The recipe for success is not surprising: if Xiaomi takes its toll with low prices, Huawei tries to balance on the verge of borrowing and using its own ideas. For example, it was Huawei that set new standards for camera phones a few years ago. And this is with live Samsung, Apple and Google. In each new flagship of the company, new extremely useful things have always appeared that allow the mobile camera to work wonders. Just remember the P20 Pro with a Leica camera, which took incredibly detailed pictures in total darkness and could click on an object hundreds of meters away without any problems. And it was they who launched the fashion for iridescent azure back covers, which are now put in literally every smartphone. If we managed to convince you that these are great smartphones, then let's move on.

Dealing with lines

Previously, the Chinese had a clear segmentation between the lines, but in recent years people, horses, fish, KVN finalists and stuff like that have mixed up in a bunch. For example, the most popular Honor line has spun off into a separate brand (like Redmi and Xiaomi), now you can find there both very simple “tubes” for $100 and powerful smart phones for $400, which lack only a couple of small things to become a flagship. To make matters worse, the Chinese have taken up the strange practice of selling the same models in different countries under different names. First of all, this concerns the Nova series, in which almost every model has exactly the same analogue among other Huawei lines.

Huawei Y: bright and inexpensive smartphones


Initially, Y was a purely low-cost series of smartphones for the most undemanding. Initially, models like the Ascend Y6 were solid options with good hardware and minimal pocket load. The series did not have any concept, as well as a common vision of design. In 2018, a clearer vector of development has been outlined, with an eye on young people and students who want a fun bright gadget, but are not ready to overpay for it.

Popular Huawei Y and Enjoy Series Low-cost Smartphones

New smartphones have remained inexpensive (the oldest Huawei Y6s 2019 32 GB costs only $150), but have changed in appearance. Instead of boring gray and black bricks that you don’t want to take out of your pocket, Huawei has released some pretty nice devices with a modern frameless design and unusual leather-like back covers. They have dabbled in this before, but these were one-time promotions in top models like the Huawei Mate 30 Pro.

Here is a truly unique design at a bargain price. If we discard the appearance, then we will face rather simple and unpretentious devices with modest hardware (4-core processor, 2-3 GB of RAM, a simple IPS screen with HD resolution) and ordinary single cameras. That is, this is a purely everyday smartphone without claims for high performance. It is enough for surfing, social networks, instant messengers and light games. But in the Y line, NFC is often found, allowing you to turn your smartphone into a wallet. For the $100 segment, this is still a luxury.

What's in 2020?

At the beginning of the year, the Y line has 9 models. 6 of them belong more to the fifth generation and, to be honest, they are not of particular interest in the current realities. The new Leather-backed Enjoy Ys are on sale quite actively now and cost from $95 to $155. When choosing, compare the characteristics of all three, perhaps a very weak processor will not suit you Huawei Y5 2019 16 GB / 2 GB or you will definitely need NFC, which is not in Huawei Y6 2019 32 GB / 2 GB .

Also in the Y series there is a model Huawei Y7 2019 32 GB / 3 GB , which is more expensive than the rest and stands out from the crowd in terms of design. In fact, this is the same Huawei P Smart 2019 64 GB with a couple of changes.

Huawei Honor: a separate kingdom where everyone will find something for themselves


Honor is the twin brother of Xiaomi's Redmi line. Initially, it was a family of simple strong mid-range and low-cost devices that followed the golden formula "maximum stuffing for $200". A great example was the popular Honor 8X, which for the money offered one of the most attractive combinations of power and functionality. Add here a beautiful case made of metal and glass, which looks much more expensive than its cost, and you will get a bestseller.

Popular Huawei Honor series smartphones

Further, Huawei expanded the price range. Both interesting and inexpensive Honor smartphones for $100, as well as rather sophisticated models that were targeted as flagship killers, came to stores. The main thing is that the formula "maximum quality without overpayments" has not changed. As a result, the Honor series became so successful that in 2019 it actually became a separate brand.

What's in 2020?


On the one side of the price spectrum, we are met by simple but interesting state employees like Honor 8A 32 GB / 2 GB , which boast an interesting design and NFC (great for a $100 handset). At the other end, you can find almost flagships of the caliber Honor 20 Pro 256 GB / 8 GB Price from 8 467 up to 9 034 ₴ and Honor 20 128 GB / 6 GB . Both cost under $400 and are crammed with the most I can’t: the flagship Kirin 980 processor, 6-8 GB of RAM, large onboard storage, fast charging, NFC, a powerful 4-lens camera and a premium metal and glass body.

Well, somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, handsome men are hiding Honor 8X 64 GB / 4 GB and Honor 9X 128 GB / 4 GB which in our opinion are among the best smartphones under $200. Only slightly enlarged dimensions due to the large display can not be liked there. These are really big smartphones even by modern standards.

Huawei P: business class


P-series smartphones are Platinum models, which are above average in the premium category. Gadgets from this line quite successfully compete even with the leading representatives of the "apple" family, while remaining more affordable. The main feature of the P line of flagships is very cool cameras, as a rule, this is where Huawei connects Leica specialists to the business, runs in some new chips and sets performance records in tests.

Popular Huawei P series smartphones

But more to come. Huawei realized that not all entrepreneurs need expensive and high-status smartphones, so over time, the P line has expanded greatly. After the P20-type flagships themselves, their inexpensive modifications began to appear Huawei P30 Lite 64 GB / 4 GB / Dual with redesigned and simplified hardware. The unspoken slogan of the Lite line is a powerful and high-status smartphone without overpayments. In parallel, upgraded Pro versions with even more powerful stuffing entered the market.

Then a separate sub-line of P Smart appeared - still presentable, light and stylish smartphones, but at a bargain price in the region of $ 200 - 250. Due to their design and relatively small dimensions, they are often chosen by the fair sex.

If it seemed to you that this ball was not completely tangled, then hold on. In 2016, a small Nova line was born, which informally belongs to the P family. As a rule, these are modifications of already released smartphones with minor changes in hardware or design. The advantage of the line is that it combines the advantages of the premium segment with advanced features, and with all this, the models of this series do not “bite” in price. Perhaps it is the Nova series that is the least uniform. For example, some models run on Qualcomm processors, others Kirin, and the price can range from $200 to $500.

Summary: P Smart - balanced smartphones up to $200, Nova - middle class up to $400, P line - purebred flagships.

What's in 2020?


At the moment, the face of the series is Huawei P30 Pro 128 GB / 6 GB / Dual , whose gorgeous camera was not praised only by the lazy. If record performance is not needed, then take a closer look at the usual Huawei P30 128 GB / 6 GB . But the previous P20 came out almost two years ago and for its $400 now it doesn’t look so interesting.

In the Nova line, we advise you to pay attention to Huawei Nova 5T 128 GB / 6 GB which is the identical twin of the popular Honor 20 128 GB / 6 GB with a couple of minor design tweaks. And so we have the same four cameras, an excellent IPS display, the flagship Kirin 980 chip, 6 GB of RAM and a price tag of around $400.

In the P Smart line, the most interesting options at the beginning of the year are Huawei P Smart 2019 32 GB and Huawei P Smart Z 64 GB / 4 GB . The main difference between them lies in the size (P Smart Z is larger) and the retractable front camera in the second. And for their $200, both smartphones are extremely interesting representatives of the middle class.

Huawei Mate: designer super-flagships


With the P and Mate lines, Huawei has almost the same situation, as with the flagships Samsung Galaxy S and Galaxy Note. First, the new P20 or P30 enters the market, sets records in camera ratings and collects fives in reviews. After about six months, a new Mate comes out, which does everything the same. And so in a circle. Only if the Koreans have a Note line aimed at business, then Mate is more of a designer flagship. For example, new Huawei Mate 30 128 GB / LTE in terms of hardware, it strongly resembles the P30 Pro, but the design has changed dramatically. The camera for 3 modules with a depth sensor was wrapped in a rather unusual and pretty ring (and the camera itself became even cooler), the cutout on top became larger, plus new colors were added. Well, according to tradition, its version Huawei Mate 30 RS Porsche Design 512 GB / 12 GB was released by the Porsche Design Bureau, which works closely with Huawei.

Popular Huawei Mate series smartphones

What's in 2020?

Something out of the ordinary. After a big quarrel between the US and China, Huawei cut off access to Google services and the company began developing its own operating system, Harmony OS. It is based on the open source Android (that is, it looks and works in a similar way), but as Huawei engineers boast, it has fewer lines of code, but more security. Models Mate 30 and Huawei Mate 30 Pro 128 GB / 5G became the company's first intermediate smartphones that no longer support Google services. This caused uncertainty among buyers, as it was completely unclear how new smartphones would do without Gmail, Google Play, Google Pay, maps and everything else. As a result, since the announcement in the fall of 2019, new items have been randomly scattered across the European and CIS markets, in some countries it can be found in a couple of stores, in others the Mate 30 is quite actively sold, and it never reached the third.


Important nuance: Huawei may lose Google services

Because of the trade war with China, the US has imposed sanctions that prevent US companies from doing business with Chinese firms without a special government license. First of all, Huawei got it, which had to use Android with open source. Such smartphones do not have pre-installed Google services - Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube and even Google Play, from which all applications are downloaded to the smartphone. Instead, Huawei launched its own app store and began developing a new operating system. What this promises to potential buyers: everything is OK with the existing models, they have already entered the market and work as they should. New models are not yet certified by Google, so sales are delayed. In the future, there are 2 options: the United States will lift sanctions and everything will return to normal. This is an unlikely outcome, which is why Huawei has invested a lot of time and effort to take the Android source code and remake it for themselves. And if in China this will not cause any problems (Google is not held in high esteem there), then the reaction of domestic or overseas buyers raises questions. No one knows where this will lead in the future.