As reported by many tech blogs (Tech Times, Phone Arena and others), Huawei is planning on upgrading a future smartphone with a QHD display (2560 x 1440). So far all Huawei branded smartphones are topping out at FullHD resolution (the Huawei-built Nexus 6P does have a QHD display though). So far, Huawei has believed that FHD is more than enough resolution for a typical smartphone display and any further increase in resolution does not improve the image quality but decreases battery life.
Huawei is now re-evaluating this statement based on the potential use of smartphones in VR headsets. They see this use as driver for future sales. There is no word on when Huawei will release such a phone.
Analyst Comment
For quite some time I have wondered what the use of QHD and potentially UltraHD displays in smartphones will provide to the consumer. Based on viewing distance and pixel density very few users would have benefited from such high resolution displays in their smartphones. The appearance of VR headsets based on smartphones is changing this paradigm significantly. Here UltraHD may even be too low to provide a sufficient image quality. Of course, there are also many other functions in the smartphone that also have to be capable of providing a good VR experience. Processing power and battery life are certainly among them. We will see how Huawei tackles these issues. – NH
