The "all-screen" format is now a standard in the high-end phone industry, and Huawei wasn't about to be left behind in this trend. Thus, the Mate 20 Pro was born , a smartphone within its renowned Mate series built on three fundamental pillars: design, camera, and battery. Today, we'll take a closer look.
We can affirm that the move to the Chinese firm has not gone wrong at all. The phone has an appearance that falls in love with the naked eye, a main camera that can compete with dignity with the largest of the moment and a battery that lasts longer than we all expected - myself included. It also comes with a very responsive on-screen fingerprint reader (as long as you place your finger correctly, without tilting) and an edge-to-edge panel that is a delight to look at.
Not everything is rosy on the phone, of course. It is a remarkably "high" phone when compared to other devices, which may not be to everyone's taste (or comfort), it comes with a custom layer that covers the Android experience and its notch is considerable.
Do you need this phone in your life? Well, I'm going to try to answer that by telling you about my experience with it.
Huawei Mate 20 Pro review
Its screen is the first thing that will catch your eye when you see this phone. The Mate 20 Pro boasts a 6,39-inch OLED panel with 2K+ resolution (that is, 3.120 x 1.440 pixels). This translates into very vibrant colors and more than enough definition for the human eye to enjoy sharp, clear images.
Viewing (and editing) photos, enjoying Rosalía's new music video in maximum resolution on YouTube, watching a series on Netflix - can you guess which one I'm watching? - or playing Asphalt 9 are tasks that make special sense on a phone like this where the image quality (and power in the case of the game, of course) is unquestionable.
Something that sometimes bothers me, however, is the edges. The edge-to-edge trend is getting out of hand for manufacturers, and it's no longer enough for them to simply give us the screen from one side of the phone to the other; they have to curve the sides , creating a beautiful optical effect and a sense of infinity in the screen. However, sometimes this makes you feel like the image is slightly distorted at the edges.
The same goes for the phone's height . I never thought I'd be talking about how tall a phone is, but yes, the Mate 20 Pro is very tall. And that's not ideal for those with small hands. I have a woman's hand of average size, and sometimes it bothers me that I can't reach the entire screen with one hand, forcing me to use the other or carefully slide the phone across my palm to reach the area I want. I know, it's a problem that more and more phones are suffering from in this new trend of making them bigger and bigger, but I had to warn you.
As for the camera , Huawei has gone all out. The phone boasts no fewer than three sensors: 40, 20, and 8 megapixels. Say goodbye to the monochrome sensor—the one that only took black and white photos—in favor of three types of lenses with different capture capabilities (and apertures).
![[image of camera square pointing out that protruding causes trim to lose black]](https://eloutput.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/eloutput-261.jpg.webp)
The 40-megapixel sensor is angular and turns out to be the brightest of all (f/1.8). It is followed by the 20-megapixel camera, which is another wide angle (but “vitaminated”, taking up even more space in the scene) with an f/2.2 aperture; and finally we have the 8 MP sensor with a telephoto lens, which is the one that will let you zoom (up to 10x).
Let's look at some example photos that will help you understand the camera's capabilities and how it performs in certain scenarios and situations: at 40 MP (with cropping at actual size), in super wide-angle mode and with 3x and 5x zoom.
The phone takes very decent shots in complicated situations such as when there is strong backlighting, although it could define the background of the scene even better (in terms of colors, without overexposing so much) and also in night scenes, where, for example, we find a jump qualitative at the level of color balance and contrast compared to the previous Mate generation (Mate 10/Mate 10 Pro) -it sins a bit of saturation in fact in this new batch of 2018.
I can't talk about the camera without showing you how it holds its own when it comes to taking portraits, possibly one of the most widely used modes in mobile photography today. For this, we compare it with one of the kings of portrait mode currently, the Google Pixel 3 -especially pay attention to the differences in color treatment. Likewise, its 24 MP front sensor defends itself quite well when it comes to taking selfies.
The phone's camera app's capture options do n't end there. Besides a "Pro" mode where you can adjust many parameters like ISO and focus, the Mate 20 Pro offers a pretty good Macro mode —only available if you have Smart Shot enabled (found in Settings)—and a striking effect called " AI Color ." You'll probably only use it twice in your life, but it's another demonstration of the camera's capabilities. When recording video, you can leave the entire scene in black and white except when the AI identifies people, who then appear in color.
And now let's talk about the battery , possibly one of the most outstanding features of this phone. To give you a better idea of its battery life, I'll share some experiences from different usage levels over several days.
One day, for example, my workday started at 4:40 AM . From 5:20 AM, I was on 4G and arrived at almost 11:00 AM with 74% battery remaining after checking emails, WhatsApp, Instagram, and receiving a few calls. After two hours in airplane mode, I arrived in another country where I activated roaming. By 4:30 PM, I had 45% battery left, after continuing to roam and using my phone as a camera for a product launch event and uploading Instagram Stories nonstop as if I were an influencer . I spent the entire afternoon roaming, uploading more videos to Instagram and checking my email. By 9:10 PM, I had 20% battery remaining and continued uploading photos to the social network and using WhatsApp (WA) and Telegram. The battery lasted until 2:45 AM (yes, it lasted almost 24 hours) when the phone finally shut down.
Another day worth mentioning actually involves not one, but almost three consecutive days without charging . I woke up at 8:30 AM and by 18:28 PM, after being connected to Wi-Fi all day, browsing the web occasionally, watching YouTube with my Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones , opening Instagram and WhatsApp several times, and receiving a call, my battery was at 81%. When I decided to go to sleep at 00:31 AM, the phone was at 70%, so I decided not to charge it.
The next day my day starts at 8:44 with a 68% battery (it has dropped 2% at night). Throughout the day I practically use Instagram and WhatsApp, always on WiFi, and I'm only about 45 minutes away from home on 4G. I arrive at the end of the day with the incredible 40%.
I mean to see how far the phone can go so I don't charge it that night either. The next day I still have time to use the phone at home, on WiFi, checking social networks and editing a photo. I arrive at 19:00 in the afternoon (approx) before the phone completely dies.
Huawei Mate 20 Pro review
The Huawei phone has many great qualities, but if I could only choose one, it would undoubtedly be its battery . My previous comments about the phone's battery life will have made two things clear: that I sometimes have somewhat unusual sleep schedules, and that this phone stands out from much of its direct competition in this regard, providing extra peace of mind for those of us who are frequently on the go and can't always find a power outlet.
As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, its design is captivating, as is its screen, and everything moves smoothly and powerfully thanks to its Kirin processor. The camera system is quite good, although its rivals certainly outperform it in this area. If I had to change anything, I'd ask that the phone not be so tall and that EMUI be left out in favor of stock Android, but overall, the result couldn't be more positive. Huawei has launched one of the best phones of 2018 and has set the bar very high, both for itself and for the competition.