Huawei P 8. Huawei P8 - Specifications

The powerful hardware of the flagship Huawei P8 was packaged in an ultra-thin metal case, where there was also room for two SIM cards. One of the coolest features of this device was a camera with an RGBW sensor and optical stabilization. Vesti.Hi-tech figured out all the nuances of the elegant new product.

The premium device P8 from Huawei was presented in mid-April in London. According to IDC data for the last quarter, this Chinese corporation is one of the top three global smartphone manufacturers, so the next European premiere of its flagship quite transparently hints at where further expansion will be directed. Let us remind you that the flagship line (P8) also includes a device with an increased screen size - P8max and a lightweight version of the top-end smartphone -. It is interesting that the presentation of the premium new product was held in a modern center of fashion and art, thereby emphasizing the desired combination of style and functionality. Since the entire family of P flagships is considered fashionable, greater emphasis is placed on design (after all, there are also technologically advanced Mate flagships).

If suddenly you have absolutely no time, then here is a short text about the main strengths and weaknesses of Huawei P8, without technical details:

Specifications

• Model: GRA_UL00
• OS: Android 5.0 (Lollipop) with EUI 3.1 shell
• Processor: HiSilicon Kirin 930 8-core 64-bit processor, ARM big.LITTLE GTS architecture (4 cores ARM Cortex-A53e, 2.0 GHz + 4 cores ARM Cortex-A53, 1.5 GHz), Smart i3 co-processor for operation with sensors
• Graphics subsystem: ARM Mali-T628 MP4
• RAM: 3 GB (LPDDR3, 1600 MHz)
• Storage: 16 GB (approx. 10.4 GB available), microSDXC memory card slot (up to 128 GB)
• Interfaces: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n (2.4 GHz), Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.1, microUSB for charging/syncing, 3.5 mm headphone jack, USB-OTG
• Screen: capacitive, IPS, 5.2-inch diagonal, resolution 1920x1080 pixels, pixel density per inch 424 ppi, glove control
• Cameras: main - 13 MP RGBW sensor (Sony IMX278), f/2.0 aperture, 29 mm EGF, autofocus, optical stabilization, dual flash, 1080p@30 fps video recording, front - 8 MP (Sony IMX179 Exmor), f aperture /2.4, EGF 26 mm, video 1080p@30 fps
• Network: 2G, 3G (HSPA+, up to 42 Mbit/s), LTE Cat. 4 (up to 150 Mbit/s)
• SIM cards: nanoSIM (4FF format) + nanoSIM (4FF format)/microSD slots, Dual SIM Dual Active (DSDA)
• Navigation: GPS/GLONASS/BDS, A-GPS
• Radio: FM tuner
• Sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, light and proximity sensors
• Battery: non-removable, lithium polymer, 2,680 mAh (10.19 Wh; 3.8 V)
• Colors: silver, gold
• Dimensions: 144.9x72.1x6.4 mm
• Weight: 144 grams

Design, ergonomics

Huawei does not hide the fact that when creating the new flagship, drawing inspiration from traditional values, they did without avant-garde solutions. Thus, according to the creators, P8 design elements should evoke memories of the pages, spines and bindings of books.

The overture to this approach is the original plastic box with a translucent lid, and the process of unpacking the device is in some sense reminiscent of removing a book from a bookshelf.

The fact is that the smartphone, as well as its documentation and accessories (USB-microUSB cable, power adapter and headset), which are distributed in separate boxes, are inserted into the main package vertically, and not horizontally, as usual. In general, everything looks very stylish.

According to the developers, the body of the new flagship is made of a single piece of aluminum, while the thin back cover is made of steel, which further increases the rigidity of the frame.

The developers made the P8 not only one of the thinnest (only 6.4 mm), but also one of the lightest (weight - 144 g, which is about the same as the tiny iPhone 4 by today's standards) modern flagships. Indeed, for comparison: - 6.9 mm, 129 g; - 9.6 mm, 157 g; - 9.8 mm, 155 g; - 6.8 mm, 138 g. Note, by the way, that the thickness of the previous flagship is 6.5 mm. The new smartphone model GRA_UL00 is available in two colors: silver (Titanium Gray) and gold (Mystic Champagne). At the same time, the surface treatment does not hide the structure of the metal, and the rear panel made of steel pleasantly cools the hand.

In the upper part of the front panel, covered with protective glass, there is a cutout for a “conversational” microphone, to the left of which there are proximity and light sensors, and to the right - the front camera lens and a charging/event indicator.

On-screen control buttons for Back, Home, and Recent Apps are indicated by triangle, circle, and square icons. Their order can be easily changed in the settings by adding an icon to them to open the notification panel. The Huawei logo, by which the lightweight version of the smartphone can be easily distinguished from the flagship, is missing here under the screen. Generally speaking, the front view of the new product turned out to be quite faceless, which, given Huawei’s reverent attitude to design, is quite strange.

The left side edge of the body is empty,

and on the right we have a volume rocker, a power/lock button, as well as two closed slots with trays, the bottom of which only accepts nanoSIM cards, and the upper, combined one, is intended for the alternative installation of either a nanoSIM format subscriber identification module or a microSD memory card. In this sense, it is more “omnivorous”, since it accepts nanoSIM and microSIM cards in different slots. Both locks on the lids can be opened with a special clip, which is included in the kit.

By the way, in profile, the flagship P8 can be distinguished from its fleshed-out version only by plastic jumpers (elements in the antenna design).

The upper end is occupied by a 3.5 mm connector for an audio headset and a hole for a second microphone (noise reduction), which is closer to the left edge of the flagship.

At the bottom end, between two groups of holes (six in each), a microUSB connector was placed, which is framed by the heads of two mounting screws.

Under the left group of holes, as before, hides the grille of the “multimedia” speaker, and under the right one – the “talk” microphone.

The holes for the main camera and dual flash were moved to the upper left side back cover and covered with a dark glass plate, which was carefully copied in. Only closer to the edge there is a flash (in the light version it’s the other way around).

From the inscription (in very small print) at the bottom of the steel panel, decorated with the Huawei logo, you can find out the model number, company name and country of manufacture.

Fixing the smartphone in the palm of your hand is accompanied by the pleasant coolness of the metal, without any “thrill” sensations. True, the dimensions of the case, mainly due to the diagonal of the screen (5.2 inches), do not allow us to talk about comfortable operation of the device with one hand. For this reason, the settings provide a number of tools to partially compensate for this shortcoming.

Screen, camera, sound

For 5.2" display flagship smartphone We chose Full HD resolution (1920x1080 pixels), which, for obvious reasons, does not claim to be a technological record. Of course, Quad HD would sound cooler, but whether the game is worth the candle in this case is another matter. After all, with the existing diagonal and screen resolution, the dots per inch density is 424 dpi. In addition, the P8 uses an advanced matrix without an air gap between the layers of the screen manufactured by JDI - IPS-Neo with improved contrast (1500: 1). At the same time, the ratio of the display area to the area of ​​the entire front panel is 71.6%. The screen with fairly thin side frames is distinguished not only by good contrast, but also by color rendition close to natural, large viewing angles and a solid reserve of brightness.

The backlight level can be adjusted either manually or using automatic setting by light sensor. At the same time, the latter works quite adequately. Sensory capacitive screen recognizes up to ten simultaneous presses. The results of the AnTuTu Tester and Multi-Touch Test programs fully confirm this multi-touch. In the settings you can change the color temperature of the screen - make the colors warmer or, conversely, cooler. There is also an option to increase the sensitivity of the sensor for working with gloves. The good anti-glare properties of the screen allow you to use your smartphone outdoors without any problems, even on a sunny summer day. Note that the protective glass has an oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating on top.

The key features of the main camera based on the Sony IMX278 photo module are optical image stabilization, a 4-color RGBW sensor with a resolution of 13 megapixels, and a separate (not from the chipset) image processor from Altek. It’s also worth adding a lens with an effective focal length (EFL) of 29 mm and an f/2.0 aperture, as well as autofocus and dual LED flash. All this is aimed at creating conditions for obtaining high-quality contrast images in low light conditions. The maximum image resolution is 4160x3120 pixels (13 MP) with a classic aspect ratio (4:3) and 4160x2336 pixels (10 MP) for a widescreen frame (16:9). Examples of photos can be viewed.

In turn, the front camera, based on the 8-megapixel Sony IMX179 Exmor photo module, received a wide-angle lens with an EGF of 26 mm and an f/2.4 aperture. The maximum resolution here is 3264x2448 pixels (8 MP, 4:3) and 3264x1840 pixels (3.8 MP, 16:9), respectively. Both cameras can shoot in Full HD resolution (1920x1080 pixels, 16:9) at a frame rate of 30 fps. All content is saved in MP4 container files (AVC - video, AAC - audio). Shooting with 4K resolution, as well as with an increased frame rate (for example, 60 fps), is not provided here.

In the Camera app, in addition to Photo, Video, and Beautify modes (for enhancing portraits), Time Lapse (for time-lapse photography) and Light mode (for shooting with a tripod in low light) are also available. . The latter, in particular, contains the presets “Light of Lanterns”, “Light Graffiti”, “Water” and “Stars”. It is clear that for such filming you need not only a certain place, but also a decent amount of time.

Along with image resolution and video quality, parameters such as saturation, contrast and brightness are adjusted in the camera settings. White balance and ISO adjustments are also available. Before and after shooting, it’s easy to use a set of filters like “Vintage”, “Monochrome”, etc. The front camera settings offer, in particular, the “Perfect Selfie” mode, where, along with the usual beautification effect, you can adjust additional parameters (“Smoothing”, “Whitening”, “Big eyes”, “Bright eyes”, “Narrow face” ).

Using the “Mirror” application, accessible from the front camera menu, it’s easy not only to look at yourself and your loved one, but also to play a little mischief by drawing a funny face on the “foggy” screen or even “breaking” the protective glass of your smartphone.

But the “Director” program allows you to feel like a professional so that, together with your friends (by connecting a maximum of three more smartphones), you can shoot your video simultaneously from four points, and then edit it into one clip.

The smartphone's "multimedia" speaker sounds pretty good, although its volume is not very high. Let us recall that the base Kirin 930 platform (Hi3630 chipset) uses the Tensilica HiFi 3 signal processor, licensed from Cadence Design Systems. So for regular funds Playback of FLAC files created by audio compression codecs without loss of quality is available. But DTS (Digital Theater System) sound enhancement technology can only be used with headphones. In this sense, the included headset is useful not only as a short-wave antenna for the built-in FM tuner, which can only be listened to through headphones. Noise-reducing stereo recordings for Voice Recorder are provided using two microphones in Meeting, Interview, and Concert modes. By the way, the manufacturer claims that, for example, in strong winds, the smartphone is able to filter out up to 90% of the noise created by the air flow.

Filling, performance

The base platform of the flagship smartphone P8 is the HiSilicon Kirin 930 chip, made in compliance with 28 nm design standards. The 8-core processor used in it is composed of two clusters of 64-bit Cortex-A53 (1.5 GHz) and Cortex-A53e (2.0 GHz) cores according to the ARM big.LITTLE GTS architecture.

More powerful Cortex-A57 were not satisfied with their high power consumption, which leads to increased heating mobile device. It is believed that the new quartet of Cortex-A53e is only slightly inferior to Cortex-A57 in terms of performance, but uses battery power more economically. Graphics processing functions are taken over by the built-in ARM Mali-T628 MP4 accelerator with four execution units. In addition to the memory controller (LPDDR3, 1600 MHz), the Kirin 930 chip contains a “sensor hub” - a Smart i3 coprocessor, a Tensilica HiFi 3 audio processor, an LTE modem, etc. The basic configuration of the smartphone is supplemented with 3 GB random access memory.

On synthetic tests AnTuTu Benchmark measured 46,389 “virtual parrots” for the flagship. For example, a 5.5-inch smartphone and an “intermediate” flagship are valued at approximately the same number of “feathered” ones.

Vellamo benchmarks, including multi-core (Multicore) and processor (Metal) tests, confirmed the flagship efforts of the P8.

On the Epic Citadel visual test, with variable settings of High Performance, High Quality and Ultra High Quality, the average frame rate changed as follows - 58.1 fps, 54.8 fps and 31.0 fps.

On the universal gaming benchmark 3DMark, where the smartphone was tested on the Sling Shot and Ice Storm Unlimited sets, results of 184 and 7,725 were recorded, respectively. Of course, there are no problems with games, including “heavy” ones, on the P8.

The total number of points earned by the flagship on the cross-platform benchmark Base Mark OS II was 1,146 and almost twice as high as the result for.

The GRA_UL00 model is equipped with 16 GB of internal memory, of which approximately 10.4 GB is available. To expand the existing storage, there is a slot designed for microSD/HC/XC memory cards with a maximum capacity of up to 128 GB. Let us remind you that the slot where the memory card is inserted is universal, and if you occupy it, you will have to sacrifice the installation of a second SIM card (nanoSIM format). Support for USB-OTG technology allows you to connect, for example, USB drives.

In the SIM card settings, you are asked to decide which subscriber identification module will work with 4G/3G networks, which one will be used for data transfer, and which one will be used for voice calls and messages. Thanks to two separate radio modules, Dual SIM Dual Active mode is supported, when both SIM cards operate simultaneously. Here's what it specifically says about networking support fourth generation: LTE Cat. 4 (up to 150 Mbit/s) FDD: Band 1, 3, 4, 7; TDD: Band 38, 39, 40, 41. Let us remind you that the 7th frequency range (2600 MHz) is especially relevant for Russia.

To increase work speed Wi-Fi settings+ must provide “smart” switching between Wi-Fi networks and mobile networks data transmission. But Signal+ technology allows the smartphone to choose the most optimal communication mode. This is made possible by quickly switching from one part of the dual antenna to the other. In addition, according to the developers, in this case the quality of the connection improves while driving at high speeds (up to 300 km/h).

As for other communication capabilities of the flagship, there is Bluetooth 4.1, but only one frequency band is supported for Wi-Fi 802.11n (2.4 GHz). Yes, and there is no NFC interface in this model. Well, the implementation of Wi-Fi Direct allows the smartphone to communicate with another device without routers and hot spots.

Used for location and navigation satellite systems GPS, GLONASS and BDS. At the same time, according to the test program AndroiTS GPS Test, signals from GPS satellites are most readily sought after. A-GPS mode is also available.

The capacity of the flagship's non-removable lithium-polymer battery is 2,680 mAh (10.19 Wh; 3.8 V). Let us remind you that the simplified version is content with a battery of only 2,200 mAh. But even this difference makes itself felt.

Thus, in AnTuTu Tester battery tests, the flagship earned 7,874 points (versus 4,517). But the test set of videos in MP4 and Full HD quality played continuously at full brightness for about 7 hours.

In the “Energy Saving” settings, which also provides for optimization and monitoring of energy consumption, four modes are already offered - “Energy Saving”, “Smart”, “Performance” and “Moderate”. The latter mode is recommended for long-term use of the device, but “Energy Saving” turns the smartphone into a regular “dialer” (only calls and messages). In turn, “Smart” is good for balanced daily work, and “Productivity” will be required for games and online videos.

Software

The flagship runs on the Android 5.0 operating system, the interface of which is replaced by the proprietary EMUI 3.1 shell with support for OTA (Over-The-Air) updates.

The same version of the launcher is installed on the simplified version of the flagship. Let us remind you that the shell does not have a separate application menu, and shortcuts for all programs are simply collected on desktops.

Speech recognition is useful for finding a new smartphone if it's nearby, or for making a call when your hands are full. First, in the “Speech Recognition” section, you should select activation words (recommended - Okay emy) and practice their pronunciation three times, as well as decide on the type of ringing signal and language (for now, alas, only English). For example, when searching for a phone, after the words to activate it, you need to say: “Where are you?” In response from the smartphone you will hear - “I am here”, while the device will blink with a flash and the screen, displaying colored balls on it.

Taking a screenshot on the P8 is easy by simply tapping the screen twice with your knuckle. To do this, in the "Smart Screenshot" section, you should activate the corresponding option. In addition, if you draw, again with a knuckle, a closed outline (counterclockwise), you will get a snapshot of a limited area of ​​​​the screen. It is proposed to leave this area of ​​any shape (as is), or make it square or elliptical. In addition to everything, the resulting image can be edited directly on your smartphone.

Purchase, conclusions

In general, the new flagship from Huawei fits well into the image family of R smartphones. Quite powerful hardware is hidden in its ultra-thin all-metal body with a high-quality screen. At the same time, there was a place for a separate radio module for each of the two SIM cards. Of course, the advanced main camera in this smartphone deserves special attention. Unfortunately, you have to pay for expanding the built-in memory with a second SIM card.

I was somewhat surprised by the lack of an NFC interface and support for the 5 GHz band in the flagship device. Wi-Fi 802.11n. In addition, I would like to see the possibility for fast charging. As already noted, it can hardly be considered an advantage to install a second nanoSIM card as an alternative to expanding the built-in memory .

The Huawei P8 smartphone is offered at a recommended price of 29,990 rubles, so it looks more advantageous compared to 2-SIM flagships, for example, Samsung Galaxy S6 Duos or (Duos), for which, according to Yandex.Market, on average they ask for 39,990 rubles and 42,320 rubles, respectively. However, considering all the capabilities of these elegant devices, they are worth the money (taking into account the ruble exchange rate, of course). In short, finding a worthy opponent for the P8 is not so easy. A more realistic competitor may, for example, be “thin and iron”, which also belongs to the image line. Of course, its filling is simpler, but the average price is lower - 24,879 rubles.

Review results of the Huawei P8 smartphone

Pros:

• Ultra-thin all-metal body
• High quality screen
• Powerful filling
• Advanced camera with optical stabilization
• Memory expandability
• Two radio modules for SIM cards

Minuses:

• Lack of NFC interface
• No 5GHz band support for 802.11n Wi-Fi
• No fast charging
• Alternative installation of either a second nanoSIM card or microSD

Huawei P8 continues the glorious traditions of the flagship line of smartphones. This gadget was announced in a big way in April 2015. He successfully preserved the design developments of his predecessors, and also acquired completely new hardware.

Appearance and ergonomics

The high-quality all-metal body of the Huawei P8 immediately inspires respect. Designers from Huawei claim that they were inspired by book binding, which is made by hand. The result is a kind of classic with a modern twist. And if the smartphone looks recognizable from the front, the back has undergone changes. Back panel lost glass, but improved ergonomic properties thanks to slightly rough aluminum. Now fingerprints will not actively collect on the case. The emphasis was on practicality and elegance at the same time. At the same time, the device is as compact as possible, and the build quality is at a truly highest level. Dimensions of P8: height - 145 mm, width - 72 mm, thickness - 6.4 mm, weight - 145 g. Case color: silver, champagne, black.

Display

The Huawei P8 uses a 5.2-inch diagonal IPS screen. The viewing angles here are maximum, and the picture quality is always excellent. Almost natural color rendition is pleasing to the eye, and Full HD resolution at such sizes creates amazing detail. You can also customize the colors yourself. We are pleasantly surprised by the automatic brightness adjustment, which does its job well. The anti-reflective coating does not cause any complaints, since the information remains readable in the sun.

Hardware and performance

The Huawei P8 smartphone is equipped with a progressive 64-bit Kirin 930 processor with eight cores (Cortex-A53) and a maximum frequency of 2000 MHz. It uses a Mali-T628 MP4 graphics accelerator, as well as 3 GB of RAM. The user is allocated only 16 GB for file storage, which is very little for a flagship. However, only 10 GB is actually available. MicroSD cards up to 256 GB can be used. EMUI 3.1 acts as an exclusive shell, and the smartphone is controlled using the very popular Android 5.0 OS.

The filling turned out to be quite productive. So, in the AnTuTu test, the P8 gadget manages to score 45,000 points. The performance of the device is noticeable not only during everyday use, but also when running serious games. For example, AAA class projects (WoT, GTA, Asphalt 8) work at high speed and maximum effects. In Ice Storm Extreme, the device shows a result of 5700 points.

Communication and sound

It is worth noting that Huawei P8 supports all domestic LTE network bands. It can also work in HSDPA and GSM networks. Wireless modules include Bluetooth 4.1 and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz. The device receives the signal very reliably, and any network is caught well. The clear sound of the conversational speaker can also please you. As for the multimedia speaker, its volume is not the most impressive, but the sound is loud and clear.

Camera

During the presentation of the Huawei P8, a lot of attention was paid to the new generation 13-megapixel camera. Sony's sensor is now four-color (RGBW). Optical stabilization has appeared, which was not present in smartphones of this series. For this purpose special processor DSLR. Aperture 2.0 is useful for night photography. The camera menu is extremely convenient, there is a large number useful modes. You can also change the focus point. There is an interesting “Light Drawing” mode, which is useful in the evening. The camera boasts excellent macro. Even at night, the smartphone takes beautiful pictures, and even more so in the daytime. You can only record videos in Full HD, since 4K is not supported. The front 8-megapixel camera with a fixed focus distance will also please you. The “Decoration” mode will help get rid of skin blemishes.

conclusions

The Huawei P8 may not be a perfect flagship, but it has stepped forward in literally everything much further than its predecessor. For 30,000 rubles (at the start of sales), the user gets a truly beautiful smartphone with good hardware and two excellent cameras. This is the optimal solution for those who do not yet have enough money or feel sorry for the top solutions from Samsung and Apple.

Pros:

• Performance.
• Screen.
• Cameras (front and main).
• Build quality.
• Price.

Minuses:

• Lack of NFC.
• Not enough internal memory.

Huawei P8 Specifications

General characteristics
Model	Huawei P8, GRA-UL00, GRA-TL00, GRA-CL00, GRA-L09, GRA-UL10, GRA-TL10, GRA-CL10
Date of announcement/start of sales	April 2015 / April 2015
Dimensions	144.9 x 72.1 x 6.4 mm.
Weight	144 g.
Case color range	Titanium Grey, Mystic Champagne (16 GB model) Carbon Black, Prestige Gold (64 GB model)
Number and type of SIM cards	2 nano-SIM, alternating operating mode
operating system	Android OS, v4.4.2 (KitKat), v5.0.2 (Lollipop)
Communication standard in 2G networks	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 CDMA 800
Communication standard in 3G networks	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO/TD-SCDMA
Communication standard in 4G networks	LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 7(2600), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500)
Display
Screen type	IPS-NEO LCD, 16 million colors
Screen size	5.2 inches
Screen resolution	1080 x 1920 @424 ppi
Multitouch	yes, up to 10 simultaneous touches
Screen protection	Gorilla Glass 3
Sound
3.5mm jack	There is
FM radio	There is
Additionally	24-bit/192kHz audio, active noise reduction
Data transfer
USB	microUSB v2.0, USB Host
Satellite navigation	GPS (A-GPS), GLONASS/BDS
WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth	v4.1, A2DP, LE
Internet connection	LTE, Cat4; HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps, EDGE, GPRS
NFC	Yes
Platform
CPU	HiSilicon Kirin 930/935 Octa-core (4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4×1.5 GHz Cortex-A53)
GPU	Mali-T628 MP4
RAM	3GB RAM
Inner memory	16/64 GB
Supported memory cards	microSD up to 256GB
Camera
Camera	13 MP, f/2.0, 28mm, autofocus, OIS, dual-LED (dual tone) flash
Camera functions	1.12 µm pixel size, geo-tagging, touch focus, face/smile detection, panorama, HDR
Video recording	1080p@30fps
Front-camera	8 MP, f/2.4, 26mm, 1080p
Battery
Battery type and capacity	Li-Po 2680 mAh, non-removable
Additionally
Sensors	Illumination, proximity, gyroscope, compass, accelerometer
Browser	HTML5
Email	IMAP, POP3, SMTP
Other	— XviD/MP4/H.264 player - MP3/eAAC+/WMA/WAV/Flac player — Document viewer — Organizer — Voice dialing, voice commands
Equipment
Standard equipment	smartphone, headphones, charger, USB cable, instructions

Prices

Video reviews

Huawei presented new smartphone sister brand Honor 8C. The new product is a logical continuation and is aimed at the budget segment of the market. The characteristics correspond to the positioning and price. The phone is built on an inexpensive but strong Snapdragon 632 hardware platform. There is a dual camera, but the sensors are modest. The screen is large, but with HD resolution. Noteworthy is the battery capacity - 4000 mAh. And the price, which can be called very attractive.

Honor 8C: characteristics in one line

Let's get acquainted with the new product in the usual format of characteristics in one line. The eager reader will find all the key specifications of the Honor 8C here. Those who want to know more are invited to read the subsequent sections of the publication.

• Processor Snapdragon 632, 14 nm, Adreno 506.
• RAM: 4 GB.
• Internal memory: 32 GB and 64 GB, there is a microSD slot.
• Battery 4000 mAh.
• Screen 6.26 inches, IPS LCD, 1520 by 720 pixels (19:9).
• Dual camera: 13 MP + 2 MP.
• Operating system Android 8.1 Oreo + EMUI 8.2.

Let's highlight a powerful battery, which, with an economical processor and an HD+ screen, can provide excellent operating time on a single charge. Of interest is the new Snapdragon 632 chip. If our memory serves us correctly, this is the first time we have seen this processor in commercial smartphones. Snapdragon 632 was introduced in the summer of 2018 along with Snapdragon 439 and S429; You can read about the new Qualcomm chipsets.

Honor 8C: hardware specifications

How developers choose processors for is unknown. Some models receive , others - . Apparently, the choice is dictated by production capacity. If there are not enough home chips, the model is released on Snapdragon. In the case of Honor 8C, the logic could be different. This budget phone, the main advantage of which is its affordable cost. Accordingly, it immediately disappears; all that remains is to choose between Snapdragon chips.

Snapdragon 632 is a good choice. The chipset is the successor to the famous 600 series, the successor to the Snapdragon 625. It is built on Kryo 250 CPU cores. Kryo 250 is a simplified version of Kryo 260, which we see in the S636 and S660. The cores in the S632 processor operate at 1.8 GHz, but are divided into two clusters - powerful and efficient. Graphics accelerator - Adreno 506, like Snapdragon 625.

The Honor 8C will be in perfect order with its speed, and you can also play games comfortably. The choice of RAM volume is correct - 4 GB. Internal memory - 32 GB or 64 GB. We decided not to place any more so as not to go out of the price range. There is a slot for memory expansion.

Honor 8C: camera, battery, screen

Camera. The Honor 8C smartphone has a dual rear camera. Main sensor resolution 13 MP, but I would like to highlight the light optics with aperture F/1.8. The second module is used to analyze the depth of the scene and defocus the background in portrait mode. The resolution here is modest (2 megapixels), the aperture is F/2.4.

Screen. The main disadvantage of the Honor 8C smartphone is the screen. The diagonal is large, 6.26 inches, but here is the resolution - 1520 by 720 pixels. Obviously, the choice in favor of an HD screen is dictated by the need to reduce the price of the phone and give it another competitive advantage - an attractive price.

Battery. The disadvantage in the form of an HD screen is partly compensated by another characteristic of the Honor 8C - a powerful battery on 4000 mAh. In combination with effective Snapdragon chipset 632 and an HD display, such a battery can make the new product one of the leaders in autonomy ratings.

All characteristics of Honor 8C can be seen in the table, after which we talk about the price and release date of the new product.

Honor 8C: specifications

	Honor 8C
Iron	SoC Snapdragon 632, 14nm 8x Kryo 250 CPU, 1.8 GHz Adreno 506 4/32 GB, 4/64 GB microSD slot (up to 256 GB)
Screen	6.26, 19:9, IPS LCD IPS, 1520 × 720, 268 ppi 97.8 cm 2, 76.3%
Battery	4000 mAh
Camera	Dual module: 13 MP + 2 MP, PDAF Main: 13 MP, F/1.8 Additional: 2 MP, F/2.4 1080p@30fps
Frontal	8 MP, F/2.0
Frame	plastic
Other	Android 8.1 Oreo + EMUI 8.2 microUSB 2.0 Bluetooth 4.2 Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n audio jack 3.5 mm
Dimensions, weight	158.7 x 75.9 x 8 mm 167 g
Colors	Black Blue Gold Lilac

Honor 8C: price and release date

In China, the Honor 8C smartphone is already available for pre-order. Sales start on October 16. Honor 8C price included 4/32 GB - $158, price of Honor 8C included 4/64 GB - $201.

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 Huawei P8 was equipped with the latest module manufactured by Sony, and software for working with the camera has been further improved, and new shooting modes have been 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 the top smartphones of our time. New flagship Huawei 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 system Android 5.0, EMUI 3.1
• Touchscreen IPS, 5.2″, 1920×1080, 424 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 3 GB, internal memory 16 GB
• Support microSD cards
• 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, quick start which is carried out from a panel that slides out from the bottom of the screen, which Huawei at one time borrowed from the 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 blocking. It is clear that it was copied from Sony smartphones series Z, 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 is also 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 with flat, edgeless protective glass. In its upper part, in addition to sensors and a front camera, there is such a useful element as an LED event indicator. 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, the smartphone will be presented in Russian retail in two color options: dark gray, as in our photographs, and champagne color with a white front panel, although corporate photographs show images of Huawei 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.

Detailed examination using measuring instruments conducted 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. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on 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.

This smartphone uses an IPS matrix. 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 color balance there is not very important, 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, in which you can independently set 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% when high contrast illumination and increases by 78% in low light levels, and the independent image processor of the DSLR camera allows you 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 menu functions are collected in a single vertical scroll, and additional modes Shootings are selected by clicking on 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 shutter speeds: 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 fourth generation LTE Cat4 networks, 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 a wireless access point via Wi-Fi channels or Bluetooth. Micro-USB 2.0 connector supports connecting external devices USB mode OTG. The developers also claim that the smartphone uses a new double antenna design. own development Signal+, which, combined 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 on a high-speed train.

The phone application supports Smart Dial, that is, while dialing phone 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 of the 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 SIM Dual Active standard, when both cards can work in parallel and at the same time, 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 curtain with a timeline and its own recent menu open source software look completely different, and in general the 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 quick access to some frequently used applications. The bottom row of virtual control buttons can be reassigned at your discretion, and 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 of system utilities, including the Dispatcher 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, Kirin 930 is a competitor to such SoCs top level, like 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 Samsung devices Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.

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

Testing in latest versions 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 current models- due to the fact that at one time they went through an “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 demonstrate records for duration battery life, everything is within normal limits 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 firmware settings energy saving mode at Huawei smartphones There are 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 the 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) lasted 13 hours until the battery was completely discharged, and with continuous viewing of high-quality videos ( 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 charging time is 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 the current realities of the market, this is a very reasonable price for a fashionable flagship smartphone with a metal body, a high-quality large screen, excellent sound, a powerful hardware platform, a good camera and decent battery life.

The Honor brand is widely known in Russia and the world as a supplier of smartphones designed for a young audience. Each representative of one price category or another has a recognizable appearance and impressive characteristics for its class. However, the 8th model of the popular X line can be called a kind of rethinking of the established tradition.

Previous models of this mid-budget series like 6X and 7X, which were extremely warmly received by users and technical experts, were assembled in either all-metal cases or with the addition of plastic. But the new Honor 8X attracts attention at first glance with its chic glossy double-sided glass surface. And in terms of its filling, the new smartphone is more likely to gravitate towards the category of top flagships.

In our Honor review 8X, we will look at the technical characteristics of the gadget and tell you why the new product has every chance of becoming a real hit of the season.

Honor 8X equipment

Let’s face it, it’s quite difficult to surprise a modern user with the contents of a smartphone box. But you can sincerely please with the attention to detail. And Honor 8X does this very well. Indeed, in addition to the standard set of the gadget itself, cable, manual and clip for the SIM card tray, you will find a silicone case and film that will protect the sparkling surfaces of the smartphone.

Design and ergonomics

When you pick up the Honor 8X for the first time, you won’t be able to take your eyes off it for a long time. Both panels are made of tempered glass with a 2.5D effect and an oleophobic coating, shimmering hypnotically in the light. The gadget looks especially stylish and impressive in blue and red colors.

The screen occupies almost 90% of the front panel. Together with the elongated aspect ratio of 19.5:9, this made it possible to fit a panel with such a large diagonal into the body of a regular 5.5-inch device. The smartphone received the most minimal dimensions for such a display - 160.4 × 76.6 mm × 7.8 mm . For comparison, the iPhone 8 Plus is about the same size.

On top there is a fashionable “bang” with a front camera and sensors. The vertically located main cameras are given a place in the upper left corner, so that when you activate the smartphone through the fingerprint scanner, you will not touch them with your finger.

Despite the complete absence of sharp corners, Honor 8X fits perfectly in the hand and does not slip out. The physical control buttons are located at the optimal height, and due to the elongated shape, all on-screen elements can be easily reached with your thumb.

Screen Specifications

The display characteristics clearly indicate that Honor 8X meets all the requirements of today's advanced youth. A huge 6.5-inch screen on an IPS matrix with an aspect ratio of 19.5:9 is ideal for watching videos, mobile games and studying news feeds on social networks.

The resolution of 2340 × 1080 allowed us to achieve a high image density of 397 ppi, due to which the picture looks rich and contrasting even at the widest viewing angles. The smartphone has an excellent brightness reserve, which can be adjusted automatically using adaptive settings. For those who prefer a clean screen without unnecessary cutouts, there is an opportunity to hide the “unibrow” with black tiles that are almost invisible.

Performance and Software

A new generation smartphone - and an updated chipset. Honor 8X runs on a powerful 8-core Huawei processor Kirin 710 with 4 GB of RAM, which is 75% faster in performance than the Kirin 659 used in the brand's previous mid-budget hits.

The minimum amount of internal memory is 64 GB. And an external SD card will allow you to increase the storage up to 256 GB.

High speed and smooth switching between light and heavy applications is achieved by optimizing processor clusters. For such voluminous tasks as launching games, video processing and multi-page Internet surfing, a 4-core ARM Cortex A-73 unit at 2.2 GHz is used, and for office applications and service utilities the smartphone switches to ARM Cortex A-53 at 1 .7 GHz.

Kirin 710 is the brand’s first mid-budget chip assembled using a 12nm process technology. Due to this, the load on the battery was significantly reduced compared to the same Kirin 659.

The already advanced capabilities of the updated Mali-G51 MP4 graphics chip are further enhanced by the proprietary GPU Turbo function, which was previously successfully implemented and tested in the Honor Play gaming smartphone. This technology allows you to increase gaming performance by 60%, while providing 30% battery savings.

Gaming tests showed that Honor 8X copes well with graphically intensive games such as PUBG and World of Tanks. The frame rate remains stable at 35–40 fps with minimal stuttering even on ultra settings.

Honor 8X runs the proprietary EMUI 8.2 shell, which adds several important features to the pure Android 8.1 OS:

• navigation settings;
• display color control;
• protected profile Private Space;
• control calls and alarm clocks using hand movements;
• advanced system process manager;
• energy consumption optimization;
• placement of quick icons on the lock screen.

In addition, the smartphone has a feature that is rarely found not only in mid-priced smartphones, but also in top-end flagships. Honor 8X allows you to place 2 SIM cards and a flash memory card in one tray - a small but extremely important detail for those users who prefer to combine mobile tariffs and at the same time always stay in touch.

NFC technology will also be a pleasant bonus, which allows you to make contactless payments via Android system Pay.

Smart smartphone cameras

The first thing that modern young smartphone users pay attention to is the quality of the cameras in the gadget. And Honor 8X is ready to compete with more expensive models here.

The main dual camera of 20 and 2 MP with F/1.8 + F/2.4 aperture and combined autofocus produces excellent detailed photos even in difficult lighting conditions. The photomodule uses an artificial intelligence system, which contains automatic detection about 500 scenes to shoot. The camera can also recognize faces, blur the background and add a bokeh effect.

The front camera of Honor 8X has a 16-megapixel sensor and F/2.0 aperture. Thanks to AI support, the front camera can also blur the background, resulting in high-quality portrait photographs. Despite the fact that additional effects are implemented not by physical modules, but by software methods, the quality of images of the selfie camera is not inferior to dual lenses.

Among the additional features, it is worth noting that both cameras shoot video with a resolution of 1080 at a frame rate of 30 fps, the main module supports the SuperSloMo shooting format, and front camera HDR mode is provided.

Autonomy Honor 8X

The lithium-polymer battery has a capacity of 3750 mAh. Due to software optimization and the chipset's energy-saving function, it will keep the smartphone in active load mode for up to 1.5 days.

Verdict

The Honor 8X review showed an indisputable fact - the Chinese brand has once again managed to surpass its achievements in terms of balance between price and quality. The technical characteristics of Honor 8X already allow us to call the smartphone one of the main contenders for the title best smartphone in the middle price category.

A chic, glossy smartphone will not only complement the stylish image of the modern young user, but will also provide him with the widest opportunities for communication, games, interaction with multimedia and photography. The start of pre-order in Russia is October 11. The first customers to pre-order from October 11 to 15 will receive a tablet from Huawei as a gift!