Now a Huawei smartphone? This is what Stiftung Warentest says

What’s next with Huawei? The future of the Chinese cell phone manufacturer is more open than ever. Stiftung Warentest has tried to clarify whether you should buy a Huawei smartphone now.

Huawei has been struggling to survive as a cell phone manufacturer since the US sanctions. The fact that the group has to do without Google’s apps and services on its new smartphones hits Huawei hard. Although the company is working with its own AppGallery and Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) on alternatives to the Google Play Store and Google services, can the Huawei services really be a replacement? This is exactly the question that Stiftung Warentest has addressed.

Stiftung Warentest takes a close look at Huawei smartphones

It’s really nice Judgment of the Stiftung Warentest but not failed for Huawei. “The consumer loses”, so the conclusion. Among other things, the lack of a direct download option for popular apps such as WhatsApp in the AppGallery is criticized. There is no real order in Huawei’s App Store either: For the video conference app Zoom, for example, the link to the provider is provided so that the application can be installed manually from there. At the same time, there is another app that can be downloaded directly from the AppGallery and also uses the Zoom icon – but this is an advertising app.

The Stiftung Warentest also criticizes the fact that many apps do not work correctly on current Huawei smartphones because they rely on Google services in the background. With WhatsApp, notifications are sent late, Netflix and eBay immediately fail the service and cannot be started. In plain language: Even experienced users of Android smartphones who install APK files manually have to live with restrictions in the functionality of their favorite apps. The product testers also see big questions when it comes to Android and security updates.

There are no such problems with these Huawei smartphones:

Huawei is innocent

Stiftung Warentest cannot make a real purchase recommendation for current Huawei smartphones, the restrictions for customers are too strong. After all, the consumer organization acknowledges that the current situation is not Huawei’s fault. Even more, because from a purely technical point of view, Huawei is now a “serious alternative to the top dogs from Samsung and Apple”. Apparently, this is not enough without Google apps.