China-based Huawei took to the MWC 2013 platform to take the wraps off its Ascend P2, which the company claims is the "world's fastest 4G LTE smartphone." With the launch of the Ascend P2, Huawei's 2013 line-up of Ascend smartphones gets another new member.

Earlier in January this year, Huawei had unveiled the Ascend Mate, Ascend D2, and Ascend W1 smartphones at the International CES.  Adding to its portfolio of Android and Windows Phone 8-powered devices, Huawei has now introduced its Ascend P2 smartphone to the world.

"Ascend P2 is the perfect combination of elegance and power, and further proof that there's no need to compromise when desiring a perfect smartphone. It is evidence of the outstanding smartphone experiences and great technology that we are committed to bringing to consumers globally," said Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group.

When 5-inch plus Full HD 1080p screens seem to be the emerging trend for 2013 smartphones, Huawei chose to take a different route with its Ascend P2. The smartphone features a 4.7-inch IPS HD display with 1280 x 720 pixels resolution. In its defense, the company averred that a user's "eyes can't identify higher resolution than this."

The Ascend P2 also touts the "Magic Touch" feature, which like the Nokia Lumia 920 and Huawei's Ascend Mate enables users to use the phone even with gloves on. The device packs in a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of on-board storage, a 13-megapixel BSI primary camera and a 1.3-megapixel secondary snapper. The NFC-enabled Ascend P2 will come with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean out of the box, as well as Huawei's custom "Emotion UI" running on top.

The 8.4mm thin Ascend P2, the company claims, will be the first smartphone to offer support for LTE Cat-4, which means that users can achieve speeds up to 150Mbps. The Ascend P2 also packs in a 2,420 mAh battery which supports up to 2-amp charging.

The Ascend P2 would have done well to take a page out of the Ascend D2's book and pack in dust- and water-resistance.

The Ascend P2 is slated for a Q2 2013 global release and will be priced around the €399 mark. The smartphone will be available in both black and white options.