Huawei’s P50 Series is finally and officially making its way to international markets. In what could be described as ‘the slowest flagship phone launch ever’, Huawei is gradually rolling the P50 series out internationally, following a Chinese launch in late July 2021 – itself delayed from March that same year.
2020’s Huawei P40 and Mate 40 series were unquestionably impressive, but now it’s up to the P50 series to carry the torch for the brand, despite everything it’s faced throughout its development.
Global Release Dates
Huawei unveiled the P50 and P50 Pro in China on 29 July 2021 and the phones went on sale there the following month (12 August). Despite this, we’ve been waiting for subsequent international launch details of the latest P series for months.
In October 2021, the company finally teased release plans for the rest of the world… but only to say that the P50 series will launch internationally “early next year”.
However, the tweet by the company only referenced the P50 Pro, with no explicit time frame mentioned for the standard P50’s arrival.
Following the P50 Pro’s arrival in international markets (namely Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, where the phone hit pre-order on 12 January), Huawei Germany’s Twitter account then revealed that both the P50 Pro and P50 Pocket (the company’s latest foldable) will both be making their way to Europe on 26 January. We’re still waiting to hear on whether that release includes the UK, though.
In terms of why the P50 series has seen such extensive delays getting to market, in a statement given to Tech Advisor, Huawei blamed “challenges to its supply chain” which “impacted go-to-market plans for this flagship device overseas.”
Cost of the series
According to the original Chinese pricing
Huawei P50 pricing
- 8GB RAM + 128GB storage = US$695
- 8GB RAM + 256GB storage = $770
Huawei P50 Pro pricing
- 8GB RAM + 128GB storage = $930
- 8GB RAM + 256GB storage = $1,005
- 8GB RAM + 512GB storage = $1,160
- 12GB RAM + 512GB storage = $1,235
- 12GB RAM + 512GB storage, “Collector’s Edition” = $1,315
As our first taste of international pricing, Malaysian pre-orders for the 8GB RAM + 256GB model clock-in at a price that tallies surprisingly closely with Chinese pricing. However, European pricing is still expected to be notably higher, once it’s announced.
Features of the Series
Both devices showcase the company’s XD Fusion Pro engine, which aims to deliver better light and color reproduction, paired with support for wider color space. HarmonyOS, meanwhile, supports enhanced collaboration features with the company’s wider ecosystem of products.
An unusual trait of the P50 series at present is a complete lack of 5G. There are still many markets where 5G infrastructure hasn’t yet established itself, so while fans in parts of China and Europe may lament the absence of 5G connectivity on the P50 series, the phones won’t lose any appeal in that regard in regions where 4G still reigns supreme.
While we’re yet to get hands-on a P50 series device, Huawei released a camera sample of the P50 series, showcasing an impressive result from a challenging photographic scenario.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Technology Express staff and is published from a syndicated feed)
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