
Huawei’s P20 Pro is a hugely promising phone that will upset Americans - ExcelSaga
https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/29/17174840/huawei-p20-pro-apple-samsung-us-absence
======
eric_b
I'm not sure I understand this article's tone as it relates to China. They
make it sound as though the evil US intelligence agencies are hurting US
consumers just for funzies.

I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that all of Huawei's products are
backdoored. It's a state-sponsored company in a country that is known for
conducting massive cyber espionage campaigns, stealing IP by the truckload,
and bugging the African Union building, for starters. Add on the social credit
system and oppression of dissenters, great firewall, etc, and I sure would
expect every single Huawei device to have some kind of surveillance path baked
in.

~~~
wyattpeak
I think this article is rather too sympathetic to China, but I don't think its
point is as invalid as you're making out.

The various agencies have without doubt been probing their phones for years
looking for any backdoors, and they would have announced it concretely if
they'd found any - it would be too much in America's interest not to.

It's starting to feel as though the justifications of the agencies, with all
their resources, basically boil down to "They must be, they're evil!"

~~~
Gys
> The various agencies have without doubt been probing their phones for years
> looking for any backdoors, and they would have announced it concretely if
> they'd found any

Unless it would be useful to them as well...

------
mabbo
Anytime people bring up the success of Huawei, I'm quick to point out their
dubious "R&D" methods. They've long been accused of working closely with
Chinese state hackers to steal research, unreleased info, etc, from
competition outside of China.

When Nortel, Canada's biggest telecom company, was at its peak there suddenly
appeared a rival in China called Huawei who released identical products with
zero research going into their development.[0]

I don't want to buy a Huawei phone just on ethical principles.

[0][http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/former-nortel-exec-warns-
aga...](http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/former-nortel-exec-warns-against-
working-with-huawei-1.1137006)

------
ibdf
And the prices keep going up. It seems that nowadays everyone pretty much just
talks about the camera, and nothing else matters. I think I will hold on to my
Pixel for another couple of years.

------
throwaway080383
Duopolies are fine when the product isn't garbage, and I think most would
agree that iPhones/Galaxies/Pixels aren't garbage.

I'm much more concerned with the fact that Comcast keeps jacking up their
prices, have well-known horrendous customer service, and are the only high
speed ISP available for several miles in any direction of my apartment.

------
kisamoto
It's worth noting that if you are a UK resident you can preorder the P20/P20
Pro (either Sim free at around £600 or on contract from O2/Vodafone etc.) and
qualify to claim a free pair of Bose QC35 II wireless noise cancelling
headphones [1].

I am in no way affiliated with any company offering this promotion but thought
it may interest some.

[1]
[https://huaweipromo.co.uk/gb/en/pages/p20bose/home](https://huaweipromo.co.uk/gb/en/pages/p20bose/home)

~~~
sancha_
There is no guarantee for you to receive the headphones, it's limited to the
first 4k claimers, and it seems to be not limited to just the UK as this
promotion runs also in Germany:
[https://consumer.huawei.com/de/promotions/](https://consumer.huawei.com/de/promotions/)

------
Maskawanian
I will never buy a Huawei phone again. I purchased a Nexus 6p, after one year,
conveniently after the warranty was done, it constantly shuts down if it gets
a wiff of cold air. Its USB C connector has to be positioned just right to
charge.

I'm glad Google has changed providers for their phones. Hopefully HTC will be
better.

~~~
Tronno
I have the same device, with the same issues. I fixed the USB cable by using a
needle (or other thin, hard object) to clean months of hard-packed lint out of
the USB port. The cable now snaps in securely and charges reliably.

You can also replace the battery for about $30, but expect a huge headache,
cosmetic damage to the phone, and high risk of piercing/igniting the old
battery.

FWIW, I will never buy an Android phone again, but for another reason -
privacy.

------
anilgulecha
Chinese smartphones have become a force to be reckoned with -- offering equal
functionality at half the prices of more status/international brands.

Xiaomi in India is a classic example.

------
FrozenTuna
Non-removable battery. No SD card slot. No headphone jack.

Europe can keep it.

~~~
Arnt
In other words, it's waterproof.

Serious question, though: Do any of you actually use SD cards, I mean other
than inserting a card the day you get the phone and leaving it in place
forever? What's the use-case for inserting and removing storage?

~~~
mswift42
Have you checked how much a 200 GB sd card costs, vs a phone with builtin 200
gb storage ?

------
mxuribe
Jeez, WTF is it with phone prices nowadays!?!

~~~
singularity2001
I know, 70 years ago these phones would cost half a billion.

------
singularity2001
>> American intelligence agencies have issued unanimous advice to the
country’s citizens to avoid using Huawei phones

still waiting for the day European intelligence agencies issue unanimous
advice to the world’s citizens to avoid using certain American phones and
products.

