Foldable phones are still carving out their space, but that hasn’t stopped smartphone makers from pursuing it. While Huawei has previously made strides in foldable phones, the new Huawei P50 Pocket looks to be the chic response for stylish foldable smartphone across the Middle East.
Announced alongside the new P50 Pro, Huawei has learnt from its prior experience to make foldables more elegant and stylish yet robust to daily functional usage.
Power-Packed Sleek Foldable
One look at this will remind you of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip. There is not even a small gap when the Huawei P50 Pocket is completely closed. Putting it alongside other standard smartphones makes it thicker but it’s a worthy tradeoff.
Open up the device and you’ll notice that it’s thin (or maybe even thinner) than other full-size smartphones. It almost looks like the Huawei P50 Pro from the back, only for the hinge to standout in the center. Looking straight at the large display would definitely not show the folding crease, but it’s there when viewing it from certain angles.
The small camera bump on the outside is almost non-existent (I barely did with my thumb). The small touch display above it gives you a quick preview on notifications and doubles as a viewfinder for those selfies.
You need quite a good chipset for this foldable and Huawei went with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888. Just like the P50 Pro, that also means no 5G due to the tech sanctions. The OS that binds it all together is none other than EMUI 12, which looks very adaptable to foldable devices.
Huawei has also integrated a fingerprint sensor to the side, alongside their own facial recognition feature. Something added as part of the camera is a Sunscreen Detection feature. I’m not sure if this is a gimmick to appeal more to the female audience, but maybe the hardware could have other uses if there’s an API for it.
Huawei’s own native apps already work without any issues in the foldable state; the native camera app clearly adjusted the viewfinder to show on the top half and the bottom having the controls. Time will tell how many third-party apps will also support it.
Under the hood and ordering one
If it’s the specs underneath that clamsheel you want to see, look no further than the below table. There is no wireless charging, so you’ll have to use a wired cable for it.
| Huawei P50 Pocket | |
|---|---|
| Dimensions and weight | 170 x 75.5 x 7.2 mm (unfolded) 87.3 x 75.5 x 15.2 mm (folded) 190g |
| Chipset | Qualcomm SNapdragon 888 (octa-core with Adreno 6660 GPU) |
| Display | 6.9 inch (main screen; 120Hz refresh rate, 300Hz touch sampling rate, 2790 x 1188 px @ 442ppi) and 1.04 inch (cover screen; 60Hz refresh rate, 120Hz touch sampling rate, 340 x 340 px @ 328 ppi) |
| Rear Camera | 40MP True-Chrome (f/1.8) 13MP Ultra-Wide Angle (f/2.2) 32MP Ultra Spectrum (f/1.8) Supports 1080p@960fps |
| Front Camera | 10.7MP Wide-Angle (f/2.2) |
| Battery | 4,000 mAh with SuperCharge (max 40W) |
| Memory | 8 GB (Pocket) ad 12GB (Premium Edition) |
| Storage | 256 GB (Pocket) and 512 GB (Premium Edition) |
| Connectivity | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz); NFC; Bluetooth 5.2; USB3.1 Gen1 |
| Colours | |
| Additional notes | IP68-certified for splash, water and dust resistance |
The Huawei P50 Pocket will be available in two models: a standard edition and a Premium Edition (made in partnership with haute couture designer Iris Van Herpen). Either model can be pre-ordered, and you’ll also get a Huawei Watch 3 with Petal One subscription.
- UAE: Etisalat
- Saudi Arabia: Zain and Mobily
- Qatar: Intertec Qatar (Huawei official distributor)
Pre-orders will ship and the device will be available at retail from February 10.
