The P8 is the flagship smartphone of Huawei . Marketed in Italy for 499 euro, is one of the devices most intriguing of the Android world, specifically in relation to what it seems, considering the technical details, a very good quality / price ratio: competitors like Sony Xperia Z3 +, LG G4 and Samsung Galaxy S6 start at least 699 Euros in stores. Huawei starts its tradition: Emotion UI interface on the surface of Android, elegant design and octa-core processor HISILICON Kirin.
The westernmost of the Chinese companies, has consolidated in recent years thanks to smartphones and tablets best quality. P8 continued this tradition recently?
Where the P8 has (almost) defects is its design . Extent of side 6.4 mm and weighs 144 g. In this regard, the P8 is neither too light nor heavy; It gives a good feel in the hand. The use of materials more “valuable” to the rear shell also provides a “look and feel” of the first order and P8 can be put side by side for 6 iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S6, two smartphones that link much on the design, without fear.
On the front you will find the camera for self-portraits 8MP, the earpiece, the notification LED (customizable for each app) and the light sensor at the top ; the lower part is left blank. When turning the device, you immediately notice a choice of design very similar to that of Apple: the dual LED flash and the 13-megapixel sensor placed on the top left of the rear bodywork. Two plastic bars are at the top and bottom while the center stands only the logo of Huawei.
At the top is the headphone jack 3.5 mm; at the bottom, microUSB port for data transfer and charging along with two grids for the audio output. The left side is left bare while the right has the volume rocker, the power button and the slot for the nano SIM and memory expansion, up to 128GB can.
The rear bodywork It has held up very well to scratches of everyday use and after ten days of using the smartphone was still devoid of flaws. Nevertheless, it is considered that the thickness of the material feeling, I always had a feeling of fragility : I was afraid that if I had fallen into the hands, it would break into a thousand pieces.
The screen from 5.2 inches is not a diagonal ideal for use in a hand. As we shall see, Huawei has introduced some features which enable browsing and writing for those who prefer a smartphone that does not ask both hands to be used, but these software solutions must still deal with height and width measurement upper middle: 144 , 9 x 72.1 mm.
For the P8, Huawei has used an IPS panel to full HD resolution, 5.2-inch (424ppi), protected by glass Corning Gorilla Glass 3 . The screen has shown great: the viewing angles allow more people to watch a video without reflections or alterations of the image; the light sensor recognizes very well the surrounding environment always managing to adjust the brightness in an excellent manner; 3D video games is that the videos on YouTube or other platforms are free of defects and great to see a variety of colors with virtually flawless.
As we advance, the use of a hand is not easy and, indeed, it is often impossible , especially if you try to reach the upper areas with the thumb. To this end, Huawei has built a feature that, after performing one Swype side in the navigation menu, shrinks the interface up to about 3 inches. In doing so it is extremely easy to navigate through the menus, use the app and write with one hand. The interface, however, is perhaps too small and I happened to run into frequent writing errors; in addition, this display mode must however collide with the physical dimensions of the P8, which are not those of a smartphone by 3 or 3.5 inches.
Thanks to the subsidiary HISILICON, Huawei is independent as regards the System-on-Chip of its devices. In P8 he has integrated the Kirin 930, octa-core that exploits two units quad-core Cortex A53, of which the most powerful has a frequency of calculation of the 2 Ghz. Pay no attention to the “cold” benchmark: this SoC is more than great for any type of performance you can ask your smartphone , from applications to the web browsing, 3D video games (we tried Dead Trigger 2 and have not problems of frame-rate or graphic detail) and the video recording. In this sense, they definitely comfortable 3GB of RAM built in.
The internal memory of the basic model is 16GB, that amount may not be enough without an additional microSD. The market is also a version with 64GB of integrated space.
P8 uses Android 5.0.2 Lollipop , but the operating system of Google, at least visually, there little. The Emotion UI Huawei, in fact, prefer to get closer to iOS: there is the application menu, which means that any app or folder is only available on the Home screen. Another similarity with iOS includes the ability to open the camera with a Swype vertically from the bottom right of the lock screen, but there are also regarding the camera, as we will see shortly. I appreciated being able to quickly customize the interface thanks to the store of preinstalled themes, amending both the icons, the lock screen and the colors of the widget. For example, I’ve customized the interface with a theme based on The Legend of Zelda:
I did not appreciate instead, after starting the P8 and ended configuration, Idle was already full of applications. A situation that Android users already know, but for which the Chinese company has not done much and, indeed, there has also put his. There are different duplication: the app and Google Photo Gallery; Music and Google Play Music; Google Chrome and the browser system. There are 15 applications of Google (the classic Maps, Google+, Hangouts, etc.) in which Huawei has also added some app objectively futile: Mirror, Magnifying Glass and Screen Lock, for example; Backup is a subcategory of settings as well as downloads is a subcategory of File. In short, too many applications that require the user to create different folders for failing to 3-4 pages of app within a few hours of use .
I must point out at least three times the system is just gone haywire. The first time I was going to make a call, but the smartphone has suddenly turned off for 2-3 minutes, during which time did not respond to any input, and then return as if nothing had happened. The second time I was using Google Maps and, after a block of a few seconds, the system restarts automatically; the same happened in a third occasion, but as I was writing on WhatsApp. Anything that has a negative impact on my experience, but were certainly situations “curious” that the P8 was considered new and used by a few days.
The camera of P8 struck me very positively. The photographs of the day, in particular, maintain the natural colors, a feature that in conjunction with minimum times of shots and good functionality software makes the P8 one of the best smartphone cameras for occasional use . Here are some examples of photographs taken during the day or in the interior:
I noticed that digital zoom is hard to capture the details without noise after only a minimal approach: better to shoot without zoom, or perform a slight crop after shooting, but in general the camera of the P8 is not very good if that’s your ultimate goal.
It has also affected the amount of light, color fidelity and detail of the images in the night. I used two scenes very ostiche for any optics:
I rather liked it 100 percent interface of the app pre-installed on the camera. Use an “Apple style” where with a simple Swype side switching to some preset modes: photo, video, Light Painting (for the effects of light), Beauty, Time-Lapse. It would be great if, between these modes, Huawei had also included a manual. For anyone who loves photographs and want to automatically set values as ISO or white balance, the use is much more mechanical: you have to go to force the settings of the app because there are no shortcuts and you may lose time for a beautiful photography.
If you look for an Android smartphone whose autonomy might get to a day and a half with an intensive use in cellular network, go elsewhere. With P8 have always managed to get to 18-19 with a good 20 percent remained as long as the device was left in the morning at 8 with 100 percent charge and that its use would remain rather limited to Wi-Fi.
Under the cellular network, for example, the autonomy of the P8 is” burned “in a hurry . Huawei has nonetheless built a mode of “super” energy savings that reduces the page of the six essential app, such as telephone or messages, to ensure some extra hour of use in borderline cases.
Nothing to complain about the audio side, in particular for the volume. Playing Dead Trigger 2 I had several times lower as too high, but not because croaking. The quality is excellent regardless of the nature of the audio (music, podcasts, video games, etc.). Reception was equally positive, both from a cellular network to Wi-Fi, and in no situation the P8 proved inferior to other smartphones.
The P8 is a top of the range Android? Absolutely, from performance to the design . Its features, both hardware and software, leave little more to be desired (a little ‘more than autonomy would surely have done well user experience) in a metal body pleasant to hold and to use. Considering that we are talking about an official price of 499 Euros (that is online already dropped a few dozen euro), P8 seems an obvious choice for those who wish to get closer to Android and want a “taste” the most special.
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