When it comes to AT&T, it’s difficult not to get lost in the fold, the massive amount of devices this carrier carries, especially when it comes to Android. What Huawei has done here is to not concern themselves with being the biggest, the best, the thinnest, or the lightest, instead coming forth with one of the most plain and easily pocketable devices I’ve ever seen carry Android. If there was a phone that I’d peg for most likely to be recognized for it’s designers, this certainly would win the award for being the opposite of that. Is this Huawei the key to commonality here in the States?

Hardware

When a smartphone comes out on a carrier, especially one so populated as AT&T, the most common thing for a manufacturer to do is to make it look unique so as to attract attention away from the rest of the devices that have comparable specifications. What Huawei has done is to create a device that will be chosen by the person in your family looking for the device LEAST likely to grab attention. You’ve got a few curves here, a small camera on the back at 5-megapixels and auto-focus with a single LED flash.

You’ve got the option of adding a microSD card on the inside aside your 1500 mAh battery, and your display is a 3.8-inch WVGA 480 x 800 pixel resolution LCD display. This means its better than a large batch of the mid-range Android devices out there, but it’s certainly not going to compete with the top-tier handsets. The backing of this device is a nice soft plastic, while the entire front is a single touch panel. (save the border in black.)

In the box you get a microUSB cord, a wall jack, and some guides. This device is essentially the exact same phone as the Huawei IDEOS X5, a device revealed internationally in late 2010 when its specs were much more impressive. What we’ve got now is a device that might do well if it’s offered at a good price point – and note here that it certainly is, currently set to be sent out to customers at $30 a pop attached to a 2-year contract on AT&T. That’s cheaper than a night on the town!

[vms 2ce2e50136bda65c25e0]

AT&T Impulse 4G by Huawei Hands-on and Unboxing

Software

Huawei has essentially added nothing to the apps collection here while AT&T has added their familiar set of carrier-specific apps you know and love (or skip over, if you’re that sort of person). Huawei instead has concentrated, again, on joining the Android fold with a solid, completely Google-created Android interface, with no added changes from their own software design team (which we must assume is non-existent.) That said, things do not feel nearly as slick and perfected as they do on the Nexus S or the Nexus S 4G, devices made by Google and Samsung to show off Gingerbread.

Huawei comes loaded with FroYo, and 2.2.2 at that, meaning you’re not only behind the rest of the Android universe by a full version number, devices have been coming out with the next version for months and months now, your device here appearing to be a b-roll Huawei forgot to ship at the beginning of the year. That said, it’s always nice to have a nude version of Android, even if it’s the old one at its time of release.

You can see everyone’s favorite Mobile Minute guy giving you a rundown of the features on this device here – note his slight lack of enthusiasm in the face of a device that, compared to basically every other device he’s shown off, looks pale in comparison.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYZ8zAtbyB8

Camera

Like most modern smartphones, the camera on this device is OK. Have a look at some examples below and see if it suits your fancy:

Wrap-Up

This is not the nicest phone in the mid-range handset collection at AT&T. At $30 with a 2-year contract at AT&T, it certainly is the least expensive device running on its HSPA+ 4G network (except of course any such devices on super sale at $0, which does happen from time to time.) At this point you’ve got to think about how much the data plan is costing you and whether or not you want to be using this less-than-perfect device for a further 2 years. More than likely it’ll make more sense for you to either drop a few more bucks and pick something fantastic up from a different manufacturer, or just wait a few more months for the Huawei Honor to hit our shores – perhaps sometime before 2012? Ya never know.

That said, Huawei, we’re still excited for you to continue bringing in devices here to the states. More manufacturers mean more competition and better devices. This goes for Huawei, Pantech, and anyone else over there across the sea itching to get a piece of the USA market pie. The more, the merrier.

2 COMMENTS

  1. ASIANS CAN ACTUALLY READ MINDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    they can hear and see what your visually thinking
    this is the complete solid truth

    the reason alot of asians have completely expressionless faces, only associate with asians and dont associate with non asians very much is to avoid accidentally revealing that they can read read minds, if all over a billion asians were to show facial expressions all the time just as much as non asians, associate with non asians much more, and be much more friendly and talkative, then alot of them might accidentally reveal that they can read minds by accidentally showing a facial expression or dirty look when someone thinks, or visually pictures something in their mind they dont like or find astonishing or funny, and if they were all to associate with non asians alot more there would be alot more people around for them to accidentally show facial expressions when those other people think things they dont like, so they only associate with asians so there wont be anyone around for them to see that and have any accidents happen in the first place

    think about it, its not normal how alot of them act, and the entire way they act is all to hide their mind reading abilities, it makes perfect sense to do all of that to hide that they can read minds, because all of that is the perfect way to do it!
    every single asian on the planet is hiding their mind reading abilities, they will lie about having mind reading abilities forever!
    because they value hiding their mind reading abilities more then their own lives!
    thats why nobody knows about it!

    try thinking, best yet visually picturing in your mind something something absolutely crazy as you possibly can when you are around asians, and try looking for asians who give people particular looks, especially dirty looks for what appears to be for completely no reason, that is them giving people looks when they hear and visually see someone thinking something they dont like, find funny or astonishing
    it still happens despite a large number of them having completely expressionless faces all the time, it would just happen alot more if none of them had completely expressionless faces all the time, its not uncommon!

    i know this sounds crazy, impossible, and completely unbelievable, BUT IT ISNT CRAZY WHEN ITS TRUE

    the reason you think this truly is crazy, impossible and unbelieveable is because our society has propagandized people into believing that nothing extra ordinary is real and that is really is impossible, and that its crazy to think that its true that people can read minds, all just to cover up that asians can read minds! who says that cant exist? the people who have mind reading abilities who are trying to cover it up!

    you have to spread the message!!!!
    the world has to know about this!!!!!

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