Huawei used to be one of the most well-known brands in the smartphone market, but the ongoing repercussions of a US ban that prevented Huawei from using Google services have virtually rendered the business irrelevant outside of China. Now, in an effort to outdo Apple, Huawei has unveiled the Mate 50 series just hours before the release of the iPhone 14, and it outperforms that product on a crucial feature.
Like all other flagship devices from the Chinese brand, the Huawei Mate 50 and Mate 50 Pro are smartphones. a strong camera system, a quality and beautiful design, and more. The Mate 50 offers a variable aperture for the main 50MP camera between f/1.4 and f/4, as well as an XIMAGE camera system that can improve low-light performance and more. A 64MP telephoto lens and a 13MP ultrawide camera are also included.
The Mate 50 is also a powerhouse inside.
Actually, the gadget is powered by Qualcomm’s most recent and finest chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. However, Qualcomm can only provide 4G support to Huawei, much like been the case has done for a few years now. As a result, this device lacks 5G connection, which has become a must for almost all smartphones over the previous few years. The CPU is coupled with either 256GB or 512GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. The battery has a 4,700 mAh capacity and supports up to 66W charging.
The Mate 50 boasts a 6.7-inch 90Hz OLED display, while the Mate 50 Pro has a 6.74-inch 120Hz OLED display, rounding out the specifications.
The Mate 50 also uses EMUI 13, which is built on HarmonyOS 3 and is supposed to be based on Android 13 although Huawei hasn’t been very open about the new operating system’s specifics.
Support for satellite texting, as The Verge pointed out, is the main feature Huawei is promoting in the Mate 50s firmware. The device offers text messaging via China’s global BeiDou satellite network, enabling the sending of messages in places without cellular coverage. Due to the US embargo, which also prohibits proper GPS support, the Mate 50 also uses BeiDou for navigation.
As stated in a news release by Huawei:
The Huawei Mate 50 series has overcome the constraints of terrestrial networks to become the world’s first mass-market smartphone that supports Beidou satellite technology, traversing mountains and seas, reaching the sky and the ground.
This timing is also not a coincidence. Apple has gone from being rumored for months to support texting using satellite networks to being set to unveil the iPhone 14 series in just a few hours. Although it is not verified, it appears quite likely that Apple will introduce the feature.
It is crystal evident that Huawei is attempting to capitalize on the buzz surrounding Apple to demonstrate that it is still keeping up with the times. 9to5Mac was quick to point out that although Apple’s handset is most likely to be the first in the US, Huawei will be the first to offer satellite texting. According to Space Explored, T-Mobile and Starlink have also recently announced support for satellite messaging on a few Android devices. In Android 14, this form of communication will also receive formal support from Android.
Of course, none of this is particularly significant for the average worldwide customer. The Mate 50 and Mate 50 Pro are unquestionably great phones for the Chinese market, but they have trouble competing there. Even many third-party applications struggle to work if Google’s services and products, especially the Play Store and Play Services, are not available. And despite all of the company’s efforts, it is obvious that AppGallery is still far behind.
If it wasn’t already crystal clear, the Huawei Mate 50 series won’t be marketed in the US.
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