The "Ascend" name has been dropped in favour of the cleaner  Huawei P8 moniker, which tidies up its previously messy naming  regime.

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 In terms of price you're looking at €499 (around £395, $580,  AU$760) for the 16GB model, or €599 (around £465, $680,  AU$900) for 64GB of internal space, making the Huawei P8  comfortably cheaper than the current fleet of 2015 flagships.

 There's a 5.2-inch full HD display up front, while the metal  unibody design comes in at just 6.4mm thick - making the  Huawei P8 thinner than the iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S6.

 Picking up the P8 I found it to be well weighted, manageable in  one hand and indeed it does look and feel premium.

 The slightly curved, chamfered edges provide a little extra grip,  although the completely flat rear and super slim 6.4mm profile  means it's not the most comfortable to hold. It does however, slip  effortlessly in a pocket.

 Huawei made a point of saying how solid the aluminium unibody  is on the P8, and while there's no obvious cause for concern in  terms of bend-ability I look forward to seeing others applying  more pressure to see if it goes the same way as the iPhone 6  Plus.

 While the Huawei P8 does sport a premium metal body, it doesn't  quite match the same style and grace of the iPhone 6 or HTC  One M9.

 The all metal unibody just doesn't look or feel quite as premium  as its rivals - whether it's the finish Huawei has chosen to apply  or use of cheaper materials, it's not clear.

 It feels like there's something still missing to really push it into  the design stratosphere, but it's another positive step forward  and the Huawei P8 is still a premium device.

 The metal power lock key is situated about half way down the  right of the P8, in a slightly recessed dip making it easier to find  when you run a finger along the edge.

 The volume rocker sits above it, while below are two trays - one  for your 4G nanoSIM and one for a microSD card (up to 128GB in  size) which also doubles as a second nanoSIM port.

 There are both single and dual SIM variants of the Huawei P8, so  the handset you get may not have the clever second SIM  functionality in the microSD bay.

 You can pick the Huawei P8 up in four colours; mystic  champagne, carbon black, titanium grey and prestige gold. The  champagne and grey only feature on the 16GB model while black  and gold are reserved for 64GB.

 Something for you eyes

 The full HD display may not match the 2K Galaxy S6 and LG  G3 in terms of resolution, but with the Sony Xperia Z3 and HTC  One M9 both sporting full HD panels it's not really being left  behind by the QHD crowd.

 That means it has a pixel density of 424ppi - matching the One  M9, although the Xperia Z3 wins here thanks to its smaller 5-inch  screen giving you 441ppi.

 It's bright, colourful and responsive making everything look clear  and easy to read, and bezels have been kept to a relative minimum apart from the area of dead space below the screen.

 You'd expect to see a physical home key or some touch  navigation keys here, but Huawei doesn't deal in home buttons  and it's moved navigation on screen leaving a bar of blank space.

 This isn't unique to the P8 - plenty of handsets have additional  space on the front - but it's surprising Huawei hasn't seen fit to  even stick its logo here.

 At 5.2 inches it's on the cusp between manageable and slightly  too big for one handed use, so if you have smaller palms it may  be a little tricky to reach all areas of the screen.

 It doesn't break any ground, but it doesn't need to, and the display  on the Huawei P8 provides a strong level of performance,  allowing you to enjoy the on-screen experience.