Huawei is, market data in hand, the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. Not only that, it is one of the leading telecommunications giants globally and sells products and services in over 140 countries around the world. The company was hit hard by Trump's ban, which prevented it from licensing American technologies (and therefore also Google services on Android terminals), but the message it has since launched across the Western world is state very clear: we will not give up.
The company has been building an independent and solid ecosystem for some time, and work has accelerated following the ban with the aim of offering the user the most fluid user experience of their devices and technologies. , seamless and extremely reliable. Only Apple in the technological world is able to range in such a fluid way from one market segment to another with hardware and software products capable of working in synergy with each other, thus offering the user (even the less experienced one) a great value. added.
Apple has managed to refine its ecosystem over the course of several years, which Huawei is accomplishing in much less time with skyrocketing user services in the last year alone. The Huawei ecosystem today consists of hardware products at the top of the category in every price segment, various types of services for the end user, and everything is hooked up by Huawei Mobile Services, which represent not only the crucial junction on which all the company's products are based, but also the only real alternative to Google services on Android.
Index of the article
Huawei devices
Huawei arrived on the Italian market in 2004 with its network infrastructure, but only several years later it launched its first mobile device in the boot: Huawei Ascend P6. Since then it has been a crescendo of visibility, thanks to the high quality-price ratio of its devices which has allowed it to increase quality and market share throughout the Western world. Today Huawei offers in Italy different types of technological products, with a complete range capable of ranging from smart bands to laptops with Windows 10 very affordable.
Huawei smartphones, the 2020 Huawei line-up
The P40 Series is clearly the most famous of Huawei on the Italian market, but the company also offers other devices of clear success. In 2020 we have several devices capable of covering all market segments, from the low one up to super-innovative products such as Mate Xs.
The company also sells Huawei nova 5T, with last generation high-end hardware, and Huawei P30 Pro New Edition, which can enjoy Google mobile services.
Huawei tablets, the new MatePads
There are very few "top tier" brands that have believed and invested over the years in the tablet category, and among these there is undoubtedly Huawei, which boasts one of the best Android line-ups.
Huawei notebook, the MateBook family
It has not been long since Huawei has offered laptops in its portfolio of consumer electronics devices, but immediately the company surprised with a line-up equipped with a few perfectly positioned devices, both in terms of technical equipment and range of products. price.
Other Huawei devices
Huawei also offers other devices, including wearables, accessories and even devices for the home. The latest smartwatch marketed by the company is Huawei Watch GT 2e, which is mainly characterized by a long-lasting battery thanks to the pre-installed proprietary operating system. It automatically recognizes different training modes (up to 100) and offers a neat design with a circular dial.
The Huawei Band 4 and Huawei Band 4 Pro smart bands are also very interesting, the latter with integrated GPS, heart rate monitor and instructions for different types of workouts. Both boast a color display and customizable dials. Huawei also sells FreeBuds, high quality true wireless earphones: FreeBuds Lite is the entry-level proposal and then to go up we have FreeBuds 3i and FreeBuds 3. The latter two represent the highest solutions in the range, at 99 and 129 €, with cancellation activate noise via Kirin A1 and fast pairing. All with pretty good audio quality and wireless charging (on FreeBuds 3 only).
Huawei Mobile Services
Huawei is not just a hardware manufacturer, but has created and expanded a proprietary ecosystem of software products and services in recent years. Almost all the devices produced rely on the Huawei Mobile Services platform, which is not just a series of programs, but can be seen as a sort of glue between all the services and products sold by the company. The tools present on Huawei Mobile Services allow the various apps, including those of third parties, to communicate and function correctly, enabling exclusive features on Huawei devices.
Are HMS a response to Trump's ban? The question is legitimate because Huawei Mobile Services has only been massively talked about since the US government ban, however the company has been developing the technology long ago. Some solutions have been in the planning stages for years, with Huawei engineers having been working on proprietary services long before any restrictive trade policy was developed. Here are the main services present among the HMS.
AppGallery
AppGallery is the official app store pre-installed on any latest generation Huawei device. In short, it is the alternative to the Google Play Store that is usually found on Android devices, and already boasts particularly interesting figures despite the fact that the number of apps is significantly lower than that of the Google equivalent. On AppGallery it is possible to find all applications perfectly compatible with Huawei Mobile Services, therefore fully functional on proprietary smartphones, as well as games and various services.
AppGallery isn't the only way to find, download and install applications on Huawei smartphones and tablets. The user can in fact use web services, such as APK Pure or APK Mirror, and download the installation packages through the official websites of the manufacturers or from any other source. AppGallery, however, represents the most reliable and secure solution, with apps being accepted on the store after a series of security reviews. There is also an alternative way to download apps from third-party sources in a fairly reliable way and we talked about it recently.
Phone Clone
Phone Clone is an almost mandatory step for those who switch to a new Huawei product, and serves to clone the data present in the old terminal on the new device. This is a service that is also called up at the first configuration of all Huawei products and allows you to transfer contacts, photos, videos, and even apps. The app can be used from any Android smartphone to transfer data to a Huawei terminal, and even from an iPhone, and the operation can be authorized through a QR Code.
Once the two smartphones are synchronized, the procedure will start which will use the Wi-Fi connection for the transfer. As soon as the transfer is complete, we will find all the contacts, conversations, call history, calendar and even the apps on the old device on the Huawei device. Other smartphones also have a similar service, but Phone Clone is in our opinion one of the most reliable.
Huawei Mobile Cloud
Pre-installed on the company's mobile devices, Huawei Cloud is the service - as the name suggests - of proprietary cloud storage. It allows you to keep files, documents, photos, videos, notes, contacts and all the most important information online that we absolutely cannot lose. In fact, by backing up on the cloud it will be impossible to lose them, with the data that will be protected in total safety. The files saved on the Huawei Cloud can also be consulted on any device, and are not lost - of course - in the event of the loss or theft of the Huawei smartphone, tablet or laptop.
Through Huawei Cloud, the user can benefit from various additional services, such as the automatic synchronization of photos and videos from the gallery (thus available on multiple devices without having to proceed with the operation by hand), or the availability of Huawei Drive, or a online storage unit in which to save your files and be able to access them on any device (through the cloud.huawei.com website).
Huawei Music
Announced in March 2020, Huawei Music is a music streaming service that contrasts with Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, Prime Music, and similar. It allows you to play music without requiring permanent local storage, and offers a database of 50 million songs with 1.2 million albums. To date, 160 million users use the service, which is available in 16 countries (and also in Italy). Huawei Music is offered to users at € 9.99 per month, in line with other market proposals.
Huawei Video
If Huawei Music is opposed to Spotify, Huawei Video is instead the antagonist of Netflix. It is a platform for the enjoyment of films and TV series, also in streaming, with over 50,000 titles present and a growing following in terms of users. Inside we find Italian and international works, successful films, short films, and also news programs, sports content and documentaries that are updated every day.
The premium contents of Huawei Video are available as a monthly subscription or can be purchased individually, while news and some entertainment contents are also available free of charge. The cost for the end user is € 4.99 per month, after the free trial, while the rental of the films is € 0.99. There is no advertising within the service.
Huawei ID
All Huawei mobile services are linked by Huawei ID, a security platform that serves for the authentication and protection of all personal data. The company defines it as "the access key" to the Huawei world, and so it is: to use Huawei Mobile Cloud, Huawei Music, Huawei Video and other services, you need to log in via Huawei ID, while AppGallery allows you to download and install applications on the terminal even without logging in. Huawei ID is linked to the user's phone number or email address (or both), which is required to perform essential operations such as password verification or reset.
Huawei exclusive functions
All Huawei mobile devices have some exclusive features, found only on the company's smartphones. For example, Huawei browser, the alternative to Chrome that allows access to the web at high speed, with simplified search systems and an eye to protecting the user's privacy. It offers the ability to customize browser access to the most important apps and presents a Newsfeed where you can scroll through the most important and relevant news based on your interests.
The company's smartphones and tablets can be graphically customized through the Huawei Themes application, which offers the possibility of configuring tens of thousands of customizations through images, fonts, icons and much more. Recently the company also announced Huawei Petal Search, a widget for the Home of proprietary terminals that allows you to perform customized searches for apps, news, images and much more, without leaving the home of the device.
The Huawei devices are also characterized by the presence of Huawei Share, through unique functions that can be used only and exclusively in combination with the company's terminals. Huawei Share allows you to share files, such as notes, documents, images and videos or other, instantly between notebooks and smartphones or tablets, in the simplest and most natural way possible (the operation is called OneHop) . It works via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and the pairing takes place via NFC simply by touching the area where the Huawei Share tag is present on the notebook with the mobile device.
In this way, if activated on the device, Multi-screen Collaboration can be started, an innovative way to share the smartphone screen with the notebook: the phone screen appears on the notebook display and can be controlled through the input systems. of the latter. In addition, you can type on your smartphone or tablet using the computer keyboard. With native apps, Multi-screen Collaboration becomes very convenient: for example, with Gallery you can drag and drop files from your smartphone to notebook folders, as if the operation were done on a single device.
Through Huawei Share it is possible to record the computer screen on the smartphone (up to 60 seconds) and perform various activities. For some it is necessary to use the PC Manager software pre-installed on Huawei notebooks, such as sharing notes saved on the clipboard or viewing and managing recent documents, as if notebook and smartphone were a single device.
Considerations
If on the one hand it is necessary to use smartphones, tablets and Huawei devices together to make the most of the company's ecosystem, on the other hand it should not be forgotten that its mobile terminals are based on Android and for the vast majority of the features are compatible with other devices that use the Google mobile operating system, and with all those platforms that can communicate with the Android world. HMS glue where they can, and Huawei is investing heavily in making developers update their apps to be compatible with the brand's products and services.
As we have already described above, Huawei can take advantage of its position as a market leader to push developers on its services, also counting on a loyal and consolidated global user base in several countries (in Italy, for example, Huawei remains among the first positions as market shares). Most of the Android manufacturers would have "died" without the support of Google, especially since there are many brands that rely in all respects on the Mountain View giant to give life to the hardware of their products. Huawei is looking to go further, and take a step that no other competitor - apart from Apple in its infancy - dared to take.
Huawei Mobile Services is the weapon with which it intends to do this: to date the "quantity" of the services offered is lower than that of Google Mobile Services, it is useless to deny it, but on a qualitative level the two platforms are superimposable. There are some shortcomings in some areas (such as the apps available on the AppGallery related to the banking world), but we have already written that something is moving and the additions month after month are more and more evident. For the rest, the things that cannot be done with Huawei terminals are very few, both for inexperienced users and for those who do not care about finding the most suitable solutions.