Huawei P20 Pro
Huawei to Let Device Owners Access 'Performance Mode'
Huawei says customers will eventually be able to access and turn on their phone's Performance Mode. The action comes about after Huawei was caught by AnandTech cheating on certain benchmark tests, include 3DMark. Some Huawei and Honor phones could detect the test and boost performance to improve the result. In response, 3DMark delisted the Huawei P20, P20 Pro, Nova 3, and Honor Play from its rankings. Explaining the issue, Huawei said, "The latest Huawei handsets leverage innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence to optimize resource allocation in a way so that the hardware can demonstrate its capabilities to the fullest extent, while fulfilling user demands across all scenarios." 3DMark says it is opposed to this approach, as it believes benchmark apps should be run as if they were any other app. Moving forward, Huawei will provide users with open access to Performance Mode — which boosts speeds at the expense of battery life — in the forthcoming EMUI 9.0 platform. Huawei says EMUI 9.0 will reach select phones, including the Mate 10 Pro and P20 Pro, later this fall.
Huawei Says GPU Turbo Update to Boost Mate 10 Pro, P20 Pro Performance
Huawei today announced plans to tweak the graphics performance of its phones. The company will update a number of devices with what it calls GPU Turbo, a graphics processing technology that lets phones run GPU-intense apps, such as games, faster and more efficiently. Huawei claims that GPU Turbo optimizes system software and hardware resources to improve GPU efficiency by 60% while lowering power consumption by 30% thanks to its re-architected method for handling graphics. The end result is a noticeable upgrade in device performance without forcing users to buy a new phone in order to run the latest games and apps. Huawei plans to roll the update out to its flagship devices, the Mate 10, Mate 10 Pro, P20, and P20 Pro in August, with other devices to follow later in the year.
Honor 10 Boasts Aurora Glass, a Notch, an AI Camera, and Ultrasonic Fingerprint Reader
Honor, Huawei's budget brand, today announced the Honor 10 at an event in London. The phone serves as an affordable option to the P20 Pro and offers similar features. The device has what Honor calls Aurora Glass, a 15-layer nano optical coating on the 3D rear panel meant to provide brilliant color. The primary colors are phantom blue and phantom green, each of which dazzles in any light. This is similar to the rear panel of the P20 Pro. The Honor 10 has a 5.84-inch Full View display (19:9 aspect ratio at full HD+) with a notch. The phone is the first from Honor to include an under-the-glass fingerprint reader. Honor says its UItrasonic Fingerprint Sensor is hidden under the display in order to keep the design clean. The phone is powered by Huawei's flagship Kirin 970 processor with 4 GB of RAM and either 64 GB or 128 GB of storage. The Kirin 970 means the Honor 10 includes Huawei's neural processing unit for AI-assisted scene detection in the camera. The rear of the phone features two cameras: a 24-megapixel main sensor and a 16-megapixel secondary sensor. Honor says the phone can recognize some 500 scenarios that fall under 22 categories in real-time. Moreover, the phone debuts Semantic Image Segmentation, which lets the Honor 10 identify multiple objects in a single image. The user-facing camera has a 24-megapixel sensor with 3D face recognition, studio lighting effects, portrait capture, and group selfies. The phone has a 3,400mAh battery with rapid charging. It runs Android 8 Oreo with Huawei's EMUI 8.1 skin on top. The device will be available for preorder in select European countries beginning today for about $475. Honor did not say if it intends to sell the Honor 10 in the U.S.
Huawei to Focus On Markets Other than the US
After a series of stinging setbacks, Huawei is scaling back plans to tackle the U.S. market. The company has laid off five of its employees in Washington, D.C, including top spokesperson Bill Plummer. In addition to the headcount reduction, Huawei has significantly dropped the dollar figure it spent on lobbying efforts, scaling back from $348,000 in 2016 to just $60,000 in 2017. "Like every company, we continually evaluate our organization and align our resources to support our business strategy and objectives," said a Huawei spokesperson. "Any changes to staffing size or structure are simply a reflection of standard business optimization." The company recently reported a net profit of $7.5 billion for 2017, most of which it made outside the U.S. Moving forward, Huawei plans to focus its efforts in markets where it is already successful. Huawei recently announced the P20 and P20 Pro phones, which feature high-end cameras. The U.S. government has taken steps over the last few months to prevent Huawei from gaining a toehold here, including barring government employees from buying Huawei phones, as well as introducing legislation that would prevent companies from tapping Universal Service Funds to purchase Huawei phones.
Huawei Says It's Not Giving Up On the US Market
Huawei plans to soldier on in the U.S. market despite recent setbacks. "We are committed to the U.S. market and to earning the trust of U.S. consumers by staying focused on delivering world-class products and innovation," said Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's consumer business, to CNET. Earlier this week, Huawei announced the P20 and P20 Pro phones (pictured), contenders to the Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S9. The phones boast gradient paint jobs and advanced cameras. Huawei, however, will not sell these phones in the U.S., at least not right away. Earlier this year, AT&T and Verizon Wireless dropped plans to sell Huawei's flagship device, the Mate 10 Pro, due to government pressure. Later, retailer Best Buy also said it would stop selling the Mate 10 Pro in its stores. Some in the U.S. government believe Huawei represents a security threat. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has gone so far as to introduce rules that would make it illegal for companies in the U.S. to buy gear from Huawei and other companies that post a potential risk. Huawei insists these fears are unfounded. "The security risk concerns are based on groundless suspicions and are quite frankly unfair," said Yu. "We work with 46 of the [top] 50 global operators, and have maintained a very strong security record because security is one of our top priorities." Huawei may not have a carrier distribution deal for its phones, but the company does still sell its devices to U.S. consumers online. The company is the world's third-largest supplier of phones behind Apple and Samsung. "We recognize we are not a known brand in the U.S. and we need to build our brand here. Our first step is to win the trust of consumers."
Hands On with the Huawei P20 and P20 Pro
The Huawei P20 Pro and P20 have a few special tricks will really help them stand out among flagship phones in 2018. Which is why it's such a shame they aren't coming to the U.S.. We had a moment with them and want to share the things that stood out, so you know what you're missing. The multi-color gradient finish is gorgeous, the camera specs are impressive, and the camera software includes some ground-breaking features, like a stabilized long-exposure mode you can use without a tripod. Read on for our first impressions of these flashy phones.
Huawei's P20 Series Boasts Gradient Paint and Advanced Cameras
Huawei today introduced the P20 and P20 Pro at an event in Paris. The new phones, direct competitors to Apple's iPhone, are high-end devices that include unique colors, powerful processors, and the newest camera technology. Shared features of the P20 and P20 Pro include metal frames with gradient, painted 3D glass panels on the back. Huawei says the colors were inspired by Monet. The 2:1 displays on front feature notches at the top to hold the user-facing camera and sensors. The notch can be "hidden" with software that blacks out the info bar on the screen. Huawei has improved its facial recognition security software, which now works in the dark by illuminating the display. The P20 and P20 Pro carry over Huawei's premiere Kirin 970 processor with neural processing unit and Master AI to recognize scenes (group shots, landscapes) and objects (dogs, cats). The P20 series ads Master Stabilization software that allows owners to take exposures up to 4 seconds in length without using a tripod. The selfie camera on both phones has a 24-megapixel sensor with a lens at f/2.4. Other specs include 128 GB of storage, USB-C, Cat 18 LTE, Bluetooth 4.2 with aptHD+, and rapid charging. The phones ship with Android 8.1 and Huawei's EMUI 8.
- P20 Pro: The more advanced of the two phones has a 6.1-inch screen with full HD+ resolution, 4,000mAh battery, and IP67 rating for protection from water. The phone boasts a 1/1.7-inch, 40-megapixel main camera sensor that Huawei claims is larger than most other phones in the market. Individual pixels measure 1.55µm each, and the sensor has an ISO rating of up to 102,400 for extreme sensitivity in low light. The secondary camera has a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor. The P20 Pro is one of the first phones to include a third camera with an 8-megapixel sensor and 3x optical zoom at f/2.4. With software, the third camera can dial up to 5x hybrid zoom. The P20 Pro ships with 6 GB of RAM.
- P20: The standard, smaller P20 has a 5.8-inch display with full HD+ resolution. It includes a 3,400mAh battery and is a bit thinner than the P20 Pro. The P20 has a rating of IP53, which means it provides minimal protection from water. The phone's main camera has a 12-megapixel sensor and lens at f/1.8, while its secondary camera has a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor and lens at f/1.6. It ships with 4 GB of RAM. The P20 doesn't have third camera nor the extraordinary zoom capability of the P20 Pro.
