?At yesterday's launch of Huawei P8 smartphone at Old Billingsgate, a cavernous venue on the bank of the Thames river in the City of London, one could not help but think that this was a shot across the bows of Apple's IPhone 6 and Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edge.
The event itself was an indication of the Huawei's seriousness.
The Chinese telecommunications and networking company, which is reported to be the fourth largest manufacturer of smartphones in the world, invited over 200 journalists from over 30 countries across the world to the launch in London.
It seems that most of those invited attended as the venue was crowded with people, making their way through the plumes of smoke in the foyer, as they watched sleek videos touting the company's newest product.
As for the phone itself, much was made of the fact that it is 6.4 millimetres thin, one-piece aluminium body and that it takes 810 minutes to craft the body, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group told the audience.
Mr Yu also said that the P8 will automatically select the best wi-fi hot spot (called wi-fi plus), provides three times faster connection in roaming situations, has the ability to block abnormal usages of battery power by apps and has what he called a smart international number dialler, which will automatically set the international code.
He also spoke at length about the phone's super hands-free mode, which picks up voices clearly up to two metres away and something called voice +, which is a wind noise suppression function.
A great deal was made of the P8's camera, which is being promoted as having improved light and high-contrast capabilities.
There is also a neat trick that allows the P8 to be remotely unlocked without entering a password once it has connected to a Bluetooth device such as the Huawei TalkBand B2, which is the company's smart watch.
Additionally, Mr Yu explained, the P8 comes with an optional E-ink screen on the back of the phone which allows the metal back cover can switch to an eBook in just seconds.
Mr Yu said: "The goal of Huawei P8 is to become the most user-friendly smartphone for consumers globally. Through in-depth market research, Huawei has addressed the most pressing pain points for premium smartphone users today. Huawei seamlessly combines the best elements of style and durability in this device, delivering a revolutionary user experience � especially in terms of camera capabilities and network connectivity. Building on the outstanding market performance of Huawei's P series, we fully believe the Huawei P8 will become one of the most popular smartphones of 2015."
Highlights include:
The nano-injection molding process results in an industry-leading seamless tight junction connecting a 1.5mm thin plastic bar with one of the industry's largest screens. with dual SIM cards, and works seamlessly with a 4G network (where the service is available).
The triple-layer shark-gill design enhances the reliability and robustness of the device.
Inside, the new Kirin 930 64-bit Octa-Core chipset boosts performance by approximately 20 per cent compared with other phones with similar levels of battery life.