Huawei has struggled to find its place in the smartphone market, at least in North America, as other Android devices from Samsung, HTC (News - Alert) and LG steal the spotlight. However, the company has been working hard to shed its image as a manufacturer of low-end devices with phones like the Ascend P1, which it unveiled this week.

Indeed, the Ascend P1 boasts a lot of the features sought after by the average smartphone buyer today, with a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, one gigabyte of RAM (News - Alert), Android4.0 and an eight megapixel rear camera. The device's build quality also aims for the higher end as it measures only 7.6 millimeters thin.

“The Ascend P1 is perfect for consumers looking to get the most out of their device,” said Michael Chuang, executive vice president of Huawei (News - Alert) Device USA, in a statement. “Whether it’s for playing games, streaming music and videos, or sharing multimedia in the home or workplace, the Ascend P1 offers unparalleled performance and a truly unique mobile experience.”

The biggest selling point of the Huawei Ascend P1, however, is its price point as it will be sold carrier unlocked to U.S. consumers throughAmazon.com for only $449.99. While this deal pales in comparison to the Google Nexus 4 — which boasts a quad-core processor and a 4.7-inch screen and can be purchased directly from the Google (News - Alert) Play store for as little as $300 unlocked — the fact that this LG-manufactured device continues to be sold out may help move some Ascend P1 units.

Last month, Huawei launched its first smartphone with a quad-core processor, the Ascend D1 quad XL. This device features a Huawei-made 1.4GHz quad-core processor with a 16-core graphics processing unit, a 4.5-inch IPS LCDToshiba display and one gigabyte of RAM. Despite these impressive specs, though, the Ascend D1 quad XL's main feature is its battery, which is said to provide over two days of typical use on a single charge.