NEW DELHI: Huawei’s P8 has now launched in Australia. Techly is taking the chance to replay this content to with the recent arrival of the phone in stores.
Huawei P8
The P8 drops the ‘Ascend’ name from the previous P7 and P6, and is the newest flagship on the market today, debuting in front of a packed room at Old Billingsgate.
The handset retains the all-metal body with a focus on premium, sleek device with high usability. The improved camera was noted for having no protrusion at all – with comparisons made to the iPhone 6’s 0.67mm bump.
The P8 device weighs 144 grams and measures 144.9mm x 72.1mm x 6.4mm thickness with a 5.2-inch screen Full HD screen, accommodating 78.3% of the face of the device, the most in the category and more than the iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S6.
It has an all-new 13MP camera on the back, 5Mp on the front, an octa-core GPU, 3GB RAM and 64GB of on board storage, expandable via microSD for up to 128GB of additional storage.
The device has a 2000mAh battery, with new feature called ‘power consumption firewall’ giving power users a full day of use by managing the number of CPU cores operating depending on the requirements of the device at any time.
The device runs Android 5.0 Lollipop with Huawei’s custom Emotion UI.
The handset will be offered in Champagne Silver, Mystic Gold, Titanium Grey and Carbon Black when it goes on sale – expected to be later in the year for Australia, a month after a launch in 30 countries across Europe and the US.
The presentation focused on three main areas, with the design, camera and usability key features.
The design has clearly progressed to a more premium look-and-feel, with many comparison made to rival phones and notes around the 810 minute manufacturing time from a block of aluminimum to the completed phone.
Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, noted significant improvements in the camera, with a world-first 4-color (RGBW) 13-megapixel camera with OIS – most smartphone cameras only offering three-colours.
Yu also noted the low-light ability of the camera, adding more sharpness, clarity and reduced noise, with a number of comparison photos on demonstration.
The phone also includes light painting functions, to capture taillights of cars appearing as a stream, star trails and silky water in streams.
Usability features were packed into the presentation, with a list of features designed to improve key functions, such as better reception via multiple antennas and no ‘dead’ hold’ problems with the hand of the user no longer reducing reception, faster connections when roaming, and even a new gesture type known as ‘Knuckle sense’ where the phone can interpret knuckle taps for screemshot functions.
The phone also supports dual-SIMs and dual-LTE or 4G for each.
The price was set in Euros at the launch, at €499 ($AU693) for 16GB storage, or there’s a ‘premium’ version (64GB storage) that will cost €599 ($AU833). Techly is seeking confirmation from Huawei on exact Australian pricing, with availability in two-months with no date set yet. Huawei P8max
Prior to the launch event, Huawei were expected to offer a P8 ‘lite’, with reduced features for a lower price. Instead, the company blew away those thoughts with a ‘max’ – the oversized 6.4″ P8max.
The big consideration here is that Huawei confirmed the P8max will not be available in Australia.
As for what is it we’re missing, the P8max has a 4360mAh battery with the larger display, allowing for over 15 hours of video playback for local files, or 10 hours for streaming video. Huawei suggest that this equates to around two full days of usage, or one and half days for heavy users.
Other hardware includes the same spec cameras and storage, and comes in at just 6.8mm thickness.
The P8max will come available in the same markets at the same time as the P8, and is priced at €549 ($AU763) for the standard 32GB storage model and €649 ($AU902) for the 64GB premium version.
It’s worth repeating that the P8max won’t be available in Australia through official channels.
Initial thoughts
Huawei’s launch shows a big push into the premium consumer space for the company, no longer content to exist as an alternative but as a main player, against HTC and Samsung in Android, and the ubiquitous iPhone 6.
Huawei’s R&D spend is significant – in the billions of dollars each year – and those advances are being put into the phone with a list of features that had the media almost laughing at just how much was being announced by the company.
The device ticks a lot of boxes, although is missing some features like fast-charging, wireless charging, and replaceable battery and isn’t waterproof, but does come with fingerprint security, expandable memory and that high-end look and feel.
For Android users, it only makes things harder with the range of quality smartphones available, from the new Samsung GS6, HTC’s One M9, and even Sony’s Z3.
It is somewhat of a shame the P8max isn’t coming to Australia – I like a big screen and this thing is just shy of an iPad mini – but there will be ways to import it if you are keen to try it out.
The only thing now is the wait – the device won’t hit our shores for around two more months and we’re waiting to see how the price tag transfers across to the Australian market. [Update: The P8 is now in-stores for just $699 and with a 12-month free screen replacement]
For other manufacturers, make no mistake, this is a serious phone. We’ll provide a full comprehensive review in the coming weeks.
