Huawei has finally unveiled the P50 Pocket foldable flagship smartphone powered by a Snapdragon 888 SoC. The device features a hinge that allows it to fold in half like the flip phones of yore or like the recently-released Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3.
The P50 Pocket is Huawei’s maiden attempt at a clamshell foldable phone, although it has made conventional book-style foldables such as the Huawei Mate X. the new phone mimics the design language of the P50 lineup and folds on Huawei’s patented multi-dimensional hinge that shows no visible gap when folded shut.
Technical Specifications: Pocket Rocket
The Huawei P50 Pocket sports a 6.9-inch foldable OLED screen with a 21:9 aspect ratio and a 2790×1188 resolution. The screen is capable of a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR content playback, and DCI-P3 color gamut reproduction. The phone weighs 190 grams and is 7.2mm thick when unfolded. It becomes 15.2mm thick when folded. You can interact with the device using the 1-inch circular screen under the camera cluster when folded shut.
The tiny screen can tell you the time, date, and notifications. It also supports service widgets for first and third-party apps such as maps, music players, and QR codes.
The phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip supporting 4G cellular networking. You can configure the Huawei P50 Pocket on the storage front with up to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The phone packs a 4,000mAh battery that supports 40W fast charging. On the software front, the phone boots HarmonyOS 2.
Camera Array: The Usual Suspects
The Huawei P50 Pocket comes with three cameras on the back. There’s a 40MP primary camera with a focal length equivalent to a 26mm full-size camera. The ultra-wide-angle camera is a 13MP sensor with an f/2.2 lens.
The oddball third camera is a 32MP “super spectrum” camera with an f/1.8 lens that should boost color rendering in images.
When unfolded, you can use the selfie camera in the hole-punch cutout of the main display, although Huawei lets you control the main camera array using the cover screen and make it work as a selfie shooter. The phone supports face unlock on the main and cover screens, but there is a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for when you are wearing a mask.
Pricing and Availability
The Huawei P50 Pocket goes on sale in China today. The foldable phone is offered in two color variants — white and black. The phone is priced at ¥8,988 ($1,400) for the 8GB/256GB variant.
The higher-end 12GB/512GB configuration is branded as the P50 Pocket Premium Edition. It costs ¥10,988 ($1,700) and is available in either silver or gold colors with a textured finish on the back.
