Huawei Technologies Co unveiled its much-anticipated Mate 50 series smartphone on Tuesday that supports satellite communication, becoming the first smartphone maker to bring such technology to consumer markets.

The gadget, supported by China's Beidou Satellite Navigation System, has an emergency mode that works independently of battery power, thus, allowing users to send a message in an environment without signal and in case of emergencies, like an earthquake rescue.

Looking back at the development of Huawei's flagship Mate series over the past decade, Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei's device business group and CEO of the company's intelligent automotive solution business unit, said the tech company has been leading major smartphone innovations and "only Mate can surpass Mate".

Priced from 4,999 yuan ($775) in China, the Huawei Mate 50 series is powered by its proprietary operating system HarmonyOS 3. The new series is also equipped with its Kunlun glass, which improves its resistance of falling by 10 times.

chengyu@chinadaily.com.cn