Huawei Mate 30, 30 Pro, 30 RS hands-on review

Introduction

Huawei has promised the US-China trade war will not affect the Mate 30 launch and indeed it didn't stop the maker from going full steam ahead with its plans. Huawei has announced the Mate 30 series on September 19 in Munich, and the new phones are looking very intriguing, with or without Google's services framework.

The Mate 30 lineup includes three flagship devices - the Mate 30, Mate 30 Pro, and the Porsche Design Mate 30 RS - all three of these boasting the latest Kirin 990 chip and new Leica multi-camera setup. And alongside those smartphones, Huawei has unveiled the Watch GT2 with 2 weeks of battery life.

The star of the show was the Huawei Mate 30 Pro, which is jam-packed with bleeding-edge tech. The Pro model has a new 6.53 curved "Horizon" AMOLED with support for M-Pen and various gestures that replace the volume keys, runs on the new Kirin 990 chip with 5G modem, and has a beefy 4,500 mAh battery with super-fast wired and wireless charging - in both directions at that!

Of course, the new Mate 30 Pro introduces an upgraded Leica camera, this time around with a focus on video. It's a quad-camera arrangement with a 40MP 27mm f/1.6 OIS main camera (RYYB filter), an 8MP 80mm f/2.4 OIS tele snapper for 3x zoom, a TOF camera, and a brand-new 40MP 18mm f/1.8 ultrawide cine camera (RGGB filter) with 3:2 aspect.

Video recording finally gets some proper attention - it supports up to 4K 60fps video capture, but frame rates go even higher in slow-motion mode, the phone can do a mind-boggling 7,680fps at 720p. Another fun thing to try is 4K time lapse with HDR+ colors. For shooting in low light, the video camera can go up to ISO 52,000. AIS is available on all three snappers, and OIS + AIS work together where available. The snappers can use the TOF sensor for rendering real-time bokeh in video.

The Mate 30 Pro also has a 32MP f/2.0 selfie shooter at the front, accompanied by a 3D TOF sensor. Check the full specs sheet below.

Huawei Mate 30 Pro specs

• Body: dual Gorilla Glass 6 with metal frame; IP68-rated for dust and water resistance
• Screen: 6.53" AMOLED, 1,176 x 2,400 px resolution (409ppi); HDR10, gesture and M-Pen support
• Chipset: Kirin 990 5G chipset, octa-core processor (2xA76 @2.86GHz + 2xA76 @2.36GHz +4xA55 @1.95GHz), Mali-G76 MP16 GPU, 3-core NPU
• Memory: 8GB RAM, 128/256GB UFS3.0 storage (expandable via Nano Memory - hybrid slot)
• OS: Android 10 with EMUI 10;
• Camera: 40MP 27mm f/1.6 OIS (RYYB filter) + 8MP 80mm f/2.4 OIS lens (3x optical zoom) + 40MP 18mm f/1.8 (RGGB filter) ultra-wide + ToF camera; 4K@60fps video capture, 720@7680fps slow-mo, Leica branding
• Camera features: 1/1.7" 40MP sensor, up to ISO 204,800, 3x optical zoom, 5x hybrid zoom, Super Macro Mode, OIS + EIS, Variable Aperture, Portrait Mode, Night Mode. HDR video, video ISO up to 52,000.
• Selfie cam: 32MP, f/2.0 Leica lens + 3D TOF camera; Portrait Mode with live bokeh effects
• Battery: 4,500mAh; Super Charge 40W; 27W wireless charging; reverse wireless charging (40W/27W)
• Security: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical)
• Connectivity: 5G(5G model only)/4G/3G/GSM; Dual SIM, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Dual-band GPS; Bluetooth 5.1 + LE, NFC, USB Type-C
• Misc: IR blaster, acoustic display acts as earpiece, bottom-firing loudspeaker

The Huawei Mate 30 is quite interesting, too. Just like previous years the Mate 30 has a smaller notch on its display, is just splash-resistant, has a 3.5mm audio jack, and has some changes in the camera - in this case it lacks the 40MP cine snapper.

So, the Huawei Mate 30 has an even larger but flat 6.62" OLED screen of 1,080 x 2,340 pixels with a smaller notch. The cutout size may have been shrunk, but it still houses a 32MP selfie shooter and a 3D TOF snapper.

Then the Mate 30 packs the same Kirin 990 chip with 5G modem for the 5G model. It has a somewhat smaller 4,200mAh battery with the same blazing-fast wired and wireless charging speeds in both ways.

The Mate 30 comes with changes in the camera. It has the same 40MP main snapper, but it lacks OIS, the 8MP 3x tele with OIS stays untouched, the TOF is gone, and the ultrawide shooter is just a regular 16MP f/2.2 snapper - no special treatment here. The Mate 30 still does 4K at 60fps but doesn't have the 7680fps super slow-mo and cool ultrawide timelapse options. Of course - all these changes add for a considerably lower price.

Huawei Mate 30 specs

• Body: dual-glass with metal frame; IP53-rated for dust protection and splash resistance
• Screen: 6.62" AMOLED, 1,080 x 2,340 px resolution (389ppi); HDR10
• Chipset: Kirin 990 5G chipset, octa-core processor (2xA76 @2.86GHz + 2xA76 @2.36GHz +4xA55 @1.95GHz), Mali-G76 MP16 GPU, 3-core NPU
• Memory: 6/8GB RAM, 128GB UFS3.0 storage (expandable via Nano Memory - hybrid slot)
• OS: Android 10 with EMUI 10;
• Camera: 40MP 27mm f/1.6 OIS (RYYB filter) + 8MP 80mm f/2.4 OIS lens (3x optical zoom) + 16MP 17mm f/2.2 ultra-wide; 4K@60fps video capture, 720@960fps slow-mo, Leica branding
• Camera features: 1/1.7" 40MP sensor, up to ISO 204,800, 3x optical zoom, 5x hybrid zoom, Super Macro Mode, OIS + EIS, Variable Aperture, Portrait Mode, Night Mode.
• Selfie cam: 24MP, f/2.0 Leica lens + 3D TOF camera; Portrait Mode with live bokeh effects
• Battery: 4,500mAh; Super Charge 40W; 27W wireless charging; reverse wireless charging (40W/27W)
• Security: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical)
• Connectivity: 5G(5G model only)/4G/3G/GSM; Dual SIM, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Dual-band GPS; Bluetooth 5.1 + LE, NFC, USB Type-C
• Misc: IR blaster, bottom-firing loudspeaker

And a Mate launch event can't be complete without a Porsche Design model and, of course, we got a Mate 30 RS, too.

It is the same phone as the Mate 30 Pro, but with an exclusive Porsche-inspired leather back and comes with 512GB storage and 12GB RAM.

Finally, Huawei Watch GT2 also premiered in Munich. It's the second generation of Huawei's sports-oriented smartwatch which uses a proprietary OS. It's a beautiful device with a circular 1.39" OLED screen and allegedly two weeks of battery life.