Huawei Mate 20 Pro: Five Things You Need To Know

Huawei will be unveiling its latest flagship smartphone – the Mate 20 Pro – tonight. This new model promises to up the ante on the market leaders, Samsung and Apple, as the smartphone market undergoes a solid round of innovation following a couple of years or incremental improvements. So, what does Huawei have in store? Here are five things you need to know about the Huawei Mate 20 Pro.

[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2018/10/huawei-mate20-pro-australian-pricing-specs-and-release-date/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/10/Huawei-Mate-20-Pro-410×231.jpg” title=”Huawei Mate20 Pro: Australian Pricing, Specs And Release Date” excerpt=”Today Huawei unveiled two new flagship smartphones. the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro. Boasting a next-gen Kirin 980 processor, an AI-powered triple camera crafted by Leica, a truly massive 4200mAh battery and an in-screen fingerprint sensor, the Mate20 Pro is a serious contender for smartphone of the year. Here’s everything Australians need to know.”]

#1 It’s Not Another Snapdragon-based Android Phone

Huawei produces its own mobile CPUs, much like Apple. The Mate 20 Pro is expected to be powered by a Kirin 980 CPU. First shown off during IFA 2018, the Kirin 980 is said to pack some serious grunt and has outpaced the Snapdragon 845 in benchmarks. There’s also been quite a bit of focus on AI with Huawei using the slogan “a higher intelligence is coming”. The letters “A” and “I” have been given some extra focus in ads using that slogan suggesting the Kirin 980 could have a beefy AI engine, in a similar vein to Apple A12 Bionic chip.

Storage is expected to be capped at 128GB

#2 A New Camera Arrangement

According to leaked images and in-the-wild sightings Huawei have put the Mate 20 Pro’s three camera and LED flash rear array in a square formation. Those three rear cameras are rumoured to be:

  • a 40-megapixel primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture
  • a 20-megapixel secondary sensor with an f/2.4 aperture
  • an 8-megapixel ultra wide-angle sensor

And the front camera is expected to have a 24-megapixel sensor with a Vertical Surface Emitting Laser (VSEL) module that may enable 3D facial recognition.

#3 Gargantuan Display

The Huawei Mate 20 Pro will most likely sport a 6.9-inch AMOLED display, running at 1440 x 3120 pixels. And there’s a good chance there will be a fingerprint scanner under the display. There will also be a pair of front-facing stereo speakers but it seems, based on leaks, that the 3.5mm headphone jack won’t be there.

#4 Two-Way Wireless Charging

Wireless charging is now a standard feature on smartphones but the Mate 20 Pro is expected to add a twist. As well as being able to charge the phone wirelessly, you’ll be able to use the phone’s 4200mAh battery to charge other devices. For example, Huawei is rumoured to be also introducing a set of AirPod-like headphones that can be charged wirelessly. If the rumours are correct, you’ll be able to charge the headphones by sitting them on the phone.

#5 Launch Date and Price

Huawei will be announcing the Huawei Mate 20 Pro in London at 11pm AEDT on Tuesday 16 October 2018 (you can watch the live stream here.) Pricing has not been confirmed but the word on the street is that it will sell for about $1500 here if you buy it outright.

[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2018/10/huawei-mate-20-pro-launch-watch-the-live-stream-here/” thumb=”https://img.youtube.com/vi/Ov49dMMK-hc/0.jpg” title=”Huawei Mate 20 Pro Launch: Watch The Live Stream Here!” excerpt=”Tonight, Huawei will raise the curtains on its hotly anticipated Mate 20 Pro smartphone in fancy-town London. If you’re keen to follow the launch from Australia, the good news is that you don’t need to wake up at an ungodly hour. Here are the details and live stream.”]

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