Huawei unveils Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro- but there’s a catch!

Huawei Mate 30

The Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has now finally unveiled the Huawei Mate 30 and Huawei Mate 30 Pro smartphones at an event held in Munich today. Both the flagships tout upgraded cameras, new Kirin 990 SoC, massive batteries and come with Android 10. Alongside, the company has also launched Huawei Vision TV and Watch GT 2.

Huawei Mate 30 & Mate 30 Pro: Specs, Features

Design & Display

The new Mate lineup comes with a halo ring rear camera design, inspired by professional cameras. And instead of the square module on the Mate 20-series, the Mate 30 now employes circular camera setup. Huawei has also removed physical keys with the Pro. And they’ve now been replaced with invisible virtual keys for dual side control, akin to Vivo NEX 3.

The Huawei Mate 30 Pro, comes with a 6.53-inch screen with a 2400 x 1176 resolution and 18.4:9 aspect ratio. The display gets an 88-degree curve and is called a Horizon display by Huawei. The panel also touts DCI-P3 HDR, Anti Blue Light tech and Cinematic colour system.

The Mate 30, on the other hand, gets a flat 6.22-inch panel with 2,340 x 1,080 resolution, 402ppi pixel density and 18.7:9 aspect ratio. Both the phones have notches on top (smaller on regular model) with 3D face unlock, accompanied by in-display fingerprint scanners. The former comes with IP68 water and resistance while the latter settles with an IP53 rating.

Internals

Under the hood, the Mate 30-duo gets powered by the latest HiSilicon Kirin 990 (7nm+ process) which is an octa-core chip employing 2 x Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.86GHz, 2 x Cortex-A76 clocked at 2.36GHz, and 4 x Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 1.95GHz. Furthermore, the processor boasts of dual-NPU (Neural Processing Engine) for AI-related tasks and Mali-G76 MP16 GPU for graphics.

The Mate 30 comes in 8GB RAM and 128GB configuration while the Pro model is offered with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. Just like its predecessors, the Mate 30-series will allow storage expansion with nano memory cards.

Cine Camera

For photography, the Mate 30 Pro gets a total of four cameras at the rear. This includes a 40MP Supersensing wide camera with f/1.6 lens and OIS, a 40MP ultra-wide cine camera with f/1.8 lens, and an 8MP telephoto camera with 3x zoom, OIS and f/2.4 aperture. There’s also a 3D TOF sensor for sensing depth information. The camera setup can do 4K at 30/60fps, 1080p at 30/60/960fps, and 720p ultra slow-motion at 7680fps. For selfies, there’s a 32MP shooter upfront with f/2.0 aperture.

Whereas, the regular Mate 30 gets a 40MP Supersensing wide camera with f/1.8 lens, a 16MP ultra-wide camera with f/2.2 aperture and an 8MP telephoto unit with 3x optical zoom, f/2.4 aperture and OIS. The fourth one is actually the slit for laser autofocus, instead of the 3D depth sensor found on the Pro. Upfront, there’s a 24MP f/2.0 shooter. Both the phones boast of 3x optical, 5x optical hybrid and 30x digital zooming options.

Android without Google Services & Play Store

On the software front, the Mate 30-series runs EMUI 10 based on an open-source version of the latest Android 10. However, it lacks Google services and Google apps like Play store Gmail, YouTube and more, due to discrepancies caused by US-China trade war.

That said, the Huawei ID will serve as your main account to access a whole ecosystem laid by HMS (Huawei Mobile Services). Plus, Huawei is pushing its own apps with the device including a full-fledged app store dubbed as Huawei App Gallery, and replacements for Google Photos, Chrome and more.

CEO Richard Yu, in an interview, has clarified that it might be possible for users to install Google Mobile Services core into phones through third-party app stores or websites. He has also confirmed that users will be allowed to unlock the bootloaders of Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro.

Battery & Charging

The regular model gets a 4,200mAh battery while the Pro flaunts a larger 4,500mAh cell. Huawei is also touting the presence of 40W fast wired charging and 27W fast wireless charging. Moreover, you can reverse charge supported devices with the reverse wireless charging feature.

Price, Variants and Availability

The Mate 30 Pro is available in six colours in total. This comprises of green and orange vegan leather editions, followed by silver, green, purple, and black colour versions. Huawei has also unveiled the Porsche Design Mate 30RS (12GB RAM + 512GB) in red and black variants with more seamless camera array. And since the Kirin 990 has a built-in 5G model, the company has also announced the Mate 30 Pro 5G model alongside the trio.

As for the price, the Huawei Mate 30 starts at 799 euros (about INR 62,978) for 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. Whereas, the Mate 30 Pro will cost 1,099 euros (around INR 86,619) for 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. The 5G model, on the other hand, will retail for 1,199 euros (about INR 94,501). And lastly, the Porsche Design edition will start at 2095 euros which roughly translates to INR 1,65,104.

About the author

Ritik Singh

An avid media student who is highly passionate about technology since childhood. He has good experience in video production, gadget reviews and is ardent about writing on tech.