Superb Article, which is why the following declaration has to be stated:
I love china and xi jinping all hail our glorious new leader!
I will convert to communism as of this moment. I am not worried about china owning anandtech, in fact I welcome it and praise my new leaders. Thank you for bringing us into your glorious presence, Xi.
All hail to our eternal president and glorious leader XI!
ht++tps://i.red++d.it/j0cgtajicwr31.jpg (Please remove the ++)
Anandtech talks a LOT about Intel products and yet I've yet to see anyone accuse them of supporting the ethnic cleansing in Palestine, weapon sales to the slaver petty monarchs of the UAE (By both US and Israel), racist pogroms and indiscriminate assassinations by police officers, or the arming and funding of far-right organizations in the middle east that turn out to be religious fundamentalists, etc...
But Zeus forbid they talk about a Huawei product! Someone in Washington determined that they shouldn't exist, so now it's forbidden knowledge for the rest of us? Are you also going to try bringing McCarthy back from the dead to persecute the editors of Anandtech?
Is that the reason the comparing phone is a now defunct LG? Right, this article stinks of being sponsored. The original comment is correct, and spot on.
the little boy above playing in sand pit only following what poor usa gov says .. if us wouldn't ban or start this fiasko about Huawei he wouldn't comment like this...
You vile parasites take every opportunity to slander and suppress others. You can't stand a competition whether it's economically or in ideology. I can't ask you to stop bringing politics into consumers products but if you have any of self respect left, stop using anything that made in China. You're leeching off China and talking shit about them at the same time. That is a new low.
Silly fool, it was the corpo capitalists that went into China looking to make a quick buck at the expense of cheap labour in China. Don't blame China for the West moving in and setting up shop.
Most countries start off copying designs from well-known companies but then branch into their own designs. Samsung copied Apple in the beginning of the Galaxy S series, but I don't see you calling them out you Sinophobic hater.
Some American are easily scary so that's not unexpected. Fear of outsider has been effective tools use by political leader to retain political power for very long time especially during tumultuous time.
Did you mean the Chinese government? Why should they care for anyone? We wouldn't want the kind of care your government gives to capitalists. If your government cares, why there's so many homeless on the street?
Funny that you parasites keep twisting reality to fit your owns. In the US, if you don't have a job, you'll be on the street with the homeless, period.
TF? In the US, the reason you're seeing so many homeless in major cities is that most local governments actually observe the right of people's personal liberty. In China, if you don't have a job, you'll be kicked off the streets back to your backwater hamlet hundreds of miles away where your ancestors lived. You only get to be homeless away from major cities. Oh, and try to sue the government for negligence or complicity in case you get abducted, trafficked and enslaved, see how well that'll go for you. https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-02...
Why should I explain anything to the biggest thief of all? Actually you need to provide proofs for your accusations and proofs that you people have never stolen anything from anyone.
When an ethnic Chinese works in your country and invents something, you think it's invented by your people. But when you see him on the street, you would think he's just another immigrant leeching off your welfare system.
Many thieves and copycats out there. Know how much stuff Israel stole from the US and copied? Know of how many lawsuits weee filed against Apple for copyright infringements?
it is not that at all.. once disgusting usa companies see others country doing better same business they will try to buy it, if foreign owner of business rejects they offer more fake usa printed money (which goes to catastrophic most biggest usa debt.) If the business owner still rejects then bastards usa gov will create fake and lying propaganda and will make fake news around the world and falsely humiliate the business ! if that doesn't work last thing is to destroy the business.
That said, this thread is way overheated. Whatever your nationality or politics, we should be interested in learning about the tech and products on the market.
Maybe you're looking at it as a potential buyer, or maybe you're trying to size up the competitive threat. Or maybe just a bemused bystander. If you're in any way invested in the matter, then it's worth knowing.
And you all just represent yourselves poorly by engaging in bashing of each other. Sadly, there is such a thing as anti-Chinese racism in many countries. However, nearly all of the angst isn't over the Chinese people, but over China's government and its policies (economic and otherwise). Nothing said here is going to change that, so please chill out everyone, and don't make the situation worse by fostering more fear, hatred, and misunderstanding.
Dead. I think it was in 2018 that Huawei stopped allowing new users to unlock their bootloaders. They had generations of phones with no support for Custom ROM's, you can guess what happened to the Custom ROM people who liked Huawei: when it came time to upgrade, they either abandoned Huawei or Custom ROM's.
It was only last yeat some people managed to find a hacky way to unlock it in some of their Kirin SoC's, and I don't think the least old Kirin SoC's are included in that.
Combine that with the fact this won't sell well at all, and you can safely assume that there will be either no custom ROM's, or there will be one and it will be shit because it's maintained by the one dev who really likes the look of the phone.
These naïve little boys who messing with their phones and installing some custom ROms complainign about original softwares but strangely when those amateurs make custom ROMs will explain in changelogs ; eem camera not working yet , eem this and that is buggy .. eem this app is crashing.. So this supposed to be better than original?? Stupid little boys messing around !
Yes, you can have problems running custom ROMs on some phone models, but if you select the right phone model when buying, custom ROMs can run quite well. I own a Xiaomi Redmi Note 7, and LineageOS runs better on it than Xiaomi's stock OS in my opinion. The camera app from LineageOS actually takes nicer photos than Xiaomi's camera app. You just have to do research on XDA Forum to find a good model before buying.
I have been installing CynogenMod or LineageOS on my phones since 2015, because: 1) they run faster without all the pre-installed bloatware, 2) I prefer free/open source apps, 3) I don't like sharing my personal life with Google and other surveillance Capitalists, 4) I like to be able to keep upgrading my phone after the manufacturer stops providing updates, so I'm not forced to buy a new phone every 2 years, 5) I don't like the arbitrary restrictions from phone manufacturers like lack of WiFi hotspot support, 6) the LineageOS interface (which is close to stock Android) is better than most manufacturers' interfaces, 7) I like the freedom to experiment with postmarketOS and Ubuntu Touch.
who on earth is rooting phones nowadays?? don't be naïve that's is little boys only playing then bricking phones stupid and then crying on XDA devs .. I broooke phooone heeelp twats..
Of all the phones to come out, you chose this one to review...
Just. I think I'm done with AnandTech. You don't need to be that punctual due to the depth of your reviews, but you've missed massive swathes of products.
And you have to admit that choosing to review a Huawei device, but none of the many others does look suspect. You need to at least handle coverage of them with caution.
I'm not the typical smartphone reviewer, this just landed on my desk for a short minute. You might think that we just have a wall of phones to choose from, we don't.
In the Huawei comment, we've been covering them for years. Not rehashing those arguments every time one fo their products come up.
Anandtech is not a phone review site anymore, and Huawei phone is one of the most interesting to look at due to it unique circumstance. And dud a review don't equal to recommendations, there are tons of other review if you just want to see phone. Anandtech phone reviews are more towards non mainstream products because they are way more fun to look at than typical Samsung & apple. They also reviewed a Asus phone last year and give it a ok pass, are you going to say they shill for Taiwan now?
Ian, reviewing a phone of a company that has chosen to help spying on its viewers for its government is in bad taste and a mistake. Especially since this site barely covers any new phones. Any one not associated or benefiting from the cpc, are bound to find this objectionable. Unless the goal is to pivot towards China, it's best to not go down this route, as this will lose the rest of the audience because of how strongly we feel about our rights and freedom.
Maybe covering a Huawei phone is suspect. However, I think plenty of bad things were mentioned about the phone (along with a very clear "Not Recommended" in the "update"). And no, Dr. Ian Cuttress is not the usual suspect for phone reviews.
There aren't many pluses in the "promotional review" - if I think about it, only the picture quality is mentioned as "very good". Performance, battery life are middle of the pack. The 5G exists on (for example) the Samsung S20 FE, a 600 Euro device (less RAM and storage though). No Google services.
And not everything on Anandtech has in-depth analysis and comparative study. And the device is clearly not in the "flagship with everything but the kitchen sink", and is clearly not in the budget or mid-range category. So, as a "flagship priced device with mid-range features", you might only want in-depth analysis and comparative study on its cameras - which is a huge undertaking considering previous camera articles. It would be totally worth it to compare the camera against the best there is, assuming a flagship imaging system in a mid-range priced device. As it is, I don't see a reason.
I'm certainly no big fan of China, but I really don't see what the fuss is about. Huawei is a relevant player in the market, and as long as the article is fair and unbiased, then I don't see a problem with them looking at the product.
Do I wish the site had more coverage of other products also? Yes, of course! But seeing this here just doesn't upset me. If anything, I find it interesting to read a bit about how Huawei is dealing with the embargo.
I do wish that the review covered some more info as to cell reception signal quality and speaker volume tests as well. Also which apps could be side loaded and which ones could not along with how they ran. Huawei makes great smartphones. I own both a Huawei P30 Pro and and a new iPhone 13 Pro as well
Can someone fill me in as to why all these commenters think Huawei is evil? Last I heard of them was when I owned a P20 Pro, and it was an excellent mid-range device.
You all know that every product you use is made in China, correct? It’s a first look at a smartphone. Calm down.
> Can someone fill me in as to why all these commenters think Huawei is evil?
There are three categories of concerns worth examining. I won't go into details because you can easily find information on these, elsewhere. I'm not trying to start/extend a flame war, but rather give you leads you can follow to find relevant details. How you view any of these concerns is subject to interpretation and personal bias, but you can at least see why some are so animated.
The first is the reasons given by the US for placing it on its "Entities" list and why its CFO was detained (in Canada) under indictments by the US.
The next set of concerns arose from the transition to 5G and national security worries about using Chinese equipment in critical telecommunications and networking infrastructure. The situation was complicated by Huawei's equipment assuming an early and dominant position in this market, as well as undercutting potential competitors on price. Some have therefore claimed these concerns are being manufactured or exaggerated, for anti-competitive reasons.
The final category of concerns is the broader set of allegations and concerns over China's industrial & economic policies and their impact. One can include IP issues here, as well.
Facts are the US was unable to backup its claims against Huawei. Huawei and China asked the US many times to backup their claims and show evidence but until today have not been able to do so.
Huawei does have ties with the Chinese government and does a lot of work for the Chinese military, so there are fears that its networking equipment is used to spy for the Chinese government, but reports of spying are based on unproven allegations. Some people also have fears about their phones for the same reasons (although I personally think those fears are unfounded).
For me, the reason to avoid Huawei phones include: 1) Since June 2018, Huawei has locked the bootloader on all their phones, which means that I can't install the OS of my choice, which is LineageOS, 2) Huawei uses a lot of their own custom chips (before the US banned Western fabs from making their chips) and releases no public documentation on them, so the hardware is a black box, and there is no hope that the community can create free drivers, 3) Huawei doesn't have a particularly good record of providing updates for its phones--Google, OnePlus, Galaxy S/Z/Note and Android One devices provide more years of support, 4) Huawei's app store doesn't have all the apps of the Google Play Store.
Chinese workers don't have the right to form independent labor unions, and I hate the surveillance state that China has become, but most phones being sold in Europe and N. America today are assembled in China. If you buy a phone from HMD/Nokia, Lenovo/Motorola, Xiaomi, Vivo, Redmi, OnePlus, Huawei, TCL/Alcatel or GTE, then your phone was probably designed in China as well. The only way to avoid China today, is to buy a high-end Galaxy (S/Z/Note and some A-series) which are assembled in S. Korea and Taiwan. Most Samsung phones are assembled in Vietnam, but 20% are outsourced to Chinese ODMs.
Isn't the graph with the GPU performance data misleading? If the sustained 31 fps were only possible under these conditions " - we were only able to complete the test when we strapped a sizeable fan to the phone", then this should be entered as "failed" or "did not complete". As shown, the graph suggests performance that the phone is not able to deliver in everyday situations. I rarely if ever carry a "sizeable fan" with me, and on the rare occasions I did, I was transporting a plug-in fan in its box from one location to another, and I didn't have a battery UPS strapped to my back to operate said fan.
Agreed. There should've been an asterisk next to that label of the graph, with the footnote either saying "with fan" or referring the reader to the article text.
Hopefully, these perf mode values won't be propagated to another phone review, where this context is missing.
At this point in time I wonder if it make sense to review "Smartphone" in terms of hardware. Since we are not testing Wireless Radio Performance They only differ in Camera and SoC. SoC is basically either Qualcomm or MediaTek + the Smartphone's heat dissertation design. Which leaves Camera being the biggest differentiation.
And from the few samples I don't believe Huawei's improved these couple years, they seem to have recycled the same sensor(or perhaps with minor tweaks) for years now leaving room for continued tuning, yet the smearing doesn't seem any better, the sample against the sun is especially bad, I believe some years-old Gcam version on a relatively recent generic sensor >1/1.5" could get a far cleaner shot. I'd almost say that they're just content with the waxy look but IIRC some Mate samples have been better than this.
First off, thanks for the review. In the USA anyways, it's hard to find information about Huawei. There's no chance I'd purchase one, given both it's difficulty to acquire here in the US, as well as given it's eccentricities, but it's nice to see how Chinese designed phones are competing. Given the pricing they're asking, it seems like a no go based on the poor camera quality and lack of 5G. Honestly I'm surprised the performance and battery life are close to the S21U (snapdragon). I'd be more interested if the Kirin chips were meeting/beating snapdragon in general performance and performance/watt.
Huawei was forced to close its Hi silicon Kirin chip design branch because the US was afraid of Huawei's greatness!! they had overtaken Apple and were going to become world number 1!! Huawei has the best camera system and made their own Kirin chip, USA couldn't spy on Huawei phones because they had their own Kirin chip because it's all in Chinese and can't be hacked, it's easier with Qualcomm because you just have to ask them for the key to decipher the chips and spy on people
it is not that at all.. once disgusting usa companies see others country doing better same business they will try to buy it, if foreign owner of business rejects they offer more fake usa printed money (which goes to catastrophic most biggest usa debt.) If the business owner still rejects then bastards usa gov will create fake and lying propaganda and will make fake news around the world and falsely humiliate the business ! if that doesn't work last thing is to destroy the business.
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20220210 - Thursday, February 10, 2022 - link
Superb Article, which is why the following declaration has to be stated:I love china and xi jinping all hail our glorious new leader!
I will convert to communism as of this moment. I am not worried about china owning anandtech, in fact I welcome it and praise my new leaders. Thank you for bringing us into your glorious presence, Xi.
All hail to our eternal president and glorious leader XI!
ht++tps://i.red++d.it/j0cgtajicwr31.jpg (Please remove the ++)
Amandtec - Thursday, February 10, 2022 - link
Superb comment. /sWereweeb - Thursday, February 10, 2022 - link
Anandtech talks a LOT about Intel products and yet I've yet to see anyone accuse them of supporting the ethnic cleansing in Palestine, weapon sales to the slaver petty monarchs of the UAE (By both US and Israel), racist pogroms and indiscriminate assassinations by police officers, or the arming and funding of far-right organizations in the middle east that turn out to be religious fundamentalists, etc...But Zeus forbid they talk about a Huawei product! Someone in Washington determined that they shouldn't exist, so now it's forbidden knowledge for the rest of us? Are you also going to try bringing McCarthy back from the dead to persecute the editors of Anandtech?
techgadgetgeek - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
Spot on..Powered by AMD - Monday, February 14, 2022 - link
exactly! Anandtech is open for reviewing all kind of products, independently from where it was made or designed. Long live Anandtech! :)sharath.naik - Monday, February 21, 2022 - link
Is that the reason the comparing phone is a now defunct LG? Right, this article stinks of being sponsored. The original comment is correct, and spot on.Ethos Evoss - Thursday, March 10, 2022 - link
the little boy above playing in sand pit only following what poor usa gov says .. if us wouldn't ban or start this fiasko about Huawei he wouldn't comment like this...dickeywang - Monday, February 14, 2022 - link
well said bro.Spunjji - Wednesday, February 16, 2022 - link
💯sonny73n - Thursday, February 10, 2022 - link
You vile parasites take every opportunity to slander and suppress others. You can't stand a competition whether it's economically or in ideology. I can't ask you to stop bringing politics into consumers products but if you have any of self respect left, stop using anything that made in China. You're leeching off China and talking shit about them at the same time. That is a new low.Tams80 - Thursday, February 10, 2022 - link
Explain the IP theft and blatant copying.GTan - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
Silly fool, it was the corpo capitalists that went into China looking to make a quick buck at the expense of cheap labour in China. Don't blame China for the West moving in and setting up shop.Most countries start off copying designs from well-known companies but then branch into their own designs. Samsung copied Apple in the beginning of the Galaxy S series, but I don't see you calling them out you Sinophobic hater.
shing3232 - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
Some American are easily scary so that's not unexpected. Fear of outsider has been effective tools use by political leader to retain political power for very long time especially during tumultuous time.TheinsanegamerN - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
"Sinophobic hater"Fire and fury, signifying nothing. Shut up you filthy Baizou. China does not care about you or your family.
sonny73n - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
Did you mean the Chinese government? Why should they care for anyone? We wouldn't want the kind of care your government gives to capitalists. If your government cares, why there's so many homeless on the street?Funny that you parasites keep twisting reality to fit your owns. In the US, if you don't have a job, you'll be on the street with the homeless, period.
s.yu - Friday, February 25, 2022 - link
TF? In the US, the reason you're seeing so many homeless in major cities is that most local governments actually observe the right of people's personal liberty. In China, if you don't have a job, you'll be kicked off the streets back to your backwater hamlet hundreds of miles away where your ancestors lived. You only get to be homeless away from major cities. Oh, and try to sue the government for negligence or complicity in case you get abducted, trafficked and enslaved, see how well that'll go for you. https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-02...DigitalFreak - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
中国人基本上和过去 50 年一样是一群暴徒和暴徒。Ethos Evoss - Thursday, March 10, 2022 - link
u defo freak but stupidsonny73n - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
Why should I explain anything to the biggest thief of all? Actually you need to provide proofs for your accusations and proofs that you people have never stolen anything from anyone.When an ethnic Chinese works in your country and invents something, you think it's invented by your people. But when you see him on the street, you would think he's just another immigrant leeching off your welfare system.
techgadgetgeek - Wednesday, February 16, 2022 - link
Many thieves and copycats out there. Know how much stuff Israel stole from the US and copied? Know of how many lawsuits weee filed against Apple for copyright infringements?Ethos Evoss - Thursday, March 10, 2022 - link
u have no idea how many copycats are even between usa business.. they only constantly suing each others.. even in within usa they hate each others..Spunjji - Wednesday, February 16, 2022 - link
When the USA did it to everyone else, it was just business...mode_13h - Sunday, February 20, 2022 - link
One issue is how to litigate these cases. The USA has strong commercial laws and courts for adjudicating these matters.Regarding China, even when a case falls in the jurisdiction of the WTO, that hasn't been working very well.
https://apnews.com/article/business-china-united-s...
Ethos Evoss - Thursday, March 10, 2022 - link
it is not that at all.. once disgusting usa companies see others country doing better same business they will try to buy it, if foreign owner of business rejects they offer more fake usa printed money (which goes to catastrophic most biggest usa debt.) If the business owner still rejects then bastards usa gov will create fake and lying propaganda and will make fake news around the world and falsely humiliate the business ! if that doesn't work last thing is to destroy the business.Ethos Evoss - Thursday, March 10, 2022 - link
u litttle prick if there were no china u would never had that sht iphone in your hands becsue it would never exist. your ipohne is made in chinaEthos Evoss - Thursday, March 10, 2022 - link
just ignore these little 12 years boys they have no idea what is all behind and why usa nearly destroyed huawei ruled by scrApple !GTan - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
This is a definition of a bot if you were to look it up in the dictionary.The CCP lives rent free in your head 24/7, just like Mao intended it.
GeoffreyA - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
It boggles the mind how an innocent, informative technology piece can be viewed as politics.mode_13h - Saturday, February 12, 2022 - link
Well, there's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MercantilismThat said, this thread is way overheated. Whatever your nationality or politics, we should be interested in learning about the tech and products on the market.
Maybe you're looking at it as a potential buyer, or maybe you're trying to size up the competitive threat. Or maybe just a bemused bystander. If you're in any way invested in the matter, then it's worth knowing.
And you all just represent yourselves poorly by engaging in bashing of each other. Sadly, there is such a thing as anti-Chinese racism in many countries. However, nearly all of the angst isn't over the Chinese people, but over China's government and its policies (economic and otherwise). Nothing said here is going to change that, so please chill out everyone, and don't make the situation worse by fostering more fear, hatred, and misunderstanding.
GeoffreyA - Saturday, February 12, 2022 - link
100%Mil0 - Tuesday, February 15, 2022 - link
This.Ethos Evoss - Thursday, March 10, 2022 - link
U ar an idiot... now situation is different in the world what u gonna say now?? u typicla usa naive or uk daft personbaka_toroi - Thursday, February 10, 2022 - link
How thriving is the ROM community for Huawei devices? And how easy is it to root this one?Wereweeb - Thursday, February 10, 2022 - link
Dead. I think it was in 2018 that Huawei stopped allowing new users to unlock their bootloaders. They had generations of phones with no support for Custom ROM's, you can guess what happened to the Custom ROM people who liked Huawei: when it came time to upgrade, they either abandoned Huawei or Custom ROM's.It was only last yeat some people managed to find a hacky way to unlock it in some of their Kirin SoC's, and I don't think the least old Kirin SoC's are included in that.
Combine that with the fact this won't sell well at all, and you can safely assume that there will be either no custom ROM's, or there will be one and it will be shit because it's maintained by the one dev who really likes the look of the phone.
Ethos Evoss - Thursday, March 10, 2022 - link
These naïve little boys who messing with their phones and installing some custom ROms complainign about original softwares but strangely when those amateurs make custom ROMs will explain in changelogs ; eem camera not working yet , eem this and that is buggy .. eem this app is crashing.. So this supposed to be better than original?? Stupid little boys messing around !amosbatto - Friday, March 11, 2022 - link
Yes, you can have problems running custom ROMs on some phone models, but if you select the right phone model when buying, custom ROMs can run quite well. I own a Xiaomi Redmi Note 7, and LineageOS runs better on it than Xiaomi's stock OS in my opinion. The camera app from LineageOS actually takes nicer photos than Xiaomi's camera app. You just have to do research on XDA Forum to find a good model before buying.I have been installing CynogenMod or LineageOS on my phones since 2015, because: 1) they run faster without all the pre-installed bloatware, 2) I prefer free/open source apps, 3) I don't like sharing my personal life with Google and other surveillance Capitalists, 4) I like to be able to keep upgrading my phone after the manufacturer stops providing updates, so I'm not forced to buy a new phone every 2 years, 5) I don't like the arbitrary restrictions from phone manufacturers like lack of WiFi hotspot support, 6) the LineageOS interface (which is close to stock Android) is better than most manufacturers' interfaces, 7) I like the freedom to experiment with postmarketOS and Ubuntu Touch.
Ethos Evoss - Thursday, March 10, 2022 - link
who on earth is rooting phones nowadays?? don't be naïve that's is little boys only playing then bricking phones stupid and then crying on XDA devs .. I broooke phooone heeelp twats..Tams80 - Thursday, February 10, 2022 - link
Of all the phones to come out, you chose this one to review...Just. I think I'm done with AnandTech. You don't need to be that punctual due to the depth of your reviews, but you've missed massive swathes of products.
And you have to admit that choosing to review a Huawei device, but none of the many others does look suspect. You need to at least handle coverage of them with caution.
Ian Cutress - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
I'm not the typical smartphone reviewer, this just landed on my desk for a short minute. You might think that we just have a wall of phones to choose from, we don't.In the Huawei comment, we've been covering them for years. Not rehashing those arguments every time one fo their products come up.
Tams80 - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
I was not commenting about you specifically, rather AnandTech as a whole. It could be anyone who works there who reviews them.You have been behind on lots of reviews, many to the point that you clearly have scrapped due to being too late.
You also can't deny that it does come across as suspicious if you review this phone, but not any of the vastly more popular ones.
And no, I didn't imagine you to have a wall of phones to review; so with that assumption about me, let's call it even.
I appreciate your in-depth reviews and interviews, but you don't live in a bubble.
appleache - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
Anandtech is not a phone review site anymore, and Huawei phone is one of the most interesting to look at due to it unique circumstance. And dud a review don't equal to recommendations, there are tons of other review if you just want to see phone. Anandtech phone reviews are more towards non mainstream products because they are way more fun to look at than typical Samsung & apple. They also reviewed a Asus phone last year and give it a ok pass, are you going to say they shill for Taiwan now?Ian Cutress - Saturday, February 12, 2022 - link
We only have two full-time staff.abufrejoval - Saturday, March 5, 2022 - link
Well, only one left now, I guess.s.yu - Friday, February 25, 2022 - link
I said this a couple years ago but Ian's Huawei pieces all come across as paid pieces, too subjective for comfort.sharath.naik - Monday, February 21, 2022 - link
Ian, reviewing a phone of a company that has chosen to help spying on its viewers for its government is in bad taste and a mistake. Especially since this site barely covers any new phones. Any one not associated or benefiting from the cpc, are bound to find this objectionable.Unless the goal is to pivot towards China, it's best to not go down this route, as this will lose the rest of the audience because of how strongly we feel about our rights and freedom.
Calin - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
Maybe covering a Huawei phone is suspect.However, I think plenty of bad things were mentioned about the phone (along with a very clear "Not Recommended" in the "update").
And no, Dr. Ian Cuttress is not the usual suspect for phone reviews.
usiname - Saturday, February 12, 2022 - link
Bye byenadim.kahwaji - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
I love that Ian is still carrying the Old Spirit of Anandtech (Deep Technical explanation), Keep up the Great Work Sir.GeoffreyA - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
++ricebunny - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
This was obviously a promotional review. Lacks the usual Anandtech in-depth analysis and comparative study.Ian Cutress - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
It's a hands on test. Where does it say review.Kangal - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
Well, for one, you didn't do a side by side comparison of a drop test against that Nokia 3210.(PS: is it just me, or does the earpiece look like a Shark's eyes, nostrils, and teeth?)
cablecartman - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
"Update: Since this review was written, Samsung launched the S22 series"Calin - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
There aren't many pluses in the "promotional review" - if I think about it, only the picture quality is mentioned as "very good".Performance, battery life are middle of the pack.
The 5G exists on (for example) the Samsung S20 FE, a 600 Euro device (less RAM and storage though).
No Google services.
And not everything on Anandtech has in-depth analysis and comparative study. And the device is clearly not in the "flagship with everything but the kitchen sink", and is clearly not in the budget or mid-range category.
So, as a "flagship priced device with mid-range features", you might only want in-depth analysis and comparative study on its cameras - which is a huge undertaking considering previous camera articles.
It would be totally worth it to compare the camera against the best there is, assuming a flagship imaging system in a mid-range priced device. As it is, I don't see a reason.
Hamm Burger - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
Don't worry, Ian. I'm never going to give you up.Holliday75 - Sunday, February 13, 2022 - link
I know what you are trying to do here. Must resist........Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
mode_13h - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
I'm certainly no big fan of China, but I really don't see what the fuss is about. Huawei is a relevant player in the market, and as long as the article is fair and unbiased, then I don't see a problem with them looking at the product.Do I wish the site had more coverage of other products also? Yes, of course! But seeing this here just doesn't upset me. If anything, I find it interesting to read a bit about how Huawei is dealing with the embargo.
techgadgetgeek - Friday, February 11, 2022 - link
I do wish that the review covered some more info as to cell reception signal quality and speaker volume tests as well. Also which apps could be side loaded and which ones could not along with how they ran. Huawei makes great smartphones. I own both a Huawei P30 Pro and and a new iPhone 13 Pro as wellrelux - Saturday, February 12, 2022 - link
Can someone fill me in as to why all these commenters think Huawei is evil? Last I heard of them was when I owned a P20 Pro, and it was an excellent mid-range device.You all know that every product you use is made in China, correct? It’s a first look at a smartphone. Calm down.
Lindegren - Saturday, February 12, 2022 - link
Weird, I thought this article was about a phone.mode_13h - Sunday, February 13, 2022 - link
> Can someone fill me in as to why all these commenters think Huawei is evil?There are three categories of concerns worth examining. I won't go into details because you can easily find information on these, elsewhere. I'm not trying to start/extend a flame war, but rather give you leads you can follow to find relevant details. How you view any of these concerns is subject to interpretation and personal bias, but you can at least see why some are so animated.
The first is the reasons given by the US for placing it on its "Entities" list and why its CFO was detained (in Canada) under indictments by the US.
The next set of concerns arose from the transition to 5G and national security worries about using Chinese equipment in critical telecommunications and networking infrastructure. The situation was complicated by Huawei's equipment assuming an early and dominant position in this market, as well as undercutting potential competitors on price. Some have therefore claimed these concerns are being manufactured or exaggerated, for anti-competitive reasons.
The final category of concerns is the broader set of allegations and concerns over China's industrial & economic policies and their impact. One can include IP issues here, as well.
techgadgetgeek - Wednesday, February 16, 2022 - link
Facts are the US was unable to backup its claims against Huawei. Huawei and China asked the US many times to backup their claims and show evidence but until today have not been able to do so.amosbatto - Friday, March 11, 2022 - link
Huawei does have ties with the Chinese government and does a lot of work for the Chinese military, so there are fears that its networking equipment is used to spy for the Chinese government, but reports of spying are based on unproven allegations. Some people also have fears about their phones for the same reasons (although I personally think those fears are unfounded).For me, the reason to avoid Huawei phones include: 1) Since June 2018, Huawei has locked the bootloader on all their phones, which means that I can't install the OS of my choice, which is LineageOS, 2) Huawei uses a lot of their own custom chips (before the US banned Western fabs from making their chips) and releases no public documentation on them, so the hardware is a black box, and there is no hope that the community can create free drivers, 3) Huawei doesn't have a particularly good record of providing updates for its phones--Google, OnePlus, Galaxy S/Z/Note and Android One devices provide more years of support, 4) Huawei's app store doesn't have all the apps of the Google Play Store.
Chinese workers don't have the right to form independent labor unions, and I hate the surveillance state that China has become, but most phones being sold in Europe and N. America today are assembled in China. If you buy a phone from HMD/Nokia, Lenovo/Motorola, Xiaomi, Vivo, Redmi, OnePlus, Huawei, TCL/Alcatel or GTE, then your phone was probably designed in China as well. The only way to avoid China today, is to buy a high-end Galaxy (S/Z/Note and some A-series) which are assembled in S. Korea and Taiwan. Most Samsung phones are assembled in Vietnam, but 20% are outsourced to Chinese ODMs.
tamemeee - Sunday, February 13, 2022 - link
As a Velvet owner I like this camera comparison haha. Good to see that there is room for improvement always.eastcoast_pete - Sunday, February 13, 2022 - link
Isn't the graph with the GPU performance data misleading? If the sustained 31 fps were only possible under these conditions " - we were only able to complete the test when we strapped a sizeable fan to the phone", then this should be entered as "failed" or "did not complete". As shown, the graph suggests performance that the phone is not able to deliver in everyday situations. I rarely if ever carry a "sizeable fan" with me, and on the rare occasions I did, I was transporting a plug-in fan in its box from one location to another, and I didn't have a battery UPS strapped to my back to operate said fan.mode_13h - Monday, February 14, 2022 - link
Agreed. There should've been an asterisk next to that label of the graph, with the footnote either saying "with fan" or referring the reader to the article text.Hopefully, these perf mode values won't be propagated to another phone review, where this context is missing.
ksec - Monday, February 14, 2022 - link
At this point in time I wonder if it make sense to review "Smartphone" in terms of hardware. Since we are not testing Wireless Radio Performance They only differ in Camera and SoC. SoC is basically either Qualcomm or MediaTek + the Smartphone's heat dissertation design. Which leaves Camera being the biggest differentiation.s.yu - Friday, February 25, 2022 - link
And from the few samples I don't believe Huawei's improved these couple years, they seem to have recycled the same sensor(or perhaps with minor tweaks) for years now leaving room for continued tuning, yet the smearing doesn't seem any better, the sample against the sun is especially bad, I believe some years-old Gcam version on a relatively recent generic sensor >1/1.5" could get a far cleaner shot. I'd almost say that they're just content with the waxy look but IIRC some Mate samples have been better than this.c4v3man - Tuesday, February 15, 2022 - link
First off, thanks for the review. In the USA anyways, it's hard to find information about Huawei. There's no chance I'd purchase one, given both it's difficulty to acquire here in the US, as well as given it's eccentricities, but it's nice to see how Chinese designed phones are competing. Given the pricing they're asking, it seems like a no go based on the poor camera quality and lack of 5G. Honestly I'm surprised the performance and battery life are close to the S21U (snapdragon). I'd be more interested if the Kirin chips were meeting/beating snapdragon in general performance and performance/watt.Keep it up!
Sattamatkamatka - Tuesday, February 22, 2022 - link
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mode_13h - Wednesday, February 23, 2022 - link
spammer.Tatar76 - Sunday, March 6, 2022 - link
Huawei was forced to close its Hi silicon Kirin chip design branch because the US was afraid of Huawei's greatness!! they had overtaken Apple and were going to become world number 1!! Huawei has the best camera system and made their own Kirin chip, USA couldn't spy on Huawei phones because they had their own Kirin chip because it's all in Chinese and can't be hacked, it's easier with Qualcomm because you just have to ask them for the key to decipher the chips and spy on peopleEthos Evoss - Thursday, March 10, 2022 - link
it is not that at all.. once disgusting usa companies see others country doing better same business they will try to buy it, if foreign owner of business rejects they offer more fake usa printed money (which goes to catastrophic most biggest usa debt.) If the business owner still rejects then bastards usa gov will create fake and lying propaganda and will make fake news around the world and falsely humiliate the business ! if that doesn't work last thing is to destroy the business.Lord of the Bored - Saturday, March 12, 2022 - link
God... what's with all the tankies in here? Did Xinnie the Pooh designate AnandTech as the next major front in the culture war?