Huawei recently unveiled the Mate 30 series, which includes the Mate 30 Pro flagship that’s supposed to compete directly against flagship phones like the iPhone 11 and Galaxy Note 10. However, the handset has a huge problem in western markets, and that’s the software. While it may all be based on Android 10, the Mate 30 phones ship without Google apps, which means they offer an Android experience unlike anything Android users expect in western markets like the US. Even worse, there’s no easy or safe way to preload Google apps on the phone, so unless Trump lifts the ban on Huawei, you’d have to get used to Huawei’s version of Android 10.
While it’ll be a while until Huawei can impress us with its software, the brand certainly seems ready to take plenty of risks on the hardware side to lure in more customers. And Huawei is about to launch an all-screen phone with a design that’s unlike anything the world has ever seen.
Earlier this year, Huawei unveiled its first-ever foldable handset, the Mate X, which looked a lot better than Galaxy Fold. The handset is still delayed, with a release expected next month. But Huawei is about to launch a phone featuring an all-screen design that’s only been theorized so far. Some companies have patents on similar tech, while others have even shown what such a concept would look like. If the following tweet is accurate, however, Huawei will actually unveil a commercial product next week that packs a more mature version of the technology we’ve all been waiting for.
@Huawei announced today that it will launch a new All-Screen Smartphone Category on October 17 in Paris, France which we expect will include an in-display selfie camera and fingerprint reader #AllThingsMobile #AthertonResearch pic.twitter.com/j8jPhutBsk
— 🅹🅴🅱🚀 🅲🆈🛡️🅴🆁🆂🅴🅲🆄🆁🅸🆃🆈 📶5🅶 💡🅾🆃 (@jeanbsu) October 8, 2019
The iPhone’s ugly notch and all the other selfie cam-related design compromises on all-screen phones are there because handset makers have yet to figure out how to hide cameras and other sensors under active parts of the display. An in-display camera would let phone makers deliver the perfect all-screen design, and that’s apparently what Huawei is about to announce.
Earlier this year, Huawei rival Oppo demoed a concept, although the Chinese vendor hasn’t committed to an actual launch date.
Also, given that Huawei already unveiled three flagship devices this year including the Mate X, the P30 Pro, and the Mate 30 Pro, it’s unclear whether this new phone will actually be released anytime soon. However, the phone will likely pack a Kirin processor and deliver the same Huawei Android experience as the Mate 30.
Huawei’s press event is scheduled for next Thursday in Paris, according to the tweet above, or just two days after Google will launch its highly-anticipated Pixel 4. Of course, Google’s new Pixel phones are pretty much as far as you can get from an all-screen design in 2019.
