Huawei has been doing great in the smartphone market across the world. Despite the ban they got in the US for carriers to feature their devices, they still managed to surpass Apple in the sales department. As the world’s second most sold smartphone brand, they surely have to offer excellent devices. Now, the Chinese company announced their latest devices in the Mate series. The long-rumored refresh to the lineup is here, and they do look exciting. Here, we’re taking a look at the Huawei Mate 20. Let’s begin!

Design

Starting with the design, Huawei delivered in this department again. Overall, it has many of the same features the other competitors have. But there are some details that make it stand apart. Starting with the most obvious one – the camera setup on the back. Unlike the P20 Pro’s placement in the top corner, here they’re placed in a box right in the upper-middle part of the device. Not that this is something special, but it does make it unique, especially in a world where everyone is copying their competitors. While we’re at the back, the device also comes in the signature Emerald Green and Twilight color options. This time around, the glass back on these colors will have a special pattern which will make the device more grippy and less fingerprint-prone. Sadly, the standard Black, Pink Gold and Blue color options will be excluded from this.

Moving over to the front, the 6.53” LCD display takes most of the space of the Huawei Mate 20. It has 1080 x 2244 resolution and 18.7:9 aspect ratio. It does have a notch, but unlike its bigger sibling, the Mate 20 Pro, on this one it’s tiny. Embracing the waterdrop design, it houses the front camera only and it’s not intrusive on your view. Thanks to the notch, the bezels are extremely thin – even the bottom one.

Features

Going inside, and you will see that the Mate 20 is packing powerful hardware. The chipset of choice is the Kirin 980, while the Mali-G76 MP10 GPU is accompanying it. Combining the both, they should handle any task you throw at them. For the RAM, you have the option of 4 or 6GB. On the other hand, 128GB of internal storage is the only option available. You can upgrade it further using the new NM card slot, up to 256GB. Rounding up the internals, the Mate 20 comes with a 4000mAh battery.

Jumping over to the most exciting part of this smartphone – the cameras – we can notice three shooters on the back and a single one on the front. Starting with the first one on the back, you have a primary 12MP wide sensor with f/1.8 aperture. Next, you have the 16MP ultrawide sensor with f/2.2 aperture. Finally, the third and last one on the back is an 8MP telephoto shooter with f/2.4 aperture. Huawei wanted you to have options here, and you definitely get them. Pictures are sharp and have great dynamic range, and we’re glad they included the ultrawide sensor this time around. On the front, you have a single 24MP wide shooter with f/2.0 aperture. It’s more than enough for all of your selfies and video calls. Speaking of video, the Mate 20 can shoot up to 2160p in 30fps.

Finally, the Huawei Mate 20 runs on the newest Android Pie 9.0 out of the box, skinned using their own EMUI 9.0. The skin is decent and packs a lot of useful features, but it does have a slightly hard learning curve.

Pricing and availability

The Huawei Mate 20 will be available for purchase by the end of this month. Prices start at 900euros.

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