Huawei’s new Mate 30 Pro and Mate 30 phones are as crazy as any of its high-end flagship phones in the past. In terms of design, in terms of core hardware, in terms of camera capabilities – the Mate 30 Pro and Mate 30 have it all. And yet, they are unlike any other high-end flagship Huawei phone in the past. But more on that later. 

The Mate 30 Pro is of course the most premium offering here, but the vanilla Mate 30 is also not very far behind. Both the phones come with a glass and metal sandwich design, and a new halo ring camera module on the back that instantly stands out from the crowd. Not just in terms of look and feel, but also in terms of feature set. That halo ring houses four cameras.  

Mate 30 Pro, Mate 30 come with top-notch hardware

In the Mate 30 Pro, you get - 

- a 40MP primary camera with f/1.5 aperture and OIS which uses a custom Sony sensor with a RYYB filter (instead of the more conventional RGB filter) - like in the P30 Pro 

- another 40MP ultra-wide sensor with f/1.7 aperture and OIS  

- 8MP telephoto sensor with OIS for 3x optical zoom and 5x hybrid zoom 

- a Time-of-Flight camera for 3D depth mapping purposes 

In the Mate 30, you get - 

- a 40MP primary camera 

- another 16MP ultra-wide camera  

- 8MP telephoto camera for 3x optical zoom and 5x hybrid zoom 

- a laser focus sensor 

While the mate 30 Pro comes with a 32MP selfie camera, the Mate 30 gets a watered-down 24MP selfie shooter. 

The Mate 30 Pro has a 6.53-inch “horizon” OLED display that literally spills on to the sides – so much so that Huawei is using touch-based volume keys here instead of actual buttons. The Mate 30 meanwhile has a 6.62-inch OLED display which is flat and more mainstream – if you can call it that. Both the phones have in-display fingerprint scanners. 

The Mate 30 Pro also gets fancier 3D scanning tech on the front – which is why it has a wider notch. The phone also supports hand gestures.  

Both the phones are powered by Huawei’s in-house Kirin 990 processor with 5G capabilities. Huawei says that the Mate 30 Pro has 21 antennas in total, with 14 dedicated to 5G. While the Mate 30 Pro comes with up to 8GB RAM and up to 256GB storage, the Mate 30 comes with up to 8GB RAM and up to 128GB storage. Both the phones support expandable storage via Huawei’s proprietary NM cards.  

Elsewhere, while the Mate 30 Pro comes with a 4,500mAh battery, the Mate 30 packs a slightly smaller 4,200mAh battery. Both the phones support 40W fast wired and 27W fast wireless charging. 

There’s no doubt that the Mate 30 Pro and Mate 30 look like fabulous devices – with two 40MP cameras which is a first for any smartphone to date – but here’s the thing, Huawei is launching these high-end flagship Android phone minus all the core Google services – outside of China. 

But here's the thing

For those unaware, Huawei has been effectively barred from using Android in the long-term following a recent US trade clampdown. Even though Android is open source and even though Huawei is free to use this open source version of Android (called AOSP), Google has been gradually moving OS essentials out – which means a large part of the Android that we use now isn’t open source per se. This includes everything from the Google Play Store to apps like Google Maps and Gmail. Without proper authorization from Google, Huawei can’t launch a new Android phone with the Google Play Store and apps like Google Maps and Gmail. More details on this are awaited.

Also Read:  Huawei P30 Pro First Look: Best Camera Smartphone Ever?