Huawei’s Mate 70 smartphones will run its new Android-free OS

Huawei has announced its new Mate 70 series smartphone lineup, which will be the first offered with the company’s new HarmonyOS Next operating system that doesn’t rely on Google’s Android services and won’t run any Android apps, according to a report by Reuters. The four models of the Mate 70 also don’t feature any US hardware following a half decade of US sanctions. The Mate 70, Mate 70 Pro, Mate 70 Pro Plus, and Mate 70 RS will also be offered with Huawei’s HarmonyOS 4.3, which first launched in August 2019 as an alternative to Google’s Android OS and is still compatible with Android’s extensive app library. Users who decide to opt for Huawei’s new Android-free HarmonyOS Next will have less choice when it comes to the apps they can install. Huawei says it has “secured more than 15,000 applications for its HarmonyOS ecosystem, with plans to expand to 100,000 apps in the coming months,” according to Reuters. Starting next year, Huawei also says all the new phones and tablets it launches in 2025 will run HarmonyOS Next. The base model Huawei Mate70 features a 6.7-inch display with up to 120Hz refresh rates, a 5,300mAh battery, 66W fast charging with a USB-C cable, and wireless charging at speeds of up to 50W, according to Gizmochina. It includes a 50MP main camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), a 12MP telephoto periscope camera with OIS, a 40MP ultra wide angle camera, and a front-facing 13MP ultra wide selfie camera. It starts at 5,499 yuan (around $760) for a version with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The Huawei Mate70 Pro includes upgrades like support for Wi-Fi 7, satellite communications, faster charging, a larger screen, a 48MP telephoto camera, and AI-powered photography features, and starts at 6,499 yuan (around $898). The Huawei Mate70 Pro Plus adds improved sensors on some of its cameras and a bump in base specs to 16GB of RAM with 512GB of storage for 8,499 yuan (around $1,174). The Huawei Mate70 RS offers all the functionality of the Mate70 Pro Plus with premium build materials like titanium, which bumps its starting price to 11,999 yuan (around $1,657). Huawei hasn’t confirmed what processors are being used in the Mate 70 lineup, but the company has previously used chips made by China’s SMIC for last year’s Mate 60 series and other smartphones. Huawei has also announced its new Mate X6, which is the company’s next smartphone with a folding screen. It features a 7.93-inch internal display and a 6.45-inch external screen, both slightly larger than those Huawei offered on the Mate X5. Huawei is using a mix of carbon fiber and aluminum on the X6 for improved durability, according to Android Headlines, which also helps make it slightly thinner — the X6 measures in at 9.85mm thick when folded, and 4.6mm thick when opened. In addition to 8MP selfie cameras on both the internal and external display, the X6 has a 50MP main camera on the back alongside a 48MP telephoto periscope camera and a 40MP ultra wide camera. The Mate X6 standard model will start with 12GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and include a 5,110mAh battery for 12,999 yuan (around $1,790). A collector’s edition model will also be available that bumps the starting specs to 16GB of RAM with 512GB of storage with a larger 5,200mAh battery for 14,999 yuan (around $2,06) while also adding satellite communications capabilities, according to Huawei Central.