Huawei launches “New Edition” of the P30 Pro with Google apps and services

Huawei‘s much-publicised issues with the U.S. government have resulted in the Chinese company using open source versions of Android on their latest smartphones and tablets. These are still Android devices, of course, but they’re missing support for Google’s apps and services, which means that users of new Huawei devices have had to rely on Huawei Mobile Services.

While there are workarounds to getting the apps you want, the lack of Google apps and services is certainly one of the biggest obstacles to Huawei right now. Recently, a promotional statement on Huawei’s German site revealed that a Huawei P30 Pro New Edition was set to arrive soon, with “new device” expected to support Google Mobile services.

Now, that news has been confirmed, with Huawei officially launching the Huawei P30 Pro New Edition in Germany. Pricing is set at EUR749 (~RM3,519) for a single variant with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and there is now a new Silver Frost colour in addition to Black and Aurora options.

Under the hood, the “New Edition” appears to be identical to the original Huawei P30 Pro. This means the same 6.47″ OLED display, a 4,200mAh battery—and of course, the same vaunted quad-camera rear setup that comes with 5X optical zoom. The P30 Pro is powered by the Kirin 980, while 40W wired charging is supported, along with 15W wireless charging.

The identical nature of the “New Edition” isn’t a surprise, with Huawei still navigating through the intricacies of the ban imposed by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The P30 Pro was originally launched back in 2019, prior to the Huawei ban. This basically means that the model received certification from Google when it was still possible, and the “New Edition” should still have support for Google apps and services.

This, just like the Huawei Nova 5T and the P30 Lite, is a way for Huawei to circumvent the ban, and still release “new” smartphones with Google. And with the original P30 Pro already having support for EMUI 10.1 based on Android 10, we do expect the New Edition to come with Android 10 support.

The “New Edition” retails for EUR799 (~RM3,519), which is significantly less than the EUR1,099 (~RM5,154) that the originally P30 Pro was priced at in 2019. Customers who buy the P30 Pro New Edition will pick up a free pair of Huawei FreeBuds 3 and have the option to buy the Watch GT 2 for EUR99 (~RM464).

The device will be available in Germany for now, with no official information on other markets at the moment.

Overall, the Huawei P30 Pro New Edition could be a decent option in 2020, although pricing for local markets will be a major factor in whether the “new” model is a success. It’s worth noting that major news outlets are reporting that stocks are limited, and availability is only expected to last for around a month.

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