Keep my Samsung Galaxy S3 or switch to Huawei Ascend P6?

When the Huawei Ascend P6 invited the press to launch the smartphone in the country over a month ago, luck was by my side. Before the event ended, they raffled off one Ascend P6 and my name was called. Yey!

Since then, I have been trying out the unit to see how the "world's slimmest smartphone" (as they market it) lives up to expectations. I have been using a Samsung Galaxy S3 for the past year (which I bought, for the record) and I love it.

I was then faced with a choice: to either keep my old S3 or keep the new P6. Before I tell you what my choice was, let me share the features that I liked--and which ones I didn't. :)

* Camera

          A smartphone's ability to take crisp pictures is a feature that I consider closely. Ever since I bought my Samsung Galaxy S3, I never needed to use a digital camera. The phone's 8-megapixel camera delivers shots that are good enough to be blown up without the pixels showing. Side by side with a photo taken with a professional camera, it's hard to distinguish which one is which.
          Oh, and it's a huge plus that I can take pictures with the S3 while shooting a video. While the Ascend P6's 8-megapixel camera is great, too--clear and crisp, the S3 captures a more vivid, realistic picture. I'd give the S3's camera a 8.5/10; and P6 a 7/10.

* Battery life
          Amazing how the Ascend P6 lasted a whole day with regular use. This is something that has always been the weakest spot for my S3. My battery dies on me after only about 4 hours of regular use. Even at standby, my S3 would lose about 8 percent of its juice. Thankfully, this has been remedied by buying a spare battery which gives me another 4 or 5 hours.
        On the other hand, I was impressed with the way P6 conserves energy. It would merely drain 2 percent of battery life in an hour of standby. One fine day, my P6 lasted 17 and a half hours with regular use. I'd say the S3 gets a 5/10; and P6 a 7/10.

* Alarm
          I think it sucks that I can't turn my S3 off when I had set up the alarm, or else it wouldn't go off. It's something I can do with the Ascend P6.

* Home button
          I didn't know how much I would miss my S3's physical home button until I began using the P6. I mean, the P6 has its home button, too, but it is integrated in the screen, which kinds of eats display real estate.

* Video playback
          One of the coolest things about my S3 is that I can lock the screen when I'm watching a video, which eliminates accidentally pressing the volume or home button. This is a feature that the Ascend P6 does not have.

There are other things I considered, like how the P6 can stand on its side and the S6 can't, but after everything was said and done, I have decided to ... keep my Samsung Galaxy S3. Don't get me wrong, I love the Huawei Ascend P6, but my S3 has proven its worth. I have dropped the phone several times and never gave me a problem.

I didn't think of upgrading to the S4 because I thought the improvements (over S3) were incremental, but I am considering switching to the S5, when that phone is eventually and expectedly released next year.

===========================

Here are more interesting things about the new Huawei Ascend P6 (which my brother is happily using now):

• The P6 has a sleek metallic body that measures 6.18mm. It’s slimmer than the Apple iPhone 5’s 7.66mm and the Samsung Galaxy S4’s 7.9mm measurements.

• Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology solutions provider. Its products and services are deployed in over 140 countries, serving more than one third of the world’s population.

• Its 4.7-inch screen is powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core processor. It has an industry-leading 5MP front-facing camera with the  proprietary IMAGESmart software promises to amaze shutterbugs with professional results.

• The Huawei Ascend P6 retails for P17,500. It’s available for as low as P999 monthly at Plan 499 (with P500 monthly cashout); or at Plan 999 (with P200 monthly cashout) both with a 24-month contract period from Globe.