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HONOR 20 Pro release reportedly on hold over US-HUAWEI sanctions (Updated)
June 20, 2025
Update: August 23, 2025 at 10:46 a.m. ET:An HONOR spokesperson reached out toAndroid Authorityregarding the claims below. The HONOR 20 Pro release date is still scheduled for July 2019, and HONOR will update us with more availability information once it has more details.
Original article: August 11, 2025 at 7:43 a.m. ET:HUAWEI subsidiary HONOR launched its latest smartphone earlier this week, theHONOR 20 Pro, expected to be released in early July. However, it may not ship on time thanks to HUAWEI’s currentU.S. restrictions.
According to01net(viaWinFuture), the HONOR 20 Pro has not received Android certification, meaning it wouldn’t be able to be sold in the European market with Google’s services (like Play Store access and regular security updates). The device could still run with a forked version of the Android platform, but its lack of core Google apps and services would cripple its commercial appeal.
Google pulled HUAWEI’s Android licenselast weekend in compliance with recent U.S. sanctions placed on the company. This stripped HUAWEI of the ability to update its existing phones with new security patches or release new phones with Google’s app suite and services.
The U.S. government later granted HUAWEI a90-day general licensewhich, among other things, allowed it to continue updating its existing phones as usual. However, it appears this agreement either hasn’t been enough to cover the HONOR 20 Pro’s Android license or a separate problem related to the U.S. restrictions has gotten in the way of its release.
01netsuggests that the HONOR 20, which waslaunched at the same event, has been certified and won’t be delayed. A future release date for the HONOR 20 Pro hasn’t been proposed.
This is an unconfirmed report, so take it with a grain of salt. We’re yet to receive an official comment from HONOR on the matter but we’ve reached out to both it and HUAWEI for more. We will update this story should we receive a response. Head here for more on theHUAWEI versus U.S. story so far.
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