The Huawei Mate 20 Pro is the new flagship phone from Huawei. I am very excited about this new phone, having spent some early access time using it.
Key Features
First up it features the new Kirin 980 7nm chipset, with its dual NPU. This is so important as it ups what’s possible in the photography field. Now the Huawei Mate 20 Pro can recognise the skeleton form of a human being, not just photos, but in videos in precise detail. This means it can optomise parts of images live even during video. See my video below with the sample of Video AI colour.
In terms of connectivity, the phone has Cat 21, that’s 1.4 Gigabits per second. The latest Bluetooth 5 is now included with the respective codecs.
What’s a phone without a decent battery? Well the Mate 20 Pro has a huge 4,200 maH battery. Not only that it has “Reverse Wireless Charging” – a first for a phone to share power wirelessly.
Unlike Apple, Huawei include a supercharger in the box. This is the new 40Watts supercharger that can recharge the huge battery to 70% in just 30 mins. Qi Wireless is now included at 15 watts which is double the industry standard. Both charging methods have been safety certified by independent company.
The Mate 20 Pro is all about its camera and I am sure that is what you are all most interested in. Co-engineered with Leica and taken up to the next level. On board is a 40mp RGB f/1.8 lens, 8mp telephoto with OIS, 20mp f/2.2 ultra wide sensor, dual tone flash. As the main sensor is so good now, there is no need for the monochrome sensor.
The Mate 20 Pro features nNw photo AI modes. Super macro gets as close as 2.5cm from subject. On the P20 Pro, it could identify 500 scenes and scenarios, but now with dual NPU that has risen to 1,500. The AI knows how to keeps the right stuff in focus too. There is so much to cover on the cameras, so much so, I will be creating two special posts.
The AI now extends to video with special video modes eg AI Colour video. This keeps the person in colour while the res of video is in black and white.
Security has been improved with a new 3D Facial dot matrix unlock. It can be used to secure information on the device as well. An under the screen finger print sensor is also included. Huawei’s backup now extends to NAS systems for extra versatility.
Moving over to productivity, you can now print seamlessly to a wifi printers. PC Desktop mode is now wireless enabled using a miracast enabled screen/TV. This also means you can use desktop mode indepently of the phone.
The design of the phone and camera setup is distinctive and easily identifiable. It has glass with a textured pattern to aid grip, resists fingerprints. Beautiful and practical. It is also IP68.
Accessories
Huawei are bringing a selection of cases with the new phones as well as the new fast 15w Qi charger.
First Impressions
Conclusion
I am genuinely bowled over by the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and can’t wait to explore if further!
Looks great but does it have a headphone jack & waterproofing? That’s what I need.
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Pro is ip68,. No jack. Standard has headphone jack. Can’t recall if it has a ip rating.
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Great overview Gavin.
I know it’s probably only me who cares about this, but does it have OIS (not AIS) for video?
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Not 100% sure. Definitely AIS. OIS is definitely on telephoto lens. Assume not on others.
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Can you turn the AIS off for video? I know I sound like a broken record, but interested in this for low light video.
Also – the P20 pro didn’t do any stabilisation at 4k – I am assuming this does?
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All resolutions are stabilised well. No option to turn off stabilisation
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Thanks for the reply Gavin. Appreciate it.
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Reverse wireless charging is going to be great for things like charging wireless earbuds and watches (when this becomes mainstream)
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