Huawei Mate 50 Pro gets global debut

The Huawei Mate 50 Pro smartphone is now gunning for the international market after making its China-only run.

According to GSMArena, Huawei held a media briefing for select international publications ahead of its Sept 28, 2022, global launch.

The company has a few details about its roadmap and tweaks for the international sale of Huawei Mate 50 series devices.

In a nutshell, only the Huawei Mate 50 Pro will be available, while the rest of the lineup sees "no plans" for international availability.

Mate 50 Pro in Silver or Black (8GB RAM, 256GB storage) will start at €1,299 ($1,794.46), with a Leather Orange variant (8GB RAM, 512GB storage) going at €1,399 ($1,932.61).

The international version of Mate 50 Pro will also have altered parts to adhere to existing US sanctions.

For example, it will carry a 4G version of Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 instead of the usual 5G variant, and it uses a China-made Kunlun Glass instead of the US-developed Corning Gorilla Glass to protect its 6.74-inch OLED panel.

It also lacks satellite connectivity in the global model, a feature that's available to China-specific Mate 50 Pro handsets.

Based on its official spec sheet, the global variant runs on EMUI 13. ZDNet said that EMUI 13 is based on an open-source version of Android (version unknown), instead of HarmonyOS 3.0.

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Going through the trouble of running a forked version of Android (and altering certain US components) also tells us it's not likely to carry Google Play Store or any Google Mobile Services, as with recent Huawei mobile handsets.

The phone otherwise touts flagship-class features and specifications.

It has IP68-certified water and dust resistance, a triple rear camera system  (50MP Ultra Aperture XMAGE Camera with OIS, 13MP ultra-wide angle, 64MP telephoto with OIS) backed by its self-made XMAGE mobile camera tech, a 4,700mAh battery with 66W wired and 50W wireless fast-charging, an in-display fingerprint sensor, and 120Hz refresh rate for its display.

This article was first published in HardwareZone.