It looks elegant. It looks luxurious. And you can flip it to enjoy it even more.

(Update, January 28: Check out our Huawei P50 Pro camera test and Huawei P50 Pocket review!)

(Update, January 25: Huawei has announced the P50 Pro and P50 Pocket’s launch date in the Philippines!)

The Huawei P50 Pocket has gone official as Huawei‘s first clamshell-type foldable phone. While it does remind us of devices of the same type, such as the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3, the execution is different. This one has a dual-ring design, with the first ring housing a camera array, and the second, a 1.04-inch cover screen.

The camera setup comprises a 40-megapixel True-Chroma sensor, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, and what Huawei calls a 32-megapixel Ultra Spectrum shooter. The latter uses a new technology that the company says “incorporates Huawei XD Optics and True-Chroma Image Engine for enhancing the clarity and visibility of light to bring out natural details and vivid colors for realistic and incredible photography.” The Huawei P50 Pocket is part of the camera-focused P series, so we expect nothing less.

Real time convenience for your daily needs.

Check the weather, catch up on notifications or see your stunning selfies in real-time with the handy cover screen on #HUAWEIP50Pocket. pic.twitter.com/HhXXRZGt2F

— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) December 23, 2021

More on the Huawei P50 Pocket’s cover screen

The cover display is where you can see service widgets, allowing you to easily check notifications, for one. You can tap on it to enable the rear camera for selfies. Convenient, right?

Flip the phone open, and you’re treated to an almost-borderless, punch-hole OLED screen that measures 6.9 inches and boasts a 120Hz refresh rate, touch sampling of up to 300Hz, and a 21:9 aspect ratio. The hinge has a new-generation multidimensional design that doesn’t leave any gap when the unit is closed.

Three color variants have been unveiled in China, but it seems that the black version won’t be released globally, as can be seen on the company’s official international site.

Not that we’re complaining. We think the white model and the gold-decked Huawei P50 Pocket Premium Edition look more appealing. The former features a 3D micro-sculpture design. The other was created in collaboration with haute couture designer Iris Van Herpen and shows, in Huawei’s own words, “amazing style of organically flowing patterns in a stunning gold tone, bringing an element of organic, kinetic life to cutting edge technology that moves.”

The just-announced smartphone, which comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, is priced at ¥8,988 (around P70,638 in Philippine pesos and $1,411 in U.S. dollars) in China. The Premium Edition with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, on the other hand, sells for ¥10,988 (P86,359 or $1,725). For more on this P series phone, check out the launch livestream and specs sheet below.

Video: Huawei flagship product launch, in case you missed the livestream. Other introduced products include the Huawei Watch D with blood-pressure and ECG monitoring

Huawei P50 Pocket specs

• 6.9-inch OLED main display, FHD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 300Hz touch-sampling rate
• 1.04-inch OLED secondary display, 340 x 340 resolution, 60Hz refresh rate, 120Hz touch-sampling rate
• 5nm octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor with 4G
• Adreno 660 GPU
• 8GB RAM
• 256GB storage
• Triple 40-megapixel True-Chroma, 13-megapixel ultra-wide, 32-megapixel Ultra Spectrum rear cameras
• 10.7-megapixel front camera
• Side fingerprint reader
• 4,000mAh battery with 40-watt fast charging
• EMUI 12
• Color options: White, Premium Gold

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