It wasn’t that long ago that Huawei was dominating the market with fans flocking to the firm’s feature-packed and competitively-priced devices. However, ever since the 2019 US trade ban stopped the Chinese company from using any of Google’s apps and services – including Gmail, Chrome and the all-important Play Store – Huawei has struggled with sales outside of its home country.
In fact, recent stats from Counterpoint revealed that it has now dropped out of the top five with rivals such as Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi now selling far more devices in markets such as the US and Europe.
With sales in rapid decline, we haven’t seen many new devices launching from Huawei over the past 12 months but it appears that the company is ready to commence battle once again with two very premium smartphones coming soon.
The new P50 Pro and foldable P50 Pocket were launched in China last year but are now both being made available to buy in markets including Europe The Middle East and Africa.
Huawei has also confirmed that these call makers will be coming to the UK at some point in the future.
The P50 Pro comes packed with a 6.6-inch curved OLED screen that also gets a speedy 120Hz refresh rate for speedy scrolling.
For budding photographers, there are four rear cameras including a massive 50-megapixel main sensor plus a 40-megapixel mono sensor that should improve shots in low light and offer better black and white images. Ultra-wide lenses are also packed into the rear case with Huawei boasting that the P50 Pro supports an unprecedented 200 times zoom range.
Powering the phone is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 processor and there’s a fast-charging battery plus an embedded fingerprint scanner tucked under the display.
If you fancy something a little more innovative in your jeans then the P50 Pocket looks interesting.
Just like Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 3 phone, this Huawei device folds in half. Once opened, users will be treated to a 6.9-inch OLED screen which, just like the P50, also gets that fast 120Hz refresh rate.
There’s also a small circular display on the front to see messages without needing to flip things open and a triple camera offers plenty of options for snapping images for that family album.
Prices for the P50 Pro will start from around £1,000 with the Pocket expected to start from £1,150.
It all sounds pretty exciting but there is still one problem that can’t be overlooked as these new flagships devices still don’t feature that all-important access to Google.
Yes, Huawei does have its new App Gallery which is growing by the day and the firm is boasting that these phones will be powered by its latest EMUI 12 software which it says “will offer an innovative UI look that brings the digital world to life.”
However, if you’re a lover of all things Android then Huawei’s latest offerings will be disappointing as there’s still no sign of Google’s popular suite of apps and services returning anytime soon.
www.express.co.uk
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