Huawei has finally revealed all there is to know about its new P50 series. Read on to discover all the important details, including what it looks like, what specs it has and what new camera tech Huawei is introducing for 2021
We got our first glimpse at the Huawei P50 when the company launched its HarmonyOS 2 software, the MatePad Pro and the Huawei Watch 3 back in June.
The P50 arrives as the successor to the P40, P40 Pro and P40 Pro Plus, which offered an excellent camera, a big battery and 5G at a competitive price, but the lack of Google services remained an issue with the previous Huawei handsets.
This time Huawei is launching just two models – the P50 and the P50 Pro. The P50 Pro sees a handful of upgrades over the base model, including a larger, curved display with a faster refresh rate, an additional camera sensor, more storage and a stunning new Dynamic Sky Blue design.
Read on to discover what updates Huawei is bringing to its flagship series this time around.
Design and display
The P50 looks very similar to how we expected – which isn’t a huge surprise considering Huawei gave us a small peak at the phone in June.
The P50 features a flat 6.5-inch OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate, 300Hz touch sampling rate and 1400Hz high frame rate PWM dimming to protect the eyes. The display also supports HDR and has a resolution of 2700 x 1224.
The P50, meanwhile, packs a larger curved 6.6-inch OLED display with a higher 120Hz refresh rate, and the same 300Hz touch sampling rate and 1400Hz high frame rate PWM dimming as its smaller sibling.
The P50 series come with larger displays and batteries than the P40 series, but they’re still lighter and slimmer than their predecessors. The P50 measures 156.5mm x 73.8mm x 7.92mm and weighs 181g, while the P50 Pro measures slightly larger at 158.8mm x 72.8mm x 8.5mm and weighs a little more at 195g.
Both the P50 and the P50 Pro are water and dust resistant up to IP68 and feature dual stereo speakers.
The P50 is available in Cocoa Gold, Charm Pink, Golden Black and Pearl White as rumoured, while the P50 Pro is also available in a new colour-shifting Dynamic Sky Blue shade.
Camera
We’ve known for a while that the P50 series would feature a unique and eye-catching camera array, but we didn’t know exactly what sensors it could consist of – until now.
Both phones feature a Dual-Matrix Camera system, which Huawei claims offers true to life imagery with “extreme clarity” and high dynamic range. The system includes multiple lenses, a 10-channel multi-spectrum sensor, Huawei XD Optics and the XD Fusion Pro Image Engine.
Huawei XD Optics, in particular, is a new “physics-defying” feature that can fix optical errors and reproduce fine details to restore up to 25% of the image signal.
The XD Fusion Pro Image Engine, meanwhile, is an update to the P40’s XD Fusion Image Engine, which includes a new Super Colour Filter System, True-Chroma Image Engine and Super HDR technology to improve detail, colour and dynamic range.
The True-Chroma Image Engine is designed to deliver the highest possible colour accuracy to reflect the colours seen by the human eye.
The P50’s camera setup consists of a 50-megapixel True-Chrome camera (f/1.8), a 13-megapixel ultra-wide angle camera (f/2.2) and a 12-megapixel telephoto camera (f/3.4) with OIS and AF support.
The P50 Pro, on the other hand, benefits from a quad camera, including the same 50-megapixel True-Chrome camera (f/1.8) this time with OIS, a 40-megapixel True-Chroma mono camera (f/1.6), a 13-megapixel ultra-wide angle camera (f/2.2) and a 64-megapixel telephoto camera (f/3.4) with OIS and AF support.
Both handsets feature a 13-megapixel wide angle camera (f/2.4) on the front for selfies and support 4K video recording.
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Specs
As far as specs go, the P50 and the P50 Pro are both powered by the Snapdragon 888 4G chip and the Adreno 660 GPU. The P50 features 8GB of RAM and 128/256GB of storage, while the Pro comes with 8GB of RAM and 256/512GB of storage.
There are also versions of the P50 Pro powered by the Kirin 9000 SoC.
The P50 packs a 4100mAh battery, while the Pro has a larger 4360mAh battery. Both phones take advantage of Max 66W Wired Huawei SuperCharge, while the Pro also supports Max 50W Wireless Huawei SuperCharge.
Both phones are powered by Huawei’s own HarmonyOS 2 operating system.
Release date and pricing
The Huawei P50 was unveiled on July 29 and Huawei has release pricing for the Chinese market.
The P50 is priced at ¥4488 (around £497) with 128GB storage and ¥4988 (around £552) with 256GB storage, while the P50 Pro costs ¥5988 (around £663) with 128GB, ¥6488 (around £718) with 256GB and ¥7488 (around £829) with 512GB.
There’s also a Special Edition P50 Pro available with 12GB or RAM and 512GB of storage for ¥8488 (around £940).
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Editorial independence
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.
