Ascend D2 is a new mobile phone released on CES2013. It is also Huawei's current flagship product. It has a five inch full HD screen, an all metal middle frame, waterproof and dustproof, a 13 megapixel camera and other features. We also learned about the characteristics of Huawei's new flagship through evaluation.

Huawei Ascend D2 parameters

Model: HUAWEI D2

CPU: HiSilicon K3V2 quad core 1.5GHz

Operating system: Android ™ 4.1.2

Screen: 5 inch 1920 * 1080 resolution IPS Plus

SIM card type: microSIM (dual card)

Storage space: 32GB

RAM：2GB

Connection: Bluetooth ® 4.0, Wi Fi ® IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n, Micro USB, 3.5mm audio interface

Sound effect: Dolby

Camera: 13 million pixel backlit F/2.2 aperture, 1.3 million front, F2.4 aperture.

Battery: 3000mAh built-in

Others: waterproof and dustproof, metal frame, double card and double standby

Dimensions: 140 mm x 71 mm x 9.4 mm

Weight: 170g

Packaging and appearance

Huawei Ascend D2 package uses black design. Since it is a telecom version, there will be some trademarks of China Telecom ▼ on the package

The overall design style of D2 belongs to a tough type. The front of the fuselage is clearly defined, and the front panel is very similar to the style of the four core glory ▼

The accessories in the package are also quite conventional, but an extra OTG line is added to ordinary mobile phones, which is also a small surprise. The attached SIM card slot pin has a unique shape ▼

The white body, equipped with a 5-inch screen, gives a strong visual impact ▼

The earpiece is designed with a metal mesh cover. On the right side are distance sensing, light sensing and front camera ▼

5-inch 1080P IPS Plus screen with excellent display effect ▼

The default theme color of D2 is light, so the screen doesn't look so amazing. We test D2's screen ▼ through 1080P pictures and videos

The diagonal visual angle performs very well ▼

The back of Ascend D2 looks crystal clear. The material is similar to Galaxy Note II, but more transparent than Note II. However, the cost of this beautiful material is that it is easier to scratch ▼

There is a 13 million pixel back lit camera at the rear, a led fill light, and a noise reducing microphone between the two. Due to the relatively large thickness of the body, the camera does not protrude much ▼

The side is designed with a metal middle frame, and the middle frame is very thick, giving a very solid feeling. The hand feel is also quite delicate, but from the front of the body, the edge of the frame will be slightly scratched ▼

The metal frame of D2 has reached 6.14mm, and the solid feeling of the fuselage is also given by the super thick metal frame ▼

On the right side of the fuselage are the switch key and volume key. The key range is short, and the key is also loose. It is estimated that this is related to the waterproof design of D2 ▼

The top of the body is a micro SIM card slot and a micro USB interface, and the side hole is a SIM card slot jack ▼

Open the slot, you can see the card holder of dual SIM cards. The left side supports GSM cards, and the right side supports CDMA/GSM cards. The structure is very novel ▼

The bottom is the main microphone, speaker and 3.5mm interface. Although this design is not beautiful, it still gives a very solid impression in terms of workmanship ▼

UI

The D2 UI still uses Huawei's Emotion UI, version 1.5, which is the same as the D1Q XL, Glory quad core and other mobile phones.

Emotion UI also cancels the secondary menu like many customized Android UI. Based on Android 4.1.2, the overall fluency is excellent ▼

System information, quad core K3V2 1.5G, RAM 2G, storage space 32G, available 25G, emotion UI version 1.5 ▼

The dropdown bar of the Emotion UI is convenient to use, and also supports user-defined ▼

The setting interface is divided into two columns: common and all settings ▼

D2 has a virtual key design. From left to right, there are return, home, and multi task management. In addition, there is a small down arrow on the far left of the virtual bar. Click it to automatically hide the virtual key, which is also a patented technology of Huawei. If gesture operation can be added after the virtual key is hidden, it will make this function more practical ▼

However, hiding the virtual key will also cause some small problems. When the screen is horizontal, hiding the virtual key and then opening the input method will result in the situation that the input method cannot occupy the full screen (both the built-in input method and the third-party input method will have this situation) ▼

Add the theme switch between the widget and the emotion UI. The default theme color is very light, which can not show the amazing 1080P screen. The author chooses this set to be relatively bright, and the number of themes selected is not much ▼

The display settings are equipped with Huawei's unique intelligent backlight, which enables users to switch between different lighting environments in a more natural way. In addition, the color temperature adjustment is very distinctive. We know that there will be no small difference in color temperature between displays of different batches, and this function allows users to fine tune to meet the different needs of each user ▼

Since our D2 is a telecom version, we have a lot of customized telecom software. Fortunately, these applications can be uninstalled at will ▼

System UI and software demonstration video

performance

Ascend D2 uses an enhanced version of K3V2 with a frequency of 1.5GHz, which is higher than the previous Ascend D1 Quad, MediaPad 10 FHD, and Glory Quad cores. What's the difference between the performance of this SoC and the previous 1.4GHz K3V2? The following is the performance measurement of D2.

Theoretical score

Anrabbit evaluation 3.1

Using the latest version of Anthare for testing, the total score is lower than that of the Glory quad core. The difference between CPU and RAM performance is not big, mainly because the graphics performance score will be lower at 1080P resolution, so the score is not so "good" ▼

Geekbench

Geekbench scores D2 higher than the four core glory, performing well ▼

Nenamark 2.4

Due to the high load of 1080P, the GC4000 matched with HiSilicon K3V2 is also a bit unbearable in this test ▼

GLBenchmark 2.5.1

D2 plays an average role in this software, at the same level as the Glory Core 4, and even some test items have lower scores. It is believed that this is due to the lack of D2 optimization ▼

practical application

Sunspider

Due to the compatibility problem between D2 and Chrome V25, the browser test here uses Baidu Browser+T5 kernel, and Sunspider's performance is comparable to that of Glory Four Core ▼

Google V8 javascript

In the javascript test of Google V8, D2 performs better than the Glory quad core, which should be due to the CPU frequency rising to function ▼

Video hardware decoding

In terms of hardware video decoding, 1080P fps=23 mp4 is used for testing (BSPlayer 1.8 is used). Refs range from 1 to 16. In the test, D2 sticks to ref=5 at most, and software decoding ▼ is required for higher parameters

Video software decoding

The soft solution test uses 1080P ref=16 fps=60 mp4 video for soft solution test. The frame number is 23, which is close to the performance of Glory quad core ▼

Operation demonstration video

It can be seen from the video that D2 performs well in most operations, but it is difficult to enter the game, which is also because the GC4000 has insufficient processing performance in the face of such high resolution.

photograph

D2 uses a 13 million pixel back lit camera with an aperture of F2.2, and the sensor is made by sony. From the point of view of actual shooting, D2's image quality is standard, but the highlight is not the D2's image quality, but many additional functions of its built-in camera, such as focus tracking, double clicking the shutter, etc. are very distinctive. The following is a screenshot of the photographing interface

The following is a live sample (click to view the large picture) ▼

From the perspective of photography, D2's performance is remarkable. The white balance performance of the picture is good, but the sharpness needs to be improved. Although the picture quality is not the best, other additional functions are really surprising. Double click shutter, focus tracking, and volume shutter are all very practical photography functions.

temperature

In the ambient temperature of 20 ℃, we used the no-load large-scale game to test the temperature. The test results show that the D2 temperature is higher near the camera, exceeding 40 ℃, which is also related to the fast heat conduction of the metal frame

waterproof

To understand the waterproof of D2, let's take a look at some disassembled parts displayed in D2 tasting.

Photos of some waterproof parts of D2 ▼

Mainboard close-up ▼

Waterproof USB interface ▼

Waterproof earpiece ▼

Waterproof loudspeaker ▼

Metal middle frame ▼

Frame design of aluminum magnesium alloy ▼

CNC processing ▼ It can be seen from the photos that D2 has a targeted waterproof and fall resistant design, and many parts have waterproof rubber rings to prevent water ingress, which is also rare in ordinary mobile phones.

D2 supports the waterproof and dustproof standard of IP54, which can prevent water splashing in theory. We also carried out limit tests to immerse D2 directly in water, and such tests do not seem to have any impact on D2. Maybe we can use waterproof for another purpose. When the phone is too hot, we can help the phone do "water cooling"... ▼

Double card and double standby

A big selling point of D2 is that it supports the dual card dual standby function. The card slot design is also special. The dual card metal card slot is used. One slot supports the GSM card, and the other slot supports the CDMA2000/GSM card. When two cards are inserted, you can choose which one is the main card, select the default phone/information card, and the selection interface is also friendly ▼

You can also quickly select which card to use when dialing ▼

The SMS interface will also have buttons ▼ corresponding to the two cards

signal

D2's signal performance is very strong, both GSM and CDMA terminals have good performance. Although the metal frame is used, there is no sign of signal attenuation with different holding methods ▼

Endurance

D2 uses a 3000mAh large capacity battery. Here, two use cases are simulated (both are inserted into the telecom and mobile dual card tests). The first is heavy continuous use for 8 hours and 36 minutes, with the remaining 25%. The second is to simulate the normal use of users. The flight mode is at night, and the use is at moderate intensity during the day. The remaining 24% is around 6:00 p.m. the next day. Overall, D2's endurance is satisfactory ▼

compatibility

The compatibility of D2 is good, and common software can basically run normally. However, Chrome beta V25 and Baidu Browser have some exceptions. The first screen splits after entering, but the head image of the latter software cannot be displayed. Due to the lack of Google service package for large-scale games, there are not many tests. For the time being, only the top flight car 17 has cracked its body glass (similar phenomena can be found on GC4000 phones in the past) ▼

summary

Huawei D2 has reached the high-end level in terms of price and positioning. The 5-inch full HD large screen, 13 million pixel camera, waterproof and dust-proof, and 3000mAh large battery design are impressive. D2 gives people the impression that it has characteristics in configuration and workmanship, and there are many practical functions in the system that need to be explored by users. Of course, its price is much higher than that of high-end mobile phones of other domestic brands. This is mainly because D2 itself has sufficient materials, and the use of metal frame materials in a large area increases the cost of waterproof, dustproof and fall resistant design. The performance of D2 is standard and smooth in UI and daily applications, but limited by full HD resolution, its performance in games is not satisfactory. In addition, D2 has a higher temperature under high load, which is also related to the metal middle frame. However, D2 is just listed, and there is still much room for improvement in software optimization. I believe Huawei will also respond quickly to these aspects. D2 gives people the impression that it is a very practical flagship machine, rather than a fashionable mobile phone focusing on entertainment. It is especially suitable for business people who have requirements for additional functions of mobile phones.

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