Huawei unveiled its new flagship, Ascend P7, its latest device designed to bolster its position in the premium smartphone market.

The company is the most recent vendor to unveil a new flagship device, following Sony (Z2), Samsung (Galaxy S5), Nokia (Lumia 930) and HTC (One M8), with LG Electronics expected to join the fray before the end of this month with its G3.

The vendor talked up the device’s features centred on three themes: design, camera and connectivity.

Starting with design, the company said Ascend P7 is slimmer than its main rivals (6.5mm) and offers higher “screen to body ratio”. Joonsuh Kim, VP of mobile design, also noted its use of metal detailing, describing this as “a challenge for the mobile industry, because it directly affects the performance and costs” — echoing previous comments from HTC.

And it also features the company’s latest “Emotion UI 2.3” interface, with the design head noting the importance of this because “as soon as the customer touches the power key, you are jumping to the UI”. Built on Android 4.4.2, EMUI2.3 is said to have “over 650 enhancements” compared with the preceding version.

Moving on to the camera, the company noted features designed to improve “selfies”, provide a better low light performance, and “capture spontaneous moments”.

This includes an 8 megapixel front camera (compared to 2 megapixels in Samsung’s Galaxy S5) and has a preview window designed to improve selfie eyeline; a 13 megapixel rear camera coupled with a “DSLR-level” image signal processor based on technology from Altek to improve performance; and the ability to launch the camera from lock with a double-click on the volume button – reducing start-up time.

Finally, in terms of connectivity, the device includes multimode, multiband connectivity, with Huawei stating that it has developed a “unique dual antenna” to improve LTE reception. It also features a high-capacity 2,500mAh battery with an “ultra power saving” mode designed to extend life when nearing exhaustion – another feature similar to that used in HTC’s One M8.

The company also touted “smart network switching technology” that stabilises the connection during weak signal reception, to minimise battery drain.

Other features of the device include a 1.8GHz quadcore processor from Huawei’s HiSilicon arm, and a 5-inch full HD screen. It will be available in black, white and pink.

Ascend P7 will retail for €449 and will be available across more than 30 markets worldwide imminently, with more to follow. Orange will be among the operators supporting it.