We asked, you told us: Huawei users would consider ditching EMUI for Harmony OS

Huawei P40 Pro EMUI 11

Credit: Robert Triggs / Android Authority

Earlier this month, Huawei unveiled the second iteration of Harmony OS, its do-it-all operating system for use on future hardware. The company has also confirmed that the OS will be readied for use on smartphones too and that existing devices running Android-based EMUI 11 can be “upgraded” to Harmony OS.

We still haven’t seen a Harmony OS smartphone yet, nor do we know which devices will be eligible for the upgrade. But we did want to hear your opinion on the matter.

We asked readers if given the choice, would you upgrade your Android-based Huawei phone to run on Harmony OS instead? Here’s what you told us.

Results

Before we get into the numbers, it’s worth mentioning just how open-minded readers were in the poll. 83.5% of all respondents would be open to the idea of jumping from EMUI 11 to Harmony OS.

In effect, around four in every five Huawei users in our poll would consider dropping Android for Huawei’s fledgling OS. That’s a considerable share.

A little over 40% of respondents have reservations though, citing Harmony OS’s features as the determining factor. Huawei hasn’t given us any major indication of these just yet, so it’s understandable to see such a high number of users on the fence.

Just short of 43% of voters don’t need the Chinese firm to prove anything, though. They would immediately jump platforms if given the slightest sniff of an option.

We’ve seen in previous polls how the promise of extended OS support can sway users’ buying decisions, and Harmony OS could allow Huawei to better support its legacy devices. The company is also promising cross-device integration with its other Harmony OS wares, so it’s arguably a more future-proof solution than Android-based EMUI.

Not everyone is convinced, though. 16.5% of voters would refuse an upgrade to Harmony OS if given the choice. Either these users are content with the EMUI 11 and Android combo, or are holding out to see if the US trade ban continues into 2021.

Here’s what you had to say

Zero: It is a new operating system coming to smartphones, even though not so many have tried it. It’s worth a try.
androwin: Sure why not! I don’t have GMS on my main phone anyway so I won’t lose anything in upgrading if my device is one of the eligible devices for the update, and even for my second older Huawei phone which has GMS it’s time to look for newer things I don’t mind to lose GMS on that phone. However, the wise decision is to update all the released devices these past years at least back to 2016 so they don’t divide their users between two ecosystems!
Doroto (on Harmony OS 2.0’s launch): I saw people’s comments on an article back in 2019 when Huawei initially announced Harmony OS. Most people don’t believe in the existence of this OS. Now they can shut up. I do think Huawei OS will be a big success given that either Google Android or IOS are capable of what Harmony can do.

That’s all from this poll. Thanks for your votes and comments. If you have any residual comments you’d like to voice, be sure to drop them in the comments section below.