Huawei's Mate 90 Passes Certification — and '5G' Is Back in China's Flagship Registry

On September 3, two new Huawei handsets (model numbers CMM-AL10 and CMM-AL00) appeared in China's telecom certification database — and for the first time since 2020, the official entry for a China-market flagship listed the device type as "5G digital mobile phone." For China's tech forums, that single line ended a six-year drought.

What changed

Huawei's China-market flagship phones have shipped since late 2020 without a formal "5G" label in their certification, even though later models — starting with the Mate 60 — actually use 5G-capable hardware. Enthusiasts remember the workaround branding: "5A," Huawei's own name for its high-speed connectivity experience. Now the certification openly reads 5G, which observers read as confirmation that the supply chain for the key RF (radio frequency) components is now domestically sourced and formally cleared for the China market.

What the reaction says

Chinese tech commentary largely framed the news as a "name change" — the capability was already there — while acknowledging the symbolism: it's a visible milestone for China's domestic supply chain and a talking point for the country's consumer-tech pride. Speculation runs across forums about the next-generation chip, launch timing, and a possible late-September product event widely expected to land around Apple's new iPhone.

The caveats

A certification entry is official but is not a product announcement; the real specs and marketing story await Huawei's own launch. That said, the timing sets up what many expect to be the flagship phone season's most watched showdown of the year in China.

Related vocab: 遥遥领先.