Huawei brings new super-fast LTE tech to affordable Ascend G6 smartphone and MediaPad M1 tablet (updated: hands-on)

This year's all about LTE Cat 4 for Huawei, which is why it's pushing this faster 4G technology into both the high-end market as well as the lower price points, in order to help drive its network business -- LTE Cat 4 only works if your carrier supports it, after all. At MWC, the company announced the launch of two affordable devices that will come with this 150Mbps technology: the Ascend G6 4G and the MediaPad M1.

The Ascend G6 appears to share some design elements with the higher-end Ascend P6, so it looks quite pretty in the above render. It features a lesser 4.5-inch 960 x 540 LCD, a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, NFC and an adequate 2,000mAh battery. The cameras are surprising nice, though: there's an 8-megapixel f/2.0 imager (with Sony's IMX134 sensor) on the back, plus a 5-megapixel front-facing counterpart with unknown aperture. This phone will first arrive in its 3G-only, 7.5mm-thick form in Q1 this year, followed by a 7.85mm-thick 4G version in April.

The 8-inch MediaPad M1 tablet (pictured after the break) has a 1,280 x 800 IPS display with stereo front-facing speakers, and with the help of its 4,800mAh battery, users will be entertained by hours of movies (Huawei claims up to eight hours) on one charge. Other specs include a 1.6GHz quad-core chip, a 1-megapixel front camera and a 5-megapixel main camera, all tucked within a 7.9mm-thick body. Like the 3G version of the G6, the M1 will also launch in various countries in Q1 2014.