The Honor 8's China pricing gives us a clue on how much we can expect it to cost in the UAE: The high-end variant is selling for roughly Dh1,385 in the country.
Dubai - Pre-orders for flagship device - similar to the P9 - to start August 25
Published: Tue 16 Aug 2016, 1:14 PM
Last updated: Mon 22 Aug 2016, 4:35 PM
After Huawei's sub-e-brand Honor launched its highly-anticipated Honor 8 in the US today, it has been confirmed that Middle East consumers are next in line to get a shot at it.
The company on Tuesday said that the new flagship device will be rolled out in the region starting September 1, with pre-orders starting on August 25 on its website.
Prior to its US launch on Tuesday, the Honor 8 was debuted in China on July 19.
And as tradition of the Honor brand, the new device is no pushover, boasting quality specs at its usual reasonable costs.
The Honor 8 is, to a lot of extents, the Huawei P9 but with a different design; it uses a 2.5-D glass body instead of the latter's metal finish. It has a 5.2-inch 1080p display, up to 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage, a dual-12MP main shooter and 8MP front snapper. The main difference is its CPU; the budget-friendly Honor 8 uses the HiSilicon Kirin 950, while the P9 dons the Kirin 955.
Khaleej Times tried to confirm the price for the Middle East; a source says that it will be confirmed just in time for the launch, but guaranteed that it will be "very competitive" and will be "such a value-for-money flagship phone".
The prices in China are as follows: 1,999 yuan (roughly Dh1,100) for the 3GB RAM, 32GB storage model; 2,299 yuan (Dh1,275) for 4GB RAM, 32GB storage; and 2,499 (Dh1,385) for the high-end 4GB, 64GB variant. So these will give you an idea how it's going to play out once it gets here in the Middle East.
And the region's consumers can also expect more, with an interesting symmetry: Just very recently, Huawei also debuted the Honor Note 8. Now that sounds sooo familiar, doesn't it? (It was rumoured that it will be called the Honor V8 Max.)
The Note 8 is a ridiculously huge phablet donning a 6.6-inch quad-HD display, powered by a Kirin 955 processor, 4GB of RAM, 32/64/128GB of storage, 13MP and 8MP cameras, a fingerprint scanner and a 4500mAh battery, running on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. That is quite a monster.
And the pricing is, as always, fair: The 32GB model was rolled out in China for 2,299 yuan (Dh1,275), 64GB for 2,499 (Dh1,385) and 128GB for 2,799 yuan (Dh1,550).
Not only that; launched alongside the Note 8 was a cheaper, smaller option, the Honor 5, which has a five-inch 720p display, a MediaTek 64-bit quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, 8MP and 2MP cameras and a 2200mAh battery, running on Android 5.1 Lollipop (quite sure it could be upgradeable). And it's selling for just 599 yuan (Dh330).
No word yet on when the Note 8 and 5 will be launched internationally.
Honor posted a 100 per cent year-on-year growth globally. It says it sees no signs of slowing down, particularly in the Middle East where the brand has experienced "unprecedented growth to date".
Keep these types of devices coming.
- alvin@khaleejtimes.com
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