Smartphones are like men dressed in black tuxedos at an Oscar event. Everybody wears the same thing because that's the epitome of class. For smartphones, that'd be metal casings: brushed aluminium is the new black. Huawei is taking part in the same Oscar event dressed up in sleek machine cut metal. It looks the part, does it have the chops?

Spec:

The device offers a large 5.5-inch FullHD display with curved edges that provide a smooth tactile response when holding the edges. A full metal back and edge in gunmetal grey, our device looks a strong contender. The finish is superb with the bottom leading edge having evenly spaced cut-outs for the mic and speaker. It's a well thought out minimalist design.

Display:

The LCD display dishes out 1080 x 1920 pixels and a density of 401ppi providing plenty of sharpness and vivid colors. We've been able to play just about all video codecs and the large screen delivers crisp, clear video playback.

Battery

Huawei has done a great job of squeezing in a 3000 mAh battery in a 7.5mm thick shell. It's good for more than a day's coverage although having an AMOLED display would have been more to extending the battery's advantage. We've got an average endurance rating of nearly 70hours out of it. You'll get more if you use one SIM card.

Power:

The Snapdragon 616 Octacore unit coupled with 3GB of RAM sound very promising on paper and provided smooth multitasking over the long period we've had this. The scores are posted online with Antutu showing a base score of 35424.

OS

It jumps out of the box with Android 5.1 skinned with Huawei's custom EMUI 3.1 which has so far shown a smooth integration with stock OS. It comes packed with multiple themes that offer slick personalisation amidst a library of options. Look into the additional control over which apps use Wi-Fi or mobile data. This can help cut down a lot on your data costs.

Calls

Call quality is fine with the secondary noise cancelling on-board microphone ensuring a quiet background during calls.

Camera

You'll find a by-now-standard 13MP sensor for the rear camera and a 5MP one up front. It has a very clean interface offering superbly intuitive features. Huawei knows what photos people will be busy taking. You'll find special features hat enhance the photos and these are clearly marked Beauty and Good food modes: Hello Instagram. The fingerprint sensor also acts as a shutter button when you hold it for a second. As seen in earlier Huawei devices, the panorama mode is excellent, providing properly stitched images that are quick to process. It also comes with a built-in watermarking feature in case you're worried of your photos circulating without due credit. Video records 1080p at 30fps. Both images and video are sharp

Special tricks

The fingerprint reader is one of the best we've used so far. It is mighty quick to respond and is always accurate.

SPECS:

Display: IPS 5.5 inches, 1080 x 1920 (~401 ppi),
CPU: Octa-core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 MSM 8939
OS: Android OS v 5.1 + EMUI 3.1
ROM: 32 GB
RAM: 3 GB
Camera: Rear- 13 MP, f/2.0, OIS; Front- 5 MP
Battery: 3000 mAh
Sensors: Fingerprint, accelerometer, proximity, compass etc.
Price: Tk  34,990/-
Comes with freebies: USB Flash, Bluetooth Speaker, Selfie Stick, Car Phone Holder, Slim LED Light and Stainless Steel Mug (limited offer)

VERDICT

It wins on build quality and appearance. It definitely looks like a phone double its price tag. The long lasting battery is a much appreciated plus point even when you go full dual-SIM mode. Fingerprint security and functionality takes just a few seconds to get used to and then it becomes second nature for the user. The slight downside is mid-range powerhouse. It will definitely power all your multitasking needs especially with that 3GB of RAM to support all those activities.  But you do get a snappy camera and a smooth UI to boot. Huawei has made very likeable phone that offers good performance wrapped up in stellar looks.