Huawei P50 Pocket evaluation: The fashion-forward flip phone

Huawei P50 Pocket: Price and availability

The Huawei P50 Pocket might be to be had in Europe for €1,299 with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of garage, in black or white.

The P50 Pocket Premium Edition, which we have now been reviewing, is about to promote for €1,599. This type options the original patterned chassis created in partnership with fashion designer Iris Van Herpen, in addition to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of garage.

Neither type of P50 Pocket is indexed on Huawei’s respectable on-line retailer on the time of writing; we will replace this evaluation when they are to be had extra extensively.

Huawei P50 Pocket: What you can like

Huawei’s first flip phone is a gorgeous piece of era. The usual black and white P50 Pocket fashions glance nice, however the Premium Edition we have now been the use of sports activities an extra-ostentatious end in shiny gold. This model was once created in partnership with Dutch type fashion designer Iris Van Herpen, with the shell-like development molded into the glass mentioned to be encouraged by means of electromagnetic waves.

Elsewhere, Huawei borrows many established foldable design cues. The outer body is curved for a relaxed grip, and features a rapid, dependable capacitive fingerprint scanner in its energy button. The hinge, in the meantime, resembles that of the Galaxy Z Flip 3, however with one vital distinction. Huawei’s foldable closes totally flat, whilst the Samsung type has a small air hole between the 2 aspects of its show when folded close.

Huawei’s first flip phone is a gorgeous piece of era.

In its folded shape, the P50 Pocket’s footprint is in regards to the dimension of a small beverages coaster, although clearly so much thicker. Opened up, it simply dwarfs even quite massive conventional smartphones, with a big 6.9-inch show diagonal and lanky 21:9 side ratio.

The show — a Full HD+ panel — is not fairly as shiny as top-tier flagships, and includes a 90Hz refresh fee versus the upper 120Hz of a few competitors. But it arguably hits the candy spot with regards to energy intake, permitting the P50 Pocket to simply final all day on its 4,000mAh battery. Like maximum foldables, the Pocket’s inside show feels a bit extra plasticky than your conventional Gorilla Glass panel, however it is each bit as smudge-resistant because the flat-screened pageant. Plus the internal bezels are quite svelte, with just a small noticeable chin house down beneath.

The crease within the show, a feature not unusual to even the finest foldable telephones, may be beautiful discreet — you can understand it as you swipe via apps, however we did not to find it to be in particular bothersome.

Like the P50 Pro, the Pocket options two unique round cutouts in its chassis, the primary housing its triple-camera array and LED flash. Unlike the usual P50, although, the second one circle hosts a coin-sized outer show. This is not as massive because the outer shows of competition just like the Galaxy Z Flip 3 — to mention not anything of the Motorola Razr’s expansive duvet display screen. But it is helpful sufficient, taking into consideration fast notification get entry to, in conjunction with smartwatch-style widgets for climate and media controls.

The P50 Pocket’s biometric authentication may be beautiful good when the software is closed, permitting the duvet show to be unlocked for viewing such things as notifications with both a marginally of the fingerprint scanner or a swipe to make use of face unencumber with the rear-facing cameras.

The duvet display screen additionally doubles as a viewfinder for taking selfies or movies with the primary cameras, with the quantity rocker taking over double responsibility as a shutter key as soon as you will have contorted your hand into the proper place.

It’s simple to fail to remember the advantages of with the ability to take selfies together with your rear digicam machine, however it is a function you can respect for those who’ve ever been annoyed by means of the cramped box of view or lackluster low-light efficiency of a standard front-facer.

Internally, the P50 Pocket is constructed at the similar foundations because the P50 Pro. That manner the 4G-only model of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 runs the display, which is completely wonderful with regards to day by day efficiency — although a unhappiness in a few glaring spaces we will get to later.

That’s subsidized up by means of 8GB of RAM and 256GB of garage in the usual P50 Pocket, or 12GB + 512GB within the Premium Edition. Either can also be augmented the use of a Huawei NanoMemory card.

The Pocket’s 4,000mAh battery is considerably better than anything else presented by means of the contest on this shape issue, and I’ve been inspired with how smartly it is held as much as my on a regular basis use. Like the P50 Pro, the numbers at the spec sheet do not essentially galvanize, however you will have to simply have the ability to get a complete time out of this software. The loss of 5G connectivity most probably is helping avoid wasting juice, as does Huawei’s tight keep an eye on over apps’ background energy utilization.

Huawei makes the suitable name, with a bigger battery as a substitute of wi-fi charging.

There’s at all times a trade-off between capability and most charging speeds in lithium-ion batteries. And so Huawei’s 40W Super Charging usual, whilst not the fastest available in the market for quick refills, walks the road between charging speeds and battery capability.

Speaking of which, Huawei’s EMUI 12 instrument platform returns at the P50 Pocket, wearing over a well-known function set from fresh Huawei gadgets. It’s in response to Android 11, however gives a extra iOS-inspired interface. Huawei’s multitasking options are tough too, with fast get entry to to windowed and split-screen modes via a swipe-and-hold gesture from the brink of the show.

And the P50 Pocket is absolutely able to profiting from Huawei’s Super Device function as smartly. This manner for those who personal different fresh Huawei devices like a PC, tablet or observe, they are able to pair as much as profit from every others’ distinctive options. During checking out I had the P50 Pocket paired with a Huawei MateBook E, giving me get entry to to the phone’s inside garage wirelessly via Windows Explorer, and in addition letting me run more than one phone apps remotely by the use of Windows at the PC.

Huawei has a robust photographic pedigree, and even though the P50 Pocket does not boast the similar optical chops because the P50 Pro, it is nonetheless able to taking some in point of fact spectacular footage. The primary digicam enjoy combines knowledge from the 40-megapixel number one shooter and a 32-megapixel “ultra-spectrum sensor,” used to unravel extra element in pics.

While there is no devoted telephoto digicam right here, the excessive solution of each primary cameras compensates beautiful smartly at zoom ranges as much as round 3X. Considering the contest on this flippy shape issue gives, at maximum, a 2X optical zoom degree, that is an comprehensible commerce. And the P50 Pocket’s dual number one cameras produced spectacular photographs even in difficult lights stipulations, although I did understand that low-light captures had been extra at risk of hand movement than the P50 Pro with its better primary sensor. And, like the opposite P50, the ultrawide digicam is not the finest in night-time pictures, being a stark downgrade from the primary digicam even with evening mode enabled.

Overall, like many different foldables on this class, you are getting a digicam enjoy that is round a technology in the back of the slicing fringe of flat flagships. That mentioned, the P50 Pocket’s digicam functions are some distance from disappointing.

Huawei P50 Pocket: What you will not like

Many of the pitfalls of the P50 Pocket might be acquainted for those who’ve learn our Huawei P50 Pro evaluation. This is a pricey high-end phone with out 5G connectivity, and with a processor in response to final 12 months’s flagship Qualcomm chip. Considering the associated fee, and the opposite technical spaces during which the P50 Pocket excels, that is one thing that’ll make this phone appear beautiful dated in simply a few years or so.

This is a phone that begins at €1,299, making those omissions onerous to fail to remember.

Other {hardware} disappointments come with the loss of more conveniences like water-resistance and wi-fi charging. The latter is comprehensible, and a concession most probably made with a view to have compatibility a larger battery into this quite small handset. But the previous is a space the place the contest has an edge.

Huawei’s newest foldable is weaker than the Samsung pageant — the Galaxy Z Flip 3 is qualified IPX8 for cover towards water ingress.

Huawei’s instrument additionally lacks one of the most instrument conveniences that 3 years of enjoy with flip telephones has delivered to Samsung’s instrument. If you had been hoping for a One UI-style split-screen view in apps when the P50 Pocket is part opened, you can be disillusioned.

Likewise, there is no Google Play Services fortify on this phone, which means that you can want to depend on Huawei’s AppGallery storefront and Petal Search to trace down apps. The latter does a tight task of unearthing APKs from various relied on websites, however updating apps put in by the use of Petal Search stays a bother. And even after putting in, positive apps nonetheless misbehave on telephones that lack Google Play Services. If you utilize numerous Google services and products, this is not the foldable for you.

Huawei P50 Pocket: The pageant

Huawei’s new foldable competes immediately with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3, which sells for €1,049 in Europe. That’s rather less than the P50 Pocket for a phone with 5G connectivity, water-resistance and entire Google Play fortify. (The latter is a significant win for somebody who makes use of numerous Google services and products on their phone.)

Huawei, alternatively, gives a bigger battery for considerably advanced longevity, and sooner charging besides because of its bundled 40W tremendous charger. The P50’s primary digicam sensor may be awesome, on paper, to Samsung’s providing, whilst compensating for the loss of a 2X telephoto digicam with the upper solution of its number one sensor. And its hinge design allows it to fold totally flat, while the 2 sections of the Flip 3 do not fairly take a seat flush. The P50 Pocket additionally gives reminiscence enlargement via its NanoMemory slot, even though you can want to purchase playing cards from Huawei to make use of this proprietary reminiscence layout.

The different main competitor on this class is the Motorola Razr 5G, which, because the identify suggests, additionally options 5G connectivity. Buy this type emblem new and it will price round the same quantity because the P50 Pocket, regardless of the use of a considerably much less tough Snapdragon 765G processor and an inferior digicam machine, plus a tiny 2,800mAh battery. In phrases of uncooked energy and photographic functions, it is not even shut.

Motorola can boast a bigger and extra helpful duvet show, although. Its panorama orientation “Quick View’ panel is bigger than Huawei’s coin-shaped outer panel, and you’ll be able to do extra with it.

Huawei P50 Pocket: Should you purchase it?

You will have to purchase this if…

• You need the best-looking flip phone available in the market
• Battery existence is extra vital than ease of charging
• You do not care about 5G or Google services and products

You should not purchase this if…

• You want the quickest cell knowledge speeds
• You use numerous Google apps or services and products
• You want a phone that’ll continue to exist a dip within the water

The Huawei P50 Pocket is without doubt one of the maximum placing telephones I’ve used, with a good looking design, higher battery existence than the contest, a succesful digicam machine, and very good ecosystem options for house owners of different Huawei gadgets. Considering the standard of the {hardware} and the strengths of Huawei’s design, the P50 Pocket looks like a extra affordable proposition at its (admittedly excessive) beginning value.

But it falls sufferer to most of the similar pitfalls as its flatter cousin, the P50 Pro: It makes use of a year-old chip with out 5G connectivity, and instrument complications persist for those who use Google services and products — or certainly any Android apps that depend on Google’s Android instrument layer.

The Z Flip 3 stays the ‘default’ flip phone acquire, however the P50 Pocket is price a glance.

What’s extra, Samsung’s foldables appear extra mature in a couple of key spaces, particularly water-resistance, instrument options adapted to this flippy shape issue, and the benefit of wi-fi charging.

It is not going to switch the Galaxy Z Flip 3 because the “default” acquire on this specific class, in particular taking into account the associated fee top class you can pay in comparison to the Samsung software. But for the suitable individual — somebody who cares about design, needs a large show in a small dimension, and is not purchased into the Google ecosystem — the P50 Pocket is a brilliant little handset.