Right on schedule, Huawei today took the wraps off of its flagship Mate 30 series of smartphones.
The Mate 30 Pro features a 6.53-inch OLED screen with a resolution of 2400x1176 and an in-display fingerprint sensor. It's also got a Horizon Display design that curves the edges of the screen to 88 degrees. Because of this, the Mate 30 Pro doesn't have traditional buttons on its side. Instead, Huawei is using virtual buttons on the side of the phone for doing things like double-tapping to change the volume.
Around back is another major feature of the Mate 30 Pro: its cameras. The quad camera setup includes a 40MP wide camera with f/1.6 aperture and OIS; a 40MP ultra-wide camera with f/1.8 aperture; an 8MP telephoto cam with 3x optical zoom, f/2.4 aperture, and OIS; and a 3D Depth Sensing camera to help you add bokeh effects to your photos.
These cameras have some impressive video recording chops, too, including 4K 60fps and an ultra slow-mo that'll capture video at 7680fps at 720p.
Inside the Mate 30 Pro is a Kirin 990 processor, and Huawei plans to offer a version of the Mate 30 Pro with a Kirin 990 5G chipset, too. There's 8GB of RAM, 256GB of built-in storage, support for an NM SD Card for added storage, and a 4500mAh battery that supports up to 40W wired fast charging and up to 27W wireless fast charging. Reverse wireless charging support is included as well.
Rounding out the Mate 30 Pro's feature set is a 32MP front-facing camera that's paired with a 3D depth sensing cam, dual SIM slots, Android 10 running below Huawei's EMUI 10 user interface, and IP68 water and dust resistance.
The standard Mate 30 offers a design similar to the Pro model, but with a few changes. For example, it's got a larger 6.62-inch 2340x1080 OLED screen that doesn't have the curved edges of its Pro sibling, and it's equipped with 128GB of storage and a smaller 4200mAh battery.
The cameras on the Mate 30 are a bit different, too. Around back is a 40MP wide angle camera with f/1.8 aperture and an 8MP telephoto cam with 3x optical zoom and f/2.4 aperture. Rather than a 40MP ultra-wide camera, though, the Mate 30 has a 16MP ultra-wide cam with f/2.2 aperture, and it also swaps the 3D depth sensor of the Mate 30 Pro for a laser focus.
Finally, the Porsche Design Mate 30 RS was announced with a backside that is clad in leather and a glass strip, and it's got 12GB of RAM and 512GB of built-in storage.
One other detail worth noting about Huawei's new Mate 30 series is that while they run Android, they do not have Google Mobile Services due to the U.S. trade ban on Huawei. That means that they don't come with the Play Store for downloading apps, nor do they include Google apps like Gmail, YouTube, and Google Maps.
According to Reuters, Huawei will "offer its own interface that will allow users to access some Google apps", but little is known about how that'll work. Huawei has also said that it's investing $1 billion into its own Huawei Mobile Services to spur development and marketing of apps for it.
The Huawei Mate 30 Pro will cost €1099 EUR ($1,214 USD) for the 8GB/256GB model when it launches, while the 5G version of the Mate 30 Pro will cost €1199 EUR ($1,324 USD). The standard Mate 30 will cost €799 EUR ($883 USD) for the 8GB/128GB version. And then there's the Porsche Design Mate 30 RS, which will set buyers back a cool €2095 EUR ($2,314 USD).
So now that they're official, what do you think of Huawei's Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro?
