Chinese smartphone maker Huawei said Tuesday that it will launch its latest budget “H” smartphone in South Korea this week, targeting consumers looking for cheaper alternatives to expensive high-end smartphones.

Huawei’s “H” smartphone will be sold exclusively through local network carrier LG Uplus starting from Thursday. The new device, an upgraded version of Huawei’s budget Y7 smartphone introduced here last December, is priced at 242,000 won ($220). It comes in two colors -- black and white.


Huawei’s new 5.5-inch smartphone runs on the Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system and is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 617 processor.

The device is equipped with a 13-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel front camera.

The camera has a “professional mode” that allows for control of the ISO, shutter speed, and aperture. It also has selfie functions that lets users decorate their pictures with filters and stickers.

The phone's 3,000 milliampere hour built-in battery lets users watch high-definition videos for 10 consecutive hours. The phone’s 1.5-gigabyte Octa CPU and 2-gigabyte RAM can support high-graphic mobile games as well, Huawei said.

Customers who purchase an “H” phone before Oct. 12 are eligible to win Huawei’s Mate Book laptop, a tablet, bluetooth speakers and portable batteries, LG Uplus said.

By Sohn Ji-young jys@heraldcorp.com)