Huawei Mate 30 Pro revealed: what’s new, plus specs, pricing and UK release

Huawei has unveiled its new Mate 30 range, including a range-topping Pro model that will go up against Apple’s newly launched iPhone 11 Pro.

Announced at a company product event in Munich, Germany, the Mate 30 series introduces Huawei’s latest Kirin processor and a complex quad-lens camera system that’s contained in a new, circular enclosure.

Contrary to earlier rumours, which claimed that the Mate 30 range would not be released in Europe after Google revoked Huawei’s Android licence earlier this year, the new smartphones will be launching on the continent in October.

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The devices will not, however, support Google’s app suite. Instead, those who buy a Mate 30 or Mate 30 Pro will have to use Huawei’s own versions of Google’s popular software and services through the company’s AppGallery store.

To tide fans over until the phone’s release, here’s everything we know about the iPhone 11 Pro-rivalling model - the Mate 30 Pro:

What’s new?

On the surface, the Mate 30 Pro doesn’t look drastically different to its predecessor. A closer inspection, however, reveals that the Mate 30 Pro presents a significant step up over last year’s model.

The display, for example, is a 6.53in OLED panel with “wildly curved sides” that slope downwards at an angle of 88 degrees, says GSMArena. The display packs a resolution of 2400x1176px, along with HDR (high dynamic range) for more realistic lighting effects in videos and support for the company’s M-Pen stylus.

Remarkably, Huawei has dropped the power button on the Mate 30 Pro, as the function is now controlled through the screen. “Exactly how that will work when your phone is off is currently unclear,” says TechRadar, “but it could be an interesting implementation of curved screen tech.”

Buyers now get 8GB of RAM as standard, as opposed to the 6GB on base-spec Mate 20 Pros, along with 256GB of storage.

Battery size has also been increased from 4,200mAh on the Mate 20 Pro to 4,500mAh on the new model, while wireless charging is now up to 27W - the “fastest wireless charging we've seen on a smartphone before”, says TechRadar.

But the piece de resistance is the new Leica-branded quad-lens camera at the back of the device.

The four lenses are arranged in a circle, which Huawei calls a “Halo ring design”, The Verge notes, as opposed to the square-shaped system on the outgoing Mate 20 Pro.

The new device boasts a 40-megapixel camera with an aperture of f/1.8, a second 40-megapixel “ultra-wide” sensor and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens, the tech site says. The fourth and final lens is a “3D depth sensor” used for depth of field effects in portrait images.

Does it support 5G?

Yes. Thanks to Huawei’s new Kirin 990 processor, range-topping Mate 30 Pro 5G models - as the name suggests - support the next-generation mobile signal.

UK release date

Early rumours suggested that the Huawei wouldn’t sell the Mate 30 series in Europe because its lack of Google support would make it less appealing to Western customers.

Currently, the Chinese firm cannot use Google’s mobile apps, such as Gmail and Maps, as a result of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in May that prevents US tech companies from working with firms from nations that may pose security risks.

However, the Mate 30 line-up will be launching in Europe in October, the company says, though it has yet to give an exact release date for the devices.

Pricing

The Mate 30 Pro will cost €1,099 (£973), while the 5G-enabled model comes in at €1,199 (£1,062).