Huawei Mate 20-series launch: Watch livestream, know likely specs, features

The Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro would be Huawei's first smartphones to use company's proprietary Kirin 980 system-on-chip. These phones would also have triple camera module on the back, similar to P20 Pro

Huawei, a Chinese smartphone manufacturer, would be unveiling the Huawei Mate 20-series today (October 16) in an event in London, UK. Like previous Mate¬-series launches, the company is expected to unveil at least two new premium smartphones. Named the Huawei Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro, these smartphones would be the first to be powered by company’s proprietary Kirin 980 system-on-chip with dual neural processing units (NPUs) for advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities. These phones would also be the first in Mate-series to get triple camera module on the back, which was first introduced in the Huawei P20 Pro (review).

Although, no information with regard to the upcoming smartphones have been officially confirmed, the rumour mill hints at some of the specifications and features of the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro that might turn out to be true eventually. Let’s take a look at what to expect from the duo of premium smartphones:

The Pro edition in the Mate 20-series is expected to be the higher-end variant. The phone is expected to get a curved OLED screen of QHD+ resolution. The screen would have a notch on the top that would accommodate front camera, earpiece and sensors, along with infrared sensor and dot projector for advanced face unlock mechanism. The Pro edition would also get an in-display fingerprint sensor.

The Mate 20, on the other hand, is expected to get an IPS screen of fullHD resolution. It would also have a notch on the top, but a tiny one that would accommodate only the front camera. The earpiece and sensors would move to the thin bezel area above the screen. The phone would support face unlock mechanism, but not the advanced version that would require infrared sensor or dot projection. Therefore, for fast, secure and efficient unlocking, the phone would get a regular fingerprint sensor on the back.

Both the smartphones would get Leica-tuned triple camera modules on the back, which is expected to feature a combination of a 40-megapixel primary lens, mated with a 20MP telephoto lens and an 8MP wide-angle lens. Like the P20 Pro, the phones’ camera would get 5x lossless zooming capabilities.

The Huawei Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro would be unveiled at 6:30 PM (IST) and it will be livestreamed at Huawei social media channels and YouTube.