IT was not all that long ago—before mid 2020, in fact—that Huawei was among the leaders in the mobile phone space, overtaking Apple and the fierce cult surrounding the iPhone to become the No. 2 brand in terms of units sold globally, according to tech market surveys, while nipping at the heels of market leader Samsung. In some these surveys, it was even proclaimed the top mobile phone brand.
Then came the restrictions imposed by the US government, based on unsubstantiated allegations that the phones made by the Chinese-owned tech giant could be used to spy on Americans. The restrictions denied Huawei access to US technologies, most notably Google and its suite of applications and services (Gmail, YouTube, Search, Maps, etc.).
How could any company survive such onslaught? Well, the good news for consumers is that Huawei hasn’t given up the fight—not in the mobile phone space, not in networking equipment, nor in consumer electronics as whole.
Only recent, Huawei unveiled its push for what it has dubbed a “Seamless AI Life,” which aims to “enable a digitally efficient work life experience by synergizing the two core Huawei capabilities: Cross-Device Collaboration and Ecosystem Integration.” Essentially, the company will leverage current and proprietary technologies to make it easier for consumers to remain productive even as they move from one platform to another. For example, you can start amending a legal brief on your Huawei smartphone while stuck in traffic, then continue working on that very same brief on your more expansive Huawei MateBook D15 laptop at the office without so much as breaking a sweat.
Of course, one of the tools central to this “Seamless AI Life” Huawei envisions is the smartphone, and in mid February the company launched the latest addition to its acclaimed P series of flagship smartphones, the P50 Pro and its flip-phone variant the P50 Pocket. I have been putting the P50 Pro through the test for a few weeks now.
Measuring 158.8×72.8×8.5mm and weighing in at 195g, the Huawei P50 Pro variant I got is the Pearl White (the other colorways available are Golden Black, Cocoa Gold and Charm Pink) and it reeks of the premium cred that has defined the brand’s flagship offerings. Its aluminum frame is sandwiched by Gorilla Glass which, needless to say, makes the phone a fingerprint magnet—but it is an issue that can be easily be addressed with a phone case. (Included in the purchase is a soft transparent case, by the way.) Careful attention to build detail is evident throughout, with curves and joints meeting seamlessly, and perforations and grilles and punch holes smoothened out to add to the overall sensory delight.
The phone’s backside is dominated by a pill-shaped camera bump housing a powerful Leica camera system. Initially, I thought that pill-shaped bump would be odd and off-putting but it has quickly grown on me, the cameras arrayed to an aesthetic that gives the phone a very distinctive, very modern, very space-age look. The camera system, developed in Huawei’s continuing partnership with legendary German imaging specialist Leica, is comprised of a 50-megapixel main camera, a 40-megapixel monochrome camera, a 13-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 64-megapixel telephoto shooter. This confluence of optical muscle makes the P50 Pro one of the most exceptional choices in a world of bloggers and vloggers who record just about moment of their lives in photos and videos.
The frontside is dominated by a 6.6-inch display and nothing else but a punch hole in the middle for the ultrawide 13-megapixel selfie camera with autofocus. The display is an OLED affair with a 1228-pixel resolution, 120Hz dynamic refresh rate, 300Hz touch sampling rate, and HDR10+ support. All that spec results in a display unyieldingly tasteful and compelling to use, pushing colors and images that are sharp and robust but sans the oversaturation overkill that has come to define the screens of competing flagship phones. Whether you want to consume or create content, nirvana can be had from that display.
Notwithstanding the minimalist aesthetic that has won Huawei many a design award for its phones, and that minimalist approach continues with the P50 Pro, there are many pleasantries that either just lie underneath or are craftily concealed, such as the unbelievably thin grille at the top of the screen (from which the audio comes for those calls), or the stereo speakers at both ends of the phone. Under the hood, the phone packs a Snapdragon 888 4G processor, 8GB RAM and 256GB user storage, powering the phone to a buttery-smooth performance as you go about your day through a multitude of tasks, with the occasional Netflix TV show or arcade-style game thrown in. (Yes, I remain old-school in terms of gaming.) After all that activity, you will still have a good amount of juice from the Li-Po 4360 mAh battery—and, yes, the phone supports fast charging 66W and fast wireless charging 50W. And, unlike with other competing brands, Huawei does provide the necessary power adapter.
Allow me to close this review with what has remained largely not addressed—and, no, it is not the Huawei P50 Pro’s lack of 5G, which continues to wait for its closeup as far as market penetration is concerned. It is, of course, the lack of all that Google goodness I mentioned earlier, because of the continuing US embargo.
I live in Google world—I use Gmail, store my snaps on Google Photos, make notes on Google Keep, surf the web via Chrome, follow news and lifestyle channels on YouTube, listen to podcasts via Google Podcasts, mapped out my pre-pandemic trip to Nagoya via Google Maps and Google Calendar, edit documents on Google Documents, videoconference with my daughter via Duo, message with the love of my life via Google Chat and Messages…you get the picture. And, given my dependence on the Google ecosystem, the Huawei P50 Pro—however powerful its imaging muscle, however gorgeous it is to hold and behold—should have been a non-starter.
But here we are, some weeks into my playing with the Huawei P50 Pro, which runs on a beautiful Android variant the company has dubbed Harmony OS, and it continues to be my daily driver. The Huawei App Gallery has grown ever more robust, allowing me to install the apps I have been using with regularity: Twitter, Viber, Lazada, Shopee, Grab, Netflix, Skype, Textra, PayMaya, GCash, Zoom and, yes, even Chrome. These apps are also updated via the Huawei App Gallery. Nice, eh?
Moreover, for the other Google apps that I need, there is this marvelous app called Gspace, which allows you to install within its emulated space those apps. In my case, these were Gmail, YouTube, Chat, Photos, Maps and Calendar. There are areas where things are wonky (Podcasts, Duo and Messages seemingly won’t work in emulation), yes, but it takes away much of the sting of the US embargo.
Of course, I could simplify my so-called mobile life by just going with a smartphone for which I won’t have to jump through such hoops. Trust me, I thought as much before the pandemic hit—and now I am stuck with a very expensive fruit that I am still paying for.
So, yes, while Huawei continues to be constrained by the US embargo, I have to say that the Huawei P50 Pro remains a very good buy—even for a non-blogger/vlogger like me.
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