Huawei Mobile Kenya is set to introduce the Huawei P50 Pro, its flagship smartphone, soon.
In a statement, Huawei says that it will be releasing the device alongside other smartphones and “PC products”.
The latter is primary not an area of focus of our but hints at an expanded product portfolio comprising the company’s Matebook series of personal computing devices that we have previously seen in the local market. The Huawei Matebook X Pro, for instance, was selling in Kenya for Kshs 250,000 at the end of 2020. The more appropriately-priced Matebook D series will be priority for Huawei in Kenya if its products are to make any inroads.
Also clustered under the “PC products” segment is the MatePad 10.4 tablet. Now, this is ambiguous because the MatePad 10.4 we know is quite an old device, out since 2020 but there’s been a MatePad 2022 tablet that rocks a similar 10.4-inch display so, which is which? We will know in due course.
The Huawei P50 Pro that Kenyans can expect to see from Huawei features a 6.6-inch OLED display panel (“True Chroma”) with a 120Hz refresh rate, a Snapdragon 888 4G chipset from Qualcomm, 8GB RAM, 256GB onboard storage, a 4,360mAh battery that charges up using Huawei’s proprietary fast-charging technology, Huawei SuperCharge using the 50W charger included in the retail packaging, and IP68 water and dust protection.
The jewel in the crown is the Dual Matrix Camera Design at the back and the True-Form Dual-Matrix Camera on the front. In simpler terms, this is the 50-megapixel main camera at the back, the 40-megapixel monochrome sensor that accompanies it and the 13-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens and 64-megapixel telephoto lens that back it up. On the front, that terminology refers to the 13-megapixel selfie camera.
A notable omission from the device’s features and specifications is 5G network connectivity, even though that is yet to become a dealbreaker in the Kenyan market.
When it becomes available, the Huawei P50 Pro will become the first flagship smartphone from Huawei in a very long time. Huawei Mobile Kenya has avoided introducing ultra-high-end smartphones in the local market since a ban by the United States government in May 2019 meant that the company’s newer devices could not benefit from the widely used Google Play Services.
The Huawei P50 Pro, as it will arrive in Kenya, will be powered by Android with EMUI 12, Huawei’s custom overlay, on top but devoid of Google Play Services. What this means is that users will have to use alternative app stores starting with Huawei’s own AppGallery and other core services offered under the Huawei Mobile Services banner as well as alternative maps, mail and other apps where web browser-based options are not applicable.
