The Huawei Mate 20 X 5G was one of the first 5G phones we were expecting to reach the shores of the UK, after Huawei announced the handset at its UK 5G launch event. However it looks like the device might take quite a bit longer to get here, as carrier EE has seemingly dropped it from its 5G lineup – if it makes it to the UK at all.
At EE's press conference announcing its 5G network launch date, the provider announced the first four phones that it will sell, and the Huawei Mate 20 X was curiously absent, despite being used in promotional shots and graphics during the rest of the presentation.
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Speaking in a Q&A after the event, Marc Allera confirmed that EE had decided against selling the Huawei Mate 20 X immediately, because the ongoing Google and Huawei Android restrictions could result in Huawei handsets having impaired software.
It's worth pointing out that, as of writing, the EE website still sells products like the Huawei P30 that would also suffer if the Android restrictions go ahead. At the press event EE also showed that it will sell Huawei 5G routers, so it's clear the company isn't enacting a blanket ban of Huawei products.
Allera suggested the decision not to stock the Huawei Mate 20 X is temporary, so EE could sell the handset in the future, although there's no certainty either way.
At the moment it's not clear if other providers will stock the Huawei Mate 20 X when their 5G networks are launched, as both Vodafone and O2 have networks that will come live in the coming months. By that time the Huawei conflict could well be over, so we'll have to wait and see if the phones ever make their way to the UK.
