HUAWEI Ascend P8 hands-on

Huawei announced their new Ascend P8 smartphone in London today featuring a 5.2-inch Full HD 1080p screen, octa-core 64-bit Kirin 935 processor and 13MP rear camera. We were at the launch to bring you a hands on and closer look at HUAWEI’s 2015 flagship.

The front of the Ascend P8 has a 5.2-inch Full HD 1080p screen offering 424 pixels per inch density. The IPS display offers really sharp contrast and the vibrant colours look fantastic even in sunlight. Above the display is an 8MP front facing snapper capable of capturing Full HD 1080p video, which also comes with Huawei’s Beauty Level feature to accentuate your facial features.

The HUAWEI P8 comes in two flavors; the Standard version is expected to cost €499 before taxes and subsidies and offers 16GB internal storage and 3GB RAM in two exclusive colours (Titanium Grey and Mystic Champagne) while the Premium version will cost €599 with 64GB storage, 3GB RAM and the other two exclusive colours (Carbon Black, Prestige Gold).

This multiple-storage strategy is one we’re seeing lots of smartphone manufacturers adopt but unlike other flagships, the Ascend P8 comes with a microSD expansion slot allowing you to expand the storage by up to 128GB. The microSD card slot doubles up as a secondary SIM card slot allowing you to use either two nano SIMs (both with 4G) or a single nano SIM and a microSD card.

The HUAWEI P8 measures just 6.4 mm thick but despite this incredible thinness, HUAWEI have managed to make the 13MP camera sit completely flush with the thin body. The result is a handset that has a unique symmetry and won’t damage your camera if you place it on a table.

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The HUAWEI P8 camera also comes with Optical Image Stabilisation to offer stable photos without noise both during the day and in lowlight. For times when you need extra light, the dual color Temperature Flash uses bright white and warm colour LEDs to capture photos that accurately capture the scene. The HUAWEI P8 captures Full HD 1080p video at 30 frames per second but despite the capabilities of the octa-core Kirin 935 processor, it can’t capture 4K Ultra HD video.

Alongside the hardware improvements, the Ascend P8 also comes with clever software features including a light paint feature (to take incredible pictures at night), a Director Mode to make professional movies from your phone and a Time Lapse feature to stitch together multiple pictures captured at different intervals.

The HUAWEI P8 brings HUAWEI’s network knowledge as well by offering a new feature that allows it to stay connected whilst travelling to high speed and LTE Cat 6 allows you to download at 300Mbps on the move. Other notable features include Dolby Digital Plus, noise cancellation, Corning Gorilla Glass 4, Android 5.0 Lollipop and HUAWEI EMUI v3.1.

The HUAWEI P8 will launch in 35 countries later this month before rolling out to over 100 countries total a month later. HUAWEI confirmed that the UK would be one of the first launch countries and presumably the handset will launch in the USA in the next rollout (although this is unconfirmed).

Full specs and press release below!  What do you think of the HUAWEI Ascend P8 so far? More coverage coming, so stay tuned! 

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• Size Height: 144.9mm; Width: 72.1mm; Depth: 6.4mm; Weight: 144g
• Color Mystic Champagne; Titanium Grey
• Display 5.2” FHD Screen; 1080p (1920 x 1080); 424ppi; 16M colors
• CPU Hisilicon Kirin 930; 8-core 64bit; 2.0GHz
• Operating System AndroidTM 5.0
• Battery 2680mAh(typical value)
• Memory 3 GB RAM; 16 GB ROM
• Network GRA_L09:
• TDD LTE: B40
• FDD LTE: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28
• UMTS: 800(B6,Japan)/800(B19,Japan)/850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz
• GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
• Support NFC
• GRA_UL00:
• TDD LTE: B38/B39/B40/B41 (2555MHz~2655MHz)
• FDD LTE:B1/B3/B4/B7
• UMTS: 850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz(B8/B5/B4/B2/B1)
• GSM : Main card: 850/900/1800/1900MHz; Second card:
• 850/900/1800/1900MHz
• GPS GPS/A-GPS/Glonass/BDS(BeiDou Navigation Satellite System)
• Connectivity Wi-Fi 2.4GHz b/g/n with Wi-Fi Direct support
• Sensors G-sensor; Gyroscope sensor; Ambient Light sensor; Proximity sensor;
• Camera Main camera: 13 Mega pixel, OIS, RBGW sensor, DSLR-level Image Signal
• Audio Audio: MP3, MIDI, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, PCM, WMA
• Video Video Codec: MPEG-4, H.264, H.263, VP8, RV7-10, Xvid, WMV9
• BT 4.1+LE
• MicroUSB (High Speed USB)
• Compass, Accelerometer
• Processor, 1080p video recording/1080p video playback;F2.0; Dual-tone color
• temperature flash
• Front camera: 8 Mega pixel
• Video: H.263, H.264, MPEG-4, MOV, ASF, RM, RMVB
• 3.5mm Audio Jack
• Video File Format: .3gp, .mp4, .m4a, .rm, .rmvb, .wmv
• Image Codec: PNG, GIF (Static only), JPEG, BMP
• Image File Format: .png, .gif (Static only), .jpeg, .bmp
• Picture: PNG, GIF, JPEG, BMP, WEBP, WBMP
• Emotion IU EMUI 3.1
• In the box Handset; Headset; Charger; USB cable; Quick Start Guide; Safety Information

London, 15 April 2015 – Today at the legendary New Billingsgate, London’s renowned arts and fashion venue, HUAWEI Consumer Business Group unveiled the HUAWEI P8 smartphone, a perfect blend of technology, sleek styling, usability and revolutionary low light camera features. The HUAWEI P8 is the culmination of the P series’ rich heritage of style and functionality, and is once again redefining the smartphone market with easy-to-use features that amaze and inspire consumers.

The HUAWEI P8 takes beauty to the next level, striking a flawless balance of artistry and creativity. Based on a deep understanding of human-machine design, the HUAWEI P8 delivers a new level of usability for applications impacting everyday life – at work and at play. With craftsmanship that pushes the bounds of possibility and new revolutionary light painting modes, the HUAWEI P8 provides consumers with an inspiration for creativity.

Redefining Style, Beauty and Technology

Introduced in 2012, the HUAWEI P series has redefined style. The P1 marked the debut of HUAWEI’s journey, taking the stage with a new ethos based on beauty. The P2 built on the momentum of the P1, breaking new boundaries of processing speed; the P6 brought out a new and elegant sleekness; and the ultimate craftsmanship of the P7 stunned the market.

The HUAWEI P8 design is deeply rooted in literary tradition, combining elements of ancient manuscripts, illuminated books and the essence of sunlight in stained glass library windows. It is inspired by the best of human design from different cultures across the centuries and embodies the human spirit of exploration and beauty.

The design details of the HUAWEI P8 evoke the pages, bindings and hardcovers of traditional books. The one-piece aluminum body with the diamond shape blasting craftsmanship highlights the texture of the metal. The phone comes with four elegant color options: silver, gold, black and grey. The devices come in a translucent package and the unboxing experience is like taking a book from the shelf.

Highlights of Design and Technology

Continuing the minimalist design of previous generations in the P series, the HUAWEI P8 embodies the ultimate in elegance, craftsmanship and durability. Highlights include:

 The nano-injection molding process results in an industry-leading seamless tight junction connecting a 1.5mm thin plastic bar with one of the industry’s largest screens.

“The goal of HUAWEI P8 is to become the most user-friendly smartphone for consumers globally” said Richard Yu, CEO of HUAWEI Consumer Business Group, “Through in-depth market research, HUAWEI has addressed the most pressing pain points for premium smartphone users today. HUAWEI seamlessly combines the best elements of style and durability in this device, delivering a revolutionary user experience – especially in terms of camera capabilities and network connectivity. Building on the outstanding market performance of HUAWEI’s P series, we fully believe the HUAWEI P8 will become one of the most popular smartphones of 2015.”

Best-in-Class Smartphone with Light Painting Camera

The HUAWEI P8 introduces a new philosophy for camera design leveraging a combination of hardware, software and proprietary algorithms to help users capture beautiful photographs, even in the worst lighting conditions. Features include:

•   Industry-leading Optical Image Stabilizer technology up to 1.2°, enabling high-quality photos and videos, and managing camera shake so images are consistently sharp.
•   The world’s first four-color RGBW sensor enhances brightness by 32 percent in high contrast lighting situations, reduces it by 78 percent in low light environments. DSLR-level independent image processor enabling noise reduction when shooting and intelligent detection of a high-contrast lighting environment.
•   Four professional quality low-light shooting modes giving users access to a virtual photo and video studio to capture artistic inspirations.For example, the Light Painting mode, one of the four professional quality low-light shooting modes, leverages the HUAWEI P8’s manual camera shutter to capture broad swaths of light. Light Painting mode can capture a rolling ferris wheel at night, showing the circular streams of light in an artistic photo. Users can also “light paint” their own freehand pictures using a small torchlight in the dark. Another industry first low light technology is the light check and preview mode. By giving users a preview of what the shot will look like, the device makes it easier to experiment creatively with light sources in the dark.The HUAWEI P8’s Director mode is the industry’s first professional-level video capture function on a smartphone. It allows consumers to direct and control up to three other Android phones when shooting a video scene from four angles simultaneously, while also synchronize video clip editing.The HUAWEI P8 also introduces a powerful new Selfie mode, which allows preset image enhancement settings to capture and customize everyone’s unique beauty, enabling even more people to get in on the fun.Setting New Standards for Mobile ConnectivityDuring the process of researching and listening to the needs of elite smartphone users, 3/4

The HUAWEI P8 has re-defined the industry benchmark for seamless network connectivity through proprietary Signal+ technology. The compact and powerful dual-antenna design plus rapid switching technology allows the smartphone to instantly switch between antennas, ensuring a continuous strong network connection. Additionally, the devices’ Signal+ enhances the call connection rate, even when users are travelling on a train at a speed of up to 300 kilometers per hour.

For consumers who travel by air, it takes quite a bit of time to connect when landing at an airport; the HUAWEI P8 increases the speed of connecting to a roaming network. Based on international roaming test data from more than 20 countries and regions across Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and North America with network roaming performance optimized for 4G, the HUAWEI P8 synchronizes with network roaming services approximately three times faster than an average phone.

Huawei’s extremely stylish P series has achieved great success around the world. Global sales of the HUAWEI P6 have totaled 5 million units in 60 countries and the HUAWEI P7 surpassed 4 million sales across more than 100 countries in just six months. The success of the HUAWEI P6 and P7 indicates a strong potential demand for the HUAWEI P8.

There are two versions of the HUAWEI P8; the standard device for €499 and the premium version for €599. It will initially be available in more than 30 countries including China, Columbia, France, Germany, Mexico, Spain, South Africa, Turkey, UAE and the United Kingdom.

– End –

By 2014, HUAWEI’s products and services have covered more than 170 countries, and a third of the world’s population. HUAWEI’s shipments of smartphones ranked third in the world in 2014. HUAWEI has 16 R&D centers have been set up in the US, Germany, Sweden, Russia, India, and China. HUAWEI Consumer Business Group is one of three businesses within HUAWEI, covering smartphones, mobile broadband devices, home devices and cloud services. Based on more than 20 years of HUAWEI’s expertise in the telecom industry, built on HUAWEI’s global network, worldwide operations and business partners, HUAWEI Consumer Business Group is dedicated to providing the latest technology to the consumers and bringing the joy of technological advances to people all around the world. HUAWEI acts on its word and fulfills dreams. For more information please visit: www.consumer.huawei.com