Huawei reportedly developing a smartphone case that retroactively gives phones 5G capabilities
Huawei is currently facing sanctions from the US which has hindered the company’s ability to do business with US companies as well as buy from companies that use US technology. As a result, the company has been forced to find workarounds and make certain compromises on its smartphones.
Take for example the Huawei P50 launched back in 2021 which only came with support for 4G despite the rest of the industry starting to push out 5G devices. But as it turns out, Huawei might have found a workaround.
According to reports out of China, it seems that Huawei is working on a smartphone case for its smartphones that would give it 5G capabilities. Presumably this is done by embedding a 5G modem inside of the case and then connecting it to the phone via USB-C. As noted in the report, the signal might not be as strong compared to dedicated hardware, but it is better than nothing.
Also, as pointed out in the report, it is unclear how Huawei will be able to sell the case with the 5G components given the ongoing sanctions against it, but regardless of whether this case actually becomes a commercial reality, we have to say that it is rather ingenious and who knows, maybe it could be a way for other manufacturers to create 5G cases of their own to support older devices.
Source: ITHome