The Huawei Mate 30 Pro has arguably the most
impressive camera hardware of any smartphone ever. In addition to the 40MP
Super Sensing camera from the P30 Pro, it gains a 40MP ultra wide cam, which
Huawei calls the Cine Camera. Both can use the 3D ToF sensor to render bokeh in
videos.
The third camera on the back is an 8MP shooter with
a 3x optical zoom (80mm focal length) and 5x optical hybrid zoom. For
comparison, the P30 Pro has a 5x optical and 10x hybrid zoom camera. Both the
tele and the wide cameras have Optical Image Stabilization.
Back to the two 40MP sensors, they are both
physically large and sit behind wide open apertures. The main camera has an
1/1.7"-type sensor and an f/1.6 aperture. The Cine camera has an
1/1.54"-type sensor with 3:2 aspect ratio and an ultra wide lens with
f/1.8 aperture.
Video recording is equally impressive. It supports
4K 60fps video capture (a first for Huawei). Frame rates go even higher in
slow-motion mode, the phone can do a mind-boggling 7,680fps at 720p. Another
fun thing to try is 4K time lapse with HDR+ colors. For shooting in low light,
the video camera can go up to ISO 52,000.
The 32MP selfie camera is nestled next to the new 3D
scanning hardware. There's a dedicated sensor to recognize hand gestures, which
works in conjunction with Huawei’s in-house Da Vinci NPU – Huawei just beat
Google to the punch. The NPU is also used for the AI Auto-Rotate, which tracks
your head to decide how to orient the UI instead of making guesses based on the
accelerometer.
Speaking of the Kirin 990 chipset, it’s built on a
7nm+ EUV process and features a powerful Mali-G76 MP16 GPU with an upgraded GPU
Turbo. A graphene film carries the heat away from the chipset to keep it cool.
The Huawei Mate 30 Pro highlights aren’t over. It
features a 6.53” display with wildly curved sides – 88°. Huawei calls this
design "Horizon Display". It’s an OLED panel with 1,176 x 2,400px
resolution, HDR and full coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut. The display has an
Always On Mode and supports the M-Pen stylus (which can sense 4,096 levels of
pressure).
Since the display covers the side of the phone,
Huawei placed a number of virtual buttons on there - from volume buttons to a
shutter key for the camera. The two Mate 30 phones run EMUI10 on top of Android 10. In lieu of
Google Play Services, Huawei has developed its own solution.
Huawei boosted its wireless charging technology,
which can now push up to 27W into the 4,500mAh battery. Wired charging remains
at 40W, though considering that Samsung’s supplied “fast” chargers are at 25W
and Apple’s is at just 18W it's still among the best around.
On the connectivity side, Huawei boasted that the
phone has 21 antennas in total, 14 of which are dedicated to 5G. This allows the
phone to support eight 5G bands (the Samsung Galaxy Note10+ 5G supports only
3). There will also be a 4G version for markets still lacking the latest
generation networks.
The Huawei Mate 30 Pro comes with 8GB of RAM and a
choice between 128GB and 256GB storage. The NM card slot can help you expand
that by 256GB. The Pro will be available in four colors: Black, Space Silver,
Cosmic Purple and Emerald Green.
Huawei Mate 30 Pro in various colors, including
optional vegan leather backs Huawei Mate 30 Pro in various colors, including
optional vegan leather backs Huawei Mate 30 Pro in various colors, including
optional vegan leather backs Huawei Mate 30 Pro in various colors, including
optional vegan leather backs Huawei Mate 30 Pro in various colors, including optional
vegan leather backs Huawei Mate 30 Pro in various colors, including optional
vegan leather backs There will be a special edition
with vegan leather back - you read that right. It will come in Orange and
Forest Green. As before, the phone is IP68 water resistant.
The Huawei Mate 30 Pro (the 4G model) will cost
€ 1,100 with 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage. The Mate 30 Pro 5G will be € 1,200
with the same memory configuration. In a couple of hours, Huawei will
start taking orders for the Mate 30 Pro 4G in China, shipments start on the
28th. Global availability is allegedly coming in October. We are yet to see if
global markets will have any liking for a phone with no Play services though.
