Global version of Huawei P50 Pro to be unveiled January 12th

Did you know that Huawei's Malaysian office has its own Twitter account? Now you do. And a tweet from that office gives away the news that the manufacturer will introduce the global version of its photography-focused P50 Pro flagship on January 12th.

The domestic version of the P50 series was announced last July and the Pro variant went on sale a month later in China only. Later on during last year, the version of the P50 for China was released. The specs for the Chinese and global models are different.

For example, the version of the P50 Pro that was released in China last year was powered by Huawei's homegrown Kirin 9000 5G chipset manufactured by TSMC using its 5nm process node. But with the change made to U.S. export rules in 2020, foundries using American technology to manufacture chips cannot deliver these important cutting-edge components to Huawei even if the chips are designed by Huawei itself (which they are).

Let what's unseen be revealed. Uncover sharp focus and vibrant details even in low-light conditions when you capture with the #HUAWEIP50Pro

Coming soon on 12 January 2022. Stay tuned.
https://t.co/3hjGyX22C9pic.twitter.com/4vy4cJpDVm

— Huawei Mobile MY (@HuaweiMobileMY) January 5, 2022

So once Huawei cleared up its inventory of Kirin 9000 5G chips leaving nothing in its sock drawer but small balls of dust and some old Life Savers candy, it had to employ theQualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset on the global units. These are special 4G only variants of the Snapdragon 888 that Huawei has permission to use and are built by Samsung Foundry using its 5nm process node.

Another change taking place for the global version of the P50 Pro is the replacement of Huawei's HarmonyOS 2 with EMUI 12. Other features include a 6.6-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate (which means that the display is redrawn 120 times each second) and a 1228 x 2700 resolution.

The dual-ring camera system features a 50MP primary camera with an aperture of f/1.8 and OIS for steady videos. There is also a 40MP monochrome camera (f/1.6 aperture), a 13 MP Ultra-Wide Angle Camera sporting an f/2.2 aperture, and a 64 MP Telephoto Camera with an aperture of f/3.5, and OIS. In front, there is a 13MP hole-punch camera sporting an f/2.4  aperture.

 

A 4360 mAh capacity battery keeps the lights on and can charge at 66W. The wireless charging speed weighs in at 50W. You won't find this handset peering through the window of your wireless carrier in the states (although there once was a time when AT&T and Verizon were about to strike a deal with Huawei to carry the Mate 10 Pro).

Huawei is also expected to introduce another foldable phone, the P50 Pocket, possibly on the same date as the global P50 Pro. While the company's first two foldables, the Huawei Mate X and Mate XS, close outwardly, the Mate X2 closes inwardly like the Galaxy Z Fold 3. The P50 Pocket form factor is a foldable clamshell similar to the Galaxy Z Flip.

You might recall that in 2019, just three months before the U.S.put Huawei on the entity list, New York City's B&H Photo took pre-orders of the Huawei P30 and P30 Pro in the U.S. How was this accomplished you ask? The phones offered by B&H were variants designed for the Latin American market. But once the U.S. put Huawei on the entity list one month later, the only version of the P30 available from B&H was the less enticing P30 Lite.

The U.S. put Huawei on the entity list for security purposes with the company considered a national security threat in the states due to its alleged ties with the communist Chinese government.