We take a quick look at the Mate 20!

While everyone’s focused on Huawei’s new hotness, the Mate 20 Pro, let’s not forget that the company also released a slightly more affordable version of their newest flagship this year too. The Mate 20 is almost 10K cheaper but still retains a lot of the same features that debuted on the more expensive model.

Packaging and contents:

Just like the Mate 20 Pro, the Mate 20’s comes in a black, unassuming box with the model number splashed in front of it in subdued lettering.

Inside you’ll see the phone with a pre-applied screen protector, silicone case, 3.5mm earphones (hallelujah), a fast charger plus a USB Type-C cable for said fast charger.

What is it?

It’s the more affordable of the Mate 20 series of phones recently launched by Huawei. Huawei nixed many of the top-end features that are found on the Mate 20 Pro like a curved panel, in-display fingerprint reader and IP68 water resistance for the Mate 20, replacing them instead with more conventional tech to keep the price low and battery endurance high. It still has the same class-leading Kirin 980 processor with dual NPUs, along with the new, revamped triple camera on the more expensive model.

So what’re the differences with the more expensive model?

Despite having the same overall design as the Mate 20 Pro, the regular Mate 20 is very visually distinguishable at first glance. The phone has a traditional fingerprint scanner located right below the triple camera module.

If you have a chance to put the Mate 20 on top of the Mate 20 Pro, you’ll see that it’s slightly wider than the more expensive model, thanks to the bigger overall display of the Mate 20. There’s a small teardrop notch on top of the Mate 20’s 6.53-inch IPS display, which is yet another way to tell it apart from its more expensive brother.

The 3.5mm jack is present on the Mate 20, which is a godsend for people who don’t like the jack-less Mate 20 Pro. There’s some form of water resistance for the Mate 20, but it’s only splash resistant, unlike its more expensive brother which can take a dunking in the pool without suffering any ill effects.

Unlike last year’s model where the two versions had the same camera setup, the triple-camera on the Mate 20 differs from the Mate 20 Pro. It still has an ultrawide, wide and telephoto snappers on the rear, though pixel counts and focal lengths are different between it and the more expensive model.

The Mate 20’s main camera has a 12-megapixel with a f/1.8 aperture lens, an ultrawide 16-megapixel snapper with f/2.2 aperture lens and an 8-megapixel f/2.4 aperture shooter.

The Mate 20 still has the same AI-infused smarts that enhance photos that you take by recognizing what you’re shooting at, but don’t expect the same results from the Mate 20 Pro with the Mate 20. That being said, we’re confident that the Mate 20 will be able to deliver awesome shots despite the slightly downgraded optics in our full review.

Like its more expensive brother, the Mate 20 is armed with Huawei’s home-grown Kirin 980 chipset with dual NPUs. That’s paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage which is expandable, though you’ll have to buy Huawei’s new proprietary memory standard to get more storage.

The Mate 20 has a smaller battery than the Mate 20 Pro at 4000mAh, though we have a feeling that it’ll probably last quite a bit longer since the display runs at a lower resolution compared to its bigger brother. Unfortunately, while the phone has fast charging capabilities, it’s nowhere near as fast as the Mate 20 Pro’s 30-minute 70% guarantee, nor does it have wireless charging.

We’ll be testing the phone in the next few days and will be giving you our verdict, but if you don’t want to wait for the phone is now available to pre-order, and is priced at just Php 40,990, and comes with Php 10,670 worth of freebies.

Huawei Mate 20 specs

• HiSilicon Kirin 980 octa-core processor
• 4GB/6GB RAM
• 6.53-inch Full HD+ IPS RGBW display, 18.7:9 Aspect ratio, DCI-P3 HDR support, 2244×1080 resolution
• 128GB internal storage, expandable via Nano memory card
• Triple Leica rear cameras:16-megapixel 17mm f/2.2 ultra wide-angle camera, 12-megapixel 27mm f/1.8 wide-angle lens, and 8-megapixel 52mm f/2.4 telephoto camera with Ultra Macro Mode, Huawei AIS, 5X Hybrid Zoom, 3X Optical Zoom, Master AI, up to ISO 102400 sensitivity
• 24-megapixel front camera
• Dual SIM
• WiFi, Bluetooth, Dual band GPS, NFC
• Fingerprint scanner, face unlock, IP53 rating,
• 4000mAh battery with 22.5W fast charging
• Android 9 Pie (EMUI 9)