Huawei announces the latest smartphone P50 Pro! It's amazing, but it doesn't support "5G". Shock without "Sony IMX 800".

On July 29, 2021, Huawei released the latest smartphones "P50" and "P50 Pro". It will be the first smartphone equipped with HarmonyOS 2 developed in-house.

Pre-orders for the P50 Pro have already started in China and will ship on August 12th. The price starts from 6,000 yuan (about 101,750 yen) for 8GB/128GB (Snapdragon 888 4G). The 12GB/512GB model (Kirin 9000) is scheduled to be released in September at 7,988 yuan (from about 135,500 yen). P50 is also scheduled to be released in September, and 8GB / 128GB (Snapdragon 888 4G) starts at 4,500 yuan (about 76,300 yen).

There are two models of Soc installed in the P50 Pro, which is a high-end model, HiSilicon's "Kirin 9000" and Qualcomm's "Snapdragon 888 4G".

From the Huawei Mate 40 Pro product page

Kirin 9000 has already been adopted in the company's "Mate 40 Pro 5G", and ranked "19th" in Antutu's benchmark ranking as of July 30th. The score is "68,2168", which shows that it has the same processing power as the Snapdragon 865 Plus.

From Antutu

The Snapdragon 888 is a well-known high-performance Soc that is used in Android flagship models such as the Galaxy 21 Ultra and OPPO Find X3 Pro. In other words, there is no problem in terms of processing power regardless of which model you choose.

From Huwei

However, on the P50 Pro specs page, I can't find the word "5G" in the specifications of smartphones with Mate 40 Pro 5G or regular Snapdragon 888. Only 2G, 3G and 4G networks are supported.

Networks supported by Huawei P50 Pro (Snapdragon 888) models (from Huawei)

Networks supported by Huawei P50 Pro (Kirin 9000) models (from Huawei V Mall)

"4G" is also added to the name part of Soc, clearly indicating that it is not compatible with "5G". The impact of US sanctions has finally cast a big shadow over areas other than GMS.

What surprised me even more was the camera. The P50 Pro camera has a 4-lens configuration, including a 50-megapixel main camera, a 64-megapixel periscope camera (optical 3.5x zoom), a 13-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, and a 40-megapixel monochrome camera. Dual LED flash.

Multiple technologies such as "True-ChromaShot", "HUAWEI XD Optics", and "XD Fusion Pro Image Engine" are adopted for the "Dual Matrix Camera System" that shoots with two cameras at the same time.

The "XDFusion Image Engine" adopted from the P40 series has been updated to the "XD Fusion Pro Image Engine". By combining True-Chroma Camera (color) and True-Chroma Camera (monochrome), the amount of light acquired by the main camera is improved by 103%. Furthermore, the dynamic range has been expanded by 28% by improving the synthesis technology.

"HUAWEI XD Optics", which was adopted for the first time, adds calculation functions to the optical imaging system. Corrects errors in data acquired by optical photography, enabling restoration of up to 25% of image signals. This technology enables acquisition of clear image quality even at high magnification. The maximum zoom magnification is 200x.

The P50 Pro has undergone a major evolution in terms of system. But what caught my attention was the "physical evolution". The main camera of the P50 Pro was to be equipped with a 1-inch "SONY IMX 800". Many media outlets and leakers reported on the content, so in a sense, the installation of the IMX 800 should have been a prescribed route.

From Twitter

But no mention of image sensors. According to gsmarena's information, which has accurate spec information, the size of the image sensor remains "1/1.28 inch". The current situation is that the image sensor of the main camera has not been changed and it has remained in the system update.

DxOMark has already published the score of P50 Pro, surpassing Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra to be "the best in the world". However, the difference is only 1 point, and it can be said that the evolution of the camera has somewhat stagnated. Huawei is losing smartphone market share worldwide. The P50 series wants to make a comeback with the full-scale adoption of Harmony OS. It will be interesting to see how far the number of sales can be increased in a situation that cannot be said to be rock solid.

From DxOMark

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