In recent years, Huawei’s high-end smartphones have frequently been criticized by users for camera malfunctions. Recently, another user complained to the Chinese media about the Huawei Mate 30 Pro suddenly experiencing blurry photos taken by the 1-3x zoom rear camera. Huawei’s after-sales service informed the user that they would need to pay 900 yuan for repairs. However, the user firmly believes that the malfunction is a design flaw of the phone itself. Currently, the two parties have not reached an agreement.
According to a report by The Paper on May 8th, a consumer Mr. Su recently reported that his Huawei Mate 30 Pro, purchased in 2021, suddenly had issues with blurry photos taken by the 1-3x zoom rear camera. He was puzzled as his phone’s camera had not suffered any impact, so why did it suddenly malfunction?
The after-sales staff stated that Mr. Su’s phone would require 900 yuan to replace the camera. After negotiations, they proposed a discounted repair price of 400 yuan, but Mr. Su did not accept this solution.
Another user, Ms. You, stated that her phone of the same model purchased in 2019 had a similar problem after a system upgrade in 2023. Despite unsuccessful attempts to revert to the previous system, the after-sales service suggested she pay 800 yuan to replace the camera. Ms. You ultimately chose to purchase the original dismantled main camera and replaced it herself, spending only 135 yuan.
Mr. Su searched online and found many consumers with the same model of Huawei phone experiencing similar issues. Based on this, he believes that there is an inherent defect in this phone model, leading to sudden camera malfunctions. He argues that consumers should not bear the cost of repairs.
The Paper contacted Huawei’s official after-sales hotline, where a staff member stated that the cause of the phone malfunction needs to be determined after an in-store inspection. They denied that the issue was a design flaw and claimed that they had not received reports from other users about this problem.
In response, Zhao Liangshan, a senior partner at the Shaanxi Hengda Law Firm and a well-known public interest lawyer, believes that if a phone has inherent defects, consumers have the right to demand accountability from the seller, even beyond the warranty period.
According to reports, searches on social media platforms have revealed consumer complaints about such issues from 2023 until now. Apart from the Huawei Mate 30 Pro used by Mr. Su and Ms. You, some models like the Mate 40 Pro and Mate 60 Pro have also been subject to similar complaints by consumers.
All these consumers have indicated that after-sales services mostly require them to pay varying amounts, ranging from 400 to 900 yuan, to replace the camera. On the Black Cat Complaints platform, a consumer mentioned that they followed the after-sales advice and paid 600 yuan to replace the camera, only to encounter the same issue with the new camera 90 days later, requiring another payment for a replacement.
The Huawei Mate 30 Pro was once a highly anticipated flagship product. However, in recent years, many users have reported possible camera blurriness issues during usage, causing headaches. On Huawei community forums and related photography forums, users with similar troubles have shared their experiences. It is evident that this malfunction is not an isolated case but a widespread issue, for which the company has yet to provide a reasonable solution.
A blogger once wrote that Huawei smartphones are currently facing limitations and challenges such as 5G chip issues, leading to a difficult situation of significant market share decline, which is regrettable.
The article questions why Huawei, facing camera malfunctions in one of its former flagship products, chooses to ignore and not address this common product issue. Is it a case of being helpless, indifferent, or intentionally neglectful?