Huawei’s Mate series to return with the Mate 50 next month

By Michael Allison August 22, 2022

Huawei today teased the first new model of its flagship Mate line in years. It’ll be launching the Huawei Mate 50 on September 5, just days before Apple is expected to hold the iPhone 14 launch. It would be the first time Huawei has launched a Mate phone since the Mate 40 in 2020. That’s no surprise. The company’s smartphone business has seen a decline ever since being barred from western markets, with not even sales in its home market of China able to make up for the shortfall.

Huawei made the announcement on Weibo, teasing the September 6 launch. We’re not quite sure what to expect from Huawei on this one. A Mate 50, a Mate 50 Pro, or even a Mate 50 Porsche edition are par for the course. Some other reports claim that Huawei is also planning a cheaper Mate 50E.

Huawei P50 Pro and Honor Magic4 Pro's camera modules. — Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

As with all Huawei phones, the Mate 50 will run a modified version of Android that the company calls HarmonyOS. Huawei is still unable to use Android proper, so don’t expect any Google Play apps and services. The company’s replacement app store, the aptly named App Gallery, has seen a steady influx of apps and games over the year, but it’s still nowhere near what you’d expect from a typical Android phone.

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As such, Huawei is not expected to bring this phone outside China. If it did, it would still have to contend with the lack of Google services. Sure, it’s a Huawei phone, and it is guaranteed to have excellent cameras, but so are phones from Xiaomi, Oppo, and OnePlus as well as the staples of Samsung and Apple. This doesn’t mean that Huawei’s Mate-inspired technology wouldn’t eventually trickle out of China. Former sub-brand Honor, now an independent company, still uses a lot of Huawei’s stylings. In a year or so, perhaps, the latest Honor Magic phone may yet bring the Mate 50’s best features to Europe and the U.S.

The Mate 50 itself, on the other hand, is not expected to show up.

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Michael Allison

Former Digital Trends Contributor

A UK-based tech journalist for Digital Trends, helping keep track and make sense of the fast-paced world of tech with a…

Computing

Wedge-shaped MateBook X Pro headlines Huawei’s MWC lineup

Huawei MateBook X Pro 2022

Mobile World Congress, the annual trade show for the mobile industry taking place in Spain this week, is usually associated with smartphones, but Huawei has often used the show to reveal its computing products, and 2022 is no different. Huawei has revealed three new devices — the MateBook X Pro 2022, the MateBook E 2022, and the MateStation X, plus a new software feature called Super Device. Let’s take a look at all of them.
MateBook X Pro 2022
Made from metal, the MateBook X Pro 2022 is a laptop with a 14.2-inch screen set in a case with a minimal 6mm-thick bezel for a 92.5% screen-to-body ratio. Closed, the case has a wedge shape, meaning it measures 15.5mm at its thickest point and only 5.4mm at its thinnest point. It weighs 1.38 kilograms, which is about the same as a 13-inch Apple MacBook M1.

Unlike old MateBook laptops, Huawei has moved the video call camera out of a function key and into the screen’s bezel, which means people will no longer have to stare up your nose during a call. The touchpad has been given gesture support, so you can adjust the brightness and volume with a swipe at the edge, and use a double tap with your knuckle to take a screen shot. This “knock” feature was previously seen on Huawei’s smartphones, and is surprisingly helpful. The case has six speakers for surround sound, four USB ports, and a 90-watt Super Charger fast charging system.

Mobile

Huawei’s $1,800 folding P50 Pocket isn’t expensive enough

Huawei P50 Pocket open and seen from the back.

Huawei should charge more for the P50 Pocket, its Galaxy Z Flip 3-like folding smartphone. This may sound like a strange statement, especially since $1,800 isn't exactly cheap -- quite the opposite actually. But I’m suggesting Huawei should have used even better materials to make it, gone overboard with luxury accouterments, and even got the designer of the Premium Edition to sign the device personally -- then jacked up the price accordingly.

Why would anyone ask to pay more for a phone? Huawei continues to face immense technical challenges, and the P50 Pocket was the perfect device for Huawei to reinvent itself as a modern-day Vertu by making a super-luxurious smartphone that's so desirable, people will want to use it alongside another phone.
Vertu knew luxury
If you aren’t familiar with Vertu, in its heyday, it made hyper-luxurious, mega-expensive, handbuilt smartphones for the wealthy. Each phone had the signature of the person who built it behind the SIM card door, the leather was the finest you could get, the build quality and methods used owed more to Swiss watches than to mobile tech, and owners had their own special Vertu personal assistant on speed dial to help organize their lives. Unfortunately, the company ceased to be in 2017.

Mobile

Garmin Instinct 2 series tipped to launch next month

A render of a Garmin Instinct 2 smartwatch.

The highly-anticipated Garmin Instinct 2 series will be released in February 2022, NoteBookCheck revealed. The rumor was confirmed by GadgetsandWearables, revealing that the Instinct 2 will come alongside an Instinct 2S version, since the base model is expected to be quite large and may not be suitable for all users. Both models will get four color options -- Solar, Camo, Surf, and Solar Surf, with the Instinct 2 having an additional "Solar Tactical" variant.
NoteBookCheck has also reported that one of the main selling points of this device will be its exceptional battery life. The Instinct 2 and its Camo and Surf versions will have a 28-day battery capacity, while the 2S will last for 21 days after a full charge. Meanwhile, all the Solar versions will be able to accommodate an essentially unlimited battery life after 3 hours of solar charging, as long as you can get regular access to the sun.

GadgetsandWearables has noted that all the watch variants are expected to be shock resistant, with up to 100 meters of water resistance. Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection will be available, along with a strong fiber-reinforced polymer case. The watch will also have multiple global navigation satellite systems, such as GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo.
When it comes to sensors, the devices will possess an improved heart rate sensor, with refined blood oxygen and respiration tracking. VO2 Max, which is an assessment of a person's current fitness level, is available on both the Instinct 2 and Instinct 2S, unlike the previous versions. Additionally, there will be a sleep widget for accurate sleep tracking, which will share information on time spent during the various sleep stages.
The Instinct 2 will have several price points depending on the variant. The base Instinct 2 and Instinct 2S will be priced at $350 each. The surf and camo variants would cost you $400, with the Solar version a tad more at $450. Finally, the Solar Surf and Solar Tactical versions will be the costliest at $500 apiece. All the variants could have multiple colors, with official details expected soon from the company itself.