CEO of Huawei, Richard Yu, holding the P8 at the phone's launch. Image via Huawei
As the latest of the big-five smartphone manufacturers to have revealed their latest flagship phone, Huawei has launched the P8, a phone that is aimed squarely at those with a keen interest in photography or filming.
As the first of Huawei’s flagship phones to drop ‘Ascend’ from its title, the P8 features a 5.2in almost bezeless screen capable of achieving 1080p resolution with a 6.4mm-thick case that comes in four different colours: silver, grey, black and gold, with a design supposedly based on the traditional book.
For those who might be more willing to take the plunge with a larger screen, the Huawei P8max will offer an enormous phablet, measuring in at 6.8in, with a larger battery to boot.
According to Engadget, the phone’s hardware also boasts some relatively impressive spec, including a 2,680mAh battery and in terms of processing power has a 64-bit, 2GHz octa-core Kirin 930 CPU, 3GB of RAM and a 16GB hard drive.
Most importantly for developing markets, the P8 also caters for dual-SIM, both capable of 4G connectivity.
Speaking of connectivity, another feature Huawei has been quick to highlight is the phone’s inclusion of a dual-antenna, which promises much quicker switching times between cellular transmitters, reducing the number of calls dropping in, say, a tunnel.
The awesome beauty of light captured with the #HuaweiP8 pic.twitter.com/CNtLcMLIze
— Huawei Device (@HuaweiDevice) April 15, 2015
Become a director with four-way video recording
Its major selling point, however, is its camera capabilities, not just in terms of its hardware, but also its software and services.
Starting with the hardware however, the P8 sports a 13MP outward-facing primary camera that offers optical image stabilisation and dual-colour temperature flash, with the company also claiming the P8 has the “world’s first four-color RGBW sensor”.
The big draw though is with Director mode, which allows the P8 user to sync their camera up to three other Android phone cameras, allowing for a four-way recording of the same event as it’s happening, which could prove to be an amazing addition for sporting events, for example.
Another interesting quirk from Huawei is the ‘knuckle-sense technology’ that reads when the user double-taps their knuckle off the phone’s screen and will take a screenshot that can then be edited.
Ireland is one of the first of 30 countries that can begin ordering the P8 from today, with prices starting from €499 on Huawei’s website, with the P8max costing €549 for the basic version, with a top price of €649.
