A couple of years ago, Huawei released the P6 smartphone, which boasted a very thin body and a stylish, strict appearance, thanks to which it gained considerable popularity, even despite not the most top-end characteristics. Huawei continues the line and the most current ones on this moment is the flagship Huawei P8, which was presented back in the spring and has finally reached us.

What is this?

Huawei P8 is a thin, stylish smartphone with a fairly compact (by today’s standards) metal body, a “convenient” 5.2-inch screen with FullHD resolution and one of the company’s latest processors, a 64-bit, eight-core HiSilicon Kirin 930.

Why is he interesting?

The predecessor P7 was very mediocre in terms of technical characteristics and was glass on both sides. In the current flagship, Huawei has approached the issue differently: the performance is very close to flagship devices. The case has retained the same recognizable general features: strict shape and thin thickness, while using much more metal, it has become more pleasant and practical.

What is in the box?

The box looks interesting and unusual. It is small in size and there is a plastic plug under the outer cover. Underneath it, edge outwards, like a book on a shelf, the smartphone itself is installed. All accessories are packed in small boxes:

Included: smartphone, power supply, USB cable, headset, tray ejector and instructions.

It's quite unusual to have a headset. IN Lately Manufacturers do not consider it necessary to supply it as a kit. The headset itself is quite simple and does not have high sound quality, which is not surprising: decent headphones will significantly add to the overall cost, at the same time, the user is quite capable of acquiring good headphones on his own.

What is interesting about the appearance?

Only the front panel, a small area near the camera with antennas, and a strip at the bottom of the body are completely glass. The smartphone has a strict rectangular shape with minimally rounded corners. In addition to the screen, there is a front camera, sensors, a speaker and an LED event indicator on the front. There are no buttons under the screen, only on-screen ones:

The indicator is small but noticeable, shifted to the right edge. Its operation can be configured:

The case is really very thin: only 6.4 mm, the ends are beveled and slightly rounded. On the right side there is a power button, a volume rocker and both trays for SIM cards and MicroSD:

The buttons are also made of metal, fit perfectly, do not wobble, are very convenient and pleasant to use:

At the top there is a 3.5 mm headphone output and a microphone for noise reduction:

There are no functional elements provided on the left side:

On the bottom edge there is MicroUSB and two symmetrical grilles. Under one of them there is a conversational microphone, under the second there is an external speaker. Despite the fact that it is the only one in the smartphone, the quality and volume of the sound was a very pleasant surprise:

The back cover is almost entirely metal. There is a thin plastic strip at the bottom and a small insert with a camera module at the top:

13-megapixel main camera with Sony module, optical image stabilization and dual LED flash:

Two separate trays for nanoSIM, one of which can be used for a MicroSD memory card:

The smartphone is superbly put together, there’s just nothing to complain about. All the parts fit perfectly, nothing is loose, there is a lot of metal. Solid, beautiful and practical. At the Huawei presentation mentioned that the P8's body is made from a single piece of aluminum and takes 810 minutes to manufacture. There are four color options, judging by the information on the official website, we will have two available: champagne and titanium gray. We had the first option for review. I think it would be more suitable for a girl, gray is more masculine.

How good is the screen?

The smartphone uses a 5.2-inch IPS display without an air gap with FullHD resolution, pixel density of 424 ppi and thin frames. The screen diagonal is very convenient to use and the resolution at which it is impossible to see the pixels. Correct decision: QHD with such dimensions does not make any sense, it only loads the system and drains the battery faster. Huawei has used the front panel of the smartphone effectively: the screen to total area ratio is 78.3%, which is a very good indicator. A film is immediately glued to the screen, the presence of which is practically unnoticed. The viewing angles are maximum, there is also an oleophobic coating of good quality. It’s difficult to say about the brightness reserve in “field” conditions; the weather is not encouraging with an abundance of sun, so in this matter we’ll trust the colorimeter.

Multi-touch up to 10 touches supported:

The colorimeter showed very good results in terms of brightness and contrast: 365.371 cd/m2, black field brightness is 0.396 cd/m2, and contrast is 923:1. The situation with color rendering is quite strange. “To the eye” the colors look bright and pleasant; the hardware measurement showed a rather strong bias towards blue:

If you wish, you can adjust it using this proprietary utility:

Comparison with competitors:

Device name	White field brightness, cd/m2	The brightness of the black field, cd/m2	Contrast
Huawei P8	365.371	0.396	923:1
HTC One M9	368.177	1	733:1
Lenovo Vibe Z2	425.699	0.574	742:1
Xiaomi Mi4	423.5	0.64	662:1
Sony Xperia Z3	359	0.59	608:1

How's the performance going?

The Huawei P8 uses an eight-core 64-bit processor of its own HiSilicon Kirin 930 with two blocks of four Cortex-A53 cores with clock frequencies of up to 2.0 GHz and 1.5 GHz, and a RAM capacity of 3 GB. The built-in flash memory is 16 GB, a little more than 10 GB is available, you can add more using a microSD memory card, but then there will be only one SIM card. A common solution is with a universal tray. A proprietary application is provided to monitor performance and energy consumption:

There are no shell or application brakes, and there cannot be any. Everything “flies”; when idle, there is an average of about 2 GB of RAM free, which is very pleasing; it seems that Huawei approached the issue of optimizing the shell with all responsibility. All modern games also run without problems:

Heating - depending on the application/game. On Need For Speed ​​No Limits the smartphone remains cold, Mortal Kombat X loads the system very significantly and the smartphone noticeably warms up evenly over the entire area, although it is still far from reaching the temperatures of the Snapdragon 810. The rest of the hardware is fine: the GPS module quickly finds satellites, and a cold start takes about 20 seconds. As we already wrote, the external speaker is good, both in volume and quality, the vibration alert is also quite powerful, you can feel it in your jeans pocket. As for the sound in the headphones, it is very good and most users will be happy with it.

The battery capacity is 2680 mAh, it’s difficult to cram more into such a thin body. In fact, no miracles happened; autonomy does not apply to strengths smartphone. In everyday mode (20-30 minutes of calls, an almost constant connection to the network, several photos and about an hour of games), the smartphone survives until the end of the day, video plays for about 9 hours.

For those who want to know more

As we wrote above, Huawei P8 uses a 64-bit HiSilicon Kirin 930 (4x ARM Cortex-A53 1.5 GHz and 4xGPU Mali-T624. It is produced at TSMC facilities using a 16-nm process technology, which is complemented by 3 GB of RAM. In fact, the smartphone can compete with competitors based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 and MediaTek MT6795, although it does not reach the Samsung flagships, which are ahead this year thanks to a very successful Exynos 7420. Benchmark results:

Is the interface user-friendly?

The smartphone runs on Android 5.0.1 OS with EMUI 3.1 shell, with future updates to Android 6.0 Marshmallow promised. As mentioned above, the shell is very well optimized and works very quickly.

All applications are located on desktops; there is no separate menu for them. Supported widgets, folders:

The curtain consists of two main tabs: toggle icons (can be edited) and notifications:

The on-screen button panel can be edited; there is a button for calling the top curtain:

Standard application manager with the ability to close all or individual applications and display free RAM:

There is a “winter” mode with increased sensitivity for working with gloves. It is possible to display a control button on the screen by clicking on which navigation buttons appear. Smart screenshot - the ability to take screenshots by double tapping the screen:

Various design themes:

The settings menu is organized quite familiarly:

Various display settings, notification panel, gestures and so on:

A fairly simple standard music player with a minimum of necessary settings:

And a set of all kinds useful applications, starting with the weather, a voice recorder with different operating modes, a timer, an application manager and ending with exotic things like a magnifying glass, a mirror and a director’s mode, in which you can connect up to 3 devices via Wi-Fi and “edit” real-time video from what everyone takes off:

How are things going with the camera?

The main camera has a resolution of 13 megapixels, uses a Sony module with a four-color RGBW matrix, optical image stabilization, f/2.0 aperture and a dedicated ISP processor. Front-camera- 8 MP. The camera interface is quite clear, but there are also plenty of settings, scattered across different menus. There are modes for burst shooting, HDR, panorama, choosing a good shot, photography with an audio note, and post-focus (the camera takes several photos at once with different focal lengths). You can take a quick photo directly from a locked smartphone: you need to press the volume down button twice. A photo is taken and the time it took to take it is displayed:

The photos are of really good quality, even in poor lighting and in the evening:

Video in FullHD, specially filmed in the evening. The quality is very good:

Bottom line

It seems that Huawei, when creating the P8, was guided not by the pursuit of incredible resolutions or screen diagonals and sky-high performance, but by the desire to make just an excellent and balanced smartphone, and they succeeded. Huawei P8 boasts a superbly assembled thin metal body, modern powerful (albeit not the most top-end) hardware, a good display, a main camera and a comfortable, well-thought-out shell. Of the controversial issues, we can only highlight the mediocre time battery life and significant heating of the entire smartphone under high loads. The smartphone is about to go on sale for 13,000 UAH.

5 reasons to buy Huawei P8:

• Excellent metal slim body;
• high performance;
• good main camera;
• high-quality screen;
• convenient and fast EMUI 3.1 shell.

1 reason not to buy Huawei P8:

• mediocre battery life.

Technical Huawei specifications P8
Display	IPS, 5.2 inches, 1920x1080, 424 ppi
Frame	dimensions 144.9x72.1x6.4 mm, weight 144 g
CPU	64-bit HiSilicon Kirin 930 (4x ARM Cortex-A53 1.5 GHz and 4xARM Cortex-A53 2.0 GHz) with graphics accelerator GPU Mali-T624
RAM	3 GB
Flash memory	16 GB, microSD up to 128 GB
Camera	13 MP, autofocus, dual-color flash, optical image stabilization, 8 MP front camera
Wireless technologies	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/a, Bluetooth 4.1 LE
GPS	GPS, Glonass, BeiDou
Battery	2500 mAh, non-removable
operating system	Android 5.0.1 Lollipop + EMUI 3.1
SIM card	nanoSIMx2

The next flagship of the premium family of Huawei mobile devices, a smartphone called Huawei P8, presented at the end of last spring in London, has finally reached Russia. Compared to its predecessor, the P7 model, a lot has changed in the new flagship: more practical case materials have been used, a more powerful hardware platform has been installed, the amount of RAM has been increased, and the communication part has been redesigned. Of course, the developers did not ignore the issue of shooting with a camera: the latest Sony module was installed in the Huawei P8, and the software for working with the camera was further improved, and new shooting modes were added. At the same time, the main thing has been preserved: the flagships of the Huawei P series have always been and remain one of the most compact, thin and light expensive fashion models on the market among top smartphones modernity. New Huawei flagship It looks like a very balanced device in most aspects, and we will look at more specific details in this review.

First, let's take a look at the characteristics of the smartphone; the hardware is impressive.

Key Features of Huawei P8 (UL00)

	Huawei P8	LG G4	HTC One M9	Samsung Galaxy S6	Meizu MX5
Screen	5.2″, IPS	5.5″, IPS	5″, S-LCD 3	5.1″, Super AMOLED	5.5″, Super AMOLED
Permission	1920×1080, 424 ppi	2560×1440, 538 ppi	1920×1080, 441 ppi	2560×1440, 577 ppi	1920×1080, 401 ppi
SoC	HiSilicon Kirin 930 (8 cores ARM Cortex-A53) @2+1.5 GHz	Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (2x Cortex-A57 @1.8GHz + 4x [email protected])	Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (4x Cortex-A57 @2.0 GHz + 4x Cortex-A53 @1.5 GHz)	Exynos 7420 (4x Cortex-A57 @2.1 GHz and 4x Cortex-A53 @1.5 GHz)	Mediatek MT6795T Octa-core (8 Cortex-A53 cores @2.2 GHz)
GPU	Mali-T624	Adreno 418	Adreno 430	Mali-T760	PowerVR G6200
RAM	3 GB	3 GB	3 GB	3 GB	3 GB
Flash memory	16 GB	32 GB	32 GB	32/64/128 GB	16/32/64 GB
Memory card support	microSD	microSD	microSD	—	—
operating system	Google Android 5.0	Google Android 5.1	Google Android 5.0	Google Android 5.0	Google Android 5.0
Battery	non-removable, 2680 mAh	removable, 3000 mAh	non-removable, 2840 mAh	non-removable, 2550 mAh	non-removable, 3150 mAh
Cameras	main (13 MP; video 1080p), front (8 MP)	main (16 MP; 4K video), front (8 MP)	main (20.7 MP; 4K video), front (4 MP)	main (16 MP; 4K video), front (5 MP)	main (20.7 MP; 4K video), front (5 MP)
Dimensions and weight	145×72×6.4 mm, 145 g	149×76×9.8 mm, 155 g	145×70×9.6 mm, 157 g	143×70×6.8 mm, 138 g	150×75×7.6 mm, 149 g
average price	T-12435227	T-12466715	T-12259334	T-12259333	T-12675734
Huawei P8 offers	L-12435227-10

• SoC HiSilicon Kirin 930, 1.5 + 2.0 GHz, 8 cores ARM Cortex-A53
• GPU Mali-T624
• operating room Android system 5.0, EMUI 3.1
• Touch display IPS, 5.2″, 1920×1080, 424 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 3 GB, internal memory 16 GB
• microSD card support
• Nano-SIM support (2 pcs.)
• 2G communication: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• 3G Communication: WCDMA
• Data transmission FDD LTE (Cat4, up to 150 Mbps) Band 1, 3, 4, 7
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n (2.4 GHz), Wi-Fi Direct
• Bluetooth 4.1
• USB 2.0, OTG
• GPS (A-GPS), Glonass
• 13 MP camera, autofocus, optical stabilizer, LED flash
• Camera 8 MP (front), fixed. focus
• Proximity, direction, lighting, accelerometer, gyroscope, electronic compass
• Non-removable battery 2680 mAh
• Dimensions 145×72×6.4 mm
• Weight 145 g

Contents of delivery

Huawei P8 is sold in a box that is completely unusual in appearance and unusual in structure. It is immediately clear that the designers worked closely on this topic, completely reconsidering their vision of what the packaging of an image model of a modern smartphone should be. All accessories, arranged in boxes, along with the smartphone itself, are inserted vertically into it, like books on a bookshelf (if you lay it on its side). On the outside, all this is also covered with a varnished plastic panel with a golden inscription on a black background, and when assembled, the box looks fresh and incredibly stylish, immediately setting you up for further acquaintance with the contents.

The equipment is standard: the smartphone comes with a not very powerful charger(output current 5 V 1 A), Micro-USB connecting cable, wired headphones, as well as a metal key for removing SIM cards and thin paper instructions.

Appearance and ease of use

The company's developers have always paid maximum attention to the appearance of smartphones from the flagship Huawei P line, because from the first days this line was positioned, first of all, as an image line. Some of the previous representatives of the series (P1 and P6) were at one time record holders for [minimum] thickness, and even now the new products of this family remain among the thinnest fashion models on the mobile device market. The new Huawei P8 does not disappoint in this regard: the thickness of its all-metal body is only 6.4 mm, which makes the smartphone one of the thinnest modern flagships.

As for the design itself, there is nothing particularly to admire here: we have before us a completely ordinary rectangular block with no frills. The corners are perhaps too sharp, and the side edges themselves are neither this nor that. That is, either they had to be made completely straight, or they had to be fully rounded, like the iPhone 6. Here, there is some kind of incompleteness: the edges were rounded quite a bit, and then for some reason they were additionally chamfered. As a result, the case looks peculiar, and this rather wide, heavy and very thin metal plate constantly tends to slip out of your hands. This, by the way, oddly enough, is facilitated by the fact that the metal surfaces here were given a dullness and slight roughness - ordinary smooth metal would be held even more reliably in the hands.

The smartphone has no removable parts, the case is non-separable, so the appropriate method for installing cards is used. The side edge on the right is equipped with two slot-like connectors into which metal slides with cards are inserted, and they are removed using the supplied paperclip key. It should be noted that one of the slots can be used either for a memory card or for a second SIM card, but not at the same time, which is depressing: the smartphone does not have so much of its own built-in memory that it is easy to refuse to use a memory card. As a result, the user faces a dilemma - it would be nice to have both.

The camera module on the back of the smartphone does not protrude beyond the rear surface at all. It is combined in a single unit with a two-section multi-colored LED flash mounted in a mirrored non-metallic strip embedded in the body. If necessary, the flash can be used as a flashlight, which can be quickly turned on from a panel that slides out from the bottom of the screen, which Huawei once borrowed from Apple iPhone.

The same iPhone ultimately contributed to the fact that most self-respecting manufacturers finally stopped placing the speaker on the back of the smartphone - where the output sound is constantly blocked by the surface of the table and directed in the opposite direction from the user - and finally moved the speakers to the bottom end. The situation is the same in the case of Huawei P8: two rows of holes are made in the lower end of the metal case, but the sound, as usual, comes out only through one grille, the second one is installed only for symmetry. Perhaps there is a conversational microphone hidden behind it, but the sound of the speaker definitely does not pass through it (this is easy to verify by covering the holes one by one with your finger).

In the middle, between the two grilles, there is a Micro-USB connector, which, unlike the same grilles, for some reason was not centered relative to the central axis. This looks a little annoying: it’s unclear why designers miss such little things in their work. Just look at the same iPhone: you won’t find a single element placed crookedly there; everything is thought out to the smallest detail, and that’s what captivates.

The same can be said about mechanical buttons - more precisely, one button, the main one, used for locking. It is clear that it is copied from Sony Z series smartphones, but even there this “find” does not look very organic, to put it mildly. And so all the elements placed on the edges, including the covers of the card slots and the volume key, have a uniform appearance here, and only this button for some reason is made almost square, and even recessed into some kind of shapeless recess cut out in the metal, which Other elements do not. All this looks completely out of place and goes out of the general style. The buttons themselves have an elastic, but too short stroke; they are not ideal, but you can get used to them.

At the top end, the same picture is observed: the exactly cut hole for the audio connector looks quite organic, but right next to it, they again missed the central axis with the hole for the second, auxiliary microphone. Apparently, the designer in his work was guided by something else, but not by the concept of symmetry.

The front panel is completely covered flat without edges protective glass. In its upper part, in addition to sensors and the front camera, there is such a useful element as led indicator events. The function of blinking this small dot in the right corner when receiving new notifications can be disabled independently in the screen settings menu section.

There are no hardware buttons at the bottom under the screen; all the buttons are virtual, so their set and relative position can be changed to your taste in the corresponding section of the settings menu.

According to information gleaned from the Huawei branded online store, in Russian retail the smartphone will be presented in two color options: dark gray, as in our photographs, and champagne color with a white front panel, although in corporate photographs there are Huawei images P8, whose front panel is painted in this very light brown shade. Obviously, such a modification will either not go to the Russian market or will become available later.

Screen

The Huawei P8 smartphone is equipped with an IPS sensor matrix produced using in-cell technology. The screen dimensions are 65x115 mm, diagonal - 5.2 inches, resolution - 1920x1080 pixels. The pixel density is 424 ppi. The width of the frame from the edge of the screen to the edge of the body on the sides is about 3.5 mm, and on the top and bottom - about 15 mm.

The display brightness can be adjusted manually, or automatic adjustment can be enabled based on the operation of the light sensor. Multi-touch technology allows you to process 10 simultaneous touches. The smartphone also has a proximity sensor that blocks the screen when you bring the smartphone to your ear. Operating the screen with gloves is supported, but double tapping in this case does not activate the screen, although such functionality has previously been found in Huawei smartphones. Perhaps it's all just a matter of the firmware of the test sample.

A detailed examination using measuring instruments was carried out by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections, Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are no worse than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) screen (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, on the right - Huawei P8, then they can be distinguished by size):

The screen of the Huawei P8 is even a little darker (brightness according to photographs is 105 versus 112 for the Nexus 7). The ghosting of reflected objects in the Huawei P8 screen is very weak, this indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (more specifically, between the outer glass and the surface of the LCD matrix) (OGS - One Glass Solution type screen). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of strong external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. The outer surface of the screen has a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (slightly worse in effectiveness than the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed more easily and appear at a slower rate than with regular glass.

When manually controlling the brightness and displaying the white field in full screen, the maximum brightness value was about 440 cd/m², the minimum was 10 cd/m². The maximum brightness is quite high, which means, given the excellent anti-glare properties, readability even on a sunny day outdoors should be at a good level. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. In stock automatic adjustment brightness by the light sensor (it is located to the left of the front speaker slot). In automatic mode, as external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment slider. If it is 100%, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 120 cd/m² (too much), in an office illuminated by artificial light (about 400 lux) it sets it to 300 cd/m² (it could have been lower), in very bright environment (corresponds to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more), the brightness increases to 440 cd/m² (to the maximum - this is how it should be); if the adjustment is approximately 50%, then the values ​​are as follows: 10, 115 and 440 cd/m² (ideal combination), the regulator at 0% is 10, 30 and 220 cd/m² (the last two values ​​are slightly underestimated, which is logical). It turns out that the auto-brightness function works absolutely adequately and allows the user to customize their work to individual requirements. At any brightness level, there is virtually no backlight modulation, so there is no screen flickering.

IN this smartphone An IPS type matrix is ​​used. The microphotographs show a typical IPS subpixel structure:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

The screen has good viewing angles without significant color shift even with large viewing deviations from perpendicular to the screen and without inverting shades. For comparison, here are photographs in which the same images are displayed on the screens of Huawei P8 and Nexus 7, while the screen brightness is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera is forcibly switched to 6500 K. There is a white field perpendicular to the screens:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field. And a test picture:

The colors on the Huawei P8 screen are oversaturated and the color balance is slightly different. Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:

It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens, but on the Huawei P8 the contrast has decreased to a greater extent due to the strong highlighting of blacks. And a white field:

The brightness at an angle of the screens has decreased (by at least 5 times, based on the difference in shutter speed), but the screen of the Huawei P8 is still lighter (brightness according to photographs is 240 versus 235 for the Nexus 7). When deviated diagonally, the black field brightens greatly and acquires a reddish tint. The photographs below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is the same!):

And from another angle:

When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the black field is not ideal, since closer to the edge the black is lightened in places:

And with a different arrangement of on-screen buttons:

The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is high - about 1400:1. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 22 ms (12 ms on + 10 ms off). The transition between halftones of gray 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes a total of 34 ms. The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal any blockage in either the highlights or the shadows. The exponent of the approximating power function is 2.17, which is close to the standard value of 2.2. In this case, the real gamma curve almost does not deviate from the power-law dependence:

This device has some kind of dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness in accordance with the nature of the displayed image. As a result, the resulting dependence of brightness on hue (gamma curve) may not correspond to the gamma curve of a static image, since the measurements were carried out with sequential display of shades of gray on almost the entire screen. For this reason, we carried out a number of tests - determining contrast and response time, comparing black illumination at angles - (however, as always) when displaying special templates with a constant average brightness, and not monochromatic fields in the entire screen. It should be noted that in this case, the brightness correction is weakly expressed and has a not entirely obvious dependence on the image, but it would be better not to have it at all.

The color gamut is noticeably wider than sRGB:

Let's look at the spectra:

They are atypical, but we have already seen them in the case of, for example, Sony Xperia Z2. Sony indicates that these screens use LEDs with a blue emitter and green and red phosphors (usually a blue emitter and a yellow phosphor), which, in combination with special matrix filters, allows for a wide color gamut. Most likely, this statement is true in the case of Huawei P8. For a consumer device, a wide color gamut is not an advantage, but a significant disadvantage, since as a result, the colors of images - drawings, photographs and films - oriented to the sRGB space (and the vast majority of them) have an unnatural saturation. This is especially noticeable on recognizable shades, such as skin tones. The result is shown in the photo above.

The balance of shades on the gray scale is good, since the color temperature is not much higher than the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is below 10, which is considered an acceptable indicator for a consumer device. At the same time, color temperature and ΔE change little from hue to hue - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since there is no color balance of great importance, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

This device has the ability to adjust the color balance by adjusting the tint warmer or cooler.

The curves in the graphs above Without corr. correspond to the results without any color balance correction, and the curves Corr.— data obtained after moving the correction slider to the “warm” side all the way. It can be seen that the change in balance corresponds to the expected result, since the color temperature approached the standard value, but ΔE, unfortunately, increased noticeably and reached a critical value of 10 units. Perhaps it doesn't make much sense to make the correction.

Let's summarize: the screen has a fairly high maximum brightness and has good anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors without any problems, even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. It is also possible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works adequately. Also, the advantages of the screen include the presence of an oleophobic coating, the absence of flicker and air gaps in the layers of the screen, high contrast, and a color balance close to standard. The disadvantages are the low stability of black to the deviation of the gaze from perpendicular to the screen plane and an excessively wide color gamut. Nevertheless, taking into account the importance of characteristics specifically for this class of devices, the quality of the screen can be considered high, although you should be prepared for strange and not entirely natural shades.

Sound

The Huawei P8, despite its extremely thin body, sounds very high quality. There is only one external speaker, but the device produces high-quality sound both through it and through headphones for comfortable listening. This is not at the level of Oppo or HTC; the smartphone does not abound in deep bass, but in terms of volume, Huawei P8 is definitely not inferior to anyone. The sound is very loud, but the sound is clear, without wheezing or distortion, bright, rich, low frequencies are also partly present, although not fully. In conversational dynamics, the interlocutor’s speech, timbre and intonation remain recognizable. There are no manual settings to control the sound quality in the proprietary player; there is only the ability to turn on or off the DTS sound enhancement technology, and then only for headphones.

There is an FM radio in the smartphone; it only works with connected headphones.

Camera

Huawei P8 is equipped with two digital camera modules with a resolution of 13 and 8 megapixels. For front shooting, an 8-megapixel module with a lens with an f/2.4 aperture is used, without autofocus and its own flash. Among the settings, there is the ability to track a smile, as well as shooting using the hardware volume key, including when the screen is locked (to do this, you need to double-click on volume down, but shooting will be done with the main camera located on the back of the smartphone). For the front camera, there are also manual settings where you can independently set the exposure, contrast, and brightness. Also here we can mention the special “Perfect Selfie” mode with the ability to save personal data in memory, in which you can apply additional effects to photos (enlarge your eyes, whiten your skin, etc.).

The main camera uses Sony's new 13-megapixel sensor with a four-color RGBW sensor and its own image processor. According to the developers, the RGBW sensor reduces brightness by 32% in high-contrast lighting and increases by 78% in low-light conditions, and the DSLR camera's independent image processor allows it to suppress noise and evaluate shooting conditions, identifying high-contrast and low-light parts of the frame. The camera also features an f/2.0 lens with improved optical stabilization technology (compensates for shifts up to 1.2°) and tracking autofocus. The LED flash has two multi-colored sectors.

The design of the proprietary camera settings menu is the same as in previous models in the series, but several additional shooting modes have been added. Most of the menu functions are collected in a single vertical scroll, and additional shooting modes are selected by pressing the button in the upper right corner. Besides automatic mode shooting, there are several specific modes, such as Successful photos, Decoration, Panorama, HDR etc. Using a separate mode, you can play around and adjust the focus on different areas of an already captured photograph. Also, someone may find the new entertainment mode interesting Drawing with light. This mode uses manual control of the camera's shutter to capture various lighting effects. The developers suggest using this mode when shooting at night to capture the light pattern created by moving flashlights. According to their plan, users can create their own light paintings using the smartphone as a source of illumination in the dark.

The camera can shoot video with a resolution of up to 1080p; when shooting, you can use tracking autofocus; it is also possible to use optical and electronic stabilization, and at the same time. As a result, the shooting turns out to be very smooth indeed, but the image quality itself leaves much to be desired. It's a pity that there is no shooting mode at 60 fps or at least in 4K resolution. An example of a test video is presented below.

• Video No. 1 (19 MB, 1920×1080, 30 fps)

	The camera copes well with indoor shooting.
	Sometimes the noise reduction work looks really subtle and pleasant.
	The camera is not afraid of long exposures: apparently, the stabilizer helps out.
	Good sharpness over almost the entire field of the frame.
	With the removal of the plan, the image becomes soapy.
	An example of very good sharpness according to plans.
	In the middle and long shots, the soapiness is again felt.
	The license plates of nearby cars are distinguishable.
	Good sharpness across the field and plans.
	The camera copes well with macro photography.
	With the removal of the plan, the foliage merges quite smoothly.

It’s worth noting right away that the camera copes well with shooting in low light, much better than most smartphones. The remaining minority reaches this level quite well, but the good coordinated work of the stabilizer and noise reduction is really noticeable here. Otherwise, the camera has no superpowers. She works out the details well, but often gets soapy. There are also small areas of blur; sharpness is not always uniform across the frame and across the shots. Nevertheless, the camera is well suited for documentary and sometimes artistic photography.

Telephone and communications

The smartphone operates in modern 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA networks, and also supports networks fourth generation LTE Cat4, up to 150 Mbit/s (FDD LTE Band 1, 3, 4, 7). The most commonly used frequency in Russia, 2600 MHz, is also supported. In practice, with SIM cards from domestic operators Megafon and Beeline, the smartphone is registered and works in LTE networks.

The remaining network capabilities of the smartphone are as follows: there is support for Bluetooth 4.1, but only one Wi-Fi band is supported (2.4 GHz) and no NFC. There is Wi-Fi Direct, you can organize wireless point access via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth channels. The Micro-USB 2.0 connector supports connecting external devices in USB OTG mode. The developers also claim that the smartphone uses a new dual antenna design of its own, Signal+, which, in combination with fast switching technology, allows the smartphone to select the optimal communication mode and improves the quality of the connection even while moving at high speed, for example, if the user is talking while in a high-speed train.

The phone application supports Smart Dial, that is, while dialing telephone number A search for contacts is also carried out immediately. The settings provide a continuous input method such as Swype. For ease of operation with one hand, it is possible to change the size virtual keyboards or even the entire working area of ​​the screen.

The smartphone supports dual SIM cards. All work with them in the menu is conveniently organized on one page, the settings are conveniently combined into groups, you just need to check a couple of boxes - and the choice is made. Everything is clear and intuitive. Perhaps this menu for managing work with two SIM cards is the most convenient of all the options we have previously encountered.

Any of the SIM cards can be designated as the main one for organizing voice calls, transferring data and sending SMS messages; When dialing a number, you can also select the desired card using the corresponding buttons. A SIM card in any slot can work with 3G/4G networks, but only one of them can function in this mode at a time. To change the assignment of slots, cards do not need to be swapped - this can be done directly from the phone menu. Work with two SIM cards is organized according to the Dual standard SIM Dual Active, when both cards can work in parallel and simultaneously, that is, the smartphone uses two separate radio modules - this is a very rare and, of course, very user-friendly option.

The proprietary interface traditionally changes the design and entire internal arrangement of the standard system so much that it changes from the original Android design There's not much left here. There is no separate application menu here, the original notification shade with a timeline and its own menu of recent open programs look completely different, and in general, traces of Material Design are almost invisible here. There is not very wide support for basic gestures; there is also a special software control button that calls up a pop-up menu for quick access to some frequently used applications. Bottom row virtual buttons controls can be reassigned at your discretion; it is also possible to reduce the entire working area of ​​the screen.

There are not many additional pre-installed programs, but useful ones include: file manager, as well as a set system utilities, including the Manager program, which includes functions of energy saving, memory cleaning, protection against virus threats and traffic monitoring.

Performance

The Huawei P8 hardware platform is based on the eight-core HiSilicon Kirin 930 single-chip system (SoC), which, along with the Kirin 935, is currently one of the most powerful 64-bit platforms used by Huawei in its serial products. The configuration of this solution includes two clusters of four Cortex-A53 processor cores with a frequency of 1.5 to 2.0 GHz and a Mali-T624 GPU. That is, the Kirin 930 competes with top-tier SoCs such as the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 and MediaTek MT6795.

The smartphone's RAM capacity is 3 GB. The device has 16 GB of flash memory, of which 10.5 GB is available for the user’s needs. The memory capacity can be increased using microSD cards, but then, according to the established bad tradition, you will have to remove the second SIM card, which is extremely inconvenient. On the market you can find many solutions that perfectly combine support for two SIM cards and a memory card at the same time, there is nothing supernatural about it. Why Huawei decided to stick with the version with reduced functionality is unclear.

According to the test results, the Kirin 930 platform showed itself to be quite worthy of the title of a top-level SoC platform. More specifically, in comprehensive benchmarks its performance is equivalent to that of competing platforms Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 and MediaTek MT6795 (in AnTuTu it is more than 45K in 32-bit and about 50K in 64-bit testing modes).

As for specialized tests, both in graphics and even in browser benchmarks the platform is noticeably inferior to its competitors, and of course, in all respects it is far from the currently leading Exynos 7420, used in the most powerful modern devices Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge .

In any case, Huawei P8 is currently among the most powerful and advanced in terms of performance modern smartphones, its hardware capabilities will be enough to perform any tasks for a long time.

Testing in the latest versions of comprehensive tests AnTuTu and GeekBench 3:

For convenience, we have compiled all the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks into tables. The table usually adds several other devices from different segments, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry figures). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain “behind the scenes” - due to the fact that at one time they passed the “obstacle course” on previous versions test programs.

Testing the graphics subsystem in 3DMark game tests,GFXBenchmark, and Bonsai Benchmark:

When testing in 3DMark, the most powerful smartphones now have the ability to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).

	Huawei P8 (Hisilicon Kirin 930)	LG G4 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 808)	HTC One M9 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 810)	Samsung Galaxy S6 (Exynos 7420)	Meizu MX5 (Mediatek MT6795T)
3DMark Ice Storm Extreme (more is better)	6556	Maxed out!	Maxed out!	Maxed out!	Maxed out!
3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited (more is better)	11909	18372	20538	21204	16390
GFXBenchmark T-Rex HD (C24Z16 Onscreen)	18 fps	25 fps	37 fps	30 fps	27 fps
GFXBenchmark T-Rex HD (C24Z16 Offscreen)	13 fps	35 fps	36 fps	46 fps	27 fps
Bonsai Benchmark	3333 (48 fps)	3340 (48 fps)	4092 (58 fps)	4185 (60 fps)	3966 (57 fps)

Browser cross-platform tests:

As for benchmarks for assessing the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowance for the fact that their results significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly correct on the same OS and browsers, and this is possible during testing not always. For Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

Thermal photographs

Below is a thermal image of the rear surface (the top of the image is on the right), obtained after 10 minutes of running the battery test in the GFXBenchmark program:

It can be seen that the heating is slightly more localized approximately at the center and closer to the right edge of the device, which apparently corresponds to the location of the SoC chip. According to the heat camera, the maximum heating was 35 degrees, which is relatively little. Apparently, the metal body of the device helps to delocalize the heating area.

Playing video

To test the omnivorous nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone. Also, you shouldn’t expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it. All results are summarized in a single table.

According to the testing results, the subject was not equipped with all the necessary decoders that are necessary for full playback of most of the most common multimedia files on the network. To successfully play them, you will have to resort to the help of a third-party player - for example, MX Player. True, it is also necessary to change the settings and manually install additional custom codecs, because now this player does not officially support the AC3 sound format.

Format	Container, video, sound	MX Video Player	Standard video player
DVDRip	AVI, XviD 720×400 2200 Kbps, MP3+AC3	plays normally	plays normally
Web-DL SD	AVI, XviD 720×400 1400 Kbps, MP3+AC3	plays normally	plays normally
Web-DL HD	MKV, H.264 1280×720 3000 Kbps, AC3		The video plays fine, but there is no sound¹
BDRip 720p	MKV, H.264 1280×720 4000 Kbps, AC3	The video plays fine, but there is no sound¹	The video plays fine, but there is no sound¹
BDRip 1080p	MKV, H.264 1920×1080 8000 Kbps, AC3	The video plays fine, but there is no sound¹	The video plays fine, but there is no sound¹

¹ sound in MX Video Player was played only after installing an alternative custom audio codec; The standard player does not have this setting

Tested video output features Alexey Kudryavtsev.

We did not find the MHL interface, like Mobility DisplayPort, in this smartphone, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Method for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)”). Screenshots with a shutter speed of 1 s helped determine the nature of the output of frames of video files with various parameters: the resolution varied (1280 by 720 (720p) and 1920 by 1080 (1080p) pixels) and frame rate (24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 frames/ With). In the tests we used the MX Player video player in the “Hardware” mode. The test results are summarized in the table:

720/30p Great No 720/25p Great No 720/24p Great No

Note: If in both columns Uniformity And Passes Green ratings are given, this means that, most likely, when watching films, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and frame skipping will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect the viewing comfort. Red marks indicate possible problems related to the playback of the corresponding files.

According to the criterion of frame output, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is very good, since frames (or groups of frames) can (but are not required) be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without skipping frames. When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the border of the screen, one to one in pixels, that is, in the original resolution. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235 - in the shadows only a couple of shades of gray do not differ in brightness from black, but in the highlights all gradations of shades are displayed.

Battery life

Huawei P8 has a non-removable battery with a capacity of 2680 mAh that is far from the maximum for modern smartphones. As a result, the smartphone did not show any records for battery life; everything was within the normal range for flagships with a large display.

It is also worth noting that the testing was carried out without using any energy-saving functions, and with them the smartphone is obviously able to last longer. As usual, in the settings of the proprietary energy-saving mode, Huawei smartphones have three different levels, from normal to maximum economical.

	Battery capacity	Reading mode	Video mode	3D Game Mode
Huawei P8	2680 mAh	13:00	9:00 a.m.	3 hours 10 minutes
LG G4	3000 mAh	17:00	9:00 a.m.	3:00 am
Nexus 6	3220 mAh	18:00	10:30 a.m.	3 hours 40 minutes
HTC One M9	2840 mAh	11:00 am	8 a.m. 20 p.m.	3 hours 50 minutes
Samsung Galaxy S6	2550 mAh	20:00	12:00 pm	4:00 am
Meizu MX5	3150 mAh	15:00	11:00 am	4 hours 10 minutes
LeTV One	3000 mAh	10:30 a.m.	8 a.m. 20 p.m.	3 hours 50 minutes
Lenovo Vibe X2	2300 mAh	13:00	6:00 am	3 hours 15 minutes
Meizu MX4	3100 mAh	12:00 pm	8 hours 40 minutes	3 hours 45 minutes

Continuous reading in FBReader program(with a standard, light theme, without auto-scrolling) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (the brightness at the beginning of the test was set to 100 cd/m²) it lasted 13 hours until the battery was completely discharged, and when continuously watching videos in high quality(720p) with the same brightness level via home Wi-Fi network The device lasted 9 hours. IN game mode The smartphone functioned for just over 3 hours. Full time Charging takes just under 3 hours.

Bottom line

Huawei has already announced the imminent start of sales of Huawei P8 in Russia, the official price of a certified device will be almost 30 thousand rubles, the start of online sales is scheduled for July 24. An uncertified device can already be purchased in online stores at a price of 27 thousand rubles. Considering modern market realities, this is a quite reasonable price for an image flagship smartphone with a metal body, a high-quality large screen, excellent sound, a powerful hardware platform, a good camera and decent battery life.

Review Huawei smartphone P8: flagship with no protrusions

The tradition of organizing one big presentation for the release of new P series products originated with Huawei several years ago. However, before the P6, smartphones in this series were not particularly popular among the public, but with the release of the P7 model, it became clear that Huawei could, with good reason, claim a place next to such giants as Apple and Samsung. By the way, at the presentation quite often the manufacturer compared its new product with the current flagships of these companies.

Still from the presentation - comparison of dimensions of Huawei P8 and iPhone 6/6 plus. Focus on screen diagonal

A shot from the presentation - a knock against competitors whose cameras protrude from the body

It’s worth noting here that Huawei products are also cheaper, and there’s no doubt about the quality of their build for a long time.

Appearance

Huawei designers did a good job on the appearance of the Huawei P8. And not only over the smartphone itself, but also over the box in which it is sold. See what unpacking a smartphone looks like:

Unboxing Huawei P8

Really original placement. And it’s not just a matter of originality - this way it’s much more convenient to take out the smartphone and there’s no risk of dropping it.

Huawei P8 smartphone

The back and sides are made of metal.

Huawei P8 smartphone

There are a minimum of buttons on the case, only the power/lock button and the volume rocker on the right side.

The right side of the Huawei P8 smartphone

By the way, there is also a slot for nano-SIM and MicroSD memory cards (there are Huawei P8 models with a combined MicroSD+nano-SIM slot).

The bottom end of the Huawei P8 smartphone

The micro-USB connector is located at the bottom, and the headphone/headset output is at the top.

The top end of the Huawei P8 smartphone

By the way, the phone comes with a good headset for its class.

Screen

It’s good that Huawei pulled out of the “megapixel race” on time - the 5.2-inch Full-HD IPS screen of the P8 smartphone looks great in every sense. Color rendition, clarity, viewing angles, responsiveness - there’s nothing to complain about. By the way, the smartphone comes from the factory with a film glued on, which is not so easy to notice. This saves users who are worried about the safety of the screen from having to buy and apply film.

Software

Huawei P8 out of the box runs on Android 5 Lollipop OS, and the user interface is proprietary EMUI 3.1.

Only the most preinstalled necessary programs, nothing extra.

The interface supports various themes that change not only the desktop wallpaper, but also the icons of standard applications.

Desktop view with different themes

All default themes

Like most major Chinese brands, the interface from Huawei takes all the best from both iOS and Android - for example, placing shortcuts for all applications at once on the desktop panels, and, at the same time, a convenient quick access menu and notification list.

Of the pre-installed applications, the most unusual is “Director”. It allows you to create videos shot on several smartphones from different angles at once. Of course, you won’t be able to use this function alone - you’ll have to call several friends with Android smartphones.

Performance

Huawei P8 cannot be called a record holder in terms of performance. On the one hand, the company can be congratulated - for a long time they have been making smartphones using their own processors, which are practically not inferior to their competitors. This is beneficial for the company and, as a result, for the consumer.

System information about the smartphone

On the other hand, the system does not always behave predictably. The 3D Mark benchmark, for example, produced a different result each time it was launched, and the difference between the results is difficult to reduce to an error:

Of course, even modern 3D games still run without problems on the Huawei P8, but on competitors’ flagships, it feels like the FPS value is still higher.

Testing Huawei P8 in benchmarks

One way or another, the most important thing for a smartphone, in our opinion, is a smooth interface that works without lags. The Huawei P8 has everything right with this, but even more powerful competitors sometimes suffer from annoying minor stuttering when scrolling through lists and desktop panels.

Camera

An impressive part of Huawei's presentation was dedicated to the camera. Perhaps its most important characteristics (besides the actual image quality, which you can evaluate in the gallery below) are an optical image stabilizer, macro shooting from 4 cm, a separate processor for image processing (like cameras), and various interesting functions - for example, lighting graffiti.

Clicking on a thumbnail will open a full-size image.

The only complaint I can make about the camera is that sometimes there are problems with fast focusing in dark rooms.

Battery

The manufacturer claims that the Huawei P8 smartphone “lives” a little longer than the Apple iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S6.

Still from the presentation - comparing the autonomy of Huawei P8, iPhone 6 and Galaxy S6

However, it is quite difficult to objectively verify this in practice (in comparison with competitors).

Battery testing in AnTuTu Tester and battery discharge graph in Android

Subjectively, Huawei P8, like other flagships, lasts a full day in average use mode.

Total

Huawei P8 is, first and foremost, a premium smartphone. With characteristics sufficient for a modern flagship and an excellent design, which, unlike its famous competitors, “doesn’t stick out anything.” Well, let's not forget that Huawei is a leading manufacturer of 3G/4G modems, and this is reflected in their smartphones - there are no complaints about the quality of reception and transmission.

	Huawei P8	Apple iPhone 6	Huawei Honor 6Plus
Main screen	TFT IPS, 5.2’’ 1080x1920 pixels	TFT IPS, 4.7’’ 750x1334 pixels	TFT IPS 5.5’’ 1080x1920 pixels
CPU	HiSilicon Kirin 930 4x 2 GHz (A57) + 4x 1.5 GHz (A53)	Apple A8, 2x 1.38 GHz	HiSilicon Kirin 925 4x 1.8 GHz (A15) + 4x 1.3 GHz (A7)
Video processor	Mali-T628MP4	PowerVR GX6450MP4	Mali-T628
SIM card type	nano-SIM	nano-SIM	nano-SIM + micro-SIM
RAM	3 GB	1 GB	3 GB
Built-in memory	16 GB	16/64/128 GB	16/32 GB
Memory cards	MicroSD	No	MicroSD
WiFi	802.11 a/b/g/n	802.11 a/b/g/n/ac	802.11 a/b/g/n
Bluetooth	4.1	4.0	4.0
Geolocation	GPS+GLONASS	GPS+GLONASS	GPS+GLONASS
Rear camera	13 MP	8 MP	2x 8 MP
Front-camera	8 MP	1.2 MP	8 MP
Dimensions	72.1 x 144.9 x 6.4 mm	67x138.1x6.9 mm	75.9x150.5x7.5 mm
Weight	144 g	129 g	165 g
Additionally	optical stabilization	NFC (Apple Pay), Lightning (USB 3.0), fingerprint sensor
Price	from 500 euros	from i 49 000	from i 26 000

The design of modern smartphones has become as similar as possible among all companies. If a couple of years ago companies tried to beat their competitors in this matter, now they began to adhere to a certain technology in production, which made all gadgets “incubator”. Huawei P8 Lite, reviews of which will be discussed below, is also not far from this tradition. And yet it has its undeniable advantages. In addition to the already standard two active SIM cards.

A few words about the company

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd was founded in 1988 in China. And it is one of the largest multinational supplier companies in the telecommunications industry. Many Russians still remember landlines this company, which were very popular in the 2000s. Today, Huawei is considered one of the most popular smartphone and tablet companies in the world. And now many people prefer to buy chinese smartphone from a trusted company at a stable and reasonable price, rather than overpaying for the brand and name of the device.

About the P8 Lite

The average cost of this gadget on the Russian market is about 14-18 thousand rubles. Today it can be safely called a budget model with flagship “manners”. Huawei P8 Lite, reviews of which are quite positive, is worth its money. And there are several objective reasons for this, which we will discuss below.

Design

The first thing people pay attention to when buying is the appearance. The Huawei P8 Lite smartphone, reviews of which are amazing with the number of admiring epithets, looks stylish, fashionable and very respectable. The classic type of case with a non-removable battery makes it convenient for daily use (no need to change back panel when it moves away and weakens). The matte back cover does not slip in your hands and imitates metal. The chrome edging gives the appearance even more solidity and style. This is an ideal design gadget for a business person, be it a woman or a man.

About the screen

Huawei P8 Lite, whose screen reviews are only positive, is equipped with a ten-finger multi-touch. A diagonal of five inches is already familiar in modern world, so it looks appropriate in any hands. Matrix type - IPS with 16.78 million colors. Pictures and photographs look “unrealistically cool,” judging by the reviews of the owners. By the way, Huawei P8 Lite, whose sensor responsiveness has only positive reviews, has good viewing angles and brightness. Therefore, on a sunny day, using a smartphone will not cause any difficulties - everything is clearly visible and readable, and you don’t have to strain your eyes. This is what captivates many buyers, because not all modern models Other manufacturers are equipped with such a good screen.

Cameras: external and front

The Huawei P8 Lite phone, reviews of which will be discussed in detail below, amazed many users with its cameras. In particular, external. Despite the fact that the model is considered a budget one, it shoots no worse than the top flagship of Samsung or iPhone. The external camera shoots with 13 megapixel clarity, but the Chinese manufacturer did not skimp on the matrix. The shooting starts as quickly as possible. Some users note that it is lightning fast. There are three shooting modes (unexpectedly for a budget model): photo, video and time-lapse. The latter is intended to capture some quick moment. For example, the sun setting on the horizon or a person jumping. The output is clear and bright accelerated video fragments (or “gifs”, as computer users call them). 13 megapixels is a very standard indicator for modern smartphones, but the main quality still depends on the camera matrix. And Huawei P8 Lite, whose owner reviews are mostly positive, is equipped with a fairly high-quality module. It is no worse than the original P8, although simplified. There are fewer functions and tricks, but all this can be solved if you have good photo editor. The original images from the main camera still remain excellent even in the dark. Macro photography is also of very high quality, without blur, autofocus is smooth and works reliably. 5 MP is ideal for selfies and video calling. Although in low light the picture still turns out somewhat yellowish and blurry. But famous branded flagships also suffer from this.

Communication standards

This is a pressing issue for many city residents, because 4G and LTE coverage areas are increasing every day, but not all smartphone manufacturers have time to keep track of this. Fortunately, the Huawei P8 Lite Black smartphone, whose communication quality reviews are favorable, supports all modern standards: 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE, LTE-A Cat 4. Naturally, how stable the connection will work depends on how operator to use and what coverage area to be in. The main cellular giants (Megafon, MTS, Beeline) are expanding the boundaries of new standards.

CPU

How well and stably the gadget will work depends on it. The described model is equipped with a new generation processor HiSilicon Kirin 620, 1.2 Hz. And it is enough for basic tasks: phone mode, games, application performance. The latter, by the way, according to users, simply “fly”. No lags, freezes or glitches were noticed even in multitasking mode (when running many applications). The smartphone fully justifies itself - it works clearly and stably, without causing discomfort to the user. An eight-core processor, of course, is no longer surprising in modern conditions, but it still pleases. For example, the most “heavy” popular games (NFS, WOT and others) work even at maximum settings stably and without brakes. The latest “Android 5.1” allows you to immerse yourself in the magical world of applications and toys to the fullest.

Memory: RAM and main

The Huawei P8 Lite Black smartphone, reviews of which are mostly positive, is quite standard for 2015 in this regard. is 16 GB, which is quite enough for games, applications, and information storage. If necessary, you can increase it by another 64 GB using an SD card (micro). The RAM is 2 GB. And this is also completely enough for full-fledged games and applications. Works easily even in multitasking mode background many applications. At the same time, the device does not slow down or glitch, which is pleasant for users. A smartphone replaces many other gadgets: you can use it to listen to music, play, read, surf the Internet, and communicate. And all this works quickly and smoothly.

Battery

Android devices have an unpleasant property - they “eat” the battery in huge quantities. And here, unfortunately, Huawei P8 Lite Black, reviews of which are not very positive, remains in the red. A 2200 mAh battery is not enough. During daylight hours, of course, the smartphone will work, but you will have to deny yourself something. On the other hand, many users note that with proper calibration and several “discharge-charge” cycles, the gadget does not require constant presence near the outlet. But it is still better to purchase an additional power source (powerbank).

Color spectrum

The company released the smartphone in several colors: white, black, silver. The “filling” is the same for everyone, but the appearance still looks different. Thus, Huawei P8 Lite Black, which has the most positive reviews among men according to this criterion, is more suitable specifically for the stronger sex. He is more serious and brutal. Silver color is considered neutral, so it is suitable for both ladies and young people. And here white smartphone simply created for a woman's hand. It is perfect, pleasant and very stylish even without additional accessories. Huawei P8 Lite White, which has only positive reviews among women, thanks to its plastic case, is not easily soiled and remains white and clean for a long time even when used without a protective case.

Accessories

The good thing about Chinese models is that many companies quickly and en masse begin producing additional jewelry and accessories for them. The almost flagship Huawei P8 Lite is no exception. You can easily match it with a back panel with a fashionable design or print. In addition, any headsets and headphones with a 3.5 mm plug will also work. Girls especially like to choose stylish and fashion cases and phone covers that make the gadget even more interesting and beautiful.

Male look at smartphone

Many representatives of the stronger sex, who often use the phone for “heavy” and serious games, were satisfied with the model. They like high productivity and stable work. Many people solved the problem with a low-capacity battery using a charger case and an external power bank. Appearance Most men liked the gadget in black, and some did not even immediately recognize the imitation of metal in the case.

Women's opinion about a smartphone

The girls were also pleased with the device. Especially the quality of pictures and multitasking. Some were pleased with both voice and gesture control, when there is no need to touch the smartphone at all. We can safely say that the device is suitable for both serious ladies and teenage girls who do not go out of their way social networks neither day nor night.

Brief conclusion

Lite, reviews of which are mostly positive, was liked by both girls and boys. It can be safely recommended to those who are looking for a reliable smartphone for everyday tasks for relatively little money. And, by the way, the gadget completely justifies them. Fast and powerful processor ensures stable operation, and a high-quality camera allows you to take beautiful pictures at any time of the day and in any environment. Active SIM cards work without interruption, one does not “jam” the other when making a call. That's why modern man can afford to combine work calls with personal ones directly on one device, without purchasing an additional one for himself. Micro-sized SIM cards are supported, which you need to prepare for in advance (although many operators have already switched to dual-SIM: those that you can independently select by size).

Released in April 2015, the Huawei P8 was the Chinese manufacturer's first real attempt to carve out a place in the flagship market. While the company's name isn't a big name like Samsung or Apple, it hopes to entice users with its sleek design, iPhone-like aluminum body, and some solid specs. For the most part, she succeeded. An octa-core processor, 3 GB of RAM and a high-quality camera prove that Huawei is keeping pace with the market leaders. The fact that the smartphone is significantly cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy S6, iPhone 6 and HTC One M9 makes it a good alternative to expensive well-known brands.

Case design

Huawei P8 looks much more expensive than its price. The beautiful metal body design weighs 144g and measures 144.9 x 72.1 x 6.4mm, clearly inspired by the iPhone 6 and Sony Xperia Z3, but with a more angular look.

Nice little touches set the smartphone apart from its competitors, including a flat, rectangular section on the back of the phone where the camera is located. The front panel is clean, without brand name and Home buttons, there is no unsightly plastic speaker grille. Samsung should take note of this.

The P8's chiseled, curved edges are similar to the Samsung Galaxy S6, while the softly textured metal on the back echoes the iPhone 5. Not only has Huawei borrowed designs from its competitors, it's also following the trend of naming model colors with ridiculous names. As a result, the 16GB version is available in Mystic Champagne and Titanium Gray, while the 64GB P8 comes in Prestige Gold and the less ridiculous Carbon Black. However, the finish may vary depending on the country in which the smartphone is sold.

The buttons on the right side of the P8 aren't just physical - they represent the phone's only real design flaw. User reviews call the switch of the Huawei P8 smartphone very small and too close to the volume rocker - because of this, they are easy to confuse. Double-tapping the bottom half of the latter activates the camera and takes a photo when the phone is turned off. This good function, but it would be easier if the power button was larger, further away, or on the opposite side.

But this small drawback does not detract from the fact that the rest of the phone's design is high-quality and reliable. The smartphone is heavier than the Samsung Galaxy S6 and iPhone 6, but lighter than the HTC One M9, and looks as good as either of them at half the price.

Screen

The 5.2” IPS screen of the Huawei P8 with full HD resolution (1080p) and a pixel density of 424 dpi, protected by Gorilla Glass 3, is slightly larger than that of the Galaxy S6. But its thin bezel means it doesn't take up too much space. And while it's not Quad HD like the Samsung S6, the Huawei P8's display is Black reviews called one of the best in modern phones. It's large, bright, and readable in any lighting conditions.

The Emotion UI includes several options for adjusting the color temperature of the screen, which you'll need to use to adjust your phone's bias towards warmer tones. The display settings have a sliding scale between warm and cool colors, and owners have found that moving the slider one position to the right restores a more natural color balance. The screen produces bright colors, but if you pay attention to the red and purple tones, their obvious oversaturation becomes apparent. But in general, the color rendition of the Huawei P8 GRA-UL00 is called satisfactory by user reviews.

Standing side by side with other flagships, the P8 still stands apart. Compared to the Galaxy S6, the P8's colors are more vibrant, but the phone can't match its level of detail, depth of blacks or purity of whites. Compared to the HTC One M9, the P8 is on par with its more expensive competitor.

The Huawei P8 screen is praised by reviews for its good viewing angles and ability to adapt to changes in lighting. This is one area where the P8 really impresses.

Camera

The P8 smartphone is equipped with a 13-megapixel main image sensor with an f/2 lens and an optical stabilization system (OIS), an 8-megapixel front sensor and dual LED flash. The manufacturer focused on the camera during the announcement of the model, and looking at its characteristics, you can understand why. The P8 features a 13-megapixel Sony RGBW sensor with a dedicated image processor and lens designed to reduce noise and improve low-light performance. The company also claims that the phone's optical stabilization system is significantly better than that of the iPhone 6 Plus. This is made possible because the OIS unit can handle motion with a 1.2° offset, compared to the 0.6° of the iPhone 6 Plus. Optical stabilization performs well in low light conditions, helping to compensate for camera shake when shooting stationary subjects, but is also useful when recording high-definition video at 30 fps, providing relative image stability.

Reviews praise the Huawei P8 camera for its excellent picture quality, especially in good lighting. It's easy to handle and responsive, but the autofocus could be better. The P8 recognizes faces quickly and tracks them well. Focusing takes about a second, which isn't too bad, but unless the subject is a face, the camera needs help picking the right subject.

Huawei P8 Dual reviews highlight the presence of unusual camera modes that allow you to take creative and improved photos without the need for technical know-how. Light photography is probably the most sophisticated of the phone's photo modes, and it gives you the ability to take photos with a variety of effects, such as car headlight marks, the movement of stars, or a smooth water surface.

The mode works by slowing shutter speeds, which allows the camera to receive light for extended periods of time, but does not require users to know how to set shutter speeds. If you hold the phone confidently enough (the manufacturer recommends a tripod), the results will be decent, and experimenting with light will be a lot of fun. This is an affordable way to get to know complex techniques photos.

Reviews call the front 8 megapixel camera of Huawei P8 ideal for selfies. The built-in retouching tools help her with this, allowing her to make her face more attractive. List of "cosmetic" features software(which some may find offensive) includes teeth and skin whitening, facial slimming and removing bags under the eyes. If you use them sparingly, the result will be more or less decent, but, of course, the natural look is more preferable.

Huawei has put a lot of effort into image processing to improve color and clarity. The result is that photos taken with the P8 will look great on your phone screen and on social media.

Comparative shots taken by the P8 and Galaxy S6 smartphones show how successful the company from China has been. In various lighting conditions, photos taken by Huawei P8 Champagne are praised by reviews for being more attractive. Of course, upon closer inspection it becomes clear that the S6 is in a different league when it comes to color accuracy and detail, but for most users the P8 camera will be more than enough.

Software

While the P8 looks a bit like an iPhone on the outside, the inside of the phone will feel incredibly familiar to anyone who's used iOS devices in recent years. P8 runs under Android control 5.0, but it has its own Emotion UI interface, which does not even hide its similarity to Apple's OS. Everything has been copied, from the shape and style of the icons to the gesture on the home screen that activates the Spotlight search function. Plagiarism of Huawei P8 Gold is confirmed by owner reviews by the fact that the smartphone has a system Android search, so Spotlight is redundant and is probably only included because Apple phones have it.

But one should not immediately condemn this approach, since the manufacturer used his admiration for one of the best operating systems to give Android a fast and clean interface. For example, swiping down gives access to notifications in one tab and to the menu quick settings to another. This good decision to separate two zones and makes it easy to navigate them.

True, user reviews of Huawei P8 phones criticize the fact that the manufacturer did not leave such Lollipop features as active application shortcuts in the style of a rotating catalog. Instead, pressing the options button brings up the old tiled browser of active applications, which allows you to select or close open source software when you click on them or swipe up. It works, but it's not as attractive as Android 5.0 OS.

Original features

In an attempt to create subtle differences, Huawei has given the P8 some unique features. Some of them concern the camera, and voice control, for example, allows you to find your phone. The default activation phrase is “Okay, Amy,” but you can set a different, more personalized one. Reviews call this function of the Huawei P8 GRA-UL00 Champagne not fully functional. It's easier to take your smartphone and press the power button. The function doesn't fire when required and aborts telephone conversations requests to repeat what was said, as if she was waiting for an order to do something.

Another feature allows you to use your knuckles for additional commands and gestures, such as screen capture. The phone knows the difference between them and the pads of your fingers and, for example, will instantly make a copy of the screen if you tap it twice. This is good for screenshots as it is more convenient than traditionally pressing the volume key and power button combination.

Performance

The heart of the smartphone is Huawei's own chipset - the 64-bit HiSilicon Kirin 930, consisting of two quad-core Cortex-A53 processors in a big.LITTLE configuration. One set is overclocked to two gigahertz for intensive tasks, while the other at 1.5 GHz takes care of standard phone functions such as calling, email, web browsing and listening to music.

This solution turned out to be very effective. Reviews call the work of the Huawei P8 Gold fast - it can easily cope with complex tasks. CPUs help with this GPU Mali T628 and RAM volume 3 GB. True, some minor fading and lag does occur, but proper control open applications is intended to negate this issue.

The P8's performance test puts the smartphone on par with the HTC One M9, which uses the top-end Snapdragon 810 chipset. That's impressive in itself, and considering Huawei's flagship costs about $220 less, it's even more impressive.

Speaker and call quality

The P8's speaker and microphone are located at the base of the phone, on either side of the micro-USB port. Their position means that it can be covered with your hand when watching videos in landscape orientation, but the grille is large enough to prevent this from happening completely.

Reviews call the Huawei P8 GRA-UL00 mono speaker quite loud, but its sound is not very good. The owner of the phone will quickly become the subject of hatred if he dares to play audio even at half volume in a public place. The range is noticeably shifted towards high frequencies, but the bass can still be heard.

The earbuds on offer are made of durable plastic, but they don't fit well in large ear holes. Their volume is high and the frequency response is good across the board, but they suffer from sound leakage that will annoy others.

In general, the audio output of the Huawei P8 smartphone is rated somewhere between the class-leading stereo speakers of the HTC One M9 BoomSound and the iPhone 6 with Galaxy S6 - a decent result considering the price.

Problems with reception mobile signal and call quality is poor. The smartphone shows a good signal level wherever it should be. The phone is compatible with 4G and uses a special antenna design for the so-called. “seamless switching technology” that keeps the signal consistently strong. According to users, it really works.

Multimedia

Huawei P8 entry level produced only with 16 GB internal memory. This is clearly not enough today, since volumes of 32 GB and higher have already become commonplace. Only 10.5 GB is available to the user, which makes it even more disappointing. On the side of the phone there is a slot for microSD cards, which allows for up to 128GB of storage, but owners would still like to have more internal space. Luckily, Huawei also offers a 64GB version of the P8, but you'll have to pay extra for that.

The Full HD display is great for watching videos, and the P8 comes with a dedicated app that makes it easy to find. After clicking on the video icon, a basic player with play, pause and skip buttons is launched. It is very unpretentious and easy to use.

The Huawei P8 gets quite a bit warm after about 15 minutes of gaming, but the phone remains warm rather than hot - which is good news.

Battery life

The smartphone is powered by a 2680 mAh battery. That's more than the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, but significantly less than the 4,360 mAh of its larger twin, the Huawei P8 Max. Owner reviews indicate that with moderate use the battery lasts for a day and a half. The battery charge level remains almost unchanged in standby mode, but drops steadily at a rate of about 7% for every hour of watching videos or playing games. Listening to audio doesn't impact the battery any more than the phone in standby mode, which is great for music lovers. Morning commute to work checking social media, watching videos and Email by noon the charge is reduced to 85-90%. Emotion UI offers comprehensive power management tools, the most useful of which are power consumption monitoring, highlighting the most power-hungry applications.

Reviews of the Huawei P8 smartphone are positive for its ability to provide suggestions for optimizing battery performance, indicating exactly what settings should be made. This is a good alternative to the standard power saving options, which simply indiscriminately reduce the overall performance of the phone. However, they are also available and can be useful when the battery charge drops to a certain level.

The battery charge lasts 3.5 hours - the S6 does it twice as fast. But in general, the performance of the Huawei P8 battery is described by owners as satisfactory. It still needs to be charged every 24 hours with moderate use, but you'll rarely be caught off guard by critical battery status alerts.

Is it worth buying Huawei P8?

This option cannot be rejected. Of course, the phone does not have the prestigious big name, but it is much cheaper and is not inferior to well-known brands, and sometimes even surpasses them. The Huawei P8 GRA-UL00 smartphone is praised by owner reviews for meeting all the features of flagship models, including a large screen, fast processor and a good 13 megapixel main camera. A larger battery would put the phone beyond reach, but the actual battery life still beats some big-name rivals.

All this is sold at the price of former flagships such as the LG G3 and HTC M8, as well as mid-range phones Samsung class Galaxy A5 and Sony M4 Aqua and compact versions of flagships. Only with your own technical characteristics and in terms of performance, the smartphone challenges such big names as the Galaxy S6 and HTC One M9. This is a strong argument in favor of the P8 and certainly puts it among the best models of 2015.

Conclusion

Mobile Huawei phone Reviews praise the P8 for having all the essential ingredients of a top-of-the-line smartphone, but something didn't quite go to plan during the packaging process. Screen, power, camera and battery charge match the best models, but the software and interface inefficiencies drag down the overall experience of using the Huawei P8. In addition, the manufacturer should deal with firmware update issues.

At $580, don't get too picky as the buyer gets a lot for the money. It still feels like the phone hasn't reached the level of Apple, Samsung, Sony and HTC, and the company will have a lot more to do to get rid of the stigma of being a second-rate phone maker.