Huawei is spinning off a new brand called Starlight, a new leak reveals. Its first product will be a wide-screen candy bar phone.
Huawei Starlight wide-screen phone leaks
Details about the new Starlight phone (translated from Chinese). | Image by Weibo
Rumors about Huawei's sub-brand, called Xingmang, started appearing in early October. The name translates to "Starlight," and now we have information about the first Starlight phone, which will serve as a flag-bearer for the brand.
According to information from our good old friend Digital Chat Station, the Starlight-branded phone will feature a 6.39-inch display and will be powered by a Kirin 9000-series chipset.
The tipster also mentions 16GB of RAM and 1TB of onboard storage in the most premium configuration of the model.
Previous reports suggested that the Starlight brand will focus on midrange devices, running HarmonyOS and using Huawei's XMAGE technology. The latest leak points toward flagships but using the new, wide-screen form factor.
Yet another wide-screen smartphone
The Huawei Pura X View broke sales records selling more than 280,000 units in just five days. | Image by Huawei
The phone will follow the latest trend in candy bar devices — namely, a wider screen. Huawei already tested the smartphone waters with the Pura X View, which sold remarkably well, and now the company is copy-pasting the form factor to this new sub-brand.
The trend is pretty interesting and most likely stems from the new wave of wide-folding phones, such as the iPhone Duo, Galaxy Z Fold, and Huawei's own Pura X.
Recommended For You
The logic behind it is probably something like this: if people like the new wide-folding phones and don't mind using them in a folded state, they might as well buy a wide, non-folding smartphone. I'm not sure about that one, but more on this later.
Starlight could be a placeholder
Even though the project runs under the Chinese word for starlight, Digital Chat Station notes that this might be a codename, and the final commercial product might carry a different name altogether.
Another interesting piece of information is buried in the comments. The tipster was asked when we can expect this new Huawei sub-brand, and they answered "next month."
It's almost Halloween, so we're a couple of days away from November, meaning the launch of the Starlight brand is right around the corner. Of course, expect a China-only debut, but given the popularity of the Pura X View and the wide-folding models, we might soon see this form factor in the West as well.
Do we need this "resurrection" of the old Phablet device?
What do you think of this wide, non-folding form factor?
1034 Votes
Some of you might remember the Phablet trend from the 2010s when phone screens grew to almost tablet proportions. Somewhere down the road, though, phone manufacturers switched to narrower and taller devices, to make one-hand operation more comfortable.
Now, that trend is coming back, with devices from Oppo, Huawei, and now this sub-brand, Starlight. Do we need such a comeback? I'm skeptical about it. Even the iPhone Duo feels uncomfortable to hold and almost unusable one-handed, so I could only imagine how uncomfortable an even bigger wide-screen smartphone would be.
Would you buy a wider version of the Galaxy S27 Ultra? | Image by IceUniverse(stretched
Meanwhile, our readers find this new form factor intriguing. The latest poll, which generated more than 1000 views, shows that almost half of all the voters want to try these new wide candy bar phones. Only time will tell whether Samsung and Apple decide to follow that trend and offer a non-folding wide-screen models.
What do you think about a Galaxy S27 Wide, for example? Would you buy such a device?
Read more about this new wide-screen form factor here:
Get a free Galaxy A17 with Straight Talk. To claim this deal, you need to pair the phone with activation on a Silver Unlimited Plan or higher. This tier costs $45 per month. Offer valid through 01/10/27 while supplies last online.
Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.
A discussion is a place, where people can voice their opinion, no matter if it
is positive, neutral or negative. However, when posting, one must stay true to the topic, and not just share some
random thoughts, which are not directly related to the matter.
Things that are NOT allowed:
Off-topic talk - you must stick to the subject of discussion
Offensive, hate speech - if you want to say something, say it politely
Spam/Advertisements - these posts are deleted
Multiple accounts - one person can have only one account
Impersonations and offensive nicknames - these accounts get banned
To help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts:
New accounts created within the last 24 hours may experience restrictions on how frequently they can
post or comment.
These limits are in place as a precaution and will automatically lift.
Moderation is done by humans. We try to be as objective as possible and moderate with zero bias. If you think a
post should be moderated - please, report it.
Have a question about the rules or why you have been moderated/limited/banned? Please,
contact us.
Things that are NOT allowed:
To help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts: