Last year, the Huawei Ascend P7 won the European Consumer Smartphone 2014 – 2015 award so it comes as no surprise that the equally beautiful Huawei P8 has won the European Consumer Smartphone 2015 – 2016 award. Considering that the Huawei Ascend P6 also won the same European Consumer Smartphone 2013 – 2014 award means that Huawei have won this category for three times running. EISA were particular impressed by the "improved camera performance and surprisingly high‐end craftsmanship that gives this affordable device a truly sophisticated appearance" that the P8 brings to the market. Tech specs and features like the P8's 5.2-inch full HD IPS-NEO display, f/2 lens and 2680 mAh battery were also highlighted along with its dual-antenna design and light painting low-light camera. We've been equally impressed by the Huawei P8 which you can find out in our Huawei P8 review. Here's what Huawei had to say about the EISA award:

“We are proud to be presented with this award for the third year in a row. We are committed to challenging the industry and revolutionizing how a smart phone is used - the Huawei P8 is the most user-friendly smartphone for consumers globally.” Glory Zhang, Chief Marketing Officer, Consumer Business Group (BG)

The Huawei P8 was officially launched today for the South Pacific Region, which also includes Malaysia. The premium flagship smartphone features an all metal frame with curvy corners and equally premium looks. It takes a step further than than the previous Huawei Ascend P7 and Ascend P6. While Huawei have definitely made the design their own, it is difficult not to draw comparisons with the Apple iPhone 6. However, at 6.4mm the Huawei P8 is both thinner and flatter with no protruding rear camera. Featuring a new RGBW 13MP rear sensor with optical image stabilization, the P8 is sensitive and accurate enough to capture light painting, a clear indication of the low-light capabilities that the P8 offers. The Huawei P8 is due for a Malaysia release date in June with a pre-order bundle coming with [Update] a 30% discount voucher for the TalkBand B2 at just RM1799. Check out the other tech specs and our hands-on of the Huawei P8 below:

• 64-bit 2.0GHz octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 930 processor
• 3GB RAM
• 16GB storage
• 5.2-inch display (full HD, 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution)
• 13MP rear camera (OIS, RGBW sensor, DSLR-level Image Signal Processor, F2.0, dual color temperature flash) + 8MP front camera
• supports dual SIM 4G LTE, GPS, Bluetooth 4.1+LE, WiFi b/g/n
• features wind-suppression anti-noise mic, dual antenna design
• 2680 mAh battery
• 144.9 x 72.1 x 6.4mm | 144g
• Android 5.0 Lollipop + EMUI 3.1

Featuring a straight and curvy metal frame, the Huawei P8 looks beautiful with chamferred edges, a polished metal frame and super thin profile. First impressions are that it is a beautiful smartphone with a very sturdy frame and light design. In the Q&A sessions, Huawei reiterated their passionate stand on creating useful features for consumers with coming smartphones and devices offering value and innovation in conjunction with their 'Wei To' marketing campaign to pioneer new value for consumers. While we may not see any 16MP or 20MP cameras, Huawei are dedicated to creating a DSLR experience with their smartphone cameras, perhaps by creating sensors that will let in more light in the future. This applies to displays as well, as they are also intent on creating more innovations with full HD displays as according to them, quad HD or 2K displays only suck up battery life and bring no value to the consumers. We'll be looking forward to seeing what else this may bring, like perhaps super resolution or interpolated picture modes and even better battery life but for now, Huawei will also be bringing their Huawei P8lite and TalkBand B2 to Malaysia in June 2015. 

The Huawei P series of smartphones are more known for their performance and super thin chassis but the upcoming Huawei P8 could well get a new power saving feature, at least according to Huawei themselves. Huawei recently released a teaser image for the upcoming Huawei P8 which suggests that it could have a new power-saving feature. Considering that the Huawei Ascend P6 and Ascend P7 were both quite thin, it would be safe to assume that the P8 would also be thin and not likely to pack in a large battery. This means the teaser could indicate a more efficient method of extending battery life than before, perhaps even getting 2 days worth of battery life in a single charge. The teaser does not reveal anything else like other tech specs, Malaysia release dates or pricing but many are expecting the Huawei P8 to arrive on 15 April 2015 with an octa-core Kirin 930 processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, 5.2-inch full HD display and 13MP camera with dual LED flash and OIS. Stay tuned for more developments.

Right on time, Huawei Malaysia have launched their Huawei Honor 6 smartphone in Malaysia for RM999. Featuring Huawei's own octa-core Hi-Silicon Kirin 920 processor and other high-end tech specs like 3GB of RAM, a 5-inch full HD 1080p resolution display, 4G LTE Cat6, a 13MP rear camera with Sony IMX214 sensor and an aluminum metal casing, it should be available on 17 October 2014 at VMALL.my and Lelong.com. For now, you can still prebook it from 29 Spetember 2014 to 14 October 2014. We managed to get a little hands-on time with it and it certainly looks and feels a lot more premium than the price tag would suggest.

The Huawei Ascend G6 4G is the refresh of the Huawei Ascend G6 with new 4G LTE connectivity. Originally designed to provide a more affordable midrange offering of the former flagship Huawei Ascend P6, the Ascend G6 features the same look and feel with a slightly smaller 4.5-inch screen and a thicker 7.9mm thin chassis. Does it still offer enough punch for today's users? Check out our full review of the Huawei Ascend G6 4G below to find out.

After quite a bit of teasing about the upcoming products to be revealed along with the Malaysia launch for the Huawei Ascend P7 smartphone, Huawei Malaysia launched the smartphone today and confirmed practically all of the other products teased earlier. This includes the Huawei TalkBand B1, Huawei MediaPad X1 7.0 3G / 4G LTE, Huawei MediaPad M1 8.0 3G / 4G LTE and Huawei Ascend G6 3G / 4G LTE. The Huawei Ascend P7 features tech specs which include a 1.8GHz HiSilicon Kirin 910 quad-core processor, 5-inch 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution screen, 13MP BSI rear camera, 8MP BSI front camera and 4G LTE connectivity. At just 6.5mm thin this smartphone is one of the slimmest flagship level smartphones in the market while still managing to pack in even more features and better design than the previous Huawei Ascend P6.

Pricing for the other devices were also revealed as follows:

• Huawei TalkBand B1 ~ RM499
• Huawei MediaPad X1 7.0 4G LTE ~ RM1399
• Huawei MediaPad X1 7.0 3G ~ RM1299
• Huawei MediaPad M1 8.0 4G LTE ~ RM1099
• Huawei MediaPad M1 8.0 3G ~ RM899
• Huawei Ascend G6 4G LTE ~ RM899
• Huawei Ascend G6 3G ~ RM749

Trying to find a very thin smartphone in the midrange market can be quite difficult (unless you're willing to try out the Huawei Ascend P6 and others) but Sony has added one such thin midrange smartphone to the market with the announcement of the Sony Xperia T3. At just 7mm thin, the smartphone offers a uniquely sized 5.3-inch Triluminos IPS display with 720p pixel resolution. The display also uses the Sony Bravia Engine 2 while the overall phone design follows the Sony OmniBalance super thin slate with metal sidings school of design. Keeping the costs down, the back is not tempered glass but is instead matte plastic with a choice of either black, purple or white.

The smartphone landscape is changing rapidly as smartphones with components that would normally have been installed inside premium priced smartphones are turning up in entry-level to midrange smartphones. The Alcatel OneTouch Idol X+ is one of these smartphones, combining an octa-core or eight-core processor with midrange pricing along with other top-of-the-range features and tech specs. Find out which features may suit you best with our in-depth review of the Alcatel OneTouch Idol X+ smartphone.

If you liked the Huawei Ascend P6 or the smartphone formerly known as the world's thinnest smartphone, then you'll like the fact that Huawei are currently working on a more powerful version called the Huawei Ascend P6S. Utilizing the same super slim profile, the Ascend P6S will use an octa-core chipset, and this has been confirmed from comments made by Huawei's President himself. Unfortunately, it is still unknown which chipset Huawei will be using. It seems unlikely that they'd go for a Samsung Exynos 5 chipset and there is no news yet of a very good octa-core Huawei chipset either. This means that the Ascend P6S will likely use the more affordable MT6592 octa-core chipset from MediaTek which has performed well so far. While it hasn't scored as high as Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 processors, a 28000+ score on AnTuTu is still very respectable performance. No news on Malaysia pricing or release dates just yet but the Huawei Ascend P6S is likely to come out in late December 2013 or early 2014 as the MediaTek MT6592 is only set for release from 20 November 2013.

The smartphone formerly known as the thinnest in the world, the Huawei Ascend P6, is now being offered by Maxis from RM499, which is just awesome considering the original price was RM1399 and you can now get the smartphone under a 12 months or 24 months contract. The deal is available under the Maxis SurfMore and TalkMore plans. For more details, check out the table and links in the article.