Today Huawei announced its Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro, and both run on Android (open source) while boasting impressive specs. That’s what you really came here to find out today — there will be Android. Google’s apps… that’s to be continued, still. There’s also a Mate 30 RS Porsche Edition (that we won’t be able to afford), but the real standout device is, of course, the Mate 30 Pro.
It’s fitted with a 6.53in edge-to-edge Flex OLED display with a new curved design that Huawei calls a ‘Horizon Display’. It curves around the edges to eradicate bezels on the sides. Up top, it has still got the big, bulky notch — that’s okay, it’s packed full of face-scanning tech.
The handset is powered by the brand new Kirin 990 processor, which has built-in 5G. The Mate 30 Pro is also fitted with a 4,500mAh battery which should last you two days, easy. We want to see it in action though, just to be sure.
Quality quad-snappers
The Mate 30 Pro features four rear cameras mounted in a circular design. Yep, four. This is all set in a shiny Huawei-esque rear cover that comes in four colours (more on that in a bit).
Its first main sensor is a 40MP SuperSensing wide-angle (f/1.6) option, the second is a 40MP ultra-wide cine (f/1.8) lens, the third an 8MP telephoto, and it’s also got a 3D depth sensor. Even if you didn’t think it was possible after the Huawei P30 Pro, Huawei has managed to ramp up its photography game even more.
It also brings more video flex, featuring 4K (3,840 x 2,169) recording and improved anti-shake tech. Even more intriguing, you’ll now be able to record in 720p super-super-slow-mo at 7680fps (wowsers), or 1080p at 960fps. So you’ll be able to capture a dragonfly and see every single wing movement, we guess?
Unlike the P30 Pro, the Mate 30 Pro only features 3x optical zoom, which is still impressive in its own right. This, combined with the 5x hybrid zoom will allow up to 30x digital zoom. Huawei has also introduced macro-photography capabilities here, which we’re keen to test.
Up front, it’s got a 32MP f/2.0 selfie sensor, and some sneaky software tweaks introduce some impressive results. Again, we’re gonna have to test that for ourselves.
Gotta admit, it looks good
The (still very big, although smaller) notch is packed with a bunch of unlocking sensors. Huawei included a gesture sensor, for gesture controls, as well as a 3D depth sensor for face unlock. As expected, it’s also got an in-display fingerprint sensor. There aren’t any buttons on the sides – rather, you use the touch screen on the curved display that reaches around the edges. This is used for volume control, unlocking, and the camera shutter button.
The Mate 30 Pro comes in Classic Black, Space Silver, Cosmic Purple, and Emerald Green. All of these colours feature a gloss to matte gradient on the back panel that creates an interesting texture and minimises slip. Huawei also announced vegan-friendly editions called Vegan Leather Orange and Vegan Leather Forest Green — these models are still water- and dustproof.
Both the Mate 30 Pro and the Mate 30 support super-fast 40W wired charging and 27W wireless charging. The bilateral charging Huawei introduced with the Mate 20 has been updated to be three times faster this time around. So you can give your iPhone buds a boost every now and then
The Mate 30 series will run Android 10 with Huawei’s EMUI 10 skin. This includes the gesture controls Android 10 introduced, an always-on display and dark mode. Dark mode can be implemented in all apps on the phone using something Huawei calls a ‘Dark Mode Engine’.
Stay tuned to Stuff for more info on local availability and pricing. We’re still looking forward to seeing how Huawei handles the lack of Google apps and will let you know once we know more. prelim pricing (prices are converted from Euros, so will likely change when it comes to SA), is as follows: Mate 30 – R13,000, Mate 30 Pro – R18,000, Mate 30 Pro 5G – R19,500.
