Huawei has announced the launch date and price of its next flagship smartphone, the Mate 50 Pro, in South Africa.
In September 2022, the Huawei Mate 50 Pro will be introduced in the company’s other main worldwide markets.
The symmetrical body design of the premium smartphone is highlighted by a large aluminium alloy camera ring on the rear.
The ring’s edge has pyramid-shaped Clous de Paris embossing, which is commonly found in high-end wristwatches, jewellery, and other accessories.
Users will discover a strong back triple shooter inside the ring, comprised of a 50MP main sensor, a 13MP ultra-wide lens, and a 64MP periscope telephoto camera.
The “Huawei Ultra Aperture Camera” has a 10-size adjustable physical aperture, which allows for significant advances in picture processing and quality.
This has resulted in what is arguably its most notable success among critics: topping the DxOMark smartphone camera rankings with an overall score of 149.
With that rating, it outperformed powerful smartphone cameras such as the Google Pixel 7 Pro and the Apple iPhone 14 Pro.
DxOMark discovered that the Mate 50 Pro could capture high-quality images and movies both inside and outdoors, with “truly outstanding” low-light performance.
The revolutionary variable aperture system also contributed to stunning group portraits and low-light shots, while the amazing up to 200x zoom capabilities were another highlight.
The Mate 50 Pro’s big 6.74-inch OLED display has a resolution of 2,616 x 1,212 and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz.
Huawei has integrated its newly developed Kunlun Glass to increase durability and defend against damage caused by falls or collisions.
The material is made up of 10 quadrillion-level nanocrystals that were manufactured utilising composite ion strengthening, 24-hour high-temperature nanocrystal growth, 108-step micro-crystalline matrix material and panel processing procedures, and 1,600°C platinum smelting technologies.
This leads in a 10x increase in drop resistance, giving the Mate 50 the first smartphone ever to get SGS’s five-star glass drop resistance certification.
What’s on the inside
When it comes to internal hardware, the first significant change is that Huawei has abandoned its in-house Kirin processors owing to development difficulties caused by the US trade restrictions.
Instead, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 CPU was chosen. It comes with 8GB of RAM in all variants.
Unfortunately, the Mate 50 Pro’s chip shopping edition lacks 5G connectivity, which has been a standard on most new flagships from its competitors.
For those who are happy with their 4G network speeds in South Africa, this should not be a deal breaker.
It also has 5W wireless reverse charging for charging wearables or other phones.
Pre-orders for the Huawei Mate 50 Pro began on Thursday, January 26, 2022, and the device will be publicly available on February 1, 2022.
In South Africa, Huawei will sell the Mate 50 Pro in black or silver with 256GB of internal storage. Both of these variants are R24,999.
If you wish to increase storage to 512GB, the sole colour choice is a fairly flamboyant orange, which costs R26,999.
For the black and silver variations, the back is made of vegan leather rather than glass.
To reserve their unit, interested purchasers can submit an R1,000 deposit until January 31, 2022.
This will result in an R2,499 discount on the 256GB model and an R2,699 discount on the 512GB model.
That works out to R22,500 for the 256GB model and R23,300 for the 128GB model.
Each Mate 50 Pro pre-order includes a Huawei Watch GT Runner wristwatch worth R7,499 with it.
The features and design of the Huawei Mate 50 Pro are shown in the table and photographs below.
Huawei Mate 50 Pro | ||
OS | EMUI 13 (no GMS) | |
Display | 6.74-inch 2,616 x 1,212 OLED with 120Hz refresh rate | |
CPU | Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 4G | |
RAM | 8GB | |
Storage | 256GB / 512GB nanoSD card up to 256GB | |
Rear camera | 50MP + 13MP + 64MP | |
Front camera | 13MP | |
Ports | USB-C | |
Cellular | 4G | |
Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 | |
Dual SIM | Yes | |
Biometrics | Under-display fingerprint reader | |
Battery and charging speeds | 4,700mAh 66W wired charging 50W wireless charging 5W reverse wireless charging | |
Dimensions and weight | 162.1 x 75.5 x 8.5mm (205g) | |
Price | R24,999 (256GB) / R26,999 (512GB) |