Huawei Mate 20 Pro review

Final Thoughts

Huawei Mate 20 Pro is a massive improvement over the Mate 10 Pro, that's for sure. It has one very advanced camera, a bigger and better OLED screen, refined design, expandable storage, and the best Kirin chipset yet.

Indeed, the Mate 20 Pro is the bearer of the new Kirin 980, which has the fastest Android processor to date. But it also refines the triple camera introduced with the P20 Pro in a very meaningful way - and that makes it an excellent update over the P20, too.

Huawei did a wonderful job with the Mate 20 Pro and it's one of the best smartphones money can buy this Fall. Sure, the market is overly saturated already, but the Mate has something unique - the new triple camera with its new shooting modes - wide-angle and macro. And there is no better all-round imager on the market right now.

The 40W charging is another great addition, as well as the fast-wireless charging. The reverse wireless charging is a gimmick, yes, but it's one gimmick nobody else has.

The Competition

If you've stayed with us until the very end of this review, you are either curious about the Mate 20 Pro or you are seriously considering it. If it's the latter, then you probably have the budget for it. The Mate 20 Pro price is quite steep, equal to the iPhone XS Max, which makes it among the most expensive smartphones on the market.

Apple iPhone XS Max • Samsung Galaxy Note9 • Google Pixel 3 XL • Huawei P20 Pro

The iPhone XS Max is not a real competitor if you are a stickler for Android, but it has a lot of best-in-class features. While it can't match the Mate 20 Pro camera skills, nobody can, it can still offer better video recording over the Mate's. And its display, speakers quality, and chip performance are really hard to match.

Then there is the Samsung Galaxy Note9. It has a Super AMOLED Infinity display, free of notches, and the iconic S-Pen. The performance is equally great, but it can't match the rich camera experience. The Note9 camera is still among the best within the most current flagships. And the Note9 is about €200 cheaper than the Mate 20 Pro and doesn't require new memory cards, so there is that.

Note9 vs. Mate 20 Pro

Google Pixel 3 XL is as expensive as the Mate 20 Pro, but specs-wise it's a bit inferior. Google is a wizard when it comes to low-light photos and portraits with just one camera, though, and it probably snaps the best selfies out there. The vanilla Android and its fast updates are pretty valuable, too.

We feel it will all boil down to the triple camera in the end and whether it's worth its salt - and that would be up to you to decide. But if north of €1000 seems off to you, then the Huawei P20 Pro is an excellent alternative. It has an AMOLED screen, water-tight body, and quite fast Kirin 970 chip. Its triple-camera lacks the wide-angle snapper in favor of a monochrome one, but its daylight and low-light pictures are on par with the Mate 20 Pro's. The P20 Pro also has the same zoom capabilities and its videos are even a tad better. And now, about seven months since the P20 Pro launch, it costs almost half the Mate 20 Pro price and it deserves a serious consideration.

The Verdict

If you travel a lot and take a ton of photos, then look no further. The Huawei Mate 20 Pro is the ultimate companion for any journey - it can fully replace a whole bag of camera and lenses. It has a great screen, blazing-fast performance, and its large battery charges in a flash.

But the Mate is not only a camera, it is well equipped to handle any business, gaming, or social task you throw at it. And while it may have a few omissions, the Mate 20 Pro is still the most jam-packed with features smartphone this season. And it deserves to be on your wishlist.

Pros

• Top-notch AMOLED with superb brightness and sunlight contrast
• Kirin 980 has the fastest Android processor
• Great security options - face unlock and UD fingerprint scanner
• 40W wired and 15W wireless charging (reversed, too)
• Dependable battery
• The triple camera is the best all-round setup on a smartphone

Cons

• No audio port
• The stereo speakers are squeaky, one is in the USB port
• The selfie camera would benefit from autofocus
• Proprietary memory cards with extremely limited availability