Huawei has introduced the Mate 50 sequence, a day forward of Apple’s September occasion and with a characteristic that the iPhone 14 is anticipated to supply: the power to ship texts through satellite tv for pc communication. The Mate 50 and Mate 50 Pro will be capable of ship quick texts and make the most of navigation because of China’s international BeiDou satellite tv for pc community, permitting for communication in areas with out mobile sign.

The flagship Mate 50 sequence consists of 4G-only variations of the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset with 8GB of RAM. The 50 Pro comes with a barely greater 6.74-inch OLED show with a 120Hz refresh price, whereas the Mate 50 presents a 6.7-inch, 90Hz OLED panel. Both embody a 50-megapixel most important rear digicam with a variable aperture lens with stops from f/1.4 to f/4 — most smartphone cameras use mounted apertures, so a shifting aperture is neat, however the lens itself is so small that it’s unlikely to create any sort of significant distinction in depth-of-field in most conditions.

Both fashions share a 13-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide, and whereas every has a telephoto lens, the Pro will get an upgraded 64-megapixel digicam able to 200x digital zoom — the usual Mate 50 presents 100x digital zoom with a lower-res 12-megapixel sensor.

Image: Huawei

If you are feeling such as you’re listening to quite a bit about satellite-based communication as of late, it’s since you are. T-Mobile and SpaceX simply introduced a partnership that goals to carry this characteristic to T-Mobile subscribers by means of Starlink satellites. And the rumors of Apple’s satellite tv for pc messaging characteristic have been swirling since final yr.

In all of those instances, the know-how will doubtless be restricted, a minimum of at first. T-Mobile says its system will permit for textual content and even image messaging, however voice calls and information gained’t be coming till later. And primarily based on Huawei’s description of the system, it seems just like the Mate 50 telephones will solely be capable of ship texts by satellite tv for pc, and gained’t be capable of obtain them. In all of those instances, satellite-based texting goals to supply an emergency connection in locations with out sign to get pressing messages out, moderately than a approach to sustain along with your group chats whilst you’re out of cell vary. In any case, we’ll have to attend a minimum of a little bit longer for the characteristic within the US — Huawei’s units will, after all, not be bought right here.