In brief: Huawei's former phone sub-brand Honor is launching its first phone with Google services since 2019. The confirmation comes from an Honor Germany representative who was asked the question to which he simply answered "yes," while also confirming that the phone will retain Magic UI.
Earlier this year, Huawei sold Honor to cope with the loss of suppliers and revenue brought by the US sanctions applied to the Chinese tech giant. Owned by a consortium of over 30 members, Honor secured supply partnerships with companies such as Qualcomm, Micron, Samsung, and others to keep itself afloat.
Now that it's not covered by the sanctions imposed on Huawei in 2019, Honor products can feature Google services again, and it seems that the Honor 50 phones will be the first to come with them.
Users can also expect to see the Honor 50 series using the Magic UI ROM. Considering that Huawei doesn't own Honor anymore, we wouldn't be surprised to see the company steering away from the EMUI-based ROM, but it looks like that won't be the case, at least for now.
The president of the product line department at Honor confirmed the new Honor 50 series would feature the recently announced Snapdragon 778G SoC, but it's unclear which models will include it.
Honor hasn't yet confirmed what models will be included in the Honor 50 series lineup nor its release date. Initial claims pointed to an announcement in May, but later reports state June is more likely. The comeback of Google mobile services to Honor phones is a welcome addition. Since their removal, many have disregarded the devices due to the absence of the Play Store and other Google apps.
Image credit: Zealer