HUAWEI was, at some point, one of the most popular Android smartphone maker in the world. At that point as well, we would recommend one in a heartbeat. Why would we not? They offer some of the best value for your money, feature some of the most interesting innovation in smartphones, and they were great to daily drive. That is until the Trump administration in the United States (US) decided to paint some unpleasant light on HUAWEI and banned the Chinese giant from doing business with American entities. That means HUAWEI loses direct access to Google’s Android and Play Store.
It does not mean that they are out of the game though. They innovated once more for their own survival. They launched HarmonyOS for their smartphones and their tablet products. They still had Microsoft’s Windows to work with for their PC products, so there is that. But not having Google’s Play Store has crippled them plenty in their global appeal.
They just launched the HUAWEI P60 series, their smartphone photography flagship. The P series, since the P9, has always offered some of the best camera experience on any smartphone. They were also the first smartphone maker to rope in a camera maker, Leica at the time, to help develop the camera system. That opened the floodgates for plenty more collaborations for other manufacturers.
On top of a whole world of collaboration opportunities, HUAWEI’s collaboration with Leica breathes new life in smartphone photography. You get better photos than ever, better portraits, better image quality, and even more flexibility in terms of the photos and videos you capture. The P60 still embodies all of that in their DNA.
HUAWEI P60 Pro
Their top-of-the-line P series for 2023 is the P60 Pro. For the first time ever, HUAWEI’s P series flagship features Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 system on a chip (SoC). Due to trade restrictions, the Snapdragon 8 Gen1 is not 5G enabled, which means you are stuck to 4G LTE connectivity with the HUAWEI P60 Pro. While it is also a slightly older processor compared to what you get today with other modern flagships, it is still a powerful processor at its core.
Alongside up to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, the SoC drives HUAWEI’s HarmonyOS 3.1/EMUI 13.1 along on its 6.67-inch OLED display. The OLED panel offers 2,700 by 1,220 pixels, which is not exactly QHD, yet more than Full HD. It refreshes at up to 120Hz though, which is always a nice thing to have.
The highlight of the device, or rather, the thing that stands out the most on the device is its main camera at the back. It is a 48-Megapixel sensor that lies behind a wide-angle lens. It sits in between a 48-Megapixel telephoto camera and a 13-Megapixel Ultra-wide shooter. It is still the same RYYB sensor that HUAWEI claims to offer more natural and accurate colour reproduction and even more light than the regular RGB sensor. There is also a 13-Megapixel front-facing camera up front for decent selfies or video calls with MeeTime.
Within the IP68 rated construction is a large 4,815mAh battery to keep the HUAWEI P60 Pro running all day and probably even more. If you ever need to charge, the battery is capable of up to 88W in HUAWEI SuperCharge speeds, just so that you can get going again in an hour. If you prefer to wirelessly charge your smartphone, it still charges at up to 50W speeds.
HUAWEI P60
Moving down the scale, the regular HUAWEI P60 should be the more accessible option in the P60 series. That does not mean that they are compromised.
The HUAWEI P60 still comes with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen1. It offers less in terms of memory and storage though, at 8GB and 256GB respectively. That is still enough to keep the HarmonyOS 3.1/EMUI 13.1 smoothly though. You also get the same 6.67-inch LTPO OLED display offering the same 120Hz refresh rate and even the same resolution.
Out the back, you still get a 48-Megapixel main shooter with RYYB sensor behind a 24mm wide angle lens. Instead of a 48-Megapixel telephoto shooter, you get a 12-Megapixel telephoto camera alongside a 13-Megapixel ultra-wide camera. Up front, you also get a 13-Megapixel selfie camera.
You even get the same battery. The only difference between this one and the Pro variant is in its charging speeds. You get up to 66W in HUAWEI SuperCharge speeds, which is still plenty fast to keep your device charged before you leave. You still can wirelessly charge your P60 at 50W speeds.
HUAWEI P60 Art
Then launched a very interesting ‘special edition’ P60 Art. It offers a slightly different design language too, some extra angles there and here. They are also offered in different special colour options – Azure Blue, and Seashore Gold.
Hardware wise, everything is similar to the HUAWEI P60 Pro. The difference can be found in the back. No, it is not a higher resolution main camera. It is still a 48-Megapixel RYYB main camera. What is different is tat you get a high-resolution 40-Megapixel ultra-wide camera over the 13-Megapixel you get on the Pro variant. You get to choose to get a larger storage for your device too, at up to 1TB. The battery is also larger at 5,100mAh with up to 88W in charging speeds.
Should You Pay Attention to the HUAWEI P60 Series?
This is a more complex question than it seems. On the one hand, we want to say that the HUAWEI P60 series could be an important smartphone for the industry as a whole. On the other, we still would not recommend it to anyone who are looking for a smartphone at this time because it still does not feature Google Play Store out of the box. We do not doubt that the HUAWEI P60 series smartphones will be brilliant smartphones on their own, even without Google Play Store, we just do not think that it is quite relevant in the world dominated by Google’s apps.
Alongside the HUAWEI Mate 50 series, this features an international spec Qualcomm SoC in the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. While the caveat is that you do not get 5G to go along with it, it marks an important stage in HUAWEI’s development journey. They have dialed back on HiSilicon, their own in-house silicon manufacturers. While the Kirin has lived on and been found on HUAWEI’s lower end devices, they have transitioned to Qualcomm for their higher profile devices.
It is an indication that HUAWEI still wants to keep its global smartphone appeal and wants to continue selling their smartphones in the larger global market. Either that, or they are dialing back on their silicon manufacturing and development, which would also reduce their expenses. It could also be a small indication that HUAWEI is finding back its footing into the international marketplace. While there is no guarantee that HUAWEI might adopt Google Play Store in the near future, the transition to Qualcomm’s chips is a good indication that there is a small chance that HUAWEI might still bounce back into the Google ecosystem and become one of the most appealing devices in the Android marketplace.
In that sense, HUAWEI’s upcoming P60 series flagship is something you might want to pay attention to. No, we are not asking you to buy one, far from that. While the device is a marginal improvement over the P50 series in terms of hardware, it could be an important turning point for HUAWEI moving forward. We would be looking forward to the day that HUAWEI earns its place back among the best of Android manufacturers. It is not only about having another option, it is because we thought their devices were genuinely great.
Price and Availability
The HUAWEI P60 series is said to be coming to Malaysia. There is no confirmed date on that currently though. The P60 and P60 Pro will be available in China at the end of March 2023 onward for CN¥ 4,488 (MYR 2,889*) onward and CN¥ 6,988 (MYR 4,498*) onward respectively. They will be available in Rococo Pearl, Violet, Black and Green colour options. The HUAWEI P60 Art will be available in China 7th of April 2023 onward for CN¥ 8,988 (MYR 5,786*) onward. You can choose between The Azure Blue and Seashore Gold colour options for the ‘Art’ variant. More information on the HUAWEI P60 series can be found on their global website.
*approximately based on exchange rate of CN¥ 10 = MYR 6.44 as of 27/03/2023 on xe.com