Kiwis get $400 Samsung Galaxy S II rival

Huawei has just launched the Ascend G600 for $399. The device's specifications rival that of the still-popular Samsung Galaxy S II, which currently costs $499 from Vodafone.

The phone will be available from 25 October.

The G600 has a dual-core, 1.2GHz Snapdragon S4 processor and a 4.5-inch screen with a 960 x 540 pixel resolution. While it does not have the Galaxy S II's trademark Super AMOLED display, both the screen size and resolution are higher.

The G600 runs a clean, bloatware-free version of Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, and has an 8MP rear-facing camera, as well as a 0.3 MP front-facing camera for video calling.

The device's battery is quite large for an Android smartphone, at 1930mAh. That's bigger than the Galaxy S II's 1650mAh battery.

Huawei's media relations manager Nick Wilson said the G600 was the most powerful phone the company had released yet, “allowing our customers to enjoy a genuine premium smartphone experience, but also holds to Huawei’s belief that great technology should not be exclusive to those willing to part with great sums of money.”

The G600 will be available through Telecom, as well as electronics retailers like Harvey Norman, Dick Smith, and Noel Leeming.

More tech specs:

• 4.5-inch qHD 960 x 540 touch screen with Corning Gorilla Glass

• Dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor

• 1930mAh Li-Polymer battery with Huawei power saving technology

• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS

• 8-megapixel BSI rear-facing camera with autofocus

• 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera

• Dual-LED flash

• DTS surround sound with dual microphones and dual speakers

• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n

• Bluetooth 3.0 Smart Ready

• DLNA support

• 768MB RAM and 4GB ROM

• MicroUSB 2.0 (HiSpeed) and Micro-SD (up to 32GB)

• Software to read Word, Excel, PPT, PDF

• Wi-Fi Direct

• Measures: 10.5mm x 67.5mm x 134mm