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Have needed a new PC for the family for a long old while, after a few recommendations on here for other Huawei laptops I ordered a Matebook 16 with a decent discount, unbeatable spec for the money. I was aware that the phones are to be avoided due to the Google shenanigans but had an idea there were other issues, a Google last night (ironing, yes) and they sound dodgy as anything - largely state owned and controlleda, corporate corruption, spying and worst of all supporting facial recognition and such used for the human rights abuses of the Uyghurs. I'm minded to return it. Am I being a woke snowflake or do you have to draw the line somewhere, thoughts?
So long as they don't do anything really dodgy... like sponsoring British Cycling.
But seriously, I have a Huawei mobile, it's been great, no Google issues, but I#d probably think twice before buying anything else from them.
Well I wouldn't if I was a rocket scientist but as you've bought one I'm guessing you're not a rocket scientist 😂
Did a job not long ago for whowhy. Wouldn't buy a phone based on the next Tuesdays that were there. Jumped up Chinese who ordered us around as of we were one of their factory workers. Told one of them to do one. Needless to say I don't think particular contractorwill ask me back.
Devil's advocate, everything is made in China. Good luck avoiding it.
That said. I have a Huawei watch. I wouldn't buy a modern Huawei phone because of the Google issues. Laptops... eh, I'd probably have one but flatten it with a clean OS install. For all the Great Firewall of China I doubt that the Chinese government is overly interested in spying on a Westerner relaxing in a gentleman's manner.
On a family laptop!? I've got my phone for that. Honestly
i had a phone made by them. i sold it and got a samsung.
i wish i hadnt.
Appreciate buying electronics that aren't at least partially made in China is a challenge but I'm not concerned about being spied on, more with the ethics (or lack of) of Huawei's business practices
No, not because of being spied on, but lack of features like Google Play and Widevine (HD streaming from Prime Video and alike).
I was given a phone. Tried to link it to my Google account. I had so many warnings and alerts that I stopped and said no thanks.
Wanted way more access to my stuff than my Android phones from Samsung or Motorola ever did.
I have a friend who works in security and was involved in the government report on Huawei from a few years back.
They have strongly advised me never to buy anything from Huawei if I can possibly avoid it and on this matter I'm inclined to trust them.
Devil’s advocate, everything is made in China. Good luck avoiding it.
I was curious about this, a very lazy straight to wiki google suggests 1 in 3 are actually from one Taiwanese company but often get compiled into Chinas numbers for political reason?
Is that accurate or a load of bobbins?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_computer_exports
I wouldn't buy a Huawei phone anymore for compatibility reasons, leaving aside any queries over spying antics.
Wanted way more access to my stuff than my Android phones from Samsung or Motorola ever did.
I'd speculate that Huawei are no worse than the others. If it was post google ban then they are probably obliged to ask for access to stuff that you've already willingly passed to Google, etc. By virtue of having already signed into the Google ecosystem that they've had to replicate for phone functionality.
Back to the OP and laptops, etc. I'd still buy one as PC OS are licensed differently.
I have a friend who works in security and was involved in the government report on Huawei from a few years back.
They have strongly advised me never to buy anything from Huawei if I can possibly avoid it and on this matter I’m inclined to trust them.
The US government were actually caught putting back doors into Cisco devices. So far no such thing has happened from Huawei. But having worked with Huawei on some devices I would be surprised if they actually have the skills to hide spyware.
I’d speculate that Huawei are no worse than the others.
Samsung are well known for their REALLY poor Android security. Intel well known for their really poor security in their chipsets too!
Probs not cos I've sold my soul to Apple. I expect Joe Biden is masturbating furiously to my humorous WhatsApp messages as we speak.
Not much empathy for the Uyghurs then? Tough crowd
The report on Huawei network devices, or at least a summary of it, is public, I think. I wasn’t going to search for it, but realised it would literally be the first hit on Google, so thought “what the hell”…
TL;DR - poor quality software and poor quality security practices with, as of that linked report, little or no improvement.
It’s cheap. People buy it because it is cheap. People don’t care how shit it is because it is cheap.
Used to have a huawei p20 pro phone. Went back to iPhone as I hated the android operating system. Did take awesome photos. I do have a matebook laptop. It had great spec and was in the right price range. I’ve used it for uni and in my final year it’s still going strong. No regrets at all.
Had a huawei p20 pro. Went back to iPhone as hated the android operating system. It did take awesome photos though. However for the last 3 years while studying at uni I’ve been using a huawei matebook laptop and it’s still as good as it was when I bought it. Great spec and price I don’t regret it at all it does the job.
If you have a recent - google-blocked - Huawei device use the Gspace app which simulates a generic android phone and allows use of Gmail, etc.. I have a Huawei tablet, works fine, just a little extra work to run a few apps.
I had a pre-ban Huawei phone - it was excellent, still is, the wife has it now, another P20 Pro. I've got a Xiaomi phone now, would recommend them; frequent updates. Xiaomi, Oneplus, Oppo didn't get the ban but why not? What's the difference?
The Huawei ban is strictly political; Huawei technology for 5g was 2 years ahead of the US. Huawei wouldn't include the back doors that the NSA and 5-eyes wanted and the likes of Citrix would.
Lots of those quality/security problems mentioned were years out of date and other manufacturers had exactly the same issues at the same times. Lots of common code libraries.
Would you buy a Huawei device?
No.
It’s hard enough avoiding Chinese crap as it is but if I know it’s Chinese then it’s easy.
I’d speculate that Huawei are no worse than the others.
It matters less where it was made than who controls the design and SW IMO.
Huawei is a Chinese company and therefore part of the Chinese State (you cannot separate the two). They have a track record of using telecoms kit to spy on countries for the Chinese government.
An iPhone, made in China, has chips are software designed in the US, and won't be compromised by design (although maybe be compromised later by a targeted attack).
No I wouldn’t
The world will be entering a very dark place over the next few years and China is much of the reason why. Over the last decade the Chinese ruling party has been so successful in its aims that it has emboldened and provided tacit support for Putin, Saudi Arabia, Belarus, Turkey, Bulgaria, Syria…the list is endless.
Right now the West is fighting an existential threat and I don’t mean Putin. All it needs is Trump in the whitehouse and Europe is basically f….ed. Not buying stuff made in China is hard enough but its easy not to buy stuff made by a company run by the CCP!
They have a track record of using telecoms kit to spy on countries for the government.
The government, yours and mine, never mind the chinese.
Phones aren't really the issue
can you elaborate on why, please?
No, not really, sorry, I'm not trying to be obtuse but I was told it in confidence, I know that's not an ideal response on a forum.
I get that, the post I was replying to said that their Huawei was asking for more access to stuff than previous phone. I was suggesting that all phones will be accessing the same breadth and depth of personal information and that Huawei probably seemed worse because they will be making requests in addition to those already made through official Google android.
Their track record of spying probably wasn't signposted by Huawei openly asking for more access to your personal information. 😉
Huawei wouldn’t include the back doors that the NSA and 5-eyes wanted and the likes of Citrix would.
Wait, what? Citrix included backdoors for the NSA and GCHQ? Source for that please.
Also, Huawei are well known for stealing the IP of a lot of the tech that they released (Nortel is a good example of that if I recall correctly), so i am not sure that is correct.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-07-01/did-china-steal-canada-s-edge-in-5g-from-nortel
Not much empathy for the Uyghurs then? Tough crowd
Good point.
The world will be entering a very dark place over the next few years and China is much of the reason why
That's a gross oversimplification of things, and totally ignores the West's part in all of it. It's a very blinkered and partizan view. And not really helpful in trying to understand and explain reality.
Right now the West is fighting an existential threat
That's been the case since well before China became a major player on the world stage. Much of the West's problems are self inflicted. Blaming 'others' just taps into xenophobia, which then helps feeds divide and rule, etc...
I have a friend...
Can you elaborate on why, please?
No, not really, sorry...
Lol!
Had my P20pro for 3.5 years, more than happy with it tbh.
Wouls I get another when it passes it's sell by date, depends, maybe a Samsung if not.
Did a job not long ago for whowhy. Wouldn’t buy a phone based on the next Tuesdays that were there. Jumped up Chinese who ordered us around as of we were one of their factory workers. Told one of them to do one. Needless to say I don’t think particular contractorwill ask me back.
LOL! Good one. I did the same in the far east when I was working for one of the company (I didn't know at that time and was desperate for a job). The boss was like someone from the politburo. Sort that. After nearly a year I told them to stuff it and came back to UK. Weird company. For example, in the office if I wanted to use the computer I had to fill in a form and gave it to a "secretary" to do a search for me. On my desk I had one telephone and paper works etc. No computer at all. The company was supplying print labels to all the MNC (dodgy chemical used) but I got to travel all over SE Asia. Then when I got back to the office I had to write an extensive report of what I did everyday by the hour.
the post I was replying to said that their Huawei was asking for more access to stuff than previous phone. I was suggesting that all phones will be accessing the same breadth and depth of personal information and that Huawei probably seemed worse because they will be making requests in addition to those already made through official Google android.
Probably worth noting that successive versions of Android have become more granular with security. What was once "grant this app administrative access to everything [yes|no]?" is now a series of questions asking specifically about access to photos, the ability to make calls, etc etc. It would be easy to perceive this as a new phone requiring access to more stuff when the opposite is true.
Whether this is actually the case with Huawei, I do not know.
US FCC is set to ban new Huawei and ZTE telecom products on national security grounds. Prices might come down
A lot of the broadband access network is Huawei, so it's not like you can avoid them.
I wouldn't choose to have a Huawei phone/laptop, but on a personal level I think apps are higher risk. I have a (Chinese) dashcam from Amazon but I've never installed the app needed to use lots of the features as it wants a whole host of permissions that don't seem to relate to the functions on the device, I suspect sometimes they hope the bundled app with products like this will duck under your normal 'is this safe' radar as you've got a physical product that instructs you to install it
A lot of the broadband access network is Huawei, so it’s not like you can avoid them.
I think the OP is about buying decisions within our control. I wasn't consulted on the broadband infrastructure requistion process, were you?
Had my P20pro for 3.5 years, more than happy with it tbh.
I've got the P20 Pro as well, does everything well and my only niggle is the charging port has gone a bit slack.
Anyone else encountered this?
We used a 4g Huawei router whilst living in temporary accommodation
Not once did a Chinese takeaway just turn up at the door while we were talking about it
although, it's been banned from 5G networks & must be removed if already in place, and the amount they can use in broadband networks is limited, and I guess won't be replaced (with more Huawei) when it reaches the end of its lifespan.A lot of the broadband access network is Huawei, so it’s not like you can avoid them.
If you care about the ethics of the phone in your pocket, get a fairphone
And as Cougar says, current android OS gives you all the control over each individual app, take the time to go through the settings and turn stuff off
google and the data farmers like Cambridge Analytica (or whatever they're called this week) know more about you than huawei do
if you want a laptop, get a refurbished one from a business reseller
I wouldn't, for all of the reasons in the OP (and stuff similar to what Hatter said).
Plenty of alternatives around, why give them the money?
I wouldn't, purely because I have worked on a number of projects for them!
All mobile telecoms work.
Non-payment of contractors, holding money back for very little reason until the companies went bankrupt.
Fire up the software managers for the kit
Oh this one looks like a Nokia manager and the other looks like an Ericcson one.
The lunches on offer at the head office in Reading were pretty good though.
I wouldn't use a Huawei phone again because of the difficulty of installing Google Services on them behind the Great Firewall. We don't root phones over here either because then our electronic wallet and electronic payment apps would stop working (I haven't touched cash in over two years)
Other devices, sure. Bought a decent M3 android tablet in Saudi. A Watch GT in China. I am still using an honor 9 lite phone bought in the UK as a streaming music player, plugged into my bookshelf speakers.
No.
This year I have a specific goal to reduce spending which benefits (directly or indirectly) entities whose values and behaviours I disagree with.
No, I had one of their watches which broke through no fault of my own. They didn't honour the warranty.