Huawei has combined technology and fashion for years. With the Huawei P50 Pocket, Premium Edition, he elevates the smartphone to the level of a work of art. Beginning of the admiring test of a handset deprived of Google services, but enhanced by the design of haute couture designer Iris Van Herpen…
Even if I’ve never really been excited about foldable smartphones, I must admit that the Chinese’s latest opus, still unfairly hit by American anti-competitive measures, made the strongest impression on me. Right out of the box, you feel like you’ve got a sturdy-looking masterpiece in your hands.
Masterpiece worthy of Huawei’s talent!
Admittedly, this golden model has something feminine about it, but who cares? As soon as you get started, both the finish and the care given to all the details make this concentrate of technologies a true work of art, a feat of which Huawei has the secret and which illustrates the impressive mastery of the Chinese, which has earned it the wrath of Uncle Sam.
To begin with, when you put this smartphone next to a Samsung S22 Ultra protected by a full shell, you think that for half the volume, it has a comparable screen, once unfolded. And then, the general design, with this small circular external screen, is simply admirable. Very big Huawei! Specifications of a device sold around 1350 francs with 512GB of storage.
A foldable screen that seduces
Unfolded, we can only admire the craftsmanship of this 6.9-inch diagonal screen, which we do not see the fold in most configurations. It is necessary either to pass the finger above, or that it is enlightened laterally to very slightly appear. Clocked at up to 120 Hz, its fluidity is flawless.
Under EMUI 12, still based on Android, but without Google services, Huawei offers a system that is most responsive and perfectly suited for the most demanding uses, as my benchmark tester confirmed to me. This Huawei P50 Pocket, Premium Edition swallows a Fortnite for example without flinching.
Huawei P50 Pocket, Premium Edition, in its box.
Huawei P50 Pocket, Premium Edition next to its box.
Huawei P50 Pocket, Edition Premium: design admirable.
Huawei P50 Pocket, Edition Premium : un drappé admirable!
Huawei P50 Pocket, Premium Edition: the dream foldable?
Huawei P50 Pocket, Premium Edition: admirable 6.9-inch OLED screen.
Huawei P50 Pocket, Premium Edition: fingerprint scanner on the side.
Huawei P50 Pocket, Premium Edition, simply sparkling.
Huawei P50 Pocket, Edition Premium : design Iris Van Herpen.
Considerable power
The Chinese has obviously managed to get the most out of the Snapdragon 888 4G. On the AnTuTU benchmark tool, this standard still reaches more than 615,000 points with its 12 GB of RAM. Admittedly, we are far from the best, but the result is a very appreciable fluidity on a daily basis.
Finally, we must admit that before moving on to further testing, we were rather impressed with the various photo sensors and especially the support of the small external screen which can be used as a mirror or take selfies, not to mention the other features.
With its fingerprint scanner ideally placed on the right side, this concentrate of technologies capable of optically measuring your heartbeat on your face made a very strong impression on me. The included 40W charger certainly does not make us forget the lack of 5 G, but when we see the performance of this one in Switzerland…
Full multimedia test will follow
Xavier Studer
