Huawei in 2021: 5 things we want to see

2020 was not a friendly year for either of us, and especially not for Huawei. U.S. trade restrictions took their toll, hampering the launch of the Western flagship and leading to the sale of the Honor sub-brand. Huawei’s 5G network and other activities were also affected, although a number of other tech companies wanted to continue working with the brand.

Despite the setbacks, the company’s Huawei P40 and Mate 40 phones continued to compete at the high end of the market. This is especially true for photography. The brand’s 5 nm HiSilicon Kirin 9000 processor is also a cutting edge technology that keeps silicon designers at Apple, Samsung and Qualcomm busy. Ultimately, however, Huawei’s momentum is weakening, as the falling market share of smartphones shows.

While the fate of Huawei, at least outside of China, does not remain in its hands for the time being, it is still a major player in the smartphone space and general technology. Here’s what we’d like to see from Huawei in 2021.

See also: The Huawei Ban: All You Need To Know

Read our other wishlist for 2021:

1. Return the Google Apps

Let’s start with the obvious. Although we are completely beyond the control of Huawei, we long for a return from Google apps and services to the brand’s smartphones. It’s not controversial to say that Huawei’s App Gallery and Petal Search features improved app support over the course of 2020, but the situation has still hampered the otherwise decent launches of smartphones.

Connected: Huawei’s Play Store alternative has gotten better, but it’s the apps that count

The Huawei P40 Pro and Mate 40 Pro are solid hardware. However, it is nearly impossible to recommend them to the vast majority of consumers who rely on Google services like Maps or Drive and a host of other popular apps. Not to forget that the EMUI 11 software is still running Android 10 and not the latest Android 11. There is also a feature and security impact if the Google ecosystem stays locked.

With a perhaps more personable U.S. government at the helm in 2021, the remote possibility exists that Google services will return to Huawei devices in the not-too-distant future. While this is far from certain, it would be a boon for next year’s flagship phones. If Google doesn’t come back, it’s hard to see how Huawei can keep itself up to date.

2. A Harmony OS smartphone

Even if Huawei is later allowed to use Google’s services, it is unlikely that the company will ever want to rely entirely on Western ecosystems again. Either way, the company’s Harmony OS backup plan will likely evolve. With the second beta version for developers now available for smartphones, Huawei is slowly getting closer to a finished product.

Offering operating system variants for existing handsets is one thing. What would be really fascinating is that Huawei is launching a smartphone that is entirely based on Harmony OS. It will be interesting to see what the company can do with even deeper integration between custom hardware and software. Huawei executive director Yang Haisong has reportedly hinted that the first phone will be on the way in 2021. Such a start is likely to be limited to China, at least initially. Nevertheless, the software competition is always an exciting prospect.

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It remains to be seen whether Harmony OS will become a viable alternative to Android. In many markets, the problem with Google Apps, even with an internal operating system, is likely to be an insurmountable hurdle. We are curious to see how it all develops.

3. Foldable for the mainstream

With software in the air, it’s a great and unique piece of hardware that Huawei can keep on its radar. What could be nicer than another foldable handset to keep an eye on the brand? We thought the Huawei Mate X was a decent first-generation attempt, and the Huawei Mate XS was perhaps the best version of the foldable formula at the time. This is despite the lack of Google Apps and the staggering price.

Unfortunately, it didn’t launch the next-gen Huawei Mate X2 in time for 2020. Hopefully the handset will hit the market in 2021. However, we still expect it to be an ultra premium phone so keep it out of the reach of most consumers.

The company reportedly lost $ 60 million on the Mate XS due to low sales. It is clear that the affordability of foldable display technology is key to the long-term viability of the flexible phone market. More of the same hardware but priced under $ 1,000 is a must if these phones are to achieve mass consumer appeal. Unfortunately, Huawei expects affordable leaflets to arrive by 2022, not 2021. However, that doesn’t mean we won’t see a much-needed price cut in 2021.

4. More fantastic cameras

Enough of the negative talk. Let’s turn to cameras – an area Huawei continues to do, if not better than everyone else. Huawei’s 2020 flagships are taking great photos thanks to the move to larger RYYB main image sensors and impressive HDR processing. We definitely want Huawei to keep improving the image quality along with bigger, brighter sensors. Convince other manufacturers to follow suit.

See also: The best Android phones you can buy

Huawei phones also offer solid zoom quality thanks to their periscope camera design. Distance isn’t really the problem anymore. Instead, the industry should work towards more consistent quality in multi-camera setups. We want bigger and brighter sensors to be used for zoom to solve the weird underexposure problem and improve the zoom quality even further. Likewise for wide-angle lenses. Huawei could offer slightly wider lenses to keep up with the competition while maintaining its quality advantage.

There is also computer photography. It’s another notch on Huawei’s belt, but one that calls for further development. While the company’s AI remove reflections feature is solid, we’re still waiting for the AI ​​Remove Passer-by and other “golden snap” features from previous showcases. So we would definitely like to see a continued two-pronged approach to camera hardware and software.

5. Updated smartwatch specifications

The smartwatch market wasn’t particularly well positioned in 2020, but Huawei devices turned out to be some of the better ones. The company’s wearables offer great battery life, a solid design, and numerous innovative features.

Nevertheless, the Huawei Watch Fit and Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro models are based on older hardware. The range of smartwatches really could use an update to push performance forward. We wouldn’t mind additional storage space either. Stagnant hardware has made it harder to recommend upgrading older watches this year.

Huawei’s watch software could also use some polish. Better support for third-party apps and enabling advanced features in conjunction with non-Huawei smartphones would be a solid step forward. However, Huawei appears to be doubling through closer internal ecosystem integration, which reduces the likelihood somewhat.

They tell us: what would you like to see from Huawei in 2021?

Much of our wish-list for Huawei in 2021 is out of the company’s hands, but that doesn’t mean the next year can’t be exciting for the brand. Cutting edge hardware that stands out from the crowd helps keep an eye on the business. Between the capabilities of smartphone cameras and a growing accessory ecosystem, Huawei can even convince some of us to live without Google services.

There’s no denying that Huawei is in a tough spot, and 2021 is likely to be even more difficult when it comes to Western markets. Turning around is a huge challenge, but Huawei does best when it breaks the industry mold.

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