Despite the recent problems on US soil, Huawei had a great year in the smartphone market. Their sales have been going up, and millions of people around the world are satisfied from their devices. Most of their smartphones are great and offer decent specs and premium features. Their flagship, the P20 Pro, inspired a lot of other manufacturers to include multiple cameras inside their devices. And the lenses on the P20 Pro are still taking excellent pictures. Now, we’re eagerly expecting the release of the newest additions to the Mate series. The Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro should be announced this month. However, the smaller, Huawei Mate 20 Lite, has already been announced and released for purchase. So, let’s take a closer look at it!

Design

Starting with the design, the 20 Lite keeps on the Mate design lines. You get a metal and glass blend of a design, which looks pretty good in my opinion. The corners and edges are slightly curved, giving you a nice, premium feel in the hand. On the front, you will find the 6.3” IPS LCD display with 1080 x 2340 resolution and 19.5:9 aspect ratio. It does have a notch, but it’s not that big – similar to other Huawei devices. The inclusion of a notch does make the bezels thin, with the bottom chin being the biggest. Rotating to the back, you will find the camera setup in the middle part of the top. The fingerprint sensor is sitting right under them. The device comes in three different color options: Black, Platinum Gold and Sapphire Blue.

Features

Going inside the device, you will see why the Lite stands in the Huawei Mate 20 Lite branding. It’s definitely not a budget device, but it’s not a premium one either. Starting with the chipset, you will find the Kirin 710 processor inside. It’s not as powerful as the Snapdragon 660, but it’s more power efficient, giving you more battery life. Moving over to the RAM, you have the options of 4 or 6GB of it. And for internal storage, you get 64GB of it, which can be expanded using the MicroSD slot. Rounding up the internals, the Mate 20 Lite comes with a 3750mAh battery, which should last you easily through a full day of use.

Switching over to the cameras, you will find dual camera setups on both the front and the back. Starting with the back, you get a primary 20MP shooter with f/1.8 aperture and a secondary 2MP depth sensor. Pictures coming out of the sensors are great, with good quality. The implemented AI features help towards that even more. On the front, you have a primary 24MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture and a secondary 2MP depth sensor. It’s perfect for all of your selfies or video calls. Speaking of video, the device can shoot up to 1080p videos in 30fps.

Finally, the Mate 20 Lite runs on Android Oreo 8.1, with Huawei’s own EMUI skin on top of it. It packs a lot of useful features, but it could have a hard learning curve among new users.

Pricing and availability

The Huawei Mate 20 Lite is available for purchase through many of your local carrier or electronic stores. Pricing starts at $500.

So, what are your thoughts on the Huawei Mate 20 Lite? Share them in the comments below.