We’re almost at the end of 2018, and the most important phones of the year have already been launched. Honestly, not a lot of phones managed to piqué my interest this year, so I wasn’t expecting anything spectacular to drop out of the blue. But that’s exactly when Huawei announced it’s bringing the Mate 20 Pro to India. 

Specs are important, right? You bet. Well lucky for you, the Mate 20 Pro is a spec monster. From the new 7nm Kirin 980 processor, to a triple-camera setup at the back to fancy fast charging, the Mate 20 Pro has it all. Here, check it out –

Design & Build

Before I give you my two cents on the design and build quality of the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, let me get this straight – it is one of the most beautiful smartphones ever! Yes, I’ve used the phone long enough to draw that conclusion. Every time I pick up the device, I am impressed all over again, which is something that I can’t say for any other phone that have launched this year.

As you can see, I have the Twilight variant of the phone, but you can also get it in Emerald Green in India. And did I tell you the phone literally sticks to the palm of your hand?

The Mate 20 Pro has a 6.39-inch FullView display, which also has an in-display fingerprint scanner. Just like the P20 Pro that launched earlier this year, the Mate 20 Pro has a notch. It is, in fact, wider this time around, but I am not complaining as it houses dedicated Facial Recognition hardware for a secure operation, complete with a Dot Projector, Flood Illuminator, and all that good stuff. Huawei Mate 20 Pro Notch

The Mate 20 Pro, as I mentioned earlier, comes with a 6.39-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 1440 x 3120 pixels. It has an aspect ratio of 19.5:9, which means it’s a relatively tall device. But it’s much narrower than most other phones, so I personally had no issues holding and using it.

The protective Gorilla Glass on top of the display is very reflective, and the panel doesn’t get as bright as I’d like, so I did have some trouble while using it in direct sunlight. It’s an OLED panel, so it shows vibrant colors and deep blacks, which is exactly how I like displays.

What often separates the top-tier phones from the rest are the cameras. Well, the Huawei Mate 20 Pro has three of them. The setup includes a 40MP Wide Angle 27mm, f/1.8 shooter, a 20MP Ultra Wide Angle 16mm, f/2.2 lens, and an 8MP 80mm 3x Telephoto f/2.4 lens with OIS. On the front, there’s a 24MP f/2.0 camera. Huawei Mate 20 Pro Triple Camera Setup

Huawei Mate 20 Pro Camera Samples: Night Mode

Huawei Mate 20 Pro Camera Samples: Aperture Mode

Hardware & Software

The Mate 20 Pro is one of the first phones with the 7nm Kirin 980 SoC. Much like Apple’s new A12 Bionic chip, Huawei has improved both the CPU/ GPU and AI performance. I haven’t had the chance to push the chipset to its limit yet, both I can say that it is as fast as any other recent Android flagship out there.

Thanks to the GPU Turbo technology, I had a pleasant experience during my casual gaming experience playing some titles like PUBG Mobile, Asphalt 9, etc. It packs 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, so you can load it with a ton of apps and games, and not worry about any performance issues.