Two years ago, Huawei came close to putting Samsung and Apple in their place. But since the US sanctions, the Chinese have been losing ground. Will the turning point come with the two new smartphones?
Huawei is represented by two new extraordinary smartphones on the market. At the end of January, the Chinese company presented its new flagship Huawei P50 Pro with two large camera units and a new folding smartphone called the Huawei P50 Pocket. The latter appears in the look of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3. Even visually, they stand out from the ranks of the competition.
With regard to the new products, one thing cannot be denied: the word “give up” seems to be a foreign word in Huawei’s management. Despite massive hindrances from US sanctions, the Chinese company is trying to find buyers in Europe with high-quality smartphones. But can that work?
Huawei P50 Pro as a new camera miracle
For the case of the P50 Pro, Huawei uses a frame made of polished aluminum with Gorilla Glass that is slightly curved on the front and back. This trick makes the device feel extremely thin. Although the Huawei P50 Pro doesn’t offer a lot of volume, the stereo speakers sound comparatively rich. The 6.6-inch OLED screen with a refresh rate of up to 120 Hertz is also impressive.
The Huawei smartphones of the P series have always been known for their extraordinary cameras, which regularly receive top marks in the camera tests. For this, the company works together with the camera professional Leica. The newest member of the series, the Huawei P50 Pro, is an eye-catcher thanks to the quadruple camera system from Leica with its two round black units on the back. Huawei accommodates a total of four cameras in the two distinctive circles.
Photo enthusiasts can look forward to a camera system that impresses with its low color noise and large dynamic range. It still delivers excellent pictures in the dark, when other smartphones only offer a dark pixel mess. In video mode, the Huawei P50 Pro ensures good white balance transitions and stable autofocus. The level of detail in videos indoors was also positive in the practical test, also because Huawei has managed to achieve effective image stabilization.
At one point, Huawei may have to work on the camera software again: In portrait mode, a very shallow depth of field caused areas that were too large to be blurred in some situations.
Also read: Huawei is selling its budget brand Honor to survive!
Without Google – sanctions slow down Huawei
Significant compromises have to be made with the main chip of the P50 Pro. Due to US sanctions, Huawei is not allowed to use the best chipsets. A Snapdragon 888 runs inside – fast enough, but without the fifth mobile generation 5G. 5G does not currently play a huge role for many prospective buyers. But the prospect of not being allowed to enter the 5G club for the entire lifetime of the device is not rosy.
Lazy compromises also have to be made with the software. As with all current Huawei models, the Huawei P50 Pro has to do without Google’s Play services. That means: no Play Store, no Google Maps, no other Google applications. Third-party apps that use Google services such as Maps are also excluded.
Instead of Android 12 from Google, Huawei relies on EMUI 12, which in turn is based on the open source version of Android 11 without Google services. Instead of Google Search and Maps, there is Petal Search and Petal Maps. The Play Store is replaced by the AppGallery. You can also install alternative stores for Android apps such as F-Droid. The result: Some familiar apps exist, others don’t.
In China itself, the lack of Google services is virtually irrelevant. Huawei uses its own Android variant HarmonyOS here, for which all relevant apps are available. In the west, however, functions and apps that are only made available via the Google infrastructure are often missing.
Huawei P50 Pocket – a foldable smartphone
In principle, the relevant limitations – no 5G and no Google services – also apply to the P50 Pocket. But with this pretty folding smartphone, they may not play such a big role. Above all, the device cuts a fine figure. It doesn’t matter whether it’s in your pocket or on the table in a café or bar – just like the competitors’ Motorola Razr or Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3.
Huawei has taken up the design idea of the two round black elements on the back of the P50 Pocket. However, one of the circles serves as a small external display. You can start the camera and control the music. In everyday life you have to take good care of the beautiful P50 Pocket, because the case surface is extremely smooth.
The device closes perfectly flat, better than competitor flip phones. A long-term test must prove how robust the hinge is over a longer period of time.
When unfolded, the foldable display of the pocket model is even slightly larger than the screen of the P50 Pro at 6.8 inches. When it comes to the cameras, you quickly miss the telephoto lens of the P50 Pro. Unfortunately, the optical image stabilizer is missing.
Also read: Author: “Samsung’s new folding cell phones are only partially convincing”
If you wait, you might save
As with the P50 Pro, Huawei does not want to market its folding phone as a bargain. The gold-colored premium version with 12 gigabytes (GB) of RAM and 512 GB of internal memory costs 1599 euros in Germany. In white with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal memory, it still costs 1299 euros. The Huawei P50 Pro is offered in the 8/256 GB storage version for 1199 euros.
With Google services and 5G support, the two new Huawei devices would have had what it takes to stir up the smartphone market at the top again. Without these features, these are appealing camera phones, unfortunately not anymore.