Would you buy an “Android” cell phone that no longer has “Android” on it?

At the end of November last year, Huawei introduced its Mate 70 and Mate X6 series cell phones, which have already gone on sale in China and are awaiting presentation and sale in other countries, including Mexico. And while these smartphones stand out for their features and specifications, as well as their design and AI capabilities, perhaps the real news is that they will be the first to release Harmony OS Next, a new version of Huawei’s own operating system that no longer exists. It will be based on Android.

If, for example, you import a Huawei Mate 70 or Huawei Mate X6 today, its operating system will be Harmony OS 4.3. However, they will have to upgrade to Harmony OS Next sometime in 2025. After the official launch of Harmony OS Next, all Huawei devices will come with Harmony OS Next, an operating system that has no trace or connection with Android.

Would you buy an “Android” cell phone that no longer has “Android” on it?

The sanctions that the US government imposed on Huawei in 2019 forced the Chinese company to look for an alternative to Android. Thus began the development of Harmony OS – an operating system, but based on Android.

The main drawback of Harmony OS, at least for casual users, is that it doesn’t come with Google apps pre-installed. However, installing Gbox or MicroG isApps are available in the App Gallery, the official Harmony OS app store.– gives access to all Google applications.

For now, we can only speculate whether there will be a similar method for installing Google apps on Harmony OS Next, but judging by the demand for these apps, we can assume that Huawei will do its best to make these apps available to all users. and in the simplest possible way. We also know from Huawei that Harmony OS Next will debut with around 10,000 apps and plans to increase the number to 100,000 within a few months of launch.

But then would you buy an “Android” cell phone that no longer has “Android” on it? Or to be more precise, would you buy a Huawei cell phone knowing that in 2025 it would no longer have an Android operating system? The truth is that mobile phone sales data indicates that trade sanctions have taken a toll on Huawei, whose sales have ceased to be among the world’s top sellers since 2021. According to StatisticsIn the first quarter of 2020, Huawei took global market share from 17% (it was the second-largest manufacturer by volume, behind only Samsung) to just 4% in the same period the following year.

There is life without Android

The truth is that Huawei has shown that it can live just fine without Android. Your Huawei Watch GT5 is probably the best Android smartwatch out there. We put quotes because it uses Harmony OS, which is also based on Android Wear (Google’s operating system for wearable devices), and we think the user experience, with some notable exceptions such as the use of NFC payments, is virtually identical to or even better than many Android smartwatches.

On the other hand, many of its smartphones have shown signs of being on par with Android’s best. Huawei has shown that there is life without Android, but can it convince users?