New Huawei P50 Pocket clamshell foldable phone has an innovative camera

A Huawei P50 Pocket in gold
A Huawei P50 Pocket (Image credit: Huawei)

Following recent teasers, the Huawei P50 Pocket has now been fully unveiled, and it’s a clamshell foldable phone that does things a bit differently from its main rival – the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3.

It packs a 6.9-inch 1,188 x 2,790 foldable OLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and a 21:9 aspect ratio, with a hinge that supposedly offers a zero-gap design when folded shut.

At those times you’ll still be able to see any notifications using a circular 1.04-inch 340 x 340 display. This can also show the time and date, and be used to take selfies with the main cameras, but it’s not big enough to really interact with.

A Huawei P50 Pocket from the front and back

(Image credit: Huawei)

Speaking of the cameras, they’re one of the most interesting aspects here, as the Huawei P50 Pocket has a 40MP f/1.8 main camera, a 13MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera (which can also be used for macro shots), and a 32MP f/1.8 ‘super spectrum’ camera.

That last sensor is something new, and it powers a fluorescent photography mode which apparently allows you to capture details and patterns that aren’t visible to the human eye. 

This lens should also improve night photography, and allows users to see if they’ve properly applied sunscreen or fully removed make-up.

So it sounds interesting, and the whole camera setup sounds potentially more capable than most foldable phone cameras, with a 10.7MP selfie snapper in a punch-hole on the main screen rounding out the camera configuration.

An example of what the Huawei P50 Pocket's super spectrum camera is capable of

The super spectrum camera can capture unusual imagery (Image credit: Huawei)

Moving on to other specs, the Huawei P50 Pocket has a high-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset – though notably this isn’t quite the top Snapdragon option anymore. It also has 8GB or 12GB of RAM, 256GB or 512GB of storage, a 4,000mAh battery, 40W wired charging, and a side-mounted fingerprint scanner.

What it doesn’t have is 5G, and nor does it run Android – instead you get Huawei’s HarmonyOS.

It’s all wrapped up in an eye-catching Premium Gold, Diamond White, or Black finish – though reportedly the last of those won’t be available outside China.

Prices start at 8988 Yuan (around $1,410/£1,055/AU$1,950) for an 8GB/256GB model, and rise to 10,988 Yuan (roughly $1,725/£1,290/AU$2,385) for a model with 12GB/512GB, though availability and pricing outside China is yet to be confirmed.


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 is Huawei's main rival here (Image credit: Future)

Analysis: both better and worse than the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3

The Huawei P50 Pocket has a lot of advantages over the Galaxy Z Flip 3, at least on paper. Its camera setup in particular sounds better, with the Z Flip 3 just having a pair of fairly conventional 12MP snappers, along with a 10MP one for selfies.

The Huawei P50 Pocket also has a slightly larger screen, with the Galaxy Z Flip 3’s being 6.7 inches, and Huawei’s phone arguably has a more stylish design – and certainly a more distinct one. Plus, at the top end there's more storage and RAM here, and the P50 has a bigger battery and faster charging.

But there are some marks against it. The lack of 5G or Android are big problems, and the cover screen on Huawei’s phone is slightly smaller. Based on the converted prices, the Huawei P50 Pocket is also likely to be significantly more expensive, as the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 starts at just $999 / £949 / AU$1,499.

So it could be a tough sell, but it’s nice to see a company taking foldable phone cameras seriously, and giving Samsung some competition can only be a good thing.

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.

Read more
Holding the Huawei Mate XT in-hand
I thought the tri-folding Huawei Mate XT was a gimmick, but then I held it
The Huawei Mate XT official imagey
Tri-folds aren't experiments or fads, they're the future foldable devices need
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6
More details of the Samsung tri-fold phone have leaked – as the Huawei Mate XT tri-fold gets a global launch
The Nubia Flip 2 5G in the hand
The 'affordable' Nubia Flip 2 is here to tempt you away from the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6
Infinix ZERO Series Mini Tri-Fold
This tri-fold concept phone is my new favorite thing and I hope Samsung and Apple are paying attention
2 Oppo Find N5 devices one open and one mostly closed showing inner display and rear cameras
The best foldable phones 2025: all the top flip phones and foldable tablet phones
Latest in Huawei Phones
Holding the Huawei Mate XT in-hand
I thought the tri-folding Huawei Mate XT was a gimmick, but then I held it
The Huawei Mate X6 on a pink background
The Huawei Mate X6 looks like a huge step forward for foldable phone photography, and I’m annoyed that I probably won’t be able to get one
The Huawei Mate XT and PS5 Pro side-by-side
Huawei's tri-fold phone is so expensive you could buy four PS5 Pros for the same price
Huawei Mate XT
Huawei posts the first official image of the tri-fold Mate XT, and reveals storage options
Samsung's tri-folding display technology unveiled at the SID Display Week 2021 online event
Huawei finally confirms the name of its tri-fold smartphone in new teaser video
Samsung's tri-folding display technology unveiled at the SID Display Week 2021 online event
Huawei sets the date for its tri-foldable phone launch, with a 10-inch display and high price rumored
Latest in News
Google Gemini Flash 2.0 Images
I tried Gemini's new AI image generation tool - here are 5 ways to get the best art from Google's Flash 2.0
An image of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra from a hands-on event
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra could resurrect an intriguing camera feature
Eurocom Raptor X18
At $15,000, this massive 256GB RAM laptop makes Apple's MacBook Pro look affordable, tiny and very, very slow
Cristin Milioti in Black Mirror season 7
Netflix launches trailer for Black Mirror season 7, giving us a look at its first-ever sequel episode and an unexpected returning character
A graphic of the PC Gaming Show
Get ready for a bounty of PC games on June 8, as the PC Gaming show is back
A close up of The Daily podcast from Pocket Casts' web page
‘Podcasting shouldn’t be locked behind walled gardens’: Pocket Casts slams Spotify and makes its web player free to all