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Huawei Ascend P1S claims to be slimmest smart phone ever

The Huawei Ascend P1S packs a dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and Android Ice Cream Sandwich into a supremely slim body. Colour us excited.

Andrew Lanxon headshot
Andrew Lanxon headshot
Andrew Lanxon Editor At Large, Lead Photographer, Europe
Andrew is CNET's go-to guy for product coverage and lead photographer for Europe. When not testing the latest phones, he can normally be found with his camera in hand, behind his drums or eating his stash of home-cooked food. Sometimes all at once.
Expertise Smartphones, Photography, iOS, Android, gaming, outdoor pursuits Credentials
  • Shortlisted for British Photography Awards 2022, Commended in Landscape Photographer of the Year 2022
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Andrew Lanxon
2 min read
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If you're desperate to pack ultimate power into your pockets, but don't want to change out of your jeggings, the Huawei Ascend P1S will help you out by packing a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and Android Ice Cream Sandwich into a ridiculously thin body.

Huawei has typically aimed its phones -- such as the Blaze -- at the budget end of the market, but there's nothing budget about the specs of the P1S. At a mere 6.68mm thick, Huawei claims the it's the slimmest smart phone on the market.

We don't have a ruler handy to verify that claim, but there's no doubt it's razor-sharp. By comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S2 adds another 2mm on to that thickness, and we'd hardly call that chunky.

Stuffed inside is a dual-core 1.5GHz processor teamed up with 1GB of RAM, which promises some epic speed. Not wanting to be left behind in the software stakes, Huawei has packed in Google's latest version of Android, known as Ice Cream Sandwich. We've only seen ICS ship on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus so far, so we're looking forward to see what other companies do with the new OS.

On the front of the phone you'll find a 4.3-inch screen that boasts a 540x960-pixel resolution, which trumps the 480x800 pixels found on the Galaxy S2 -- if it's as bright and vivid as the Super AMOLED screen on the S2, we think we may have found our new favourite display. It also uses Corning Gorilla Glass, so expect it to be extremely resistant to scratches and pocket attacks from your keys.

Around the back you'll find an 8-megapixel camera. We've not been able to get hands-on with the camera yet, so time will tell if it stands a chance at replacing your compact digital camera. The dual LED flashes will lend an excellent helping hand with your low-light photos, though. There's also a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video calling, or simply for taking vain, MySpace-style self portraits.

Specs-wise, the Ascend P1S looks to be an excellent effort by Huawei at leaving behind the purely budget market and offering something more high-end. How this fairly plain-looking phone stacks up throughout the year against the latest releases from the other mobile giants remains to be seen.

There's no word on pricing or UK availability yet, but make sure to keep it CNET UK for all the tech news as it develops and head over to our CES site for all the latest from Las Vegas.