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

Huawei Mate 30 hands-on

The Huawei Mate 30 is a more streamlined version of the phablet with a few missing features in favor of a lower price tag. But it is just as good-looking and as powerful as the Pro.

The Mate 30 isn't betting that much on the screen as a wow factor. It has a 6.62" OLED screen of 1080p+ resolution. The screen is neither acoustic nor curved. It has a smaller notch than the Pro model,which houses a 24MP selfie shooter, still accompanied by a 3D TOF snapper for Face Unlock and bokeh effects.

Inside the notch the Mate 30 pack a regular earpiece.

Just like the Pro, the regular Mate 30 also has an under-screen fingerprint scanner.

Because the display isn't curved, the Mate 30 enjoys much thicker and thus grippier aluminum frame, and it accommodates regular volume keys in addition to the power key. The audio jack is also around!

The Huawei Mate 30 is still a dual-glass smartphone but it is just splash-resistant and not water-proof. Still, it gets to keep the cool looks of the Pro model and comes in the same Black, Space Silver, Cosmic Purple, and Emerald Green colors. There are also the same orange and greenish vegan-leather editions for the Mate 30.

And being a glass phone with such glossy and reflective surfaces, the Mate 30 is the fingerprint magnet its pictures suggest. Beauty always has a price and its smudges everywhere for the Mate 30.

The main camera setup is not the same on the Mate 30, but you can't tell that at first because it also sits under the same round glass as seen on the Pro. The Mate 30 offers the same 40MP RYYB 27mm main camera but loses the OIS, and it also drops the TOF camera. Then it gets to keep intact the 8MP 3x OIS tele shooter. The third camera is still an ultrawide one, but it's a 16MP f/2.2 one - not as premium and not the Cine camera the Mate 30 Pro has. The fourth hole accommodates the laser-autofocus, which is absent on the Pro model as the TOF plays its role.

The Huawei Mate 30 is capable of shooting 4K videos at 60fps, while it slow-mo maxes out at 720p@960fps.

As far as charging is concerned, the Mate 30 has a 4,200mAh battery, and it supports 40W wired and 27W wireless charging - same as the Mate 30 Pro.

The Mate 30 is also available in a 4G variant with Kirin 990 chip and a 5G model with the Kirin 990 5G chipset.

Quite expectedly, the Mate 30 runs on Android 10 with EMUI 10 and has no traces of Google services. Everything is replaced by Huawei's framework of services and its AppGallery until further notice.

The Mate 30 was indeed easier on the eyes and felt better and more secure in the hand. It is still slippery and gets smudged in a flash, but if we have to compare it to the Pro - the regular model just feels a notch better in handling.

The Mate 30 is priced at €800 and is expected to launch in October.