next month at Huawei's June event, which promises a new Android flagship phone -- the Ascend P6. If the launch is anything like Samsung's upcoming Galaxy & Ativ shindig, it'll feature new Windows Phones too.

Earlier rumours about the W2 pegged it with a 720p 4.3-inch display, a Snapdragon S4 chip, an 8-megapixel camera and 1GB of RAM -- up from the W1's meagre 512MB. That leak reckoned it'll go on sale for under £200, which tallies with the W1's current UK price of £180.

If that's accurate, it'll be up against the Editor's Choice-winning Nokia Lumia 620, which has a slightly smaller and lower-res display, and is less powerful, but offers all of Nokia's excellent sat-nav and music gubbins.

Huawei also lifted the lid on two super-budget Android mobiles today, the Ascend Y210 and G510, which are out next week from TalkTalk for just £5 and £10 per month respectively. Crikey, that's cheap.

Huawei overtook Sony earlier this year as the third biggest smart phone maker in the world, and is looking to build on its success with dirt-cheap Android phones in its native China with more expensive mobiles here, just as HTC once did. It has a long way to catch up to its more prestigious rivals in terms of design and marketing, but it could end up taking a serious chunk out of Samsung's business if it plays its cards right.

Would you go for a budget Windows Phone? What do you think of Huawei's chances? Read the runes and make your prophecies in the comments, or over on our uncanny Facebook page.

Image credit: @evleaks