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Review Huawei Ascend G525 Smartphone

More horsepower. An entry-level smartphone with a quad-core processor - Huawei combines these apparent contradictions in the 4.5-inch Ascend G525. We checked the performance of the Android smartphone for 250 Euros (~$345).

For the original German review, see here.

The Ascend G525 is an entry-level device and expands Huawei's extensive smartphone series. We already reviewed the similar Ascend G510, but the Ascend G525 for 250 Euros (~$345) is equipped with a more powerful quad-core SoC instead of a dual-core SoC. The Snapdragon S4 MSM8225Q is supported by the Qualcomm Adreno 203 GPU as well as 4 GB storage. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is the operating system and the Ascend G525 can use two SIM cards at the same time. Compared to the Ascend G510 it also has a better resolution; our review unit has a 4.5-inch qHD display with 960x540 pixels instead of 800x480.

Case

The Huawei Ascend G525 has a 4.5-inch display.
The Huawei Ascend G525 has a 4.5-inch display.

Huawei only uses a plastic case for the Ascend G525, but the high build quality can convince us. The same applies for the 4.5-inch display, which is seamlessly integrated into the chassis. Another advantage is that we could neither twist nor bend the smartphone in our test and that there were no creaking noises either. The rubberized back ensures convenient handling. 

Dimensions of 134 x 67 x 9.9 millimeters and a weight of 155 grams are typical for a 4.5-inch device. Acer's Liquid E2 and Huawei's Ascend G510 are very similar, while the Huawei Ascend G600 is 11 millimeters thick.

Connectivity

The quad-core SoC Qualcomm S4 MSM8225Q is usually not used for entry-level smartphones like the Ascend G525. Graphics are handled by the Qualcomm Adreno 203, which provides sufficient performance for current smartphone games. The rest of the hardware equipment is a bit meager, especially the storage of the G525. 2 GB of the 4 GB internal storage is occupied by the operating system and preloaded apps, so there is only 2 GB left for your personal data and applications. However, you can use micro SD cards with up to 32 GB to expand the storage.


Right side: No ports
Right side: No ports
Left side: Power button, volume rocker, USB 2.0
Left side: Power button, volume rocker, USB 2.0
Top: 3.5 mm stereo jack
Top: 3.5 mm stereo jack
Bottom: Microphone
Bottom: Microphone

Software

Operating system of the Huawei Ascend G525 is Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The OS comes with several preloaded applications, especially Google apps like Chrome, Gmail, Google+, Play and YouTube. Huawei also uses its own user interface EmotionUI 1.0, which, according to the manufacturer, is supposed to improve the operation and the app management of the Android device.

GPS test: Outdoors
GPS test: Outdoors
GPS test: Indoors
GPS test: Indoors

Communication & GPS 

Besides all four GSM frequencies (850, 900, 1,800 and 1,900 MHz), the Huawei Ascend G525 also supports UMTS dual band (900 and 2,100 MHz). It is therefore not as well equipped as many rivals but you get two SIM slots in return. You can use two numbers at the same time, for instance one for private conversations and one for business purposes. There were no problems with the voice or connection quality. Finally, the Ascend G525 supports WLAN 802.11 b/g/n networks and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

The GPS module is very fast indoors as well as outdoors, but it could be more precise. We rode our bicycle on a predetermined route and compared the results of the Huawei Ascend G525 with our reference device Garmin GPS Edge afterwards. We can see that the overall result is good, but there are deviations at narrow parts of the track from time to time.


Huawei Ascend G525: Overview
Huawei Ascend G525: Overview
Huawei Ascend G525: Bridge
Huawei Ascend G525: Bridge
Huawei Ascend G525: Forest
Huawei Ascend G525: Forest
Garmin Edge 500: Overview
Garmin Edge 500: Overview
Garmin Edge 500: Bridge
Garmin Edge 500: Bridge
Garmin Edge 500: Forest
Garmin Edge 500: Forest

Cameras & Multimedia

The Huawei Ascend G525 has two cameras: A 0.3 megapixels webcam above the display that only supports the VGA resolution with 640x480 pixels, which should be sufficient for video calls or occasional snapshots. The main camera is at the back and has a 5 MP sensor (2592x1944 pixels). It takes pictures with a decent quality, but cannot compete with camera modules of high-end smartphones. Contrary to the Apple iPhone 5 or Google Nexus 4, for instance, pictures of the Ascend G525 have very accurate colors and a very good contrast but the details are a bit blurry.  

Huawei Ascend G525
Huawei Ascend G525
Huawei Ascend G525
Huawei Ascend G525
Huawei Ascend G525
Huawei Ascend G525
Reference: Sony Alpha 57
Reference: Sony Alpha 57
Reference: Sony Alpha 57
Reference: Sony Alpha 57
Reference: Sony Alpha 57
Reference: Sony Alpha 57
Apple iPhone 5
Apple iPhone 5
Apple iPhone 5
Apple iPhone 5
Apple iPhone 5
Apple iPhone 5
Nokia Lumia 920
Nokia Lumia 920
Nokia Lumia 920
Nokia Lumia 920
Nokia Lumia 920
Nokia Lumia 920
Samsung Galaxy S4
Samsung Galaxy S4
Samsung Galaxy S4
Samsung Galaxy S4
Samsung Galaxy S4
Samsung Galaxy S4


Accessories & Warranty

There are not many accessories in the box of the Huawei smartphone; besides a modular power supply unit there is only a micro USB cable. Huawei does not offer any specific accessories for the Ascend G525 in its web shop, only common products like in-ear headsets or car chargers. The warranty period for the smartphone is 24 months.  

Input Devices & Handling

The 4.5-inch touchscreen of the Ascend G525 executes inputs without delays and can recognize up to five fingers simultaneously. There can be small delays or stutters after you turn the device on, but that is not a problem when the device was in stand-by. The soft-touch buttons, the volume rocker and the power button are very accurate and help to improve the good overall impression. The virtual QWERTY keyboard has a clear layout and sufficiently sized keys. 

Keyboard in portrait mode
Keyboard in portrait mode
Keyboard in landscape mode
Keyboard in landscape mode

Display

The display specs of the Ascend G525 are pretty standard. The glossy 4.5-inch LC display has a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels, which is on a level with the similarly equipped Acer Liquid E2 and Huawei Ascend G600. Both the HTC Desire 500 and LG P710 Optimus L7 II have a slightly smaller display with a lower resolution (4.3-inches, 800x480 pixels).

Our measurements show good results for the display. The Ascend G525 has an average brightness of 279.1 cd/m², the luminance is therefore sufficient for outdoor use. We could see similar results for the Huawei Ascend G600 (259.0 cd/m²) and LG P710 Optimus L7 II (244.1 cd/m²), while the Acer Liquid E2 (347.4 cd/m²) and HTC Desire 50 (430.0 cd/m²) were considerably brighter. A brightness distribution of 83% is slightly below average, but that is compensated by the very good black value of 0.27 cd/m² and the excellent contrast ratio of 1130:1

284
cd/m²
291
cd/m²
253
cd/m²
289
cd/m²
305
cd/m²
256
cd/m²
276
cd/m²
301
cd/m²
257
cd/m²
Distribution of brightness
qHD tested with X-Rite i1Pro 2
Maximum: 305 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 279.1 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 83 %
Center on Battery: 305 cd/m²
Contrast: 1130:1 (Black: 0.27 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 9.63 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5
ΔE Greyscale 10.51 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
Gamma: 4.41

The subjective quality of the display is very good with vibrant and natural colors, however, our measurements show that the results for the color accuracy, color reproduction, saturation and grayscale presentation clearly deviate from the ideal values. According to CalMAN 5 and similar to many other smartphones, the 4.5-inch screen of our review unit also has a slight blue cast. The resulting DeltaE value of 9.63 is very high for the RGB color space and the grayscale presentation is even worse (DeltaE 10.51). 

Color Accuracy
Color Accuracy
ColorChecker
ColorChecker
Grayscale
Grayscale
Saturation Sweeps
Saturation Sweeps

You will have to make small compromises when you use the smartphone outdoors, especially under direct sunlight. It can be hard to see the actual display content because of the glossy surface, but that does not reduce the overall outdoor capabilities of the Ascend G525. However, the viewing angle stability of the IPS display is excellent. Even extreme viewing angles do not reduce the visibility and there are no problems with color deviations or even inverted colors. 

Outdoor use Huawei Ascend G525
Outdoor use Huawei Ascend G525
Viewing angles Huawei Ascend G525
Viewing angles Huawei Ascend G525

Performance

Huawei equipped the Ascend G525 with the quad-core SoC Qualcomm MSM8225Q that is clocked at 1.2 GHz. The processor is supported by the Qualcomm Adreno 203 GPU as well as 1 GB memory. The results of the synthetic benchmarks are comparable with similarly equipped rivals but clearly behind high-end smartphones. 

3DMark - 1280x720 Ice Storm Standard Score (sort by value)
Huawei Ascend G525
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225Q, 4 GB Flash
3108 Points
Acer Liquid E2 v370
SGX544, MT6589, 4 GB Flash
3130 Points +1%
HTC Desire 500
Adreno 203, 200 8225Q, 4 GB Flash
3331 Points +7%
LG P710 Optimus L7 II
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
2427 Points -22%
GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7 - 1920x1080 T-Rex Offscreen (sort by value)
Huawei Ascend G525
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225Q, 4 GB Flash
1.9 fps
Acer Liquid E2 v370
SGX544, MT6589, 4 GB Flash
2.6 fps +37%
HTC Desire 500
Adreno 203, 200 8225Q, 4 GB Flash
1.8 fps -5%
LG P710 Optimus L7 II
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
1.5 fps -21%
Epic Citadel - High Quality (sort by value)
Huawei Ascend G525
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225Q, 4 GB Flash
26.3 fps
Acer Liquid E2 v370
SGX544, MT6589, 4 GB Flash
53.3 fps +103%
LG P710 Optimus L7 II
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
23.3 fps -11%
Linpack Android / IOS - Multi Thread (sort by value)
Huawei Ascend G525
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225Q, 4 GB Flash
91.8 MFLOPS
Acer Liquid E2 v370
SGX544, MT6589, 4 GB Flash
88.5 MFLOPS -4%
HTC Desire 500
Adreno 203, 200 8225Q, 4 GB Flash
103.3 MFLOPS +13%
Huawei Ascend G600
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
83.9 MFLOPS -9%
LG P710 Optimus L7 II
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
66.4 MFLOPS -28%

The smartphones are also very close in the browser-based benchmarks, with one exception: Only the Acer Liquid E2 with its PowerVR SGX544 GPU has more performance and has a clear advantage in Browsermark 2.0 

Google V8 Ver. 7 - Google V8 Ver. 7 Score (sort by value)
Huawei Ascend G525
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225Q, 4 GB Flash
751 Points
Acer Liquid E2 v370
SGX544, MT6589, 4 GB Flash
1170 Points +56%
HTC Desire 500
Adreno 203, 200 8225Q, 4 GB Flash
1183 Points +58%
Huawei Ascend G600
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
901 Points +20%
LG P710 Optimus L7 II
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
755 Points +1%
Browsermark - --- (sort by value)
Huawei Ascend G525
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225Q, 4 GB Flash
1627 points
HTC Desire 500
Adreno 203, 200 8225Q, 4 GB Flash
2163 points +33%
Huawei Ascend G600
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
1311 points -19%
Peacekeeper - --- (sort by value)
Huawei Ascend G525
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225Q, 4 GB Flash
398 Points
Acer Liquid E2 v370
SGX544, MT6589, 4 GB Flash
568 Points +43%
HTC Desire 500
Adreno 203, 200 8225Q, 4 GB Flash
539 Points +35%
Huawei Ascend G600
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
354 Points -11%
LG P710 Optimus L7 II
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
302 Points -24%
Octane V1 - Total Score (sort by value)
Huawei Ascend G525
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225Q, 4 GB Flash
794 Points
Acer Liquid E2 v370
SGX544, MT6589, 4 GB Flash
1241 Points +56%
HTC Desire 500
Adreno 203, 200 8225Q, 4 GB Flash
1154 Points +45%
Huawei Ascend G600
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
465 Points -41%
LG P710 Optimus L7 II
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
672 Points -15%

Read and write performance is not really a strong suit of the Huawei Ascend G525. Both sequential and random operations are clearly behind the competition and the smartphone is in the bottom position in every benchmark. Acer's Liquid E2 is once again the fastest device.

AndroBench 3-5
Sequential Read 256KB (sort by value)
Huawei Ascend G525
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225Q, 4 GB Flash
22.05 MB/s
Acer Liquid E2 v370
SGX544, MT6589, 4 GB Flash
60.1 MB/s +173%
HTC Desire 500
Adreno 203, 200 8225Q, 4 GB Flash
30.9 MB/s +40%
Huawei Ascend G600
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
31.16 MB/s +41%
LG P710 Optimus L7 II
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
32.51 MB/s +47%
Sequential Write 256KB (sort by value)
Huawei Ascend G525
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225Q, 4 GB Flash
4.04 MB/s
Acer Liquid E2 v370
SGX544, MT6589, 4 GB Flash
12.62 MB/s +212%
HTC Desire 500
Adreno 203, 200 8225Q, 4 GB Flash
6.09 MB/s +51%
Huawei Ascend G600
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
6.3 MB/s +56%
LG P710 Optimus L7 II
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
3.98 MB/s -1%
Random Read 4KB (sort by value)
Huawei Ascend G525
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225Q, 4 GB Flash
5.94 MB/s
Acer Liquid E2 v370
SGX544, MT6589, 4 GB Flash
14.61 MB/s +146%
HTC Desire 500
Adreno 203, 200 8225Q, 4 GB Flash
7.15 MB/s +20%
Huawei Ascend G600
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
7.89 MB/s +33%
LG P710 Optimus L7 II
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
7.63 MB/s +28%
Random Write 4KB (sort by value)
Huawei Ascend G525
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225Q, 4 GB Flash
0.19 MB/s
Acer Liquid E2 v370
SGX544, MT6589, 4 GB Flash
0.73 MB/s +284%
HTC Desire 500
Adreno 203, 200 8225Q, 4 GB Flash
0.26 MB/s +37%
Huawei Ascend G600
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
0.22 MB/s +16%
LG P710 Optimus L7 II
Adreno 203, S4 Play MSM8225, 4 GB Flash
0.2 MB/s +5%

Gaming

The Ascend G525 is fast enough for Full HD video playback and current games. Even more complex titles like Iron Man 3 are no problem for our review unit.

Simple games like Angry Birds are no problem for the SoC ...
Simple games like Angry Birds are no problem for the SoC ...
... and even complex titles like Iron Man 3 are very smooth.
... and even complex titles like Iron Man 3 are very smooth.

Emissions

System Noise

Apart from the integrated speakers, smartphones usually do not produce any noise. The same applies for the Ascend G525, but not for the provided modular power supply unit. As soon as you plug it in, you can hear a quiet but constant whistling noise, which is rather annoying. 


Temperature

We can measure up to 42.3 °C under load for the Huawei Ascend G525, but even longer periods under maximum load do not result in an inconvenient handling of the Android smartphone. The coolest devices are the LG P710 Optimus L7 II (36.1 °C) and the Huawei Ascend G600 (36.8 °C); HTC's Desire 500 is closest to the Ascend G525 with 39.1 °C. The situation is completely different during idle, where our review unit is actually the coolest device with a maximum temperature of 28.9 °C

Max. Load
 32.2 °C
90 F
33.6 °C
92 F
41.2 °C
106 F
 
 33.7 °C
93 F
34 °C
93 F
42.3 °C
108 F
 
 32.9 °C
91 F
34.9 °C
95 F
42 °C
108 F
 
Maximum: 42.3 °C = 108 F
Average: 36.3 °C = 97 F
36.1 °C
97 F
33.5 °C
92 F
30.3 °C
87 F
37.5 °C
100 F
34.2 °C
94 F
31.3 °C
88 F
38 °C
100 F
34.6 °C
94 F
31.1 °C
88 F
Maximum: 38 °C = 100 F
Average: 34.1 °C = 93 F
Power Supply (max.)  37.4 °C = 99 F | Room Temperature 22 °C = 72 F | Voltcraft IR-350
(±) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 36.3 °C / 97 F, compared to the average of 32.7 °C / 91 F for the devices in the class Smartphone.
(±) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 42.3 °C / 108 F, compared to the average of 35 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 56 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 38 °C / 100 F, compared to the average of 33.8 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 27.8 °C / 82 F, compared to the device average of 32.7 °C / 91 F.

Speaker

Similar to many other smartphones, the mono speaker of the Ascend G525 only produces a very thin sound: It emphasizes treble; medium tones or bass are almost non-existent. The sound experience with the provided stereo headphones is much better. It is richer and you can also activate the multi-channel sound system DTS in the Android settings, which will improve the sound experience even further. However, this only applies for the playback with headphones - we cannot hear the DTS effect via speaker. 

Energy Management

Power Consumption

The Huawei Ascend G525 consumes between 0.2 and 1.0 Watts during idle, which is similarly frugal as the Acer Liquid E2 (up to 1.1 Watts) and the Huawei Ascend G600 (up to 1.0 Watts). LG's P710 Optimus L7 II (2.1 Watts) and HTC's Desire 500 (3.1 Watts) need more energy. 

These values are increased to 2.9 and 3.6 Watts under load. A good result for the Ascend G525, even though competitors like the Acer Liquid E2 and Huawei Ascend G600 (both 2.8 Watts) are more frugal. The least efficient device under load is the HTC Desire 500 with 4.4 Watts.

Power Consumption
Off / Standbydarklight 0.2 / 0.2 Watt
Idledarkmidlight 0.2 / 0.7 / 1 Watt
Load midlight 2.9 / 3.6 Watt
 color bar
Key: min: dark, med: mid, max: light        Voltcraft VC 940
Currently we use the Metrahit Energy, a professional single phase power quality and energy measurement digital multimeter, for our measurements. Find out more about it here. All of our test methods can be found here.

Battery Runtime

The 1,700 mAh battery of the Ascend G525 is not the largest model, but the battery runtimes are okay for a smartphone in this price category. 

We determine the maximum runtime with a script that simulates the reading of a text document. The Ascend G525 manages 14 hours and 22 minutes, which is comparable with the HTC Desire 500 (14 hours and 1 minute) and the Acer Liquid E2 (exactly 16 hours). The other extreme is the minimum runtime and our review unit cannot really convince us with just 2 hours and 24 minutes. All other devices are better in this test, especially Huawei's Ascend G600 with 4 hours and 42 minutes. 

Our WLAN test is the most realistic scenario and simulates web browsing. The result for the G525 is a decent runtime of 7 hours and 36 minutes, however, this is not overwhelming by any means. The LG P710 Optimus L7 II (6 hours and 56 minutes) and HTC Desire 500 (7 hours and 40 minutes) are very similar, while the Huawei Ascend G600 (9 hours and 30 minutes) and especially the Acer Liquid E2 (12 hours and 34 minutes) are very enduring.

Battery Runtime
Idle (without WLAN, min brightness)
14h 22min
WiFi Surfing
7h 36min
Load (maximum brightness)
2h 24min

Verdict

Huawei describes the Ascend G525 as an entry-level smartphone, but the review unit offers more quality than the low-end term would suggest. This starts with the good case: Even though it is only made of plastic, it accommodates the good 4.5-inch display, a 5 megapixels camera with decent picture quality as well as two slots for SIM cards. The integrated quad-core SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8225Q ensures a smooth and snappy user experience and offers sufficient performance for applications and current games. We only encountered some small delays after we turned the device on (cold start).  

We can see the influence of the price with the storage configuration. Only 2 GB of the 4 GB internal storage can be accessed by the user, the rest is occupied by the operating system and some preloaded applications. The qHD display could also be a bit brighter and the integrated GPS module could be more precise. Another small drawback is the whistling noise of the power supply unit

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In Review: Huawei Ascend G525. Courtesy of: Huawei Germany
In Review: Huawei Ascend G525. Courtesy of: Huawei Germany

Specifications

Huawei Ascend G525 (Y5 Series)
Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Play MSM8225Q 4 x 1.2 GHz, Cortex-A5
Graphics adapter
Memory
1024 MB 
Display
4.50 inch 16:9, 960 x 540 pixel, qHD, IPS, glossy: yes
Storage
4 GB Flash, 4 GB 
, 2 GB free
Connections
1 USB 2.0, Audio Connections: 3.5 mm stereo jack, Card Reader: micro SD cards up to 32 GB, Sensors: proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, accelerometer
Networking
802.11 b/g/n (b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4/), Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, GSM quad band (850/900/1,800/1,900 MHz), UMTS dual band (900/2,100 MHz)
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 9.9 x 134 x 67 ( = 0.39 x 5.28 x 2.64 in)
Battery
6 Wh Lithium-Ion, 1,700 mAh, Talk time 2G (according to manufacturer): 5.3 h, Talk time 3G (according to manufacturer): 5.3 h
Operating System
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
Camera
Webcam: Rear: 5 MP with autofocus (2592 x 1944 pixels), Front: 0.3 MP (640 x 480 pixels)
Additional features
Speakers: mono, Keyboard: virtual, Keyboard Light: no, PSU, In-Ear headset, USB data cable, 24 Months Warranty
Weight
155 g ( = 5.47 oz / 0.34 pounds), Power Supply: 30 g ( = 1.06 oz / 0.07 pounds)
Price
250 Euro

 

The Huawei Ascend G525 is an entry-level smartphone, despite its quad-core SoC.
The Huawei Ascend G525 is an entry-level smartphone, despite its quad-core SoC.
The glossy qHD display has a resolution of 960x540 pixels.
The glossy qHD display has a resolution of 960x540 pixels.
Rubberized back for convenient handling.
Rubberized back for convenient handling.
Good build quality of the plastic case.
Good build quality of the plastic case.
5.0 MP main camera with up to 2592x1944 pixels.
5.0 MP main camera with up to 2592x1944 pixels.
The front camera takes pictures with VGA quality.
The front camera takes pictures with VGA quality.
DTS enhances the sound experience.
DTS enhances the sound experience.
After you detach the back cover, ...
After you detach the back cover, ...
...you can see two SIM slots.
...you can see two SIM slots.
A micro SD slot for up to 32 GB is next to the SIM slots.
A micro SD slot for up to 32 GB is next to the SIM slots.
The removable battery of the Ascend G525...
The removable battery of the Ascend G525...
...has a capacity of 6.3 Wh.
...has a capacity of 6.3 Wh.
Accessories: one modular PSU, stereo headphones and a micro USB cable.
Accessories: one modular PSU, stereo headphones and a micro USB cable.
No surprise: The Ascend G525 has all the standard apps.
No surprise: The Ascend G525 has all the standard apps.
Several Google apps are preloaded.
Several Google apps are preloaded.
The user can only use 2 GB storage.
The user can only use 2 GB storage.
Operating system of the Huawei Ascend G525 is Android 4.1.2.
Operating system of the Huawei Ascend G525 is Android 4.1.2.

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Pros

+UMTS dual band
+5 megapixels camera
+Removable battery
+2 SIM slots
+Micro SD cards up to 32 GB
+Good performance
+Low temperatures
+Enhanced sound via DTS
+Decent battery runtimes
+Inexpensive
 

Cons

-Glossy display
-Only 2 GB storage
-GPS could be more precise
-Whistling PSU

Shortcut

What we like

The good overall impression of the Ascend G525. Even though there are some areas where the manufacturer saved money, the review unit offers all the features that you can expect from a current smartphone.  

What we miss

More communication modules, for instance quad-band UMTS. The GPS module could be more precise and the camera could be better.

What surprises us

The high build quality of the Ascend G525 and the powerful quad-core SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8225Q, which is usually not used for an entry-level device. 

The competition

Acer Liquid E2
HTC Desire 500
Huawei Ascend G600
LG P710 Optimus L7 II

Rating

Huawei Ascend G525 - 10/22/2013 v3(old)
Manuel Masiero

Chassis
85%
Keyboard
51%
Pointing Device
88%
Connectivity
40%
Weight
100%
Battery
93%
Display
85%
Games Performance
27%
Application Performance
48%
Temperature
81%
Noise
95%
Add Points
83%
Average
73%
85%
Smartphone - Weighted Average
Manuel Masiero, 2013-10-26 (Update: 2013-10-27)