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This week in Android: HUAWEI's never-ending woes
The big news this week was actually the fallout from Trump’s decision to add HUAWEI to the known entity list last week. The dominoes started falling when Google revoked HUAWEI’s access to Android on Sunday. Since then, Qualcomm, Intel, Arm, the SD Association, the Wi-Fi Alliance, and others have cut ties with the Chinese company to comply with U.S. law. Keep track of the whole story in our handy HUAWEI vs the Trump administration timeline.
This didn’t stop HUAWEI from pushing ahead with the release of the HONOR 20 Pro, which offers a premium experience for an excellent price. However, the jury is still out on whether you should buy a HUAWEI phone, given that they are only guaranteed to receive updates until August 29. This could all blow over if a trade deal is hammered out before then, but currently everything is clouded in uncertainty.
In other news, we got our first look at Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 7S, which is a promising device in the middle of the Note 7 lineup. We also got to check out the Fxtec Pro1, a phone with a controversial throwback feature: a physical QWERTY keyboard.
Here are the top 10 Android stories of the week
- HUAWEI and the Trump debacle: The story so far — Here’s a rundown of the latest news from the standoff between HUAWEI and the Trump administration.
- HONOR 20 Pro review: Everyday luxury — The HONOR 20 Pro carries over many of the features from HUAWEI’s flagships, but at a lower price. Should you get it?
- Fxtec Pro1 hands-on: The sliding QWERTY keyboard phone is back — The Fxtec Pro1 offers a physical QWERTY keyboard in a retro slider form factor.
- Redmi Note 7S hands-on: The perfect middle ground — The Redmi Note 7S brings a fantastic photography experience to an affordable new price point.
- Google Assistant at three years old: The best is yet to come — Google’s cheeky Assistant is now three years old. Will this voice-activated tool ever reach its potential?
- OnePlus 6/6T redux: Are they still worth it? — We take a look back at the OnePlus 6 and 6T. Are they still worth it in 2019? Just how well do they hold up in today’s market?
- I’m tired of giving up battery life for a reasonably sized phone — I don’t want to lug around a big phone, but I also don’t want bad battery life. What do I do?
- Should you buy a HUAWEI device right now? — There are a lot of reasons to buy HUAWEI smartphones, but the Trump blacklist has turned everything on its head.
- Here’s why losing Arm is a far bigger deal for HUAWEI than losing Google — Thought HUAWEI losing Google would be a death blow for the Chinese giant? That pales in comparison to losing Arm.
- The HUAWEI ban isn’t just bad for the company, it’s bad for Android in general — If this HUAWEI ban sticks, it won’t just be hurting the company. We will all feel the pain.
Learn more on the Android Authority Podcast
This week’s edition of the podcast was all about HUAWEI. Find out what we think about the decision to ban the Chinese giant from the world’s most lucrative marketplace. Listen to the whole episode below!
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