Verdict:
The Huawei Mate 20 Pro is hands-down the best smartphone I have ever held, never mind own. It is extremely capable in every aspect and it never fails to perform the most demanding or takes. It will suit everyone, from the everyday consumer to the power user. There is so much to like about it and I would love to share all of my experiences of the device with you with my review of this devicePros:
High-res display0 to 70% in 30 minutes
2-3 day battery
snappy Kirin 980 processor
3 professional cameras
Wireless charging
Cons:
NotchQuite expensive
Ratings:
Key features:
Review price: £899
Brand: Huawei
IP68 water resistance
Triple Leica cameras
I received this product as part of a review program in return for an unbiased review
Battery: The battery for this device is definitely one of the main selling points of the Mate 20 Pro. The outstanding 4,200mAh battery has been fitted in this device which is pretty amazing when you consider how thin it is and what the competition is putting in their devices. The large cell certainly pays off with heavy usage. The average user will be able to squeeze 2, if not 3 days of moderate use from this device. This is a big leap from other competitors and is just one of the many advantages the Mate 20 Pro has.
Charging: I felt the need to include this as a separate topic as the charging speed on this device is in a league of its own. The stellar 40W fast charger provided with the device gets the device up to a comfortable percentage super quickly. Bearing in mind that the device has a large 4200mAh battery, it manages to charge from 0% to 70% in under 30 minutes. This is pretty spectacular and the fastest speed you will find on any flagship device. Personally I found this to be my favourite feature on this device.
Camera: Just like the P20 Pro, the camera is also one of the main features of this device. It takes what the P20 Pro did and builds upon it by swapping the useless monochrome lens and provides a 12MP super wide angle lens instead. This is extremely useful and a change that I am personally glad that Huawei made. I find myself using this lens almost as much as the main one as it fits so much into the frame. Otherwise, the 40MP main shooter is super crisp and provides so much detail. It is one of the best smartphone cameras on the market along with the likes of Google and Samsung. This is another feature which defines a phone as high-end instead of mid-range.
3D face unlock and in-screen fingerprint scanner: While the in-screen fingerprint sensor is not exactly a step up from traditional scanners in terms of speed, it certainly is when it comes to style. It makes it possible for the Mate 20 Pro to avoid any rear scanner while leaving as much room for the screen as possible. While it isn't 100% accurate, I found myself using it more than I expected to. When it doesn't work, that's when the 3D IR face scanner shows its accuracy and power. It is super quick and generally doesn't allow you a chance to view the lock screen as it turns on so quick.
Speed: The Kirin 980 chip is by far the fastest processor in any phone currently. While it may be superseded by the upcoming Snapdragon 855, it is unlikely to bring much improved speeds over this chip. It is blazingly fast and I am yet to experience any stutter at all. It is powerful enough for all games I have tested and I have yet to find an app where it doesn't perform better than any of its competitors. The processor also does a great job of preserving battery by forcing intensive apps to close. The clever machine-learning algorithms are great at only closing what is not used and I found it keeping my most used apps consistently open while closing unnecessary ones.
Software: While EMUI is known to be quite a heavy experience over stock Android, I have found the largest version which runs Pie from the box, to be super refined. Compared to EMUI 8 on my previous P20, the experience is a whole lot smoother and a pleasure to use. They have made many small tweaks which overall translates to a much more refined experience. Like always, I love Huawei’s stunning pictures used as themes throughout the interface and I really welcome the ease of navigation through apps and settings. While not perfect, I find the whole experience more and more like IOS by the update (not a bad thing at all!)
Price: This is an important topic to discuss as the price will obviously be an important factor for most. At £899, it isn’t exactly cheap however it is exactly in line with there the high-end phone market is at at the moment. £899 is very reasonably priced and it is easy to see how the production cost is so high when looking at the amount of tech they crammed into this device. However, if that price is too much to swallow, I highly recommend taking a look at the Mate 20 Pro’s brother, the Mate 20. This can be found for £600 and boasts many similar features as the Mate 20 Pro so it is worth taking a look at. That also goes for the Mate 20X which has a whopping 7.2 Inch display which may be a bit much to handle for some but attractive for others!
Other features: The most notable added feature is the ability to wirelessly charge other devices supporting the QI standard. This feature is a pretty nifty party trick and works pretty well. There are also a couple of other cool features such as the wireless desktop projection via miracast. This is pretty cool and really handy for projecting stuff from your phone direct to your T.V. Another cool thing you can do with your T.V is control it with the IR blaster fixed to the front of the phone. The last notable mention is the inclusion of IP68 water resistance. This means that your phone will easily survive a dunk in the pool I think it’s a feature Huawei made a great decision to add.
Overall, there is so much to like about this phone and very little to be wanted. The whole experience is so enjoyable and every aspect of the interface is so snappy and refined that it is hard to find flaws. While there are small things which could be improved on, most of them are software related which I have no doubt that Huawei is working to improve all the time. These are small trade offs to be able to own arguably the best phone on the market. Hands down the best phone of 2018 for me and only time will tell how this position will progress as we move through 2019 although it continues to steadily maintain it's ground.
