Huawei P50 series is now official, having been announced at an event on Thursday. The manufacturer unveiled a standard Huawei P50 as well as a Huawei P50 Pro, which will both be available in China. The P50 will start at 4,488 yuan (approximately $695) and the P50 Pro at 5,988 yuan (approximately $927).
A standout about the Huawei P50 series is that it lacks 5G at a time when many brands are using the connectivity standard as a highlight feature. The devices are powered by the 4G LTE version of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip.
Huawei CEO, Richard Yu stated at the launch that the company continues to be constrained by U.S. sanctions,“ 5G phones are beyond our reach, and we have to go with 4G by removing the 5G module from our chip design,” he said in a statement.
Additionally, Huawei has outfitted the P50 series with its own proprietary software, called HarmonyOS, as its use of the Android operating system has also been constrained under U.S. sanctions. While HarmonyOS is based on the basic Android kernel, which is open source and available for anyone to use, Huawei no longer has the business connections to officially use the enterprise version Android and Google Mobile Services on its devices.
Early reports of devices Huawei devices that have already been updated to HarmoneyOS indicate that is very reminiscent of Android. The company has developed its own Huawei Mobile Services to replace core apps, such as the Google Play Store, Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube, and Google Drive.
Huawei P50 Pro 
Huawei P50 Pro
Huawei P50 Pro specs include a 6.6-inch FHD+ display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip or a Huawei Kirin 9000 depending on the model, 8GB of RAM, 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB internal storage options, a 4,360mAh battery with 66W fast wired charging and 50W fast wireless charging, and HarmonyOS 2 software based on the Android 11 kernel with Huawei Mobile Services. Color options include Black, Gold, White, Pink, Blue.
Its quad-camera setup includes a 50-megapixel main lens, a 64-megapixel periscope lens with 3.5x optical zoom, and 100x digital zoom, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide lens, and a 40-megapixel monochrome lens, in addition to a 13-megapixel front-facing camera.
Other notable features include NFC, Wi-FI 6, Bluetooth 5.2, USB Type C, Stereo speakers, an IP68 rating, and an in-display fingerprint scanner.
There is also a Special Edition of the Huawei P50 Pro, which features a Kirin 9000, 12GB of RAM, and 512GB of internal storage.
Huawei P50
Huawei P50 specs include a 6.5-inch FHD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip, 8GB of RAM, 128GB, and 256GB internal storage options, a 4,100mAh battery with 66W fast wired charging, and HarmonyOS 2 software based on the Android 11 kernel with Huawei Mobile Services. Color options include Black, Gold, White.
Its quad-camera setup includes a 50-megapixel main lens with OIS and PDAF, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide lens, a 12-megapixel telephoto with OIS, and a 2-megapixel depth lens, in addition to a 13-megapixel front-facing camera.
Other notable features include NFC, Wi-FI 6, Bluetooth 5.2, USB Type C, Stereo speakers, an IP68 rating, and an in-display fingerprint scanner.
Huawei P50 Series Prices and Release Date
The Huawei P50 Pro will be available starting August 12, with the Kirin 9000 chip models releasing first. The 8GB/256GB model will sell for 6488 yuan, while the 8GB/512GB will sell for 7488 yuan, and the 12GB RAM/512GB model will sell for 7988 yuan. The 2GB/512GB Huawei P50 Pro Special Edition will sell for 8488 yuan.
The Qualcomm-powered Huawei P50 Pro 8GB/128GB model will sell for 5988 yuan, while the 8GB/256GB model will sell for 6488 yuan, and the 8GB/512GB model will sell for 7488 yuan.
The Huawei P50 will be available starting in September with the 8GB/128GB model selling for 4488 yuan and the 8GB/256GB model selling for 4988 yuan.
Availability outside of China is not expected at this time.
