Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro finally breaks the cover

Huawei's long-awaited Mate flagship of 2019 is finally here and promises improved performance and camera capability with a new chipset.

After much teasing and leaking on the web, Huawei has officially launched the latest model under the Mate family. Called the Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro, it carries the torch from last year's Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro with the introduction of new technology and tackles on the fight against Samsung Galaxy Note10+ and iPhone 11 Pro Max. For this year, the focus was on the camera hardware and the newly-debuted chipset. Before we talk about the phone, let's talk about the chipset first.

By the way, for the sake of easy readability, I will abbreviate Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro as M30 and M30P respectively.

Photo source: Huawei

Huawei debuted their new Kirin 990 5G a few weeks back during IFA Berlin 2019. Like Samsung's Exynos 980, this is an SoC that focuses on 5G connectivity. Powering the chipset was a 7nm+ EUV process made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). As for the GPU, it sported a Mali-G76 architecture with 16 cores and updated GPU Turbo alongside Kirin Gaming+ 2.0. Huawei claimed a theoretical peak download speed of 2.3Gbps and peak upload speed of 1.25 Gbps, depending on the network connection. Not only that, the chipset compatibility with UFS 3.0 internal storage will allow a crazy fast file transfer rate. Huawei also promised a new height in mobile photography and videography with a 15% algorithm enhancement to the Image Signal Processor (ISP). This new 5G chipset will be available for both M30 and M30P, though you can have either variant without the 5G modem.

Having launched two different variants just like the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro from last year, there will be a few notable differences between them. In the case of the new M30 and the M30P, it's business as usual. Perhaps, the most notable difference would be the design of both phones.

Huawei Mate 30 (left) and Huawei Mate 30 Pro (right).
Photo source: GSMArena

Let's talk about the screen first. While the M30 has a flat-screen panel akin to the Samsung Galaxy S10e or the iPhone 11, the M30P has an unusual 88⁰ Horizon Display screen, which is Huawei's marketing term for curved waterfall display. Because of the M30P's curved screen, Huawei have ditched the Volume UP/DOWN button, only leaving the Power button present. Not only that, but the M30P's 1176p 6.53" screen was also shorter than the M30's Full HD+ 6.62" screen. While dust/water resistance is present on both variants, the M30 made do with an IP53 rating whereas the M30P is upgraded to an IP68 rating. As for the 3.5mm headphone jack, best of luck finding it in the M30P - there isn't one. Only the M30 has it.

As before, there are differences in the camera department. For the rear camera, both variants use the same SuperSensing Wide 40MP 1/1.7" RYYB camera from the P30 Pro as the primary camera. The telephoto camera is also the same as both of them have an 8MP lens with 3x optical zoom and a maximum focal length of 80mm. 

What is different between them is the ultrawide camera and the fourth sensor. For the M30, it has a 17mm 16MP lens while the M30P has something of which Huawei called the "Ultra-Wide Cine", an 18mm 40MP 1/1.54" lens. The fourth camera is either for focusing or depth sensing. The M30 possessed a Laser Focus camera while the M30P has a 3D Depth Sensing camera. As for the front selfie camera, the M30 has a 24MP camera while the M30P has a 32MP camera with an additional 3D ToF sensor on both variants. Maximum ISO level had gone beyond the industry standard, with the M30 stopped at 204,800 while the M30P continued to at a staggering 409,600.

Video recording-wise, both variants featured Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), though it is only available on the telephoto lens for the M30 compared to the M30P's both primary and telephoto camera. For the first time, the 4K/60fps video recording option is finally available on Huawei flagship smartphones. Slow-motion video capture is a common feature on flagship-tier smartphones, but the M30P has a trick on its sleeve: 720p at 7680fps, and no - that's NOT a typo. At 720p, the M30P can do a slow-motion video at an astonishing 7,680 frames per second. Another fun trick you can do with the M30P is a 4K time-lapse with HDR+ colours.

Photo source: GSMArena

Both variants will feature 40W wired charging and 27W wireless charging. The former may not sound as fast as Oppo's recently announced 65W SuperVOOC, but it is still faster than Samsung and Apple's current offering at just 25W and 18W respectively. Four colours would be available for the M30P - Black, Space Silver, Cosmic Purple, and Emerald Green. You can also opt for the optional Vegan Leather back cover in either Orange or Forest Green. Both M30 and M30P features card slot support via Huawei's proprietary Nano Memory (NM) card up to 256GB.

At the moment, three RAM/storage configurations are available with prices starting from €799 for the M30 8GB/128GB. The M30P 8GB/256GB will set you back at €1,099 with its 5G variant costing an extra €100.

If exclusivity is your cup of tea, then there is another treat in store: The Porsche Design Huawei Mate 30 RS. This is basically the M30P 5G with a pure emphasis on design aesthetics. Gone is the M30 and M30P's rear camera circular shape and in a redesigned shape with a conventional yet unique 2x2 arrangement akin to the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro. The back features a genuine leather finish and a vertical glass stripe in the middle. The phone is available in a red-and-black colour combo. Only one RAM/storage option is available with a whopping 12GB RAM and 512GB internal storage. The price? An eye-watering €2,095. Exclusivity never comes cheap, right?

But how about Android OS, I hear you ask. The US-China trade war can hurt the sales of both M30 and M30P, right? Prepare for a surprise: Google Mobile Services is not available. Even though all Mate 30 models run on EMUI 10 on top of the latest Android 10, you are lacking Google-dependant services that allow you to fully utilize Android OS. Whether the M30 and M30P would enjoy record sales with the lack of Google Play Services remains to be seen in the future. It's just a matter of time before the world can see the answer.

Have you already ordered the Mate 30 phones or are you still comfortable with the P30 and Mate 20 models? Let us know in the comment section down below.