Huawei Ascend P7 Sapphire Edition announced for the Chinese market


Huawei may have launched the Ascend P7 back in May this year, but that doesn’t mean the Chinese OEM is done touting its slender new phone.

That’s because Huawei showcased the device in another avatar, one with not just the usual glass coating but with additional sapphire glass. As Android Central reports, Huawei’s CEO Richard Yu took to stage to demonstrate just how tough the sapphire glass made the phone, and guess how — using a knife, apparently showcasing a futile attempt to scuff up the display.

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Front glass isn’t the only thing that’s changed from May. The metal finish around the edges too get a facelift, and are a tad ‘warmer’ with a rose gold finish in place of the original cold texture.

 

Also, the rear of the phone now does away with glass to introduce a more ergonomic glossy ceramic finish, which should go well with to-be buyers of the device in the future.

Previous leaks had pointed at a device like this, but it is only now that we get confirmation from the Chinese OEM itself. Also, the device is expected to sell in limited numbers in China, with the price not disclosed yet.

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[Picture credits]
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13 Comments

  1. ben
    September 8, 2014

    A better version of the Huawei P7 will be the P7s.
    Or just lets call it: Phicomm Passion P660 😉

    • desponent
      September 8, 2014

      A better version of P7 is called Honor 6 and it’s cheaper.

      • Faux-News
        September 9, 2014

        Im confused about it though. Honor 6 has better chip and IR and bigger battery, but some of reviews talk about the phone not feeling as premium in the hand. The P7 on the other hand has the premium feel and with the sapphire editions, that would be perfect as one does not have to worry as much about using a protective casing. Hence premium feel in daily usage. Now i know P7 sapphire edition is stuck with the weaker chip but on the other hand it doesn’t matter as much to users who barely gone use their phone for gaming. But problem then still is that P7 is priced higher than Honor 6 despite the weaker chip, less battery, etc and kind of feels not worth the money being spent.

        • Zami
          September 9, 2014

          They should have used Kirin 925 (like in Mate 7) in the sapphire edition of P7 and also globally available it .
          They didn’t even change the UI in the sapphire edition P7 .
          Mate 7 is the fantastic looking device with a better chip, UI and battery.

          • Marius Cirsta
            September 9, 2014

            My opinion is that with the P7 being so slim they can’t afford a too powerful chip as this would produce too much heat for such a thin phone to dissipate.
            Still as one person mentioned, do you really need such a powerful smartphone ? What for ? Unless you like gaming maybe but even then.
            If must say that I’d rather have looks and build quality than 8 cores and 4 GB of RAM which are useless to me in a phone.

            • Faux-News
              September 9, 2014

              Yea that’s what i think too. The 2500mah battery and 6.5mm slim of P7 might not be as favorable for the Kirin 920/925. But with Mate 7’s finger print sensor and that dedicated i3 core for low power consumption, i sure would like to have that on the P7. But too early.

              Whats confusing though is that the P7 during its initial rumours there were leaks and official charts which listed a “high end” version for P7 and that kept me waiting hoping that it would be a Kirin 920 version of P7. But now maybe the high end was probably meant on just the built quality ? i would be pissed if P7 comes with another real high end version specs soon after buying the sapphire edition. Same also with Honor6, there is a 100% confirmed and officially announced higher clocked version of Honor6 yet to be unveiled.

            • Zami
              September 9, 2014

              After Cat-6 , Mate 7 launch .
              I am sure Huawei has plans for a Cat-6 phone for international consumers as Honor serise is limited to Home country user .
              They will ony bring high end P7 phone after testing it well .
              If any problem occurs they will solve it . They will not bring a untested phone and get complaines from consumers .
              I also feel 4 GB RAM for a phone is pointless and 1.5 Gh & 2.5 Gh processor has no difference in everyday use , but most people don’t understand it and always prefer higher processing power phones .

              I will love to wait for a good phone from Huawei .

            • balcobomber25
              September 17, 2014

              This. Most people will never use half of the power they have available in their phones. It’s like the old days of the automobile industry when everyone wanted more and more horsepower even though most never took full advantage of it.

              I would rather have more RAM and LTE than anything else. Even these new 2k screens are a waste to me, I have one on my Nubia Z7 and although it is beautiful I could really do with a 1080p and longer battery life.

          • Faux-News
            September 9, 2014

            P7 will get the Emui3.0 in a month. The beta test release has started this month.

        • desponent
          September 9, 2014

          “Feeling premium” is like a cheap bought-out comment to justify other department’s fail in delivering (Honor and Ascend have different department within Huawei).

          • Faux-News
            September 9, 2014

            Not really. P7 was meant to be exactly that as a selling point. Its looks and feel (and the selfie camera).

            • desponent
              September 9, 2014

              Beauty is in the eye of beholder. I personally think that Honor 6 looks better and I can’t be the only one.

  2. iKosh
    September 9, 2014

    That metal looks good. Manufacturers should make brass or bronze finish, it would look so much better than gold.