The first real post-Huawei phones

Huawei spun off its Honor sub-brand last year due to the ongoing U.S. trade dispute, which has allowed the new independent brand to sign deals with a variety of companies. Now the first proper post-Huawei Honor phones, Honor 50 series, have hit the market in China. And the company has reportedly confirmed that the series will offer Google support.

The star of the show is the Honor 50 Pro, which comes with a Snapdragon 778G chipset, making for a fairly powerful upper-midrange offering. The phone also offers a 6.72-inch FHD + OLED panel with a refresh rate of 120 Hz, a 4,000 mAh battery and 100 W wired charging. The latter promises a full charge in 25 minutes. Don’t expect wireless charging here, however.

The camera tasks are taken over by a quad rear view camera system with a 108 MP f / 1.9 main camera, an 8 MP ultra-wide snapper and two 2 MP sensors for depth effects and macro shots. In particular, the main shooter is able to spit out shots that are comparable to a 12-megapixel camera with 2.1 micron pixels. The non-binning capability and the 1 / 1.52-inch sensor size suggest we are looking at the Samsung Isocell HM2 sensor.

A 32-megapixel main camera and a 12-megapixel secondary wide-angle sensor (100-degree field of view) process selfies and front-facing videos. In fact, Honor specifically advises that the secondary camera is designed for videos and the like.

The rest of the Honor 50 series

Go one level down and you will find the standard Honor 50, which has a lot in common with the Pro variant. There’s the same Snapdragon 778G SoC, a slightly smaller 6.57-inch FHD + OLED screen, the same rear-view camera system, and the same 32 MP selfie camera.

But the Vanilla Honor 50 does without the secondary 12-megapixel selfie camera and still achieves a fast 66 W charging cable (charges the battery in 45 minutes). In fact, the new phone also has a slightly larger battery compared to the Pro device (4,300 mAh versus 4,000 mAh).

Read more: The Best Honor Phones You Can Buy

Finally, the Honor 50 SE is the least impressive device and targets a cheaper price segment, though it still looks like a good prospect on paper. You get a 6.78-inch FHD + LTPS LCD panel, a MediaTek Dimensity 900 5G SoC, and a 4,000 mAh battery with a 66 W charging cable (from zero to full in about 37 minutes). Meanwhile, the camera duties are taken over by a 16 MP selfie camera and a 108 MP triple rear setup (also with an 8 MP ultra wide angle sensor and a 2 MP macro lens).

Otherwise, all three phones are operated with the Magic UI 4.2 skin on Android 11. The Honor 50 SE offers a side fingerprint scanner, while the Standard and Pro models offer a fingerprint sensor in the display.

Honor 50 series pricing and availability

The Honor 50 series has only been launched in China for the time being, although a global launch is also in prospect. You’ll spend 3,699 yuan (~ $ 578) in China for the 8GB / 256GB Honor 50 Pro, while the 12GB / 256GB model will cost you 3,999 yuan (~ $ 625).

Expect to pay 2,699 yuan (~ 422) for the 8GB / 128GB Vanilla Honor 50 and 2,999 yuan (~ 469) for the 8GB / 256GB option. In the meantime, the top version with 12 GB / 256 GB costs 3,399 yuan (~ 531 US dollars). Prices for the Honor 50 SE start at 2,399 yuan (~ $ 375) for the base 8GB / 128GB option.

The company also confirmed that the phone will land in over 30 countries as part of the global launch (pictured above). These markets include Europe, the UK, Egypt, the Middle East and South Africa.

Honor told The edge in a statement that the new phones will go through Google’s security clearance and will therefore offer Google Mobile Services (GMS).

“Consumers can experience Honor smartphones and tablets that are equipped with GMS,” said a spokesman for the point of sale, confirming that this includes the Honor 50 series.