Yes, they appear. But when and where, that's unclear. The Chinese company Huawei - after Samsung's second-largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world - presented its new flagship mobile phones in Munich. The two high-end smartphones called Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro will cost 799 and 1099 euros respectively, the company announced on Thursday.
However, when and where the devices go on sale remained unclear - which is unusual at a point where the price has already been made public. The fact that the presentation referred only to the euro prices of the models, but should point to plans for a market launch in Europe. Details about Germany do not exist so far.
Clearer than the release date are some key data of the devices. The Mate 30 and the Mate 30 Pro are smartphones in the upper-range range, they come with 6.62 inches and 6.53 inches (Pro) screen diagonal therefore. For more than enough computing power inside a very powerful processor called Kirin 990 provides.
For the Mate 30 Pro, which has a Leica quad camera system, Huawei's advertising department promises no less than a "movie-quality mobile movie camera." A special 5G variant of the Mate 30 Pro for 1199 euros is also compatible with the latest mobile radio standard, unlike the new 11er iPhones.
Supposedly superior to Apple's and Samsung's flagship models
Huawei consumer electronics boss Richard Yu said the Mate-30 smartphones outperform Apple or Samsung rivals in a number of areas, such as the speed of 5G data service or battery performance. The Mate 30 offers, according to Huawei a 4200 mAh battery, the Mate 30 Pro offers 4500 mAh.
To demonstrate the light intensity of the camera, Richard Yu presented on the stage, the night image of a mountain landscape - as a comparison image of a Samsung Galaxy Note 10 was simply a black square to see.
Huawei uses facial recognition of the devices for several innovative functions. For example, the Mate 30 will display confidential notifications when its user is looking at it. If another person appears in the field of view of the phone, the information is hidden again. In addition, the screen orientation changes automatically because the camera pays attention to the position of the face.
No Google apps preinstalled
On both featured devices runs a variant of the open source version of Google's Android operating system, without preinstalled Google Apps. In addition, the Group launches its own, called EMUI10 user interface. Also on the Mate 30 series demo devices available in Munich, no Google applications such as Gmail, YouTube or Google Maps were seen on Thursday.
The lack of programs is related to the US government blacklisting Huawei. The US accuses the company that its products could spy on China. Huawei rejects this.
App Gallery instead of Play Store
The Chinese company is no longer allowed to deliver new devices with Google apps due to the US list. As an alternative to Google's App Store Play Store, Huawei has now put its own app marketplace called "App Gallery" in the limelight. You can already find it on Huawei devices, but compared to the Play Store, it leads a shadowy existence there.
Whether German customers who are used to using the Play Store from older Huawei devices, but also from Samsung phones for example, could now warm up for the "App Gallery"? Among other things, this would probably show in doubt, probably only on the sales figures of the devices.
After all, Huawei clarified on Thursday that another new smartphone, the expandable Mate X, will initially not be available in Germany. The Mate X will be sold in China from next month, said Richard Yu. This would leave market leader Samsung in Europe for the time being the only well-known provider of a smartphone that can be folded up to the size of a small tablet.