Software is still the Gordian knot for Huawei.
Android itself is open source, so Huawei could theoretically keep using it indefinitely. What runs on top of Android is the problem. The same goes for all the Android apps that are only available, at least officially, in the Google Play Store. Huawei has made some noise about Harmony OS , its own operating system, envisioned as an alternative to Android. Huawei said it sold million smartphones in , 30 million more than in It also cemented its lead against Apple, gaining three percentage points on it, per Counterpoint Research.
How was it possible? The latter saved Huawei in Thanks to strong sales in China , Huawei was able not just to stay afloat, but also to grow, despite the US ban. Huawei used the massive momentum it gathered in previous years to keep sales ticking in Europe and other markets. This was mostly on the back of previously released phones like the P30 Pro. Huawei also tweaked and re-released some older models, which allowed it to partially side-step the interdiction to use Google apps. The other big Huawei device from was the Mate 30 Pro.
Huawei put up a brave face and acted like nothing was amiss, but in the end, the Mate 30 Pro was effectively shut out of Europe and other markets outside of China. Huawei did eventually release the phone in some parts of Europe, but in limited numbers and without any serious marketing. Getting Google on the Mate 30 Pro requires users to jump through hoops. Some big, big questions loom over Huawei in Will the US ban continue indefinitely? And what will the long-term consequences be? Ironically, the plan was shelved at the request of the Defense Department, which worried about its high impact on US businesses.
Also read: Crazy idea: Maybe Huawei should permanently abandon official Android. While Huawei seems to have all the hardware components it needs, software remains a problem. On the other side, Huawei could benefit from the current relaxation of the US-China trade conflict.
What does that mean?
While neither side will admit it, Huawei is too big and too important to not come up in the negotiations. If the ban is lifted or Google gets an exemption, the next question is, will Huawei return to the Google ecosystem? The answer seems obvious, but the recent comments of a Huawei Austria executive cast some doubt on the idea that everything will just return to normal.
Huawei later claimed it was a misunderstanding. The Chinese market is large enough to allow it to survive indefinitely, albeit on a much smaller scale. Huawei has already announced billion-dollar initiatives to entice developers to join its platform. The company is putting a lot of work into making its homegrown Huawei Mobile Services a practical alternative to Google Mobile Services.
Now that Huawei has seen first-hand how easy it can lose vital access to Google and other US technology, it will double down on its efforts to become independent. Huawei may not abandon Google — which, for now, is essential for global markets — but the company will do whatever it can to protect itself from future disruption. Huawei has the means and the motivation to build an alternative to the Google platform.
And other Chinese phone makers may support this effort, out of self-preservation if nothing else. Already there are reports that Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo have joined forces to launch their own app store.
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The ban has sucked the air out of all conversations, but Huawei remains a highly competitive and popular consumer brand. Like other phones in the P series, it will push the boundaries of camera hardware, and we have good reason to believe Huawei will pull out all stops. The P40 Pro will go against the Galaxy S20 Ultra , with its feature-packed camera system which includes a periscope optical zoom system that Huawei pioneered.
The other big reason we expect a good release is, well, because Huawei really needs to impress. The P40 Pro will push the envelope of mobile photography. After MWC was unceremoniously canceled due to health fears, Huawei instead held its own virtual launch event where it unveiled the Huawei Mate XS — its second foldable phone and an upgraded version of the original Mate X. Expect more announcements of generous incentives for developers, and perhaps a few big names that jump on the bandwagon.
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Is the company up to the task? What a decade the last year has been for Huawei. It was a crazy-complicated year for Huawei, but the company rose to the challenge. More posts about huawei. However, a lot of noise is visible, especially in dark skies, and the white balance can turn yellow and green under sodium vapor illumination. Still, the flash-off option is your best bet overall when using the Mate 20 Pro in low light. With the flash forced on, the Huawei Mate 20 Pro is capable of achieving very good flash results for a smartphone camera.
When using the flash in complete darkness, images show good target exposure and a decent compromise between texture and noise. There is some color shading and color quantization visible on skin tones, however, and we also saw some slight focus inconsistencies between shots in a series.
Huawei Imei Tracker
When mixed with low 5 lux tungsten light, flash images tend to show a slight yellowish color cast as well as color shading, along with noticeable light fall-off towards the edges of the frame. We also observed a red-eye effect in some images, but the camera captures good levels of detail while keeping noise down. In very low light, target exposure is actually darker than in default mode, which is particularly unhelpful for low-light portrait shots.
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Other components housed in the IPrated glass and metal body are all worthy of a premium device as well. Read the full report to find out how the Mate 20 Pro performed in our camera tests. Like the latter, it delivers an outstanding still image performance, resulting in a Photo score of points.
Huawei Imei Tracker
Add a fast and consistent autofocus and excellent zoom capabilities to the mix, and the Mate 20 Pro is hard to beat for stills. Despite the well-deserved praise, there is still some room for improvement, of course. When viewing images at pixel level, we often found that the Mate 20 Pro rendered fine textures a little unnaturally, and we detected some ringing around hard edges. In images shot in bokeh simulation mode, faces are often quite soft, with low levels of detail; and the autofocus can be a little inconsistent when using the LED flash. But the Mate 20 Pro is not only an outstanding smartphone for still images.
Video stabilization is efficient when recording while holding the camera still, but it could be better at keeping things steady while walking, especially in lower light conditions. We also saw a judder effect while panning the camera and a loss of detail on some fine textures. None of these problems are particularly intrusive, though. With a total photo score of , the Huawei Mate 20 Pro ties the record-setting score of its cousin, the P20 Pro.
The overall Photo score is calculated from sub-scores in tests that examine different aspects of its performance under different lighting conditions. The Huawei Mate 20 Pro camera achieves an outstanding score for exposure, thanks to very good target exposure in almost all situations and a very wide dynamic range that ensures good highlight and shadow detail, even in difficult high-contrast scenes. In the high-contrast comparison scene below, all the cameras offer similar levels of highlight detail, but the Mate 20 Pro squeezes noticeably more detail out of the shadow areas than the P20 Pro and iPhone XS Max.
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Compared to the P20 Pro, the Mate 20 Pro improves slightly on target exposure in backlit scenes. In the sample shots below, you can see that the Mate 20 Pro has exposed the subject slightly more brightly than the P20 Pro. The iPhone XS exposure sits between the two Huawei smartphones. The Mate 20 Pro camera also performs impressively well in very-low light conditions and is capable of producing good exposures down to 1 lux.