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Huawei’s latest flagship device, the P8, was launched just a few weeks back in London alongside its phablet variant, the P8max. We managed to get our hands on the P8 for a brief period, and while it’s a very sleek and speedy device, we’re not entirely sure if it’s refined enough.

Before we get to it, let’s have a quick run-down of the Huawei P8’s specifications. It has a HiSilicon Kirin 930 2GHz octa-core processor paired with 3GB of RAM under its hood, a 5.2-inch 1920 x 1080 IPS display, 16GB or 64GB of internal storage which is expandable with a microSD card up to 128GB, and a modest 2,680mAh battery.

In terms of design, the Huawei P8 can definitely be mistaken for a certain smartphone if one were to take a quick glance at its back panel. The P8 has a very nice aluminium body that gives it a very premium vibe. The sides of the phone are also slightly rounded, which somewhat helps with its ergonomics, but it does make it rather difficult to pick up the phone if it’s placed on a flat surface.

The 1080p display of the P8 is adequately crisp and sharp. To be honest, I thought it was a 2K display when I first looked at it. With the display only being 5.2 inches, a 1080p resolution is more than adequate. Not to mention the fact that it will definitely help with the P8’s battery life. That being said, the colour temperature of the display is too warm for my liking, with the whites appearing almost yellow.

As a flagship device, the Huawei P8 is very, very snappy. Browsing through the user interface is extremely fluid without any noticeable stuttering when transitioning between home pages. Aesthetically, however, some will find the default theme a little too bland, especially the muted colour of the icons.

Interestingly, Huawei has implemented what it calls “Knuckle Sense” into the P8, which enables users to use their knuckle to interact with the device. One such interaction is double tapping the display with the user’s knuckle to take a screenshot.

However, it seems like the P8 has difficulties differentiating between finger and knuckle inputs, which ruins the user experience. More often than not, we have accidentally taken a screenshot when we were simply double tapping with our fingers. This is especially an issue when gaming on the P8. There doesn’t seem to be an option to disable this feature as well, which is very odd.

Mobile photographers will be happy to know that Huawei has given a lot of attention to the P8’s camera performance. It is equipped with a 13MP rear camera with optical image stabilisation and a dedicated “DSLR-level” image signal processor by Altek. The front snapper, on the other hand, is an 8MP shooter.

Judging by the photographs that we have managed to snap with the P8, it sure seems like it is a very capable shooter.

The Huawei P8 is definitely a flagship smartphone worthy of its title, and it’s not just another device that has more style than substance. It’s a very zippy device in a sleek aluminium body, but the warm display and the clunky “Knuckle Sense” are a few points of concern. In any case, Huawei’s latest flagship device will be made available in Malaysia soon enough, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it for a full-fledged review.