Hands-on with Huawei Pocket S: Starting at $20.6 million*, sleek design, Snapdragon 778G 4G

Despite facing numerous obstacles due to bans, Huawei continues to introduce new phones to users, affirming that 'they can live well without Google'. In early November, Huawei officially unveiled its new foldable phone called Huawei Pocket S, a version priced more affordably than the Huawei P50 Pocket. Let's take a look at the Huawei Pocket S together and see what this phone has to offer!

Note:

(*) The starting price of Huawei Pocket S in the Chinese market is 5,988 CNY (approximately $20.6 million) for the 8GB RAM, 128GB internal storage variant. Content and images in this article are referenced from the social media platform Weibo and YouTube channel 李大锤同学.

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Let's unbox the Huawei Pocket S and see what's inside!

First, the packaging design of the Huawei Pocket S is extremely simple with a completely white tone. Highlighted are the device name, brand logo, printed in shiny gold to enhance the product's elegance and sophistication. At the bottom of the box, there is complete basic information about the device for users to refer to before making a purchase.

Upon opening the box, alongside the Huawei Pocket S, the company also provides users with many accompanying accessories such as: User manual, SIM ejector tool, cream-colored silicon case, charger, USB Type-C charging cable. Overall, there is no shortage of any accessories so users can use them right out of the box without much hassle.

Hands-on with Huawei Pocket S featuring sleek design, multiple color options

Similar to many other foldable phones on the market, the Huawei Pocket S features a clamshell design, making it compact and easy to hold or use as a regular large-screen smartphone. When folded, it measures 87.3 x 75.5 x 15.2 mm, and when unfolded, it measures 170 x 75.5 x 7.2 mm. It weighs only 190 grams, making it extremely lightweight and portable in hand or pocket.

The back of the Huawei Pocket S is finished with glossy plastic, creating beautiful reflective effects that enhance the color of the back. However, in my experience with many devices using this type of back, it tends to scratch easily and attracts a lot of sweat and fingerprints. At this point, you can use the included case to better protect the device and ensure its cleanliness. Of course, with a foldable device, we cannot overlook the hinge, which is quite prominent and disrupts the harmony of the back. Therefore, I hope that in future versions, Huawei will improve this issue so that the device looks extremely beautiful, similar to the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

The back of the Huawei Pocket S comes in 5 colors for users to choose from: green, cream, pink, blue, black. These colors are beautifully crafted by Huawei, and most of them are quite gentle, suitable for everyone, and in my opinion, they look the best when held by women!

The highlight on the back of the Huawei Pocket S is a very large and prominent camera cluster. Below it is an external screen using an OLED panel, measuring 1.04 inches with a resolution of 304 x 304 pixels. Although not very sharp, it can display notifications, message content, and other necessary information quite clearly. I'm just a bit disappointed that the folding mechanism of the Huawei Pocket S is not as flexible as the Galaxy Z Flip 4, as it folds completely when closed. It can be said that the flexible folding capability is one of the strengths that makes Samsung's Galaxy Z series stand out, and I hope that Huawei can achieve the same in the near future.

The frame of the Huawei Pocket S is meticulously crafted with soft, curved edges and corners, providing an extremely comfortable grip whether folded or unfolded. The position of the connection ports is also placed in extremely familiar locations, so everyone can get used to them very quickly!

As soon as you open it, you'll be greeted with a hole-punch display, thin bezels all around, making it very attractive. The screen size when unfolded is 6.9 inches, operating on an OLED panel, Full HD+ resolution (2,790 × 1,188 pixels), and a 120 Hz refresh rate. These are excellent screen specs, providing users with an immersive entertainment experience, with high-detail images, true-to-life colors, and smooth touch interactions.

Overall, the Huawei Pocket S boasts a very beautiful, elegant design, and provides users with a very comfortable grip. However, the folding mechanism is not very flexible yet, so it needs improvement in future versions.

Huawei Pocket S features standout configuration with Snapdragon 778G 4G

Before diving into the details, let me summarize the specifications of the Huawei Pocket S for users to conveniently observe!

• Main screen: 6.9 inches, OLED panel, Full HD+, 120 Hz.
• Secondary screen: 1.04 inches, resolution 304 x 304 pixels, refresh rate 60 Hz.
• Chip: Snapdragon 778G 4G.
• RAM: 8 GB.
• Internal storage: 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB.
• Operating system: Harmony OS 3.0.
• Battery: 4,000 mAh, 40W fast charging.
• Camera: 40 MP + 13 MP.
• Selfie camera: 10.7 MP.

As you can see above, the Huawei Pocket S is equipped with one of Qualcomm's best processors for current mid-range devices, the Snapdragon 778G, but it's the special 4G version. Due to unwanted bans, Huawei may find it difficult to access the 5G processors readily available on the market, but essentially the Snapdragon 778G 4G is similar to the 5G version with a 6nm process and 8 cores inside from Qualcomm, but lacking the 5G core. However, this doesn't mean it's weaker; on the contrary, reducing one core will allow the processor more room for cooling, so the phone will be cooler, leading to significantly better performance and stability.

According to the initial assessment by YouTube channel owner 李大锤同学, the Huawei Pocket S does not get hot during use, just slightly warm, indicating good temperature control. In addition, complementing the power of the Snapdragon 778G 4G is the 8 GB RAM, allowing users to multitask extremely comfortably and smoothly. Besides, the device has 3 memory options: 128 GB, 236 GB, and 512 GB for users to choose from, and the Huawei Pocket S also supports expandable memory up to 256 GB, so you can comfortably download apps and take many high-quality photos!

Furthermore, the Huawei Pocket S is powered by a 4,000 mAh battery, not too large but balanced for both usage time and product design. Not to mention the excellent optimization of both hardware and software by Huawei based on Harmony OS, promising a long usage time. Additionally, the Huawei Pocket S is equipped with 40 W fast charging, so it can recharge the battery quite quickly!

Huawei Pocket S boasts a 40 MP camera for sharp photo capabilities

The Huawei Pocket S is also equipped with a dual camera system with the following specifications:

• Main Camera: 40 MP resolution, f/1.8 aperture.
• Ultra Wide Angle Camera: 13 MP resolution, f/2.2 aperture.
• Selfie Camera: 10.7 MP resolution, f/2.2 aperture.

The resolution specifications of the Huawei Pocket S are quite impressive! With such resolution, the Huawei Pocket S promises to deliver high-quality photos with high detail, good color balance, etc. Just a little more information for you to know, Huawei's highest-end product currently is the Huawei P50 Pro, which is being reviewed by DXOMARK as the smartphone with the best camera capabilities, so it can somewhat ensure the photo quality that Huawei devices can provide.

How much does Huawei Pocket S cost?

Currently in the Chinese market, the specific price of the Huawei Pocket S is as follows:

• The 8 GB RAM + 128 GB internal storage version is priced at 5,988 CNY (approximately 20.6 million VND).
• The 8 GB RAM + 256 GB internal storage version is priced at 6,488 CNY (approximately 22.4 million VND).

These are quite reasonable prices which, in my opinion, are a bargain for a foldable device like the Huawei Pocket S. It has a luxurious, sophisticated exterior, and the internal configuration is nothing short of impressive. So, this will be a product worth considering despite the lack of Google services.

So, what do you think about the Huawei Pocket S? Leave your comments below for me and everyone else to know! Thank you for your interest and for following my article. Additionally, you can explore many genuine smartphones currently available at Mytour with extremely attractive prices. If you're interested, you can click on the orange button below to learn more!

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