Huawei joins the folding clamshell phone with the HUAWEI P50 Pocket.
It’s undoubtedly designed to be a fashion statement, and Huawei has gone a step further to collaborate with fashion designer Iris Van Herpen for the Premium Gold Edition of the device. It’s far from a throwaway tie-up, as Van Herpen rose to prominence with her futuristic aesthetic and was one of the earliest adopters of 3D printing tech in fashion.
Decked out in gold, the case was designed on the principle of symbiosis and is supposed to capture the shadows and texture of the earth through advanced 3D micro-sculpture design.
If that’s too much to take, there’s good old white, which is designed to recreate the brilliance and interplay of light that diamonds are famous for.
The signature HUAWEI P50 Series double-ring design adorns the facade, with one ring housing the camera module and the other acting as the secondary smart Cover Screen. The display is compact but just about large enough to view your notifications even when folded. You can also check your schedule, calendar, music, weather, and control other features, including the camera.
The Usual Suspects
No surprises here – as a flagship device, the P50 Pocket gets top-tier processing power through the combination of a Snapdragon 888 4G mobile platform and 8GB of RAM. The 256GB of storage is pretty much standard while the 4,000 mAh battery capacity is understandable given the dimensions; mitigated slightly by the 40W fast charge feature. The Premium Gold Edition gets 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
The same could be said for the main display: a 6.9-inch, 21:9 panel with a pixel density of 442ppi. It also features support for 1.07 billion colours, P3 wide colour gamut, 120Hz refresh rate with a 300Hz touch sampling rate – pretty much par for the course for a phone in this category. In addition, the P50 Pocket also features 1440Hz high-frequency PWM dimming support in dark environments to protect eyesight.
Hinges on the Hinge
But stuff like that is old news these days since the core hardware is more or less pretty homogenous on high-end devices. In this case, it’s the hinge and the camera that make the headlines.
For the P50 Pocket, the folding mechanism has been reimagined: an all-new Multi-Dimensional Hinge and Multi-Dimensional Lifting design coupled with new materials (Zirconium-based liquid metal and 2,100MPa Ultra-high Strength Steel) to improve reliability. More importantly, the shorter radius means that the P50 Pocket can be physically slimmer and the crease is milder when unfolded.
[Insert your own superlative here] Camera
The P50 Pocket sports what Huawei calls Ultra Spectrum Camera Matrix: a 40MP True-Chroma Camera, a 13MP Ultra Wide Angle Camera (120-degree FOV), a 32MP Ultra Spectrum Camera, a 10-Channel Multi-Spectrum Sensor and an Ultra Spectrum illuminator.
The Ultra Spectrum Camera makes fluorescence photography possible and enables the P50 Pocket to capture colours and details unseen by the human eye.
The impressive-sounding hardware is complemented by the XD Fusion Pro image engine, which incorporates a new Super Colour Filter System, True-Chroma Image Engine and Super HDR technology to “significantly improve detail, colour and dynamic range.” Huawei’s track record in this area has been rather good thus far, so there’s little reason to think any different this time around.
Odd but cool
Need to check if you’ve applied your sunscreen properly? The Mirror app now features Sunscreen detection, which helps visualise the spread of sunscreen on the skin so you can check for uncovered spots.
AppGallery Support
AppGallery is still the de facto app store for Huawei, though the app selection has been growing as well. Their app store also features giveaways, rebates and coupons from seasonal campaigns. AppGallery has most of the popular and local apps including ComfortDelGro, TADA, Grab, RYDE, TraceTogether, Singpass, OneMap, and many more.
Availability
Currently, the P50 Pocket is only available in China, with the regular edition priced at 8,988 yuan and the Premium Gold, 10,988 yuan. The Premium Gold edition has been confirmed to launch in Singapore from 14 February, though local pricing has yet to be announced. It has been confirmed that if you purchase the P50 Pocket Premium Gold, you will receive a complimentary HUAWEI WATCH 3 Active Edition worth $448, while stocks last.
Uncertain? You can check out the P50 Pocket at all Huawei Authorised Stores, including the newly opened store located at 313@Somerset, (#02-25 – 27), from 14 January 2022. If you visit any Huawei Authorised Store from 14 – 21 January 2022, you will also receive a voucher to redeem a free HUAWEI SuperCharge Wireless Car Charger worth $98 valid with every purchase of the HUAWEI P50 Pro (terms and conditions apply).
*Updated article to confirm availability in Singapore.
