Huawei can’t use its own chipsets, nor 5G ones from Qualcomm, thanks to various US government bans. And so all of its latest phones, including the nova 9 SE mid-ranger launched in March, have to make do with 4G-only versions of Qualcomm SoCs, which is obviously not ideal.
Enter Wiko. Known before primarily in Europe, as it’s of French origin, the brand has decided to enter the Chinese market. Its first device is simply called Wiko 5G, and it’s a Huawei nova 9 SE with 5G support.
Seriously, that’s pretty much the only difference between the two – well, the design has been slightly altered when it comes to use of colors and that alone.
So, the Wiko 5G is powered by the Snapdragon 695 chipset by Qualcomm, with 5G support of course. It has a 6.78-inch 1080×2388 120 Hz LCD touchscreen with 270 Hz touch sampling rate, 8 GB of RAM, 128 or 256GB of storage, and a 4,000 mAh battery with 66W wired charging support.
On the back there’s a 108 MP main camera, an 8 MP ultrawide, a 2 MP macro shooter, and a 2 MP depth sensor. For selfies you get a 16 MP snapper. The phone runs Huawei’s HarmonyOS, unsurprisingly.
The Wiko 5G costs CNY 1,999 ($287 or €269 at the current exchange rates) if you go for the entry-level model with 128GB of storage, or CNY 2,199 ($315 or €296) if you want 256GB. It’s available in China starting today, and there’s so far been no word on whether it will make it to other markets.