Buying a Huawei phone in the US has just gotten a whole lot easier. B&H, the retailer best known for cameras and other AV tech, has just opened up pre-orders for Huawei’s latest and greatest flagship phones, the P30, P30 Lite and, P30 Pro.
This marks a big change in the availability of Huawei devices in the US. Previously, they were unavailable to buy from mainstream retailers and carriers, with Verizon and AT&T having refused to stock them since early 2018.
So how much do these new phones cost? And, if you do buy them, are you leaving yourself exposed to the Chinese government (spoiler alert: probably not)?
Huawei P30 range – When can you buy them and how much do they cost?
There are three phones in the P30 range:
- Huawei P30 Lite – $319.99
- Huawei P30 – $599.99
- Huawei P30 Pro – $899.99
B&H lists the P30 and P30 Lite as being available from April 29. However, there’s no definitive date set for the P30 Pro.
Interestingly, the phones are all listed as being the “Latin American Variant/US Compatible LTE.” This could mean that the phones might not receive full warranty protection.
Which Huawei P30 model is right for you?
The Huawei P30 Pro is one of the standout phones of 2019, with a very powerful processor and an incredible ‘periscope’ camera that can give you a crazy 50x zoom.
However, the P30 might be the better phone for most people given that it is $300 cheaper. You get a more manageable 6.1-inch display, unlike the P30 Pro’s enormous 6.47-inch screen, and you get the same Kirin 980 processor. In fact, you only really lose that incredible zoom which, unless you’re set on taking pictures of something two hundred yards away, isn’t a big deal.
The P30 Lite certainly looks impressive, as well. You get an 6.1-inch OLED display, while most phones at this price used LCD panels, and triple rear cameras. In fact, it might be one of the best budget-premium phones on sale.
Read more – Huawei P30 and P30 Pro: Everything You Need to Know
The Huawei P30 Pro
Why is it so hard to buy Huawei phones in the US?
The problems started last year when Huawei products were labelled a security threat by the US government and by certain intelligence agencies around the world. The US government even banned the sale of Huawei products back in August 2018.
However, there isn’t any real definitive proof that Huawei is engaged in anything shady — despite its CFO being arrested for breaking US economic sanctions on Iran, and an ex-Huawei employee being arrested in Poland for spying on behalf of the Chinese government.
Read more – Is Huawei a Genuine Security Threat?
Yet it is worth noting that most of the allegations of spying and other shady activities are in relation to Huawei’s 5G and LTE infrastructure work, rather than its consumer-facing devices.
Some have noted that Huawei’s 5G work in China is a dual-use tech with military and civilian applications in mind. But Huawei isn’t alone in producing tech for militaries and governments.
All told, it’s difficult to buy Huawei products in the US because of mistrust between Washington and Beijing. However, it’s worth noting that the UK’s intelligence agency also warned against buying Huawei products, and using the company’s infrastructure products, yet its phones remain on sale.
Read more about the latest and greatest phones on Tech.co
The Huawei P30
