Huawei Mate 20 Series

Tuesday, 16 October, 2018 was the worldwide launch of the new Huawei Mate 20 Series in London and of course, TheAppWhisperer was there! Held at the ExCel Centre it was the perfect location for such an incredible device. Building on the foundation of HUAWEI P20 Series’ camera system, Huawei have augmented the HUAWEI Mate 20 with a powerful addition namely the16mm Leica Ultra Wide Angle Lens. This wider perspective creates a sense of spaciousness and a three dimensional effect to the images. The new camera system also supports macro distance, which produces crisp images of objects that are placed as close as 2.5cm from the lens. The added ultra-wide angle lens and macro support completes the feature set of the camera system, elevating it to a truly all-round camera that is ready to capture any and all action. The HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro is equipped with a 40MP main camera, a 20MP ultra wide-angle camera, and an 8MP telephoto camera. Together, the trio of lenses supports a wide range of focal lengths (equivalent to the performance of a 16-270mm zoom lens), enabling it to mimic the results from professional cameras. The HUAWEI Mate 20 Series also features an AI Portrait Colour video mode. Using AI, the HUAWEI Mate 20 Series can isolate human subjects and desaturate the colors around them to dramatically highlight the person. AI Spotlight Reel identifies clips with a shared theme and auto-generates a montage, made entirely of highlights.

There were so many innovative features announced for the Mate 20 Pro including, ‘in-screen fingerprint’, this allows for maximum view with 10 level dynamic pressure sensing. Essentially, all you need to do is place your finger in the centre of your screen to unlock it and it now unlocks 30% faster than the previous model.

Also, this handset is the world’s first reverse charging smartphone. This means, you can charge up, for example, an iPhone X from your Mate 20 Pro. To do that, you just literally hold your iPhone X against the back of your Mate 20 Pro and it will recharge your iPhone X.

The HUAWEI Mate 20 Series also features an AI Portrait Colour video mode. Using AI, the HUAWEI Mate 20 Series can isolate human subjects and desaturate the colors around them to dramatically highlight the person. AI Spotlight Reel identifies clips with a shared theme and auto-generates a montage, made entirely of highlights.

The bezel of the new Mate20 Pro is ultra narrow at only 2.1 mm compared with 4.0 to the iPhone Xs Max for example or 5.1 mm of the iPhone Xr, giving you more visual real estate!

The curved OLED screen of the Huawei Mate20 Pro measures 6.39″ (3120×1440). There’s a 19.5:9 DCI-P3 HDR display, with stunning colour saturation and contrast ratio, seriously stunning.

The Matrix Camera System includes Leica Ultra Wide Angle Lens that lets users not only see wider, but also closer with its new macro distance capability. The Hyper Optical Pattern on the glass back plays with light and shadows, producing an iridescent optical effect that is immediately captivating. The Matrix Camera System adopts the iconic Four-Point Design that exudes personality, giving the device a unique visual identity that is recognisable even at a distance. We will be ‘real world’ testing this camera system soon and we include all imagery of our tests.

I am so impressed with the new Huawei Mate 20 Pro, seriously so. I loved the P20 Pro but this is another level again, as hard as that is to reach. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be putting this phone through it’s photographic paces and will publish reviews to keep you informed. Stand by for those…