Initial Verdict: The Huawei P50 shares a lot of the same specs and features as its Pro siblings. Despite being a tapered-down version, it has its own unique qualities that could sway some from going for the more premium P series phone.
Pros
- No Curved Display Here
- Has a Lot of “Pro” Specs
Cons
- Battery Capacity May Be Lacking
- 4G Only
The entire P series is finally complete with the arrival of the Huawei P50. The base model is here and, just like all flagship series phones, it’s a balancing act to give each member of the family enough oomph for potential buyers to seriously consider each device. Did Huawei succeed with the most affordable of the bunch?
Packaging and Contents
The Huawei P50 comes in the same white packaging we’ve seen from the brand with their signature Dual Matrix design language front and center. It’s important to note that we received a marketing copy for our review so the accompanying documents are missing from our unboxing but you do have everything else. Inside we find the phone, a standard jelly case, a USB-C cable, and the charging brick. Nothing out of the ordinary here.
Design
Huawei’s design language for this year is unmistakable and the base model of the P series definitely fits the bill. The Dual Matrix camera design truly captures what this line of smartphones is about and we’ve really grown to appreciate it.
Our review unit also comes in the Cocoa Gold color variant that we think is way better than the glossy Golden Black that we got for the Pro version.
We aren’t usually big fans of Gold since it can be a little too flashy for us but we can’t deny that this is attractive and adds a little extra spice to the P50. Plus, matte is life!
The back is still made out of glass but, from what we’ve heard, the frame is plastic on the base model so we are docking a few points for that. Thankfully, you still have that IP68 rating on the P50, which is especially important since the rainy season is upon us.
Display
The Huawei P50 is equipped with a slightly smaller display compared to its sibling but not by much. It sports a 6.5-inch OLED display at Full HD+ resolution, which makes for a wonderful viewing experience.
Those who are turned off by the curved screen on the Pro will also be pleased to know that Huawei has gone with a flat one on the P50.
One downside, however, is that they seemed to have dialed down on the refresh rate of the base model where it tops out at 90Hz compared. While its leaps and bounds better than the 60 we were accustomed to a few years ago, we still expected to see 120Hz from something that is still considered a part of the flagship line for the company.
Cameras
Another area where Huawei differentiates the base from the Pro model is with its camera system.
They do share the same 50 MP True-Chroma main camera and 13 MP Ultra-Wide, but they’ve dialed back significantly on the Telephoto. It now sits at 12 MP compared to the 64 MP on the Pro model. You also won’t be seeing the 40MP Mono on the base model, which only has a total of three rear cameras.
They’ve also retained the same MP count on the selfie camera as well, which sits at 13-megapixels.
In our opinion, they tapered down on the right spots in this department since we barely use telephoto cameras. Also, given the news we’ve been seeing, this could be the last device we could be seeing from Huawei that’s partnered with Leica. It’s been a long fruitful partnership that we hope continues on.
Performance and Battery
In terms of internals, this is where you won’t be missing out if you decide to go the “non-pro” route. The P50 is equipped with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, although it does top out at 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage compared to the 12GB and 512GB on the Pro.
For everyday use, you won’t be seeing and feeling much of a difference. We understand that there might be a few people who might want to top everything out but that configuration should be good for most.
The biggest downside for us has definitely got to be the amount of juice that the P50 has with its 4100mAh battery. It should be enough for a day with moderate use but we would have loved to see a slightly larger battery to give us more breathing room since traffic seems to be back to normal in the Metro.
Wrap Up and Initial Thoughts
Huawei had to do a major balancing act to make sure that both their P series phones had enough teeth to bite into the market. Were they successful? Looking at the specs on paper and experiencing the P50 for a short while makes us think that they did.
There’s enough Pro in the base model to go around with the right compromises to make the distinction between the two siblings.
Time will tell if we end up going back on our initial thoughts so stay tuned for our full review.
Huawei P50 Price Philippines
The Huawei P50 is priced at Php 39,999 and is available on the company’s online store or via Shopee and Lazada.
Huawei P50 Philippines Specs
- Snapdragon 888 processor
- 8GB LPDDR5 RAM
- 256GBUFS 3.1 storage
- 6.5-inch OLED display, 90hz refresh rate, HDR10+
- 50-megapixel 23mm f/1.8 main camera with OIS, 13-megapixel 13mm f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle camera, 12-megapixel f/3.4 periscope camera with 5x optical zoom and OIS
- Laser Autofocus, XD Fusion Pro
- 13-megapixel f/2.4 selfie camera
- 4G
- WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.1
- In-display fingerprint scanner, stereo speakers, IP68 rating
- 4100mAh battery
- 66w wired charging
- EMUI 12
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