The US sanctions have pushed Huawei far from its dream of becoming one of the biggest smartphone companies. However, the brand still prioritizes innovation, delivering phones that somehow manage to stand out from the rest.
While rumors of Oppo and Vivo exiting the foldable market are circulating, Huawei is preparing to push the segment even further. Earlier this week, we learned that Huawei is working on a triple-folding smartphone.
While the company is yet to shed some light on its triple-folding smartphone, it has, in the meantime, taken to Weibo, announcing the launch date of another foldable smartphone – the Huawei Pocket 2.
A New Clamshell Foldable on the Way
Huawei’s first foldable for this year will be a vertically folding one. Interestingly, we are seeing a clamshell smartphone from the company after a while, as the previous one – the Huawei Pocket S – was launched back in November 2022. At that time, it was the cheapest vertically folding smartphone in the market.
The Huawei Pocket 2, however, is expected to carry notable spec bumps and feature upgrades over its predecessor. It could share some hardware specs with Huawei's other premium smartphones.
When Is the Huawei Pocket 2 Launching?
As per Huawei’s Weibo post, the Pocket 2 will be revealed on February 22, which is just a couple of days away. The phone’s unveiling is scheduled for 14:30 China Standard Time (CST), likely during the “Fashion Festival.” It would be Huawei's first release after the Chinese New Year.
What Would the Pocket 2 Look Like?
Thanks to another leak from a few days back, we know what the phone might look like from outside. If the renders are to be trusted, the Huawei Pocket 2 will not differ much in terms of aesthetics when compared to its predecessors.
Huawei has decided to retain the circular camera department and outer display with the Pocket 2. The official launch poster shared by the company almost confirms this, too.
The renders also give away the phone's possible color options: Black, Purple, and White. However, the official names of these colorways would likely be dubbed differently. Apart from these, some other colors could also be in the pipeline.
What Else Do We Know?
Surprisingly, even though we're just a few days away from the phone's launch, there are close to no leaks regarding its specifications. However, guessing Huawei's recent launches, the phone could be powered by the company's own Kirin 9000s SoC. It is the first chipset from Huawei in nearly three years with 5G support.
Although the company has overcome some hardware restrictions with its own solutions, the software limitations will still exist. The biggest deal breaker would be the exclusion of Google services from the smartphone. While Huawei's Harmony OS gets most of the things done, it still has much ground to cover.
Besides, not much is known about the Huawei Pocket 2. Its main competitor would be the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, which boasts a much larger cover screen, flagship-level specifications, and Samsung’s continued innovation for the clamshell foldable form factor over the years.
It will be interesting to see how the Huawei Pocket 2 fares against its rivals after its launch.
