Huawei Mate 20 Pro review

27 October 2018
We love fall and it's not only for the beauty of nature's colorful cloak. It is also the season for all the big fat makers in the industry to pull the wraps off their latest smartphones. And what a blast these couple of weeks have been! And there is still plenty more to see before the month of Techtober is over but today we're focusing on the new Mate 20 series, which is bound to leave a mark on the industry.

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Anonymous, 29 Oct 2018You are paying for these features as well when you got the ... moreHe doesn't have the Mate 20 Pro, he only has the Mate 10 Pro. Which is why he's making such a big deal about the 14 vs 15 hours web browsing battery life, since that is the only thing that is better on the Mate 10 Pro..

    I have to admit, I feel like this phone was slightly overhyped. Even so, the phone is fantastic and deserves, nay, BELONGS in the same field as Samsung and Apple phones. The latter two better bring their A game next year. Nice review BTW

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • QXP
      • 29 Oct 2018

      Anonymous, 28 Oct 2018I really don't care about those features....just sayingYou are paying for these features as well when you got the phone. So why you shouldn't care? Just saying.

        Kiyasuriin, 28 Oct 2018It's worth it. It so damn is! The GPU is amazing. The DAC i... more2 questions.
        Samsung phones have DACs?
        What's an ISP?

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          • Dazz
          • 3xb
          • 29 Oct 2018

          I found the phone to have sub par idle battery life but after going through the setting found out why, 1# according to CPU-Z 2 of the lower power cores run at full speed all the time, 2# by default it seems to have data and Wifi always on even if it is a sleep which will be the biggest power drain. Heck my battery on my tablet if wifi is always drains quick.

            Anonymous, 28 Oct 2018I really don't care about those features....just sayingRegardless of what you care about, that's the reason why.

              ace007, 28 Oct 2018Mine's SM-960F Exynos 9810, 8/512 One.. The Perfect Smartph... moreIt's worth it. It so damn is! The GPU is amazing. The DAC is spectacular. Hngggg! Even the ISP is good.

                Shouldnt you include an "AI benchmark" category? Seems like the new trend is brag about how much pictures this or that SoC can analyse.

                Inception and Resnet for example.

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                  • Anonymous
                  • Nwp
                  • 28 Oct 2018

                  ryballs, 28 Oct 2018Mate 20 Pro also has a larger higher resolution screen, 3D ... moreI really don't care about those features....just saying

                    S Yu, 28 Oct 2018That's not the problem, it's said that the panel from BOE d... moreEmm.. maybe I don't know something, but how "subpixel rendering" depends on the display's hardware, and not on the software? oO

                      now it's time for iPhone to make (copy) its first ever nano memory card slot for iphone 2019 models just like huawei and sell these cards 5 times expensive.

                        Anonymous, 28 Oct 2018Let's suppose It could score 118 for example. It could b... moreActually dxo points are not just about quality, zoom/bokeh are just like modes, nothing to do with quality(and new mate got a lot of them, it may be that even dxo added new parameters for new points like long exposure, B&W output), stabilization of 4K is working, processing matured(be it 50 or 100.000ISO), surely got more zoom(in/out) points and mainly AI&NPU can really help the colors(I guess its like shooting object in daylight makes better guessing of colors in low light).
                        Well, even if it was worse, it wouldn't change much considering what is camera capable of, mind that sony uses way better monochrome and I cannot see it giving better results(less sharp than manual hdr, less hdr output). Main camera is of mammoth size anyway.
                        Simply see their hi iso shots(there is at least one site shoving them) of p20pro and mate20pro in 40mp and compare, no phone offer this kind of output.

                          • S
                          • S Yu
                          • vUt
                          • 28 Oct 2018

                          Nicolas F, 28 Oct 2018R5+ display is sharper than Huawei Mate 20 only on paper an... moreThat's not the problem, it's said that the panel from BOE doesn't have subpixel rendering, that's a big impact on perceived resolution.

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                            • S Yu
                            • vUt
                            • 28 Oct 2018

                            Drawing from past impressions of the P20P this Mate20P actually seems to smear a little less in daylight, it doesn't seem to "invent" non-existent details as much. This probably suggests that it's the quad bayer's output combined with the BW that messes up the texture, while just downsampling the quad bayer alone may more closely resemble a 10MP bayer proper.

                            On the other hand, low light shots in auto seem worse, not as much sharpening perhaps, but just as much NR and even less detail retention, and night mode with the UWA is just horrible.

                            It's a shame GSMArena didn't test the 960fps mode properly--that is, at a sprinkler, against the sun. This puny fountain shot from afar isn't enough to distinguish real 960fps from fake, which is what the P20P has: 240fps video interpolated to 960.

                            And of course, we need another shootout. There needs to be LG models for reference of the UWA(not that any smartphone UWAs so far were really any good in the first place) and of course the XS and Note9, or else we would need to wait until March for the next Samsung flagship.

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                              • Anonymous
                              • 3xs
                              • 28 Oct 2018

                              Is it showing notifications finally as intended?
                              Or still can we be a victim of notificaiton plague?

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                                • Anonymous
                                • LQX
                                • 28 Oct 2018

                                vrvly, 28 Oct 2018Actually its pretty shocking whats going on, supposed DxO s... moreLet's suppose It could score 118 for example.
                                It could be a giant marketing tool.

                                I don't buy this excuse they do not want other to feel humiliated. It is very weird thing.
                                Must be just a way to hide lack of evolution compared to P20 Pro because it lacks the monochrome.


                                I still wonder how P20 Pro has the highest video score when it records half bitrate compared to other, poor colours, weak AF, overexposure and no details at night.

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                                  • coco
                                  • 0Us
                                  • 28 Oct 2018

                                  307 000 points in antutu, without performance mode, less heating then my meizu pro, 5 what phone you test there?

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                                    • Anonymous
                                    • LQX
                                    • 28 Oct 2018

                                    Battery life has nothing to do with how many features the UI has.
                                    Then Note would be very poor endurance while phones with stock would last more.

                                      Can't wait to see in my place! Hope it is affordable...

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                                        • Timea
                                        • pqx
                                        • 28 Oct 2018

                                        I would like to see a video where they show how does it sound if it's plugged in. Havent seen any yet.