We know… the full-fat Huawei Mate hasn’t even been announced yet but Huawei South Africa has confirmed that the Huawei Mate 20 Lite will be available locally from 5 October.
This is a peculiar announcement as the Lite devices — budget versions of their fancier brethren — tend to be casually mentioned after or alongside the non-Lite ones, probably so they don’t steal any of the lime light from the flashier versions. What’s going on here, then? Your guess is as good as ours.
The AIs have it
According to the Huawei SA website, the Mate 20 Lite will feature quad (yes, four) “AI-driven” camera sensors. Not all on the same side, luckily — that would be ludicrous. Hopefully Huawei isn’t listening or we might see the next addition loaded with four back sensors (right Nokia?). Turns out the back will have two sensors, and the front will have two. The front sensors will be 24MP+2MP, respectively, while the back will be 20MP+2MP, with an f/1.8 aperture for those bokeh-faking shots.
So, err, the front-facing camera duo will be higher res than the rear? Strange, but that’s what the spec sheet says. Which suggests the Huawei Mate 20 Lite could be angling to be the ultimate selfie phone, and one that let’s you shoot Portrait Mode-style pics with the front-facer. Fancy. Of course, you’ll also get the auto scene recognition we’ve already seen on the Huawei P20 Pro.
The Mate 20 Lite will have a Full HD 6.3in display and fingerprint sensor around the back, although we’re hoping for the flagship devices to launch with in-display fingerprint sensors. This is fine, though — it’s the Lite, after all. For the full spec list, head over to the local website, here.
We have no idea of the local pricing yet, but it will certainly be available in SA come October. Now for the wait to see what Huawei have in store for the rest of the Mate 20 range when it does its big reveal in London on 16 October.
Updated 17/9/18 to change local availability date from 31 October to 5 October, based on an update from Huawei SA.
