Huawei, Honor and Homeland, or a Chinese case one year after the Trump ban

You have made my house empty for me, my dear Google, with your disappearance! So echoes of Trumpo-spy riddle and the further fate of Huaweia and Honor.

A year ago, Donald Trump broke our phones

At this point, no one cares for what, or rightly so, and for how long anymore. Huawei and Honor have a ban on Google (and other American suppliers) services and there are no signs of changes. Trump imposed this restriction with a light hand - Huawei meant nothing in the US smartphone market anyway.

This is not Poland, where the Chinese brand had a dominant position in 1/3 of the market a year ago. In the US, Apple rules absolutely, with over 60% share now, and Huawei did not even have 1% a year ago (currently 0.9%). Donald Trump is even possible that he has not seen the phones of this brand with his countrymen. In fact, this whole ban could only be launched in the US, if it had to be somewhere else. Instead, the US president blithely kicked us Huawei from all over Europe.

Huaweia's sales in Europe will decline significantly

Initially, there were attempts to wait out and revive older specs to circumvent the ban. At the end of 2019, however, it was already necessary to show something completely new and only now the proper market reaction to the new Huaweia portfolio begins - without Google services. Back in March, the global decline in Huaweia's sales in 2020 was estimated at 20%, the pandemic is likely to further deepen this hole. Xiaomi is stubbornly breaking in in place of the valued brand, and Samsung is not wasting time in the fight for customers.

At first I got the impression of being Chinese carefree. Downplaying the problem mixed with the hope that Trump will let go. In China, Google services do not exist, there is one of the fastest mobile internet in the world there and it is a completely different story than in our country. People from this Chinese fairy tale could glance at the panic in the European branches of Huaweia with pity. Facebook? Google? Who needs it for what? We've done it better, our way. And they really do, I stated while visiting Beijing.

Then the dust settled, and the editorial office began to receive equipment with an alternative that was only fledgling in Europe. Huawei Mobile Services is developed very ambitiously and dynamically (because what else can you do in this situation?), But it takes years to catch up with Apple and Google stores, and there will not be everything in the App Gallery that competitors have. And how to evaluate such equipment now?

Reviewer, write in harmony with your conscience

Conscience, or ethics in a broader sense, is unfortunately increasingly scarce in the media. Some make it taboo, others stand out on YouTube criticizing the more "commercial" creators. After all, it is impossible to feed the editorial office without building cooperation with brands. And some of these brands can then, more or less subtly, ask for a better treatment of their equipment.

At TELEPOLIS.PL, press offices have always not been allowed to access the content of editorial tests. When there is a hardware failure, of course, we report it if the author accidentally omits something, we will add it, but there is no authorization and stretching of the ratings. There is a separate, clearly marked section for partner actions. In tests, however, we write as it is, without beating around the bush, politely, but pointing out all the flaws. When the rating is very low, I do not ask the editor to lighten it, but a list of details to know how to talk to the manufacturer's representative ... because he will be calling any minute.

As a rule, the smaller the brand, the more scream. But the evaluation remains anyway. It is the reviewer who, based on his experience and authority, writes the summary, he is the one who tested the equipment and he has the last word, as well as the obligation to present substantive arguments justifying the conclusions. My role is to take care of reliable authors who can be trusted, and then be happy to give them a free hand.

Huawei is not screaming

Probably reaching this point, you thought that there would be some "drama" about how Huawei supposedly scolded us. Nothing of that. The authors wrote - as always - honestly. They even cut 5 points from the final score on a 10-point scale if they really couldn't find each other without the Google store ... and Huawei accepted it humbly. No phones, messengers or SMSs. With class. Wise heads know there that there is still a lot of work ahead of their brand and they understand that switching to HMS is not an easy task for everyone at this point.

We also add ratings to the Huawei phone reviews for the hardware itself - as if there was a set of Google services. And these are usually very high marks. Huawei has proven many times that the company definitely knows how to make good phones, and this year's models also show the great form of the manufacturer. If, for example, the P40 Pro was banal-resistant, I would have a dilemma whether to give 9.5 / 10 or maybe 10/10, which I have granted so far to only a few devices.

It was supposed to be a review, but I had no heart

Today I refer you to the Honora V30 Pro press office. Just like last year, this is a slightly cheaper version of the Huaweia flagship, however, with individual Honora features. I love last year's View 20, and Anna Rymsza still uses it in our editorial office. And the successor has absolutely no hardware complexes here. Virtually everything is better in it - there was 5G, a better camera (here you can find samples), screen, performance ... And how am I supposed to rate this model worse than last year? It's so unfair.

Right next to the keyboard, however, there is a sheet of paper with a list of applications that I missed in the Huaweia / Honora store. Theoretically, I can download these free ones on my own, in the form of APK files. It is impossible to get paid in this way and I would have to buy them a second time from Huaweia (if they are available). Probably using the phone only for fun, I would wave my hand at these difficulties. I'm technical, I can handle it. However, I cannot afford the risk of installing a banking application from an unknown source, and I do not want, for example, someone to have access to confidential work files, synchronized with the corporate cloud. Common sense says stop - wait for official "installs", as long as they are not too American, because you probably won't get them.

I already know that despite the great sympathy for the brand and the annual celebration of new achievements in the field of mobile photography, it cannot be my main phone and I cannot recommend it to everyone with a clear conscience. In fact, the lack of Google services is an advantage in the eyes of only one of our editors - Michał Świech. Others, to a greater or lesser extent, have a Huawei problem.

Blind point (s)

I have been reviewing telephones for over a dozen years and I have never been in such a big spot as now. How many points should be subtracted for deficiencies in the application list? How much to add for a perpetual license for Automapa? Who should I recommend such a phone to?

My mother uses the blood-red Honor View20 with great satisfaction. Maybe she is the target for his successor? And where there, I don't want a phone without WhatsApp and Messenger. I could probably install them "on the left", but it will be difficult for me to explain over the phone how to update them. The beautiful, purple shade of the casing charmed my friend, but she does not want a phone without Tinder. It is bad either way.

However, when I try to get angry with the brand with all my strength, I suddenly notice that I take better photos for reviews with my phone than with the camera. When we want to test the 5G Plus, it turns out that Huaweie have better, fully compatible modems and Samsung goes away. And when Arek Bała gets the P40 for the Katowice 5G tests, he says "how nice, so American" ;-). Well, how to get angry?

Yes, I know, in times of the emergence plague, Perch will probably flow down on you like a duck. A year has passed, however, of thinking that it will work somehow, and if it has not been, there is no ideal solution. How is it in the end? Is Huawei still making good phones? How to judge that there would be no comments "they probably paid them", but also not to take it out stupidly on Huawei, who has no influence on the decisions of a certain Donald? Can you give a hint? After all, it is for you that we prepare our reviews.

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