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Huawei unveils the ultimate selfie-taker, the Ascend P7 smartphone

Huawei’s latest flagship smartphone, the Ascend P7, has just launched in Paris with a crazy-sharp 8-megapixel front-facing camera. 

Huawei smartphones are a selfie lover’s best friend, with last year’s Ascend P6 packing a ridiculous 5-megapixel front-facing camera. Now the ridiculous got even more ridiculouser, as the new Huawei Ascend P7 launched in Paris this afternoon, boasting an all-new 8-megapixel selfie snapper.

Huawei launches the Ascend P7 4G smartphone with 8-megapixel selfie camera

Huawei Ascend P7 specs

The Huawei Ascend P7 is a five-inch 4G phone packing a Full HD 1920×1080 screen (445ppi, a strong rival to the Galaxy S5 and Xperia Z2), plus Huawei’s latest Emotion 2.3 interface. It’s impressively thin at just 6.5mm, making this the slimmest 4G LTE handset to date, but Huawei has still packed in some very impressive tech.

A 13-megapixel rear camera uses Sony’s BSI sensor for decent low-light shots, combined with the f/2.0 aperture lens, and apparently the camera is ready to shoot just 1.2 seconds after double-pressing the volume down button, great news for spontaneous shots. However, it’s the 8-megapixel front-facer that will grab headlines, the sharpest selfie cam we’ve seen in the UK. It even comes with a panorama mode, for capturing one of those cringey group selfies.

For more specs and hands-on impressions, check out our Ascend P7 hands-on review.

Huawei Ascend P7 launch and design

Huawei Ascend P7 4G flagship smartphone launched in Paris, May 2014

Huawei chose the glamorous setting of Paris to launch the Ascend P7, with CEO Richard Yu taking to the stage after a typically French acrobatics show.

To kick things off, Yu reminded us of Huawei’s recent triumphs in the mobile space, the handsets that have pushed them to the number three spot in smartphones globally. Last year’s flagship, the Ascend P6 proved itself as Huawei’s best selling premium smartphone to date, but it’s time for an update.

Huawei Ascend P7 launch

Arising from the stage on a plinth surrounded by spotlights, we finally met the Huawei Ascend P7; the company’s new top dog, and as Yu explained, it centres around three main areas; craftsmanship, camera and connectivity. The company has invested heavily in 4G and it was a surprise when last year’s flagship, the P6, lacked super fast mobile data connectivity. Looks like that mistake has been rectified.

The metallic design of the Ascend P7 has been reinforced for extra protection, with a seven-layered rear surface and ‘spin effect’ design, while the curvy edges were apparently inspired by a water droplet (ho hum), for a more comfortable grip. The Gorilla Glass 3 front and rear covers should add extra protection, impressive stuff given how thin the phone is. It’ll come in a choice of black, white and pink.

Huawei Ascend P7 review

Before finishing the launch, Huawei announced a Huawei’s global theme design competition with a grand prize of $300,000, with the winner to be announced at IFA in September. If you’re a creative sort, that sounds well worth a punt to us…

The Huawei Ascend P7 will be available in every Orange shop here in the UK from June 7, and while UK pricing is yet to be revealed, the phone will cost 449 Euros in Europe (so expect £399 here in Blighty). Our full review is coming soon, but for now check out our hands-on Ascend P7 review

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