What is it with Chinese brands these days?
Every other phone on the market is made by the Middle Kingdom. This time around
I have the Huawei Ascend G600 to fiddle with. I had been told that it is their
mid-range model though as it is retailing at $256, it might end up competing in
the entry level market. I’m not sure if that’s a coincidence or brilliant
marketing.
With
a dual-core 1.2GHz chip under its hood, the Huawei Ascend G600 should be a
pretty capable Android Ice Cream Sandwich machine
No need to nitpick
As a phone this doesn’t fall very far from
the idea of phone-ness. It has the usual square black plastic with Gorilla
Glass front. Rounded edges and a textured back complete the device. As is, this
is a phone, no doubt about it. There’s little to complain about too.
Screen fit
The 4.5-inch screen doesn’t feel too big,
making it oddly comforting. Either that or I have been conditioned to accept
devices of this size as the norm. It is a thought that I find most disturbing.
Once, a long time ago, this sort of behavior would not have been tolerated.
It’s a nice scree though much nicer than the price tag would suggest. Yes, it
has a resolution 960 x 540, which isn’t the most common thing. It is bright
though, definitely the most appropriate word to use. And colorful too, though
some might say it appears saturated. Such groups are those who would nitpick
the joy out of life. As for the average user, they will not be disappointed.
At
10.5mm thick, it's not the slimmest Android in town
Minor RAM
Operationally, it is a dual core machine
with “only” 768MB of RAM. If I had been more conscious about specifications, I
would be wondering how much it would cost to bump it up to 1GB. That issue,
truly, is a minor waffle as the phone eats its Ice Cream Sandwich quite
effortlessly. Transitioning screens isn’t blazing fast. Rather, it’s all for
providing a smooth glide. As a user experience, I find it satisfactory. One
thing to note is that the G600 doesn’t support active background, which is a
concession to the reduced amount of RAM.
Basic camera
One thing that I am uninspired about is the
camera. Not that it’s a bad feature. Rather, it comes as the olives on a
particularly good pizza. It doesn’t ruin the experience, but fails to add
anything. Pictures are quite dark and the problem is easily noticeable on the
bright screen. Shutter speed is also very slow plus it makes a hideously
annoying click sound. That happens even while the phone is on silent. Yes, it
prevents creep-shots and stuff like that but you don’t need to announce that
you’re taking a picture to the world. Although I suspect a lot of people feel
like they should. It’s why Instagram exists.
The
rear camera is an 8-megapixel lens which sounds like a decent amount of megapixels
for a mid-range blower
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Specifications
§ Price:
$256
§ Dimensions
(HxWxD): 134 X 67.5 x 10.5 mm
§ Weight:
145g
§ Processor:
Dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon
§ Memory:
768MB RAM
§ Storage:
4GB, up to 32GB with MicroSD
§ Operating
System: Android 4.0
§ Display:
4.5-in qHD 960 x 540 touchscreen
§ Quadrant
Score: 2552
§ Antutu
Score: 6876
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