EE has confirmed it will not offer Huawei’s 5G smartphones when the next-gen network goes live at the end of the month, following a series of blocks against the Chinese brand at the behest of the US government.
EE unveiled when its 5G network will go live in the UK and which devices will be shipping when it does earlier today. While Samsung, OnePlus, Oppo and LG will have a flagship device ready to buy on the UK’s first 5G network, Huawei won’t. The news comes just days after Google rescinded the brand’s Android license.
During the launch of the the 5G network, EE CEO Marc Allera said it was putting Huawei devices “on pause”. There was no comment on whether this will affect current Huawei devices sold by EE.
Related: Everything you need to know about EE’s 5G network
It was originally predicted that one of the first 5G phones available in the UK would be the Huawei Mate 20 X 5G after the Chinese brand unveiled it was coming to EE, Vodafone, Three and O2 in June.
Instead, the first four phones you’ll be able to get on EE’s 5G network will be the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, Oppo Reno 5G and LG V50 ThinQ.
It has been a tough week for Huawei. On Monday (May 20) Google said it was withdrawing the brand’s Android license for future devices, meaning phones like the rumoured Huawei Mate 30 would not be able to get access to Android updates and would have to use the open source version of Android (AOSP). We’ve got a full explainer on the situation which you can read to get fully caught up.
Related: 5 reasons you shouldn’t buy a 5G phone
EE is switching on its 5G network in the UK next Thursday (May 30) in a number of cities across the UK and you can begin to pre-order devices starting from today. Not all of the above phones will be available right away, with the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G coming on June 7.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
