Huawei has already launched a few foldable phones in the past couple of years, but all of those were phones with horizontally folding displays, something similar to the Samsung’s Z Fold series of phones. The most recent phone by Huawei with such a design was the Mate X2 which launched in February this year. Well, today, Huawei launched a new foldable phone in China, but this time, it comes with a foldable clamshell design, something Huawei has never done before. This is a design we have already seen with the Galaxy Z Flip series & the Motorola Razr, where the foldable display folds vertically instead of horizontally.
Design-wise, the Huawei P50 Pocket has a secondary display on the outside like other similar clamshells, but the one on this phone is circular, matching the circular camera module. Also, while the Black color option has a glossy design with no pattern, the White color variant has a distinct diamond pattern. The fingerprint scanner sits on the right side, and it doubles as the power button.
The camera module has triple cameras and an LED flash module in it.
Remember how Oppo Find N utilizes a unique folding mechanism where the display is folded in a water droplet shape? Well, the same concept is used by the P50 Pocket, which ensures that when the phone is folded, then there is no visible gap. It also ensures that the crease is as unnoticeable as possible.
Speaking of the display on the inside, it is a tall 6.9-inch 10-bit OLED with a Full-HD+ (2790 x 1188) resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. There is a hole-punch cutout for the selfie shooter in the middle. The selfie camera has a 10.7 Megapixel sensor with a fixed focus.
On the outside, the phone has a small 1.04-inch circular 8-bit OLED panel with a 60Hz refresh rate and a resolution of 340 x 340 pixels.
Under the hood, Huawei P50 Pocket packs the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SOC, and before you get excited, please note that this is a 4G-only version of the Snapdragon 888. So, the P50 Pocket does not support 5G at all. There is 8GB RAM along with 256GB storage, and if you opt for the special gold color variant, you get 12GB RAM and 512GB storage.
There is a triple camera setup on the outside that includes a main 40 Megapixel sensor, a secondary 13 Megapixel ultrawide & a third 32 Megapixel camera, which the company calls an “ultra spectrum camera.” Huawei says it helps you get “stunning colors and colorful patterns in invisible light,” or in other words, “Fluroroscent Photography.”
The battery size is 4,000mAh, and the phone supports 40W fast charging. Finally, the phone runs on HarmonyOS 2 out of the box.
Talking about some software features, Face Unlock & Fingerprint recognition are supported for both displays. Also, there is a feature called “Super Privacy Mode.” If you enable this, then folding the phone will also turn off the camera, microphone, location, etc. The outer circular display can show text messages, can be used to answer calls, take selfies, music control, navigation, etc. Also, the experience of going from the outer display to the inner foldable screen is also quite seamless.
Huawei P50 Pocket comes in three colors – Black, White & Gold. The Black & White colors are for the standard variant, whereas the Gold color is for the Special Edition.
The standard variant comes with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. It is priced at ¥8988 (~$1,410). The Special Edition comes with 12GB RAM and 512GB storage. It is priced at ¥10988 (~$1,725). The sales have already begun in China.