Telstra has quietly added the Huawei P8 Lite to its Android lineup, and is offering a Huawei Band and one replacement screen – in the first 12 months – for free as an added bonus for anyone who signs up on a 24 month Go Mobile or Go Business Mobile plan.
The P8 lite is a 5″ HD (1280 x 720) device running Android 5.0 Lollipop, with Huawei’s EMUI 3.1. Under the hood it’s got:
- Hisilicon Kirin 650 Octa-core CPU at 1.2 GHz
- 2GB RAM
- 16GB internal storage
- MicroSD card Slot
- 13 MP rear facing camera and 5MP front facing camera
- 2200mAh battery
- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS
These specs place the device firmly in the mid-range tier, with NFC a notable omission.
With my brief time with the device in-store, the P8 Lite was nicely constructed, felt compact in the hand and had a nice bright display.
The Huawei Band is a new device in Huawei’s wearable range, offering fitness tracking and notification support. It has a 1.06 inch OLED touch display and an IP68 rating. At this stage we can’t confirm the software running on the device, but it’s definitely not running Android Wear. Huawei has an existing companion app in the Playstore which we expect will be used to interface with the Band.
The P8 Lite has no repayment costs (read: it’s free on contract) if you remain connected for 24 months with Telstra.
We’ve been impressed with Huawei’s 2015 hardware offerings, so if you’re looking for a mid-range device free on contract and Telstra suits your needs then the Huawei P8 Lite should be worthy of consideration.
Are you excited to see Huawei continue to expand its market presence in Australia? Have you already picked up a P8 Lite from Telstra? Let us know in the comments.
