Igniting Creativity with Huawei P8 

There has been a lot of buzz around the Chinese manufactured P8 lately with a launch taking place in Johannesburg earlier this month.

You know it was a star-studded event with the likes of Jeanie D and our current Miss South Africa, Rolene Struass amongst the guests.Having Micasa's J'Something announced as Huawei South Africa's creative director at the launch.


The Huawei P8 is the successor to the Ascend P7, a phone that proved itself well competing against trusted brands such as Samsung and Sony. Released in April this year, the phone was expected to hit South African stores in June but only got here in July, and I must say the wait was worth it.

Having followed the phone since I heard about it's London launch back in April this year, this smart phone caught my eye. Being a diehard Samsung user I know I can trust the brand, my S4 had served me well over the past year and a half so obviously when it came time for an upgrade I was going to move on to the S6.

However something really intrigued me about the phone. I didn't know much about the Huawei brand or the P8 but the look of the device alone made me want to know more. 

What the P8 is all about

I did my research on the Huawei P8 and here is what I found:

It runs an Android Lollipop 5.0.2 operating system, Huawei's Emotion User Interface on it's Quad-core 2GHz Cortex-A53 and Quad-core 1.5 GHz CPU with a HiSilion Kirin 935 chip set. It has 16GB of memory and 3GB of RAM.

It has a 6 milimeter thick, one-piece aluminium body that is treated with diamond shaped blasting. A 5.2'' ISP panel and a 1080p resolution with a 424 pixel per inch density. 

It's primary camera is 13MP while it's front camera or selfie camera is 8MP. It has sensors on the rear camera that measure pixels on the RGBW spectrum which is a first for smart phones. A duel-tone colour flash for better photographs in dim lighting.

Other interesting features that come with the phone is it's light painting mode where you can create spectacular pictures using lights, a director mode where you can connect 3 other smart phones to the device in order to shoot videos from different angles. By combining the footage you can make your own master piece. Another cool thing you can do on this phone is create a time-lapse video.

The phone also has a function called Speech Awareness, it activates your phone via voice command. What this means is you can locate your phone by calling out 'Okay Emy" and the phone will start ringing to let you know where you have left it.

The phone can also detected when you are using your knuckles. Knuckle sense works to crop out the screen or taking a screen shot when when you are using your knuckles.  

With all that and more the P8 seems to pack a punch when comparing it to other flag-ship phones out there at the moment. Huawei put a lot of work into this smart phone so I decided that maybe it was time for change. What sold me on the phone was the camera and how creative you can be with photos. I am a creative person so the Huawei looked like it would suit my lifestyle.

Deciding and Purchasing 

The S.A launch was on the 2nd of July and the phone was set to be in stores by mid July. After not seeing it in stores in June I was starting to get a little antsy and having to wait till mid July really wasn't cutting it for me because I'm not a patient person but I had to accept the fact that I would only be getting the P8 later than expected. 

In the meantime I was still deciding on getting the P8, the S6 was already available and came with good reviews. From what I had read about the P8 it was a decent smart phone for less. The P8 would retail at R7999.00 compared to R11999.00 of the S6.

So I weighed out the pros and cons - I love technology especially smart phones they have turned into an extension of our arm and I feel lost without mine. I could have upgraded to Samsung's S6 or the Note 4 but the P8 was drawing me to it. My daily use consists of social media, answering e-mails when I'm not at my laptop, answering calls and taking pictures. 

The P8 won outright with my needs. It was a phone that like the slogan says could ignite my creativity. So with that in mind and it saving me a couple hundreds every month to fuel my other obsessions I was almost completely sold.

I had to feel the device in my hand because that is one of the most important things, how comfortable is it in my hand. The Note 4 which is a brilliant phone had a big 5.7'' screen which I loved but it was way too big for my hands to be comfortable in for long periods of time.

A week after the launch I was in Sandton City for the Minion pre-screening on my way to the cinema I passed a Vodacom shop. To my surprise they had a P8 demo model in store. I picked up the phone held it in my hand and it felt good! I was sceptical about the  rectangular shape that gave the phone a much harsher look. The phone has curved chamfered edges which makes it easier to grip and it felt solid in my hands.

I immediately asked if they had the phone in stock but was told that it would only be in stores the following week (more waiting), so they took my details and said they would call when it is in.

So I was surprised the next day when I received a call from the Vodacom shop telling me that the phone was in. Can you imagine my excitement? 

I went into the store just after 7pm and their lovely consultant assisted me with my upgrade. There were two colours to choose from Titanium and Mystic Champagne. I of course took the mystic champagne. I also had to have a sim swap done because the P8 uses a nano-sim compared to my S4's micro-sim.

I had my new device in my hands in about 20 minutes and I could not have been happier!

Owning the P8

Like with every new phone you have to use it till the battery dies and fully charge it before use. So with the limited time I had with the phone I decided to play with the feature I was looking forward to for a long time, Light Painting.

It is advised to use a tripod in this mode but mine was at home so I took some shots anyway on the drive home. Without the tripod to hold it steady I was still super impressed with what was produced with the light painting feature. 

I also tried it with some normal photos in a dark car the pictures came out vibrant and the flash wasn't over powering at all. When I got home I started downloading all the apps I use and downloading went pretty quickly over the wi-fi.

I have had the P8 for 2 days now and this is what I can tell you:

Design:

The design is fantastic. The finish gives off a sophisticated look and the champagne colour is elegant. It feels good in my hand but it is taking a while to get used to coming from the more rounded Samsung. What stands out from other smart phones is that it doesn't have a camera bulge thus giving it a sleek flat surface on this candy bar phone.

Processing power and Interface:

The processor is quite smooth. I am able to download apps quite fast using Wi-Fi. Also run a number of apps at the same time and navigate between each one with ease. Huawei's Emotion UI is a bit tricky at first being new to it, but I have gotten the hang of it so far and I'm not finding any issue. Gaming on the phone is smooth as well. I downloaded and played MARVEL Contest of Champions. It was easy to play and the phone is quite receptive. 

Camera:

The rear 13MP camera takes clear and bright images. In dim light it is able to capture good quality photos and with vivid colours. The front camera takes great pictures and you can select beauty mode to adjust the image quality making a selfie look more flawless. It also has a block in the top left corner to look into so you get a good picture of your face. I really enjoy the light painting feature. I like taking pictures and being creative this will keep me busy for a while because the amount of creativity is endless. I tried out the time-lapse and it works amazingly. Great quality with a smooth running video.

This is my first time-lapse! Very cool!

I took this photo with the beauty feature enabled on the 8MP front camera. 

I took this one right after with it disabled, you can see the difference.

I took these with no lights turned on but the light coming from my TV. It was pretty dark in the room and the pictures came out great.

Speech Awareness and Knuckle Sensor.

The Speech Awareness works by enabling it first on the device. You can make calls and find your phone with it by using the command 'okay emy.' You have to record that phrase 3 times and save it so the phone can recognise your voice. I was surprised that it recognised my voice on the first go because my Samsung often got me wrong. By saying "okay emy, where are you" you can locate your phone. I tried this and it only works if the microphone can pick up your voice. So if you are in the same room as it and it's not under a cushion somewhere you are more likely to activate it. I tested it out from a few distances and it doesn't pick up if you are not in the same room. I also put it under a cushion on the couch and it only registered when I was a few steps away from it. I also tangled it in a blanket (that's were I usually lose my phone) and it responded only when I was very close to it. When the phone activates it says 'I'm here,' plays music and flashes. 

I have heard YouTube reviews about knuckle sensor being annoying because you can't turn it off but I found that I can enable or disable that function. It is a cool feature I take a fair amount of screen shots of pictures I like on Instagram or of any information on my phone I need in jpeg format. It is a nice feature but I wouldn't miss it if it wasn't there.

Video and Audio.

When I first tried out the video on the phone I was a bit concerned. I played a YouTube video on 720HP and it didn't impress me at all. This made me worried but I now realise it was probably my internet connection. I watched an HD test video from YouTube on the device and was blown away by the picture quality. It is crisp and clear, as if the picture is popping out right at you. The colour is fantastic and saturated just enough to give it a vibrant look.

The Audio is great as well, it is loud and clear with little to no distortion  when at max volume. One problem that may occur when watching a video or playing a game, is accidental covering the speaker with your hand because it is situated at the bottom of the device on the right-hand side. You can remedy this by turning the phone to the opposite side so the speaker is at the top and adjusting where you rest your finger.

Battery Life:

The battery life is great so far, with a full battery I've gotten over 12 hours of use. You can't take the battery out of the device so I have yet to experience battery issues with it. Usually I'd go out and buy a new battery if need be but I will have to see what happens in the coming months with the P8 and if I have any problems with the battery and how I will solve it.

Other cool features:

The phone has some cleaver features on it such as the option for it to lower the volume when it is ringing or when the alarm is going off. You can enable it in settings and it works when the phone is picked up when it rings or the alarm goes off. It also has a function where you can mute a call by placing it face down.

Data transfer:

It seems to transfer data easily and loads quickly when plugged into my laptop. I was able to copy images quite fast. This makes it easier to back up data.

What's in the box?

The P8 comes in a wonderfully designed black box. inside the box is the phone which slides out. To those of us who enjoy oddly satisfying things this is one of them. The phone fits snugly in its 6mm space. Inside the box you will find the user manual and usb charging cable and wall adaptor as well as ear phones. 

I don't like the ear phones but it may take some time to grow on me. The half in ear earphones produce great sound with a Hi640 audio DPS and Smart PA but they don't feel comfortable like the usual soft plastic that goes fully into your ear.

I got my P8 from Vodacom in Sandton City on the 10th of July. They should be in major stores this week. I got the Smart S contract at R399pm. This deal came with a 1TB hard drive. 

The P8 is a fantastically designed piece of hardware that fits my life style and creativity perfectly and at a lower cost this is a smart phone the works for me. I'm paying less and getting tons of power.

Thanks for reading, there are some more pics below I took with phone! Ciao!

Extended Life Battery is a personal blog. Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual.

All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.