Huawei has launched its next series of premium smartphones – the P50 and P50 Pro – for the Chinese market, with some of the phones powered by the Snapdragon 888. This also marks the debut of the first big phones to operate on HarmonyOS, Huawei’s mobile operating programme that fits well with the well-specced hardware and cameras that Huawei releases.
When compared to the P40, which was released in 2020, Huawei’s introduction of the P50 series is a bit delayed, owing to the restrictions imposed by the US on Huawei. The restrictions hampered the manufacture of the new phones because Huawei was unable to acquire processors and other components from firms that had previously used US-made technology. As a result of the penalties, Huawei’s P50 series will not feature any Google apps or services if it is released outside of China. What Huawei has twisted in its favour is that it has removed the Android base for the phone itself, instead of running it on HarmonyOS, which solves some of the issues. However, there is considerable disagreement over how dissimilar this OS is from Android in reality, since rumours claim that it is a derivative of Android’s open-source code.
Huawei P50, P50 Pro: Features and specs
While the Huawei P50 is powered by the Snapdragon 888, the P50 Pro comes in two SoC configurations: Kirin 9000 and Snapdragon 888. Even though both SoCs are capable of supporting 5G, the phones will only support 4G. The P50 Pro is the most expensive model; with a 6.6-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 1228p resolution, as well as a 4,360mAh battery. The P50, on the other hand, has a 6.5-inch 1224p OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. The P50 is powered by a 4,100mAh battery. Both versions offer wired fast charging at 66W, however only the Pro supports wireless charging at 50W. NFC is also supported by both models. In terms of optics, the Pro boasts four rear cameras: a 50 MP primary camera, a 64 MP telephoto with a 3.5x optical zoom, a 40 MP monochrome camera, and a 13 MP ultrawide camera. On the other hand, the P50 features three back cameras: a 50 MP primary camera, a 12 MP telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom, and a 13 MP ultrawide camera. Both versions include 13 MP front-facing cameras.
Huawei P50, P50 Pro price, and availability
The P50 Pro model starts at 5,988 yuan ($928) for the option with 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage space. Meanwhile, the P50 begins at 4,488 yuan (about $695) and has the same RAM and storage characteristics. While the Pro model will be available in China on August 12th, the P50 model will be available in September. So yet, it is unknown whether the lineup will be released outside of China.
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