what you should Know
- Huawei has launched its latest Mate 50 smartphones in China.
- The phones support a satellite connection through China’s BeiDou network, allowing users to send text messages.
- The phones feature one of Qualcomm’s latest chipsets, although they still lack 5G connectivity.
Huawei’s Mate series has introduced some of the best smartphones you can’t buy, and after hitting pause on the series in 2021, the company is back with its latest Mate 50 series.
The Huawei Mate 50 Pro is the top-tier model, sporting a large 6.7-inch QHD+ OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. It has a triple camera system with a rather impressive 50MP main sensor on the back. While this sounds like almost every Android phone released this year, the Mate 50 series is unique in that it features a variable aperture offering 10 stops between f/1.4 and f/4. Other phones that have offered this in the past have often been limited to just two aperture settings.
In addition to the main sensor, there is a 13MP ultra-wide camera and a 64MP periscope telephoto lens. On the front, there is a 13MP camera and a ToF sensor.
The Huawei Mate 50 Pro is equipped with the 4G version of Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, Qualcomm’s latest and greatest chipset. Despite the lack of 5G connectivity, however, the Mate 50 series comes with satellite connectivity, seemingly the hottest new thing in mobile. Using China’s BeiDou satellite network, users can send messages in areas without reception, although it does not appear to support receiving messages.
Satellite connectivity on smartphones has recently become something of a new space race for smartphone manufacturers. Apple has long been rumored to bring support to the iPhone 14, while Android 14 is set to get satellite connectivity following the T-Mobile/SpaceX partnership.
Rounding out the specs, the Huawei Mate 50 Pro comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of expandable storage. The 4700mAh battery supports 66W wired charging and 50W wireless charging.
In addition to the Mate 50 Pro, the company also introduced the standard Mate 50, which is not much different. The display refresh rate has been reduced to 90Hz, the battery capacity has been reduced to 4460mAh and the telephoto lens has only 12MP resolution. Aside from the lack of a notch and a flatter display, the Mate 50 looks almost identical to its Pro counterpart.
The phones are currently on pre-sale in China, although a global rollout is to be expected (though it will likely miss the US).