For what feels like a long time, we haven’t seen a smartphone that really surprises and delights us. Sure an improved camera is nice and so is a bigger screen, but that’s expected. Oh a new phone without buttons on the front? Again, expected. But today in London, Huawei have announced a phone that has a feature list a mile long, and many new tricks I haven’t seen before.
The Huawei Mate20 Pro sits at the top of their product line and has a good list of reasons for it. We’ve had it in our hands for a few days so we’ll add some initial impressions but this is by no means a review – it’s too soon.
From a general perspective the Mate20 Pro has:
Yep, Leica technology again on the back however you’ll find an array of three cameras and one flash. 40MP Main (Wide-angle, f/1.8 aperture) + 20MP(Ultra-wide, f2.2 aperture) + 8MP (Telephoto,f/2.4 aperture) enable the P20 Pro to use AI technology to identify the object or scene and adjust/use the cameras and settings to produce the ideal photo without you fiddling around.
The results we’ve seen so far have been really impressive.
A photo from dinner:
A photo of some flowers
A night photo
A night photo shot on iPhone X
You can draw your own assumptions there but that night shot is rather telling! And there’s a few modes to choose from.
The Mate20 Pro has fast wireless charging or will charge with USB-C, but the Mate20 Pro takes wireless charging and flips it. The Mate20 Pro can charge other wireless chargeable devices. To explain it further, the iPhone X which I carry can be charged using the Mate20 Pro.
You place the device onto the back of the Mate20 Pro and power begins to transfer. This isn’t necessarily the main use case for the feature however if you need to charge headphones which support wireless charging then you’ll never run out of power. How handy!
Yes Apple ditched it, others moved it around the rear of the phone so what did Huawei do? They put it under the screen. Yep, the Mate20 Pro has a fingerprint scanner in the screen. It has face unlock and all the usual security options but for anyone who prefers fingerprint scanning while also enjoying a full screen front of their device, Huawei have provided both.
Well, add all the usual – bluetooth, NFC, wifi, oh infra-red for controlling most devices in your home, a total weight of 189 grams, two year warranty, IP68 water resistance and a 24MP front facing camera.
At a first glance the design resembled the Samsung Galaxy S9, it is a rather slippery device to hold but the side power button awakens an absolutely beautiful screen, the performance of flicking between apps and using the camera was rapid. The camera array on the back grabs your attention immediately and will be what most people focus on.
The performance of this configuration seems impressive so far but there is more testing to be done. It’s the other features on the device which surprise and delight, as I type this article my iPhone X is low on battery but is being resuscitated by the Huawei Mate20 Pro which finished the day with enough battery life to do so. We’re looking forward to exploring the other features further and reporting back with a full review.
The Huawei Mate20 Pro will be available November 1st for an RRP of $1599 in Black and Midnight Blue.
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