Figures as published (July 28, 2026). Prices written in the article text are our catalog's figures when it was written, and prices move — each phone's current price and its status (observed with a date, or an estimate) are on its page and in the “Phones mentioned” cards below.
Huawei builds excellent hardware, and that is not up for debate: displays, batteries, cameras, and build quality well above their price in many cases. That is not where the problem is. The problem is software — new devices ship without Google Mobile Services (GMS), meaning no Play Store and none of the background layer most Android apps rely on. Plenty of buyers have heard about this but never understood what it means in practice, and the surprise arrives in the first week.
Exactly what you give up
- The Play Store: you cannot install from it, so you depend on Huawei's own app store or on installer files you source yourself.
- Push notifications: many apps deliver alerts through Google's service, and without it notifications arrive late or not at all.
- Signing in with a Google account inside apps: this breaks in many services, and you end up creating an email-and-password account instead.
- Maps and navigation embedded inside another app (delivery, ride-hailing, order tracking), because they call Google Maps.
- Contactless payments through Google Wallet.
The part that matters most here is banking apps, digital wallets, and work or attendance apps. Some run fine once installed from an alternative source, others refuse to open or fail verification, and the situation changes from app to app and from update to update. Nobody can promise you anything stable on this point. If your daily routine depends on one specific app, test it before you pay or on day one, not a month later.
The alternatives: what they cover and what they do not
- Huawei's app store: it covers the basics and a good number of local apps, but not everything is there and not everything updates at the same pace.
- Compatibility layers you install yourself to run Google apps: they work with some apps, break after updates, and cost extra battery.
- The browser: many services work fully on the web with no app at all, and this is the most reliable and least painful route.
- Huawei's own maps, mail, and browser apps: they do the job, but map and place data locally is weaker than the original alternative, and you feel it the moment you search for a shop or an address.
The devices on the local market and what your money buys
One detail worth noticing in the numbers: the highest performance score on the list does not belong to the most expensive phone. Older devices built on Snapdragon chips score higher than the 2025 models on Kirin — the Huawei Mate 50 Pro at JOD 249 scores 77, while the Huawei Mate 80 Pro at JOD 849 scores 71. In exchange, the older phones have a shorter support life and some are 4G only, like the Huawei P60 Pro with its Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 4G chip.
- Huawei Mate 80 Pro — JOD 849, performance score 71, Kirin 9030 chip, 6000mAh battery with 100W charging, 6.9-inch LTPO AMOLED at 120Hz, 50+40+48 cameras, 12GB RAM.
- Huawei Pura 80 — JOD 419, score 65, Kirin 9010 chip, 5600mAh battery with 66W charging, 6.6-inch OLED 1.5K at 120Hz.
- Huawei Nova 14 — JOD 275, score 53, Kirin 8010 chip, 5500mAh battery with 100W charging, 50MP front camera.
- Huawei Mate 50 Pro — JOD 249, score 77, a 2022 device with Snapdragon 8+ Gen1, 4700mAh battery with 66W charging, 50+64+13 cameras.
- Huawei P60 Pro — JOD 329, score 75, a 2023 device with Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 4G, 4815mAh battery with 88W charging, 6.67-inch LTPO AMOLED.
The honest summary: Huawei works if your usage is simple and contained (calls, messaging, camera, browsing, video through the browser), or if you want a camera, battery, and screen above what the price normally buys and the app library is not your priority. It does not work if your daily life runs through banking, delivery, and work apps, or if you have no appetite for solving install and update problems every few weeks. One last thing: ask about the return policy before you pay, and install your essential apps on day one while the exchange window is still open.
Sources and references
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