Huawei P8, P8max takes on iPhone 6, 6 Plus; Galaxy S6, S6 Edge

The runaway success of Apple's biggest new smartphones is encouraging rivals to come out with their own twin smartphones. The Cupertino-based tech giant last year launched the iPhone 6 and its bigger cousin iPhone 6 Plus and soon went on to become the world’s most profitable company owing to record sales of the two phones.

We recently saw arch-rival Samsung introduce two spearheads – the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge – and the two are selling like hotcakes too.

It seems then that it takes two to tango in the mobile phones business, and the next in that trend is Chinese manufacturer Huawei, which yesterday unveiled the Huawei P8 and its phablet sibling, the P8max in London.

Huawei expects its P8 to be "one of the most popular smartphones in 2015,” according to Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, who unveiled the device. 

The firm has launched two versions of the Huawei P8; the standard device for €499 (about Dh1,949) and the premium version for €599 (about Dh2,349).

Huawei said that the 5.1-inch P8 will initially be available in more than 30 countries including the UAE, China, Columbia, France, Germany, Mexico, Spain, South Africa, Turkey and the UK.

During the launch, the firm compared its P8 device to its rivals’ iPhone 6 and Galaxy S6, claiming that the Huawei device is not only thinner than rivals’, but also has better screen-to-body ratio.

The Huawei P8 is 6.4mm thin while the iPhone 6 is 6.9mm thin and the Galaxy S6 is 6.8mm thin. The P8 boasts of a screen-to-body ratio of 78.3 per cent compared with 70.8 per cent for Galaxy S6 and 66.8 per cent for the iPhone 6, it noted.

The P8’s ‘search phone by voice’ function allows users to call out to their misplaced smartphone, which will respond through its speaker to identify. So now you won’t have to call yourself to figure out where you kept your phone – simply call for it (provided it can ‘hear’ you).

Among other gimmicky experiences is the “knuckle sense technology”, or a feature that allows double-tapping a knuckle on the screen to capture a full-length screen shot, while drawing a circle on the screen quickly captures content.

The P8 also comes with a triple-layer shark-gill design, which Huawei claims enhances the reliability and robustness of the device.

In its belly, the P8 has the Kirin 930 64-bit Octa-Core chipset, which the firm claims boosts performance by approximately 20 per cent compared with other phones with comparable battery life. The device contains a 2680mAh battery.

The Huawei P8max is a bigger P8 (features a larger 6.8-inch screen) with longer battery life (4360 mAh battery) and a unique camera with light tracing for any environment.

The front and rear cameras of Huawei P8max use a 5+13 mega pixel combination and the rear camera is equipped with a professional-grade Image Signal Processor (similar to the technology found in DSLR cameras) and dual-tone flash to bring out true colour in night photos. Additionally, Light Painting and Director mode filming provide users with more creative instruments at their fingertips.

Like the P8, there are two versions of the Huawei P8max too: the standard device for €549 (about Dh2,149) and the premium version for €649 (Dh2,549). It will also be available in more than 30 countries.