Honor V40 Could Be The First To Have Google Play Store Again

For the past year or so, Huawei has gained something like a reverse Midas touch, where every company and subsidiary under its name gets dragged into its US export ban. That included Honor, which has always been promoting itself as an independent but related brand from Huawei and has, to its credit, helped Huawei achieve the sales numbers it has been flaunting. That independence finally became complete two months ago when Huawei sold off its Honor business and that first fruit of that separation might be coming this week.

When the US banned the export of American products to Huawei back in 2019, that included even software the likes of which Google produced. While Android itself, being open source, was still free for Huawei to use, the proprietary Google Play Services and apps were not. Honor, as Huawei's subsidiary, suffered the same fate and have not been able to ship new phones with popular and important Google Play apps since late 2019.

In November, Huawei confirmed that Honor would be an independent company and even become a rival to its former parent. That strategy was put in place to save Honor's business from completely folding and practically escape the bans that continue to afflict Huawei. According to a new report, that will already take effect in Honor's next flagship, the Honor V40 5G.

Expected specs for the Honor V40 include a MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ and a 6.72-inch 120Hz OLED screen. There will be four cameras led by a 50MP main sensor as well. The real highlight, however, is that the phone is believed to carry Google Play again, making it a more viable option again for markets outside of China.

This could definitely raise Honor's profile instantly and become a more dangerous rival for Huawei. Of course, those specs still might not be up to par but it might only be a matter of time before Honor catches up. Originally slated for January 18, the Honor V40 5G is now scheduled to debut on January 22 in China.