The US veto has prevented Huawei from providing 5G connectivity to its latest flagships, which come with versions of Qualcomm chips limited to 4G. However, someone has come up with a solution: a case with a built-in 5G modem to add this connectivity to the new generation of phones. Of course, the case is not made by Huawei itself, but is manufactured by Soyealink. Right now, this case is only compatible with the Huawei P50 Pro and costs 800 yuan (113 euros). However, if this solution proves popular enough, the company is likely to create cases for other phones from the brand.
How does the 5G case work?
The case has an eSIM to go along with the 5G modem (sub-6GHz, NSA+SA) and a basic 1.35GHz dual-core CPU to run things. However, everything (including eSIM setup) is controlled from the phone. There’s even a signal strength indicator that appears in the status bar, so it all looks like the phone itself is connected to 5G without a hitch.
The case measures about 3.2mm thick and weighs 52g. The exterior is made of polyurethane with a leather-like texture. At the moment there is only one color, light gray. The case communicates with (and is powered by) the phone via USB. The case’s own USB-C port can be used for charging — it supports SuperCharge — and data transfer (USB 2.0 speeds). The modem in the case supports the following 5G bands:
- SA：N1, N3, N41, N77 / 78, N79, N28.
- NSA：B3 + N41, B3 + N78, B3 + N79, B1 + N78, B39 + N4, B41 + N79, B39 + N79, B5 + N78, B8 + N78.
