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Today, Huawei unveiled the Mate 30 Pro at a launch event in Munich, Germany. The device is Huawei’s latest flagship and much like Apple’s presentation last week, there was a strong emphasis on the imaging capabilities of the device.
Mate 30 Pro
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At the heart of the Mate 30 Pro smartphones is the Kirin 990 processor, a chipset that will come in 4G and 5G versions for various markets. This marks the first time we’ve seen the Kirin 990 in a device and carries on the trend of Huawei putting its latest, most advanced chipset in its Mate series smartphones.
The screen on the Mate 30 Pro is a 6.53-inch curved OLED ‘Horizon’ display with a resolution of 2,400 x 1,176 pixels. The ‘Horizon’ nickname refers to the wrap-around screen, which covers the edges of the device and serves as a means of changing settings via virtual buttons on the sides of the device.
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On the imaging front, the Mate 30 Pro feature a Leica-branded camera unit on the rear of the devices that features four cameras: a 40-megapixel super-wide-angle camera with an F1.8 aperture and a 1/1.7-inch sensor (17mm 35mm equivalent), a wide-angle image-stabilized 40-megapixel wide-angle camera with an F1.6 aperture and 1/1.7-inch sensor (27mm 35mm equivalent), an image-stabilized 8-megapixel 3x telephoto camera with an F2.4 aperture (80mm 35mm equivalent) as well as a time-of-flight (ToF) camera for improved depth-sensing.
Fire up your imagination with the #HuaweiMate30 Pro super slow-mo capabilities.
Just look how slow we can go…up to 7680 frames per second!#RethinkPossibilities pic.twitter.com/yq3TbiXr8K
— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) September 19, 2019
Considering the image processing capabilities of the Kirin 990 chipset, it shouldn’t come as a surprise the Mate 30 Pro will feature impressive photo and video capabilities. In addition to 4K video at 60 frames per second, the phones can also capture slo-mo 1080p video at up to 960 fps and 720p video at up to 7,680 fps. Huawei also showed off a 4K HDR+ time-lapse function with up to 12-hours of recording as well as a real-time ‘cinematic bokeh’ mode for video.
Capture: Every. Single. Moment…with the #HuaweiMate30 Pro.
With cinematic timelapse and 12-hour recording.#RethinkPossibilities pic.twitter.com/9Qx7a2sgsc
— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) September 19, 2019
The front-facing selfie camera is a whopping 32-megapixels and will work with a number of AR photo and video features within the operating system (OS) and third-party applications, including new gesture-control functionality.
Speaking of the operating system, the Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro both run on EMUI 10, a Huawei-created OS that takes a great deal of inspiration from Google’s latest mobile operating system Android 10. After being blacklisted by the United States government over security concerns, Huawei announced it was investing $ 1 billion into its operating system and app ecosystem. The Mate 30 Pro (and the Mate 30, which we’ve addressed below) are the first devices to use this new system.
The EMUI10 – Always unexpected, always surprising.
We put people at the heart of our design. From magazine layout to slick, seamless movement, with the #HuaweiMate30 Series, you really can #RethinkPossibilities pic.twitter.com/VcuiyGheKq
— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) September 19, 2019
Tucked inside the device is a 4500mAh battery that supports Huawei SuperCharge up to 40W and wireless charging up to 27W.
The Mate 30 Pro will come in six colors: silver, green, purple, black and two vegan leather options— green and orange. The device is IP68 water- and dust-resistant.
Mate 30
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Alongside the flagship Mate 30 Pro, Huawei also announced the more budget-friendly Mate 30. The Mate 30 features a slightly larger display but a decreased resolution of 2,340 x 1,080 pixels. It also swaps out the 40-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera for a 16-megapixel sensor and a slower F2.2 aperture, removes the ToF sensor the Mate 30 Pro offers and shrinks the battery to 4,200mAh.
Video from the camera modules is also limited in the Mate 30; 4K video can still be shot at 60 fps, but slo-mo is limited to 960 fps in 720p. Interestingly enough, Huawei has included a 3.5mm headphone jack in the Mate 30 while ditching it for the Mate 30 Pro, so if you want wired audio, you’re better off with the Mate 30.
Pricing and availability
The Huawei Mate 30 will be available with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage starting at €799. The Mate 30 Pro will feature 8GB of storage as well, but boost internal storage to 256GB starting at €1099 for the 4G model and €1199 for the 5G model. Regional availability was not disclosed as of publishing this article.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)