Last night, Apple revealed a new feature for its iPhone lineup. Satellite connections are on the menu. But if you were watching Huawei’s conveniently-timed Chinese Mate 50 series announcement, technically the Chinese company got there first. Technically.
Huawei’s Mate 50 and Mate 50 Pro were revealed earlier this week. Along with the standard set of upgrades, the ability to send text messages using China’s global BeiDou satellite network has been included. What this means is that users can communicate even when they’re outside of cellular coverage areas.
More than a Mate 50
Aside from the suspicious claiming of one of Apple’s headphone features, Huawei’s lineup also features pretty decent specs. Kinda. There’s a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 inside, the year’s fastest processor, but it’s the 4G version of the chipset. Huawei’s having 5G issues right now. 8GB of RAM and 256GB/512GB storage round out the main specs.
Both phones feature 6.7in OLED screens, with the 50 running at 90Hz and the 50 Pro at a flagship-spec 120Hz.
Camera tech is where Huawei used to put up big numbers. The loss of Leica makes us wary of the new loadout but it sounds decent enough on paper. The stock 50 has a triple camera setup — a 50MP main, and two 12MP backups. The 50 Pro has the same arrangement, but it swaps out the 12MP 5x telephoto lens for a 64MP 3.5x telephoto… for some reason.
Even so, there are a few ridiculous claims from the Chinese company with regard to the Mate 50 Pro’s digital zoom. 200x is a nice number and all but it won’t mean a thing if it’s completely non-functional. Without a tripod and a frying pan handle, you might as well not even have the feature included.
Huawei’s new smartphone hardware is only confirmed for China at the moment. The phones start at about R12,550, for the 128GB version of the Mate 50.