Huawei’s launch of the P8max smartphone in London officially introduced a reasonable mobile phone for the budget conscious user.
While Apple has the stellar brand identity and unmatched sales, with mobile contracts being the only possible way for the average consumer to purchase them, the new Huawei places itself in the mid-range market with the official release of its Huawei P8 and P8max smartphones in 30 countries this April.
The phone was released in London on 16 April and in India around the 26 April 2015.
With a selling price in the US of around $688 for the 32 GB model and $582 for the 16GB, the Huawei P8max smartphone, along with its decent tech specs will comfortably sit in the medium price bracket of smartphones. The lower spec-ed P8 version sells for around $630 for 64GB model and $530 for the 16GB model.
Huawei P8 vs. P8max Tech Specs
| Tech Spec | Huawei P8Max | Huawei P8 |
| Screen Size | 6.8’’ 1920 x1080 FHD LTPS, 326PPI |
5.2’’ FHD Screen, 1080p (1920 x 1080), 424ppi 16M colors |
| Processor | Kirin 935 octa-core 64-bit processor, 2.2GHZ | Hisilicon Kirin 930, 8-core 64bit, 2.0GHz |
| 4G | 4G LTE Dual Card Support | 4G LTE Dual Card Support |
| Camera | 13 MP rear Camera, 5MP front camera | 13 MP rear camera, 8MP Front Camera |
| Battery |
4360mAh, Li-Po, 16 Hours Vieo Playing Time 10 Hours Wi-Fi connection/web browsing time |
2680mAH Standard Smartphone Battery Life |
| Case Material | 94% metal casing, Magnesium Alloy with optimised inner circuitry for lower head radiation | |
| Operating System | Android 5.0(Lollipop) +Emotion UI 3.1 | Android™ 5.0 |
| Memory |
ROM: 64GB RAM: 3 GB Micro SD (up to 64GB) |
RAM : 3 GB; ROM : 16 GB |
With developing markets like India in mind, the rising middle-class with an average income of $1394 manages to touch the income level required to attain a phone such as this. Huawei assists the market by making the P8max cheaper, resulting in a retail price of around $8 dollars lower than the US.
The upper-class, which makes a small percentage of impoverished nations, who would presumably go for “top of the range” options like the Apple iPhone 6 Plus however, could find more peace of mind in buying a lower priced smartphone, given that a large percentage of them have moved classes as economic growth increased.
As to whether Huawei’s strategy pays put, only time, and the company’s first quarter profit sales, will tell.