Lance ThooLast year, Neue (@whatsneue) wrote an article proclaiming that the Huawei P20 Pro was the perfect option if you loved taking photos of your pets and food. Back then, I boasted that the P20 Pro had THREE lenses on its back. Was it just a gimmick? Perhaps. But was it cool? You bet!
But how does one make something perfect even better? By getting yourself an upgrade, of course!
Say hello to Huawei’s Mate 20 Pro!
I stumbled upon this monster of a phone the other day at Ten Ten Gadget Shop (@tentenstores) at Setia Kenangan 2 in Kiulap. As of January 9, the 6GB RAM + 128GB internal memory version was priced at $1,188, while the 8GB + 256GB internal memory version went for $1,338.
Monster Specs!
Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and P20 Pro:
| Specs | Huawei Mate 20 Pro | Huawei P20 Pro |
| Size | 157.8 x 72.3 x 8.6 mm (6.22 x 2.85 x 0.34 inches) | 155 x 73.9 x 7.8 mm (6.1 x 2.9 x 0.3 inches) |
| Weight | 189 g | 174 g |
| Screen size | 6.4-inch AMOLED display | 6.1-inch AMOLED display |
| Screen resolution | 3,120 x 1,440 (538 pixels-per-inch) | 2,240 x 1,080 pixels (408 pixels-per-inch) |
| Operating system | Android 9.0 Pie | Android 8.1 Oreo |
| Storage | 128GB, 256GB | 128GB, 256GB |
| MicroSD card slot | No but features proprietary Nano Memory Card | No |
| Colours | Emerald green, midnight blue, twilight, pink gold, black | Black, blue, pink gold, twilight |
| Processor | Kirin 980 | Kirin 970 |
| RAM | 6GB, 8GB | 6GB, 8GB |
| Camera | Triple sensor 40MP and 20MP and 8MP rear, 24MP front | Triple-lens 40MP, 20MP and 8MP rear, 24MP front |
| Video | 2,160p at 30 frames per second, 1,080p at 60 fps, 720p at 960 fps | 2,160p at 30 frames per second, 1,080p at 30 fps, 720p at 960 fps |
| Bluetooth version | Bluetooth 5.0 | Bluetooth 4.2 |
| Ports | USB-C | USB-C |
| Fingerprint sensor | Yes (In-display) | Yes (front) |
| Water resistance | IP68 | IP67 |
| Battery | 4,200 mAh, Fast charging Qi wireless charging | 4,000 mAh Fast charging |
Boring! Just Tell Us What’s Cool!
Yawn! Admittedly, the specifications in the table above are a dry read. (I know! But it’s just there to keep the technophiles happy.)
So let’s jump right into the reasons why having the Mate 20 Pro in your possession is going to be a win for you!
#1. Revive Your Friend’s Phone
(Courtesy: Huawei)
Did you know that the Mate 20 Pro supports reverse wireless charging? Imagine being able to charge your friend’s Samsung or iPhone with a Huawei device? Be sure to snap a photo of their shocked (disgusted) faces when you do this!
To do this, all you have to do is hold a Qi-compatible charging device up against the back of the Mate 20 Pro, and charge the other device. It’s good that the Mate 20 Pro packs a punch with its 4,200 mAh battery – more than enough juice for you to revive your friends’ mobiles.
#2. Supports World’s Fastest Wi-Fi
The 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 1.4Gbps. It also supports the world’s fastest Wi-Fi connection speeds – 2GB footage requires only 10 seconds to download! The top-end flagship also supports dual-band (L1+L5) GPS positioning technology. The AI GPS Satellite Selection technology enhances the positioning accuracy across a wide range of scenarios.
#3. Looks Great!
In typical Huawei fashion the hardware arrives in a Twilight colour that is instantly striking and exudes a different shade depending on what angle light strikes it. The back of Huawei’s standard black model looks more gunmetal grey and is tantalisingly sleek.
#4. Sensational Camera
Sample of an ultra-wide angle photo that was taken with a Huawei Mate 20 (Photos above & below courtesy of Huawei)
Huawei’s Mate 20 Pro has a triple-lens system like the P20 Pro but there is a HUGE difference here – the Mate 20 Pro DOES NOT have the 20MP monochrome sensor that was found on the P20 Pro. The 20MP monochrome sensor was a lens that proved popular for those who owned the device and for some was the gateway into black-and-white photography.
According to a report by the Wccf (Where Consumers Come First) Tech website, Huawei had stated that the use of bigger and better sensors have rendered it useless.
The phone now features a 20MP camera for super-wide pictures, a 40MP wide-angle lens, and an 8MP telephoto camera.
The Mate 20 Pro’s 40MP main sensor is the same as P20 Pro’s and has a huge 1/1.7-inch size, F/1.8 aperture, and focal length of 27mm. The 20MP camera has an aperture of F/2.2, offers a focal length of 16mm, and the minimum focus distance is 2.5cm.
The telephoto lens gets an upgrade too; instead of delivering 3x optical zoom, the 8MP camera now supports up to 5x optical, making it the first in the industry to get this feature without a retractable lens.
The Mate 20 Pro also features Huawei’s Master AI 2.0 image processing, enabling the phone to dissect a photograph into sections and treat each section accordingly.
Sample of a macro shot taken by a Huawei Mate phone
#5. Sheer Power!
Huawei Mate 20 Pro is powered by the firm’s own Kirin 980 processor that is built on a 7-nanometre process.
Ahead of the flagship’s debut, Huawei insisted the chipset was more capable than Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 present in a number of Android handsets that debuted in 2018. The Kirin 980 provides a noticeable step-up from the Snapdragon 845 and, combined with the Mate 20 Pro’s 6GB of RAM, offers rapid performance across Android 9 Pie.
Compared To Average?
According to Versus, these are the areas where the Mate 20 Pro comes out shining when compared to the average:
Final Say
With the Huawei Mate 20 Pro priced around the cost of a Samsung Note 9 and iPhone Xs, it is certainly going to cost a pretty penny to get your hands on one.
So long as you are willing to stomach a four-figure price tag (over 1,000 BND), you can be rest assured that the Mate 20 Pro would serve as the perfect camera-focused performance device jam-packed with top-of-the-line specs.
If this sounds like you, then the only question you have to ask yourself is: “What colour should I get?”
Happy shopping!