Rumor: Huawei Mate 50 phone’s camera has variable aperture

The primary camera of the Huawei Mate 50 phones would have a variable aperture. This allows the camera to adjust the amount of light that enters to the conditions. Samsung used that technology in the Galaxy S9 and S10, but discontinued it.

Image from ‘s S9 teardown JerryRigEverything

According to MyDrivers Huawei uses a six-blade technology to adjust the aperture. That is obvious, because the manufacturer a year ago applied for a patent on such a system. At the time, it was still unclear which phones would be involved.

Little else is known about that primary camera. Samsung used the technology in the S9 and S10, which could then switch between f/1.5 and f/2.4. By adjusting the amount of light that hits the sensor, the camera can switch to f/1.5 in poor light conditions to let in as much light as possible. The disadvantage of f/1.5 on those phones is that a smaller area can be in focus: a limited depth of field. On phones, the difference in depth of field limits and too much light on the sensor is rarely a problem, which undoubtedly contributed to Samsung not using the technology on the Galaxy S20 and later.

Huawei will use a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 paired with a 4G modem for the Mate 50 phones. Due to the sanctions of the US government, Huawei has been banned from selling 5G hardware for years. Google services will not be on it either. Due to the consequences of the sanctions, Huawei’s market share in Europe has virtually evaporated. There are few or no Huawei phones in the store anymore.

The Chinese manufacturer, which has mainly focused on the home market in recent years, wants to present its Mate 50 phones in a week and a half. There would be three or four models in that range: a Mate 50, Mate 50 Pro, an RS version and possibly a cheaper Mate 50e, as mentions GSMArena.