Huawei’s Mate 10 Pro and the impressive P20 Pro are the two devices that the new Huawei Mate 20 Pro is here to outgun. Considering how highly these two were rated, there’s no doubt the Mate 20 Pro has huge shoes to fill in. It’s worth noting that the Mate 20 Pro has siblings in the shape of Huawei Mate 20 and the stylus-toting Mate 20 X, whose details are captured via the links below.
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Huawei Mate 20 Pro specs
- 6.39-inch 19.5:9 QHD+ (3120 x 1440) OLED display
- Kirin 980 processor
- 6GB RAM
- 128GB expandable storage, up to 256GB
- Tri-lens 40MP + 20MP + 8MP main camera
- 24MP main camera
- 4200mAh battery
- Android 9 Pie with EMUI 9
- Extras: Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C, 3D face unlock, 40W SuperCharge, 15W wireless quick charge, NFC, IP68, IR sensor, In-display FPS, etc.
Although late to add to what is already an amazing collection of 2018 Android flagship smartphones, the Huawei Mate 20 Pro comes in style, housing every other feature you might deem desirable in any premium phone.
Like its sibling, the Huawei P20 Pro and one of its rivals, LG V40 ThinQ, the back of the Mate 20 Pro is highlighted by the presence of a tri-lens camera. There’s a 40MP main shooter with f/1.8 aperture, a 20MP ultra-wide angle lens with f/2.2 aperture and an 8MP telephoto lens with f/2.4 aperture.
The Leica-backed camera also supports OIS, AIS (Huawei’s version of EIS), laser, phase and contrast autofocus, among other stuff. On the front, there’s also a lot going on besides the 24MP selfie camera. The expansive notch also houses a dot projector, flood illuminator, TOF proximity sensor and an IR camera that are all meant to deliver much more secure facial recognition. There is also room for an in-display fingerprint scanner that is now 20% faster than the Mate RS Porsche Design’s UD sensor.
To match another of its closest rivals, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, the Mate 20 Pro rocks a big, beautiful OLED display screen with a QHD+ resolution, a huge improvement from the Full HD resolution used on the Mate 10 Pro display. The Kirin 980 chipset running the show is based on the 7nm process, making it the first of its kind to power an Android smartphone. This chipset promises superior performance and better efficiency compared to the 10nm-based Snapdragon 845, something that isn’t new to us at all.
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Keeping the Mate 20 Pro alive is a decent 4200mAh battery that supports fast charging, both wired (up to 40W via a USB-C port) and wireless (up to 15W). The latter gets even better, where you can easily turn the phone into a wireless charging dock and use it to charge other devices that support wireless charging. Unfortunately, though, you’ll be missing out on the 3.5mm audio jack, although this shouldn’t be anything new for those coming over from the Mate 10 Pro.
The phone also comes with faster LTE modem with speeds of up to 1.4Gbps and plenty of AI capabilities that help with system optimizations, scene detection, and automatic image processing for superior photography, but it is the ability to wirelessly charge other devices that makes the Mate 20 Pro standout in the crowd. Huawei calls this technology reverse wireless charging and works pretty fine, even when a phone has a case on it.
In terms of software, there’s Android 9 Pie pre-installed with EMUI 9 on top, making the Mate 20 Pro the third device to launch with Pie pre-installed. The first was Sony’s Xperia XZ3 followed by the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL.
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The Huawei Mate 20 Pro has four color variants of Emerald Green, Midnight Blue, Black, and the gorgeous Twilight shade (above image, from bottom to top, respectively).
Huawei Mate 20 Pro price and availability
Huawei Mate 20 Pro is the ultimate offering in this series. Of course, the Porsche Design model is in a league of its own and given how hard it is to come by, it makes the Mate 20 Pro most people’s choice. Unfortunately, the issues with the U.S. government mean the Mate 20 Pro won’t be officially sold in the country, but of course, Amazon always your back.
In the UK, the Mate 20 Pro goes for £900 while the rest of Europe will pay a whopping €1,049, the most expensive ever.
