Huawei Mate 20, Mate 20 Pro launched: Better than iPhones? Let's find out

Huawei, a Chinese smartphone manufacturer, on October 16 unveiled the Huawei Mate Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro smartphones. These smartphones are the first to use Huawei’s proprietary 7nm-based Kirin 980 system-on-chip. They also have a second-generation Leica-tuned triple camera module on the back, the first generation set-up was a part of the Huawei P20 Pro (review) that was launched in India earlier this year.

Huawei Mate 20 Pro

The Mate 20 Pro is the first Huawei offering to have a curved OLED screen. The phone sports a 6.39-inch screen of 1,440p (QHD) resolution with HDR support. The screen has a wide notch on the top that accommodates earpiece, sensors and front camera, along with a new hardware for 3D face recognition. The phone is also the first to incorporate a pressure sensitive in-display fingerprint sensor. Speaking of the firsts, the Huawei Mate 20 Pro is the world’s first smartphone to support the 4.5G LTE Cat. 21 standard, allowing consumers to experience download speeds of up to 1.4 Gbps.

The Mate 20 Pro is also the first Mate-series smartphone to feature a tri-camera module on the back. In terms of specifications, the camera module looks similar to the one found in the P20 Pro – 40-megapixel primary camera of f/1.8 aperture size, mated with a 20MP ultra-wide angle lens of f/2.2 aperture size and an 8MP telephoto lens of f/2.2 aperture. However, with new processor under the hood and improved algorithms, the camera module is now capable to take macro shots from 1-inch distance. It also gets a host of artificial intelligence-based improvements for still shots or motion pictures (videos). On the front, the Pro edition has a 24MP camera of f/2.0 aperture. This camera also doubles up as a face recognition module for face unlock mechanism.

The phone is powered by a 4,200 mAh battery and comes bundled with 40W charger, which the company claims to charge up to 70 per cent in half an hour. The phone also supports reversible wireless charging, meaning it can either be charged through wireless charger or can charge other devices through wireless charger.

The phone has ingress protection 68 rating (IP68), making it water and dust resistant. It has stereo speakers, USB type-C for audio output, charging and data transfers and supports new format memory cards of up to 256GB.

 

Huawei Mate 20

It would be unfair to call the Huawei Mate 20 a trimmed down version of the Pro edition. It has the same processor that ticks inside the Pro edition, but has a different format screen, a new triple camera set-up on the back and a different kind of fast charging capabilities. The Mate 20 has a 6.53-inch LCD screen of fullHD+ (1080p) resolution. The screen is also notch-based, but has a tiny one that accommodates only the 24MP front camera. The phone has a fingerprint sensor on the back, right below the new triple camera module, which has a new 12MP primary sensor of f/1.8 aperture, mated with 16MP ultra-wide angle lens of f/2.2 aperture and 8MP telephoto lens of f/2.4 aperture. Though the module is different, it supports all the software-based goodies that the Pro edition packs such as AI modes, macro mode, etc.

The Mate 20 is powered by a 4,000 mAh battery. However, unlike the Pro edition, there is no wireless charging support and the wired charger is capable of 22.5W fast charging. The phone has a USB type-C port for charging and data transfers and a dedicated 3.5mm jack for audio output. However, there is no IP-rating, therefore the phone is not water or dust resistant.