Huawei was once the world’s top manufacturer, but its meteoric rise was based on Western technology. The company was forced to change course when the US government cracked down on Chinese megacorporations, but Huawei is still big in China. The firm has just released the Mate 70 series, which it claims are its most powerful phones. They also show Huawei’s break with Android in favor of its proprietary HarmonyOS NEXT, which doesn’t work with Android apps.
The Mate 70 comes in four flavors: the Mate 70, Mate 70 Pro, Mate 70 Pro Plus, and Mate 70 RS. The base model has a 6.7-inch OLED display, 5,300mAh battery, and 66W fast charging. Huawei always emphasizes camera performance, so even the entry-level Mate 70 sports a 50MP primary camera, a 12MP telephoto, and a 40MP rear camera. It comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for CNY 5,499 (about $758), which would be the best price in the US market.
The Pro adds features like Wi-Fi 7 and even faster charging. The proposed camera is also slightly upgraded, but costs CNY 6,499 ($896). The Pro Plus gets another camera spec bump and 16GB of RAM for CNY 8,499 ($1,172). The Mate 70 RS has the same features as the Pro Plus but adds a titanium case and other premium design elements for CNY 11,999 ($1,654).
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The Huawei Mate 70 Pro Plus. Credit: Huawei
Huawei has not discussed the processors inside its new phones. The export restrictions on Huawei and other Chinese companies have prevented them from obtaining the latest silicon from manufacturers such as TSMC, which has slowed progress. At the end of last year, Huawei announced a 5nm Arm chip, something US government officials didn’t think would happen for a few more years. The chip inside this phone could be another impressive upgrade. However, Huawei might be keeping things quiet because the chip is a weak point for its new flagship phones. Reuters reports that some versions of the phone will run the Kirin 9100 chip, an 8-core 6nm chip from China’s SMIC.
All four devices can run Huawei’s legacy HarmonyOS, which is based on Android. However, the company is now offering the option to upgrade to HarmonyOS NEXT. This is the software that Huawei plans to use going forward, which will end its reliance on Western smartphone technology. Huawei launched the old HarmonyOS in 2019 shortly after its access to US technology was blocked by the government. This software remained compatible with Android apps but relied on open-source, non-Googley components of Android. HarmonyOS NEXT is not Android.
Huawei knows to leave Google’s Android core which means starting from scratch with apps. The company assures customers that it has already installed 15,000 apps for HarmonyOS NEXT, and promises 100,000 more apps in the coming months. If Huawei can come through, it can move forward without Android support.
This can be a popular move, even if it means temporary difficulty. Huawei’s patriotic support in China helped turn the corner after its business was curtailed by US sanctions. The company currently ranks as the second largest smartphone manufacturer in China, just behind Vivo.