Huawei Mobile 5G ambition in the Philippines is made more reachable with its new Huawei P40 Series
It was not too long ago when I was given the chance to learn about 5G technology and how Huawei’s R&D worked to produce their first 5G-powered chipset and smartphones. Back then, Huawei had the vision to bring more of their products and services to more Filipinos. 2 years and several product iterations of their diverse product lines later, it seems that their vision is indeed coming into complete fruition.
5G has arrived
In 2018, news about 5G in the Philippines started to spread and discussed among tech enthusiasts. The focus for 2020 is to enable IOT ecosystem in the country, but it was not clear then that the rollout includes smartphones.
Last year, PLDT’s Manny Pangilinan revealed the speed of 5G network of Smart using a 5G Huawei device. Likely running on a custom chipset that rocks a 5G module, the device reached almost 470mbps and it was – at that time – seems to be too good to be true. A few months later, Huawei Mobile brought the Huawei Mate30 Pro 5G to the Philippines shortly after launching Huawei Mate30 series. It was later followed with Huawei P40 series 5G in April 2020.
Kirin 990 5G – the Huawei Mobile 5G chipset that binds them together
If there’s anything that binds the 5G Mate30 and P40 series together is this new Kirin 990 5G. As the first series of smartphones shipped with this chipset, this makes these phones the first ones to be truly 5G enabled in the Philippines, with a 5G NR model with full compatibility to full suite of 5G technologies, which you can check out below if you’re into nerdy tech specifications:
- DL: Up to User Equipment (UE) category 21
- Downlink of up to 1.4 Gbps (4×4 MIMO + 256QAM 3CC CA = 1.2 Gbps, 2×2 MIMO + 256QAM + 1CC = 200 Mbps)
- UL: Up to User Equipment (UE) category 18
- Uplink of up to 200 Mbps (2×2 MIMO, 256-QAM, 1x20MHz CA)
Kirin 990 5G SoC has multifaceted benefits that mobile gamers, productivity and home-automation consumers will definitely enjoy. Let me break things down:
- Built for Streamers: When you have a 5G smartphone, it rides a communications technology that is built to deliver data at high peak data speeds and ultra-low latency. So, whether you’re streaming the game content from an external server or you’re the one streaming the game for a wider audience (e.g., via Facebook Gaming or Twitch), you’re going to be using a superior network. Telcos in the Philippines have started to concurrently roll out 5G and 4G signals in the Philippines. Having a smartphone that has 5G capability is definitely going to bring delight to a lot of consumers who are into playing games or creating content via content-streaming.
- Create, Edit, Upload… FAST: Without any shadow of doubt, the Huawei P40 5G series are more than capable of delivering the optimal performance for content creators. I shoot in 4K on my Huawei P40 Pro, and I can edit without any issues using my preferred mobile video editor and render it at 4K. Uploading the video will definitely take longer time on a 4G device, but it will definitely be faster when you upload it via 5G.
- The speed you need: Getting more than 500mbps for download is something I will not complain about. High speed transfer rate is essential in various ways. I have this growing fondness of automating some appliances in our home and studio. So, imagine when you’re coming home from an essentials-run, and you want to turn on the aircon. The response time and transfer of data is much faster when using a reliable 5G smartphone, combined with a reliable home internet connection.
5G is already at hand, technology companies in the Philippines like Huawei are doing everything they can to bring their solutions and products to Filipinos. The need to adapt to these new technologies is essential as demands for better connection is far greater than ever before.
[su_spoiler title=”Disclaimer” style=”simple” icon=”arrow”]This article is sponsored by Huawei Philippines.[/su_spoiler]
Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.
