Huawei yesterday launched its latest Mate 50 flagship smartphone series in China. The devices consist of the standard and Pro variants, arriving two years after its predecessors which debuted back in October 2020.
Before detailing each device, it is worth noting that both Mate 50 models are the first from Huawei to feature its first-party XMAGE imaging system, as well as the ability to make calls or send messages via satellite. More specifically, users are provided access to China’s Beidou 3 satellite for emergencies in cases where no cellular network is available.
Additionally, the duo is rated IP68 in terms of water resistance and are also equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC instead of the company’s own Kirin chipset. However, due to the US sanctions imposed towards Huawei, both phones lack any 5G connectivity or support Google Mobile Services (GMS).
The standard Huawei Mate 50 sports a flat 6.7-inch OLED display with FHD+ (1212 x 2616 pixels) resolution, 10-bit colour depth, and 90 Hz refresh rate. Accompanying the aforementioned Snapdragon processor is 8 GB of RAM and up to 512 GB of internal storage. Meanwhile, powering the phone is a 4,460 mAh battery that comes with 66 W wired and 50 W wireless fast charging, as well as 7.5W reverse wireless charging.
Imaging-wise, featured on the back of the standard Mate 50 is a triple camera setup which features a 50 MP primary shooter with a six-blade variable aperture that ranges from f/1.4 to f/4.0. Paired together with it is a 13 MP ultra-wide camera and a 12 MP telephoto with 5X optical zoom and up to 50X digital zoom. Housed within the punch-hole cutout on the phone’s display is a 13 MP selfie camera.
Meanwhile, the Huawei Mate 50 Pro is equipped with a larger 6.74-inch OLED curved display with FHD+ (1212 x 2616 pixels) resolution, 10-bit colour depth and a higher 120 Hz refresh rate, though it also comes with a wide notch on top. The latter is to accommodate both the 13 MP front-facing camera and a 3D facial scanning system for biometric authentication.
Internally, accompanying the smartphone’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset is 8 GB of RAM and up to 512 GB of internal storage. Powering the Pro, on the other hand, is a slightly larger 4,700 mAh battery that supports 66 W wired and 50 W wireless fast charging, as well as 7.5 W reverse wireless charging.
On the imaging side of things, the Mate 50 Pro’s triple camera setup features the same 50 MP primary shooter with a six-blade variable aperture as the standard version. Paired together with it is a 13 MP ultra-wide and a larger 64 MP telephoto camera with 3.5X optical zoom and up to 100X digital zoom.
According to the series’ launch in China, pricing for the standard Huawei Mate 50 starts from CNY 4,999 (~RM 3,238) for the 128 GB configuration and CNY 6,699 (~RM 4,340) for the 512 GB. Meanwhile, the Pro variant is offered at CNY 6,799 (~RM 4,404) for the 256 GB configuration and CNY 7,999 (~RM 5,282) for the 512 GB. There’s no word on international availability for now.
