In this file photo taken on 27 May 2019, a Huawei logo is displayed at a retail store in Beijing. Two leading US senators warned President Donald Trump’s administration on June 13, 2019 to not use Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei’s access to the US market as a negotiating tool in trade talks with Beijing. Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Mark Warner, both members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, echoed rising concerns Trump could water down an effective ban on Huawei equipment in order to secure a trade pact with China. Photo: AFP/Fred Dufour
South African Huawei users rejoice – EMUI 9.1 OS upgrade will roll out in July
With all the confusion around what the US trade sanctions could mean to those who already own Huawei devices, the company has encouraging news for consumers. We’re getting EMUI 9.1!
In this file photo taken on 27 May 2019, a Huawei logo is displayed at a retail store in Beijing. Two leading US senators warned President Donald Trump’s administration on June 13, 2019 to not use Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei’s access to the US market as a negotiating tool in trade talks with Beijing. Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Mark Warner, both members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, echoed rising concerns Trump could water down an effective ban on Huawei equipment in order to secure a trade pact with China. Photo: AFP/Fred Dufour
Huawei announced that the EMUI 9.1 operating system upgrade will start to roll-out this month; to 14 of its smartphones in SA no less. The upgrade will include performance improvements for gamers.
EMUI 9.1 is based on the Android 9 Pie operating system, which as introduced with the Huawei P30 series back in June. According to Huawei:
“EMUI 9.1 provides an immersive experience with innovating performance and system speed enhancements to help you lead an intelligent life.”
What makes EMUI 9.1 better?
File transferring through the Extendable Read-Only File System (EROFS) will now be 20% faster; the system space will provide “extra personal storage of up to 1 000 pictures and 500 songs.” Not too shabby, hey Nige?
When it comes to games, the GPU Turbo 3.1 covers 25 of the most popular games and includes reducing SoC power consumption by up to 10%. In short, the underlying system has been optimised for gaming performance.
The upgrade also includes Huawei Vlog, will allow users to create and share 10-video clips. It uses the native Huawei video editor and has been optimised to include slow-motion and fast-motion videos.
Other upgrades include the Huawei Video Ringtone feature – yes, you’d be able to set your favourite video as a ringtone – and the Share OneHop to send files to your computer in a flash.
Which Huawei phones will receive the EMUI 9.1 update?
The P30 and P30 Pro come pre-installed with the latest EMUI 9.1 OS. And starting from July, the update will be available for Mate 20 Pro, Mate 10 Pro, P20 Pro, P20, Mate 10 Porsche Design and the Mate RS.
From August, the P10 Plus, P10, Mate 9, Mate 20 Lite, P30 Lite, P Smart 2019, Y6 2019 and Y5 2019 will receive upgrades too.
The news comes as a welcome relief. Up until June, it seemed unlikely that Huawei users would be getting the latest flavour of Android amidst all the uncertainty following the Trump-US trade war. Huawei said at the time:
“Our most popular current devices, including the P30 series, will be able to access Android Q. In fact, we have already launched a beta developer programme for Android Q which is running right now on our Mate 20 Pro device.”
The US-China trade war
Huawei are doing everything they can to stem the panic in the market as misinformation causes users to panic about the impact the US sanction could have on them and the devices they own.
The company has set up a website that should answer all public concerns.
The feeling at this point is definitely that current users will be looked after by Huawei.
Google is keen to assist as far as legally possible in satisfying its obligations to Huawei in respect of handsets already in the market.
Release of new Huawei model on hold
There is still a lot of uncertainty on what the sanctions could mean for future releases. Including the upcoming Huawei folding device the Mate X.
The Chinese company announced that they would delay the release of the phone by 3 months recently. They claim that this is to avoid the teething problems that Samsung experienced with the Galaxy Fold.
Only time will tell what the future holds for Huawei users. However, the company seems eager to try and continue its relationship with Google; despite persistent rumours that they will be releasing their own operating system as a long term solution to the reliance on Android.
Related – Google revokes Huawei’s Android licence amid the US-China trade war
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