Huawei has finally introduced its Android replacement officially with HarmonyOS 2.0. The company will be updating its most recent phones from Android later in the year as it attempts to regain lost ground after being placed on the U.S. entity list.
Huawei is positioning HarmonyOS as a better operating system than Android, and there's a good reason for that. While it remains based on the Android Open Source Project (on phones and tablets at least), Huawei being decoupled from Google leaves the company free to make all the modifications to Android it wants. Huawei touts its speed, battery, and overall performance improvements over its EMUI-based devices, and it'll be curious to see if these benefits will translate to tangible improvements for regular users over the best regular Android phones.
Alongside its announcement, Huawei has shared a list of all phones which will be updated to HarmonyOS — and it's pretty extensive. Even phones as old as the Huawei Mate 10 and Huawei P10 will be updated to the new operating system. The Chinese models of any phone on this list will get it first, but the company plans on rolling it out through the first half of 2022. Depending on how old your phone is, you may find yourself waiting for a long time.
Here all the devices being updated in Q2 and Q3 2021
Huawei is updating all of its most recent flagships to Harmony OS as fast as it can. This means that the company's most engaged fans and loyal customers will be on the new operating system before the end of the year. Expect devices like the P40 and P40 Pro Plus to be on HarmonOS by the end of June, with older devices picking it up towards the end of the summer or even into the fall. As always, Chinese devices will get it first, but updates to European devices should follow shortly after.
- Huawei Mate 20
- Huawei Mate 20 Pro
- Huawei Mate 20 RS
- Huawei Mate 30
- Huawei Mate 30 5G
- Huawei Mate 30 Pro
- Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G
- Huawei Mate 30 RS
- Huawei Mate 30E Pro 5G
- Huawei Mate X2
- Huawei Mate Xs
- Huawei Mate 40
- Huawei Mate 40 Pro
- Huawei Mate 40 Pro+
- Huawei Mate 40 RS
- Huawei Mate 40E
- Huawei MatePad 10.4
- Huawei MatePad 10.8
- Huawei MatePad 5G
- Huawei MatePad Pro
- Huawei MatePad Pro 5G
- Huawei Nova 6
- Huawei Nova 6 5G
- Huawei Nova 6 SE
- Huawei Nova 7 5G
- Huawei Nova 7 Pro 5G
- Huawei Nova 7 SE
- Huawei Nova 7 SE 5G Youth
- Huawei Nova 8 5G
- Huawei Nova 8 Pro 4G
- Huawei Nova 8 Pro 5G
- Huawei Nova 8 SE
- Huawei P40
- Huawei P40 4G
- Huawei P40 Pro
- Huawei P40 Pro+
Huawei will update the following older devices in the first half of 2022
Huawei will be updating older phones in due course. Old flagships like the very well-received P30 Pro, the Mate 10-series, and smart screens will be getting their update around this time.
- Huawei Enjoy 10
- Huawei Enjoy 10 Plus
- Huawei Enjoy 10s
- Huawei Enjoy 20 Plus 5G
- Huawei Enjoy 20 Pro 5G
- Huawei Enjoy 9 Plus
- Huawei Enjoy 9S
- Huawei Enjoy Tablet
- Huawei Enjoy Tablet 2
- Huawei Enjoy Z 5G
- Huawei Maimang 8
- Huawei Maimang 9
- Huawei Mate 10
- Huawei Mate 10 Porsche Design
- Huawei Mate 10 Pro
- Huawei Mate 20 X 4G
- Huawei Mate 20 X 5G
- Huawei Mate 9
- Huawei Mate 9 Porsche Design
- Huawei Mate 9 Pro
- Huawei Mate RS Porsche Design
- Huawei Mate X
- Huawei MediaPad M5 10.8
- Huawei MediaPad M5 8.4
- Huawei MediaPad M5 Pro 10.8
- Huawei MediaPad M5 Youth Edition 10.8
- Huawei MediaPad M5 Youth Edition 8
- Huawei MediaPad M6 10.8
- Huawei MediaPad M6 8.4
- Huawei MediaPad M6 Turbo Edition
- Huawei Nova 2s
- Huawei Nova 3
- Huawei Nova 3i
- Huawei Nova 4
- Huawei Nova 4e
- Huawei Nova 5
- Huawei Nova 5i
- Huawei Nova 5i Pro
- Huawei Nova 5z
- Huawei P10
- Huawei P10 Plus
- Huawei P20
- Huawei P20 Pro
- Huawei P30
- Huawei P30 Pro
- Huawei Smart Screen S 55
- Huawei Smart Screen S 65
- Huawei Smart Screen S 75
- Huawei Smart Screen S Pro 55
- Huawei Smart Screen S Pro 65
- Huawei Smart Screen S Pro 75
- Huawei Smart Screen V 55 2021
- Huawei Smart Screen V 65
- Huawei Smart Screen V 65 2019
- Huawei Smart Screen V 65 2021
- Huawei Smart Screen V 75 2021
- Huawei Smart Screen V 76 2019
- Huawei Smart Screen V 85 2021
- Huawei Smart Screen V55i
- Huawei Smart Screen V65i
- Huawei Smart Screen X 65
HarmonyOS is one of the biggest things to happen within the Android world in a long time. Will the OS end up a niche one like Amazon's Fire OS, will it fizzle out like BlackBerry, or will Huawei truly create a third ecosystem by virtue of being a pretty rich company, having the third-largest app store, and stubborn pride? Only time will tell.
Huawei P40
The Huawei P40 offers pretty much everything you would expect from a flagship phone in 2020, except for Google apps and services. It has a highly capable 50MP main camera, 5G connectivity, IP68 water resistance, and a 3,800mAh battery with 22.5W fast charging.
