Huawei P8 unveiled, SA launch set for June

Huawei’s come a long way and it’s now the fourth biggest smartphone manufacturer in the world, and in the past year, we’ve seen the company unveil new phones big and small, as well as new wearables including an Android Wear smartwatch. Aside from a few special-edition variants, though, the Ascend P7 has remained Huawei’s flagship product for almost a year, so it’s high time for a successor to take that mantle. Cue the Huawei P8 — no “Ascend” this time ’round — the company’s newest feather in its smartphone-shaped cap.

If you’ve been keeping up with the steady torrent of leaks surrounding the device, you might have caught a glimpse of it already. For those seeing it for the first time today, though, it’s kind of reminiscent of the iPhone 6, albeit with squarer corners Huawei’s typically fond of. It’s dressed in a full aluminum unibody that measures 6.4mm thick, with a slightly pillowed metal rim giving it a vague resemblance to Apple’s latest blockbuster (though it’s supposed to take inspiration from the design of the good ol’ book, of all things). Four color configs will be available: black, silver, grey and of course, gold. On the front of the handset is a 5.2-inch, 1080p display, presumably chosen over a Quad HD panel (the trendy choice for new flagships these days) to keep costs down. The display is basically as “edge-to-edge” as they come, with hardly any bezel either side of it.

The P8 comes in two configurations, both of which launched in over 30 countries yesterday, including much of Europe. Worldwide availability – including us – isn’t too far in the future, June if the local representative is to be right, however. The “standard” version, with 16GB of storage and grey or champagne color options, will retail for roughly R7000. The “premium” version, which comes in black or gold, has 64GB of internal storage and sells for the higher price of R9000.

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Papi Mabele

Papi Mabele has a marketing background, he is a digital marketing trainee with extensive experience in launching and building global brands such as Sony Mobile, Acer, BMW, Jamie's Italian Restaurants, Channel O and Radisson Blu in the emerging markets. Papi is also an avid tech writer, enthusiast and all round tech junkie. As a freelance writer and analyst he has been numerously published in Popular Mechanics (SA), GQ South Africa, Premier Magazine, Driven Magazine, Bloem News, Courant, The Weekly, Enthooze Magazine and PiE magazine amongst others.