I can't think of a more fitting first phone review for 2019 than Huawei's Honor View 20. Announced in the waning days of December 2018 for China first, the Honor View 20 is a visually mesmerizing Android Pie phone whose midtier price belies all the features Huawei's stuffed inside and out: a 48-megapixel camera on the back alongside a 3D stereo lens. A 6.4-inch display with razor-thin bezels. A 25-megapixel camera on the front, with a hole-punch opening instead of a notch. A visually showstopping finish. A 4,000-mAh battery and 125GB or 256GB of on-board storage. And a headphone jack!

I won't blame you for doing a double take because the Honor View 20 reads like a higher-end device on paper. For a £500, 569 euro and 2,999-yuan starting price, it has as much going on as many premium phones you can buy today at double the price. I can almost see it taunting Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S10: "I've got a ridiculously large 48-megapixel camera and 3D sensor, what about you?"

Now here's where the drama comes in. Not everyone will be able to buy an Honor View 20, even if they want to, and that's because Huawei is persona non grata in some parts of the world.

The Chinese company is the world's second-largest phone brand, and one of the top sellers of telecommunications equipment. But some governments, including the US, Britain, Australia and New Zealand have banned the sale of Huawei networking products for fear of espionage. In the US, major retailer Best Buy stopped selling Huawei phones, although you can still buy some models on Amazon or through the Honor site.

Although Huawei tries to distance its Honor sub-brand, Honor phones are lumped into Huawei's 200 million unit sales numbers for 2018, and Honor personnel pass out Huawei business cards at press briefings. If it's hard to buy a Huawei phone where you live, it'll be hard to buy this Honor View 20, too. That said, if you're not someone in the business of keeping secrets -- a government employee, a journalist or a corporate executive -- there's probably little more to fear with this phone than with any other Android device.

Despite Huawei's political troubles, the Honor View 20 is an early standout when it comes to quality and value, even if there are a few annoyances here and there.

The Honor View 20 sells in China, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Finland, Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Malaysia, India, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Huawei plans to sell the phone in more countries.

Skip to the end for the full specs list.

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