These specs are about on par with other flagship smartphones, though the Kirin 980 is speedier than Snapdragon 845 which first appeared in a phone earlier in March. Don’t worry about sapping the battery while you’re putting the new chip through its paces: the Mate 20 Pro comes with a 4,200mAh battery, which lasts as long as you’d think.

ALL VERSIONS LYA-L09 LYA-L29 LYA-L0C LYA-AL00 6 GB RAM LYA-AL00 8 GB RAM LYA-AL10 LYA-TL00 6 GB RAM LYA-TL00 8 GB RAM As Samsung has refined its design, the sides have gradually become less sloped, to the point where on the Galaxy Note 9 they’re barely there. With the Mate 20 Pro, the sides feel too curved and have a sharp finish.

That’s not the only improvement in the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, though: it’s Huawei’s first phone with a curved display, its fingerprint reader is beneath the screen, it runs Android 9 Pie with Huawei’s latest EMUI 9 software launcher on top and it comes with a new, improved triple camera array. Huawei Mate 20 Pro review: Price and competition Pixel density of 408ppi isn't even close to the 529ppi of the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus. The only time you're likely to notice though is when using a phone-based VR headset – and if that fad isn't dead, it is at least dormant. The Mate 20 Pro also adds Qi wireless charging, making it a breeze to top up overnight. I've been using the Pixel Stand to charge it overnight and it works just as well as you'd expect. The big battery and fast charging make for a winning combination that also allows you to show off a little. Not only does the Mate 20 Pro support wireless charging, but you can also turn it into a wireless charger to top up your other phone. Yes, there's the inevitable polish vs power discussion that is standard with Huawei smartphones. It's not as polished as a Pixel or Note 9, nor will it get updates as fast as other devices, but these are less important to me and the differences are smaller than ever before. If you're looking for pure power and performance, the Mate 20 Pro beats everything else. The numbers sound unusual, but this is really just a Full HD screen stretched out to an 18.7:9 aspect ratio. That's right, it's even 'wider' (or longer) than most other 18:9 screen phones.

There’s very little to criticise here, but I’ll begin with my only negative point: I don’t really like the curved edges. Sloping the screen down over the phone’s edges was first popularised by Samsung with its Edge series, and then more recently with its Galaxy flagships. Whichever finish you choose, though, the Mate 20 Pro is every bit as modern and sophisticated as any other flagship smartphone. In fact, with curved edges at the front and the rear, it’s more than a little reminiscent of the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus. The phone is also IP68 dust- and water-resistant and houses a sizeable 4,200mAh battery. Like other recent higher-end Huawei phones, the P20 Pro makes quite an impact with its highly reflective glass finish. And it has a much larger battery than most, 4,000mAh, without any obvious added bulk to the shell. Okay, if you look close you can see slight evidence of the PenTile fizz that affects Samsung OLEDs that don't have insane pixel density. This is caused by Samsung OLED's pixels sharing sub-pixels, reducing perceived resolution a bit. But let’s delve into the specifics to see why this is pretty great phone perhaps deserves its dizzyingly high price tag. Huawei Mate 20 Pro release date and priceThe Huawei P20 Pro – along with the standard Huawei P20– was the first but not the last Huawei phone with a notch, the display cut-out made famous by the iPhone X. Unlike the P20 Pro, though, the Huawei Mate 20 Pro has Huawei’s latest Kirin 980 processor on-board, making this the first Android Phone to employ a chip built using a 7nm fabrication process. Huawei Mate 20 Pro review: What you need to know The Honor 20 Pro display is something we’ll get into later, but while the phone has an impressive 91.6% screen-to-body ratio, there’s still just enough bezel to house a speaker and notification light right at the top. Since the ban, however,Huawei has revealed that it will be bringing the Android Qupdate to theMate 20 Pro, in addition to “popular current devices”, despite the ongoing trade ban. There’s no word yet on when this update might drop, but you can see the full list of Huawei phones that are set to receive the Android Q upgrade in our dedicated Huawei ban article. UPDATE: The US Government has taken measures to revoke Huawei’s Android licence. As a result, we urge readers to hold off on purchasing a new handset from the Chinese manufacturer; Google has reassured existing customers that they will notice no disruption of services, but the future remains uncertain, particularly as the next iteration of the Android OS will likely skip Huawei devices.

The short answer is yes, if your only scale is what other current phones have to offer. Whatever else happened in 2018, phone innovation didn’t, which makes the Mate 20 Pro’s minor improvements and additions more impressive. Huawei’s phones have always impressed with strong reception for both Wi-Fi and cellular data, and that remains the case here. Phone calls sound clear, and since the phone supports dual-SIM, you can place two nano-SIMs inside. On the surface, the Honor 20 Pro doesn’t look particularly different from any standard Android phone – but looks can be deceiving, and there are some quirks to the Honor 20 Pro’s design.The design has been slightly updated from the P20 Pro with the addition of a matching gradient pattern to the metal trim, and the symmetry and curves make it incredibly ergonomic and comfortable to use. There's also a new Hyper Optic Patterned version of the Mate 20 which drops the gradient for a subtle patterned etched into the surface. This version provides extra grip and also detracts from fingerprints, but the twilight version is the one you'll want to buy. There’s so much to like about the Huawei Mate 20 Pro – but, sadly, the software experience still needs work. Oh and, of course, it’s even more expensive than the regular Mate 20 Pro at €2,095 for the top spec model (8GB RAM, 512GB storage) and €1,695 for the version with 256GB storage. Seriously, though. Two grand for this? Versions: LYA-L09, LYA-L29 (Global market); LYA-AL00, LYA-AL10, LYA-TL00 (China, Hong Kong); LYA-L0C (Canada) Network

It is also still receiving updates from Google and Huawei has said Android 10 with EMUI 10 will be coming. In many ways the Mate 20 Pro might be a better buy than the Mate 30 Pro. Huawei smartphones (including Honor, a subsidiary of Huawei) are currently not available through US carriers or major retailers, though it's still possible to buy them. This usually means a higher cost or relying on an unverified online retailers, and software may not be optimized for US networks. In part, we've given the phone such a high score because it's providing many features of high-end phones, like a powerful chipset or four-camera rear array, at a price that makes it accessible to the everyday buyer. Huawei has also taken two of Pie’s biggest features and tweaked them. Digital Wellbeing is now Digital Balance, and this lets you set timers for apps, keep an eye on how much time you’re spending on your phone per day, and dim the colours at night. The notch on the Pro isn’t one that simply mimics the unit on the iPhone. Here it houses a multitude of sensors and ensures the screen can be pushed out as far as possible. Huawei Mate 20 Pro Performance – Still very fastWhat's more apparent is Huawei's master AI feature, which has been improved and tweaked with the Mate 20 Pro. You can easily disable it in the settings but, apart from the odd time where it flips into portrait mode when I'm taking a group shot, I like it. The blue sky mode especially is fantastic, as it boosts the saturation and details to capture stunning images. As with the P20 Pro, you'll either like it or hate it, but if you're the latter, it's easy to turn it off and forget about it. The handset isn’t quite plus-sized, but it’s still large – with a body of roughly 154mm x 74mm x 9mm, some users may have trouble reaching the top of the screen, but it’s not exactly a burden to carry about. The Huawei P20 Pro price has jumped since its launch in April 2018, with the handset now available for around a third the price it initially launched for, if you buy it SIM-free.