We are thankful for Huawei for flying us up to London to cover the global announcement of their latest Mate flagship, the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro. Having the chance to get the hands up close and personal, we able to see what exactly is the difference between the two devices and which one should you get.
Top-Notch Notch
When placed side by side, the Mate 20 Pro has a noticeably larger notch at the top as compared to the Mate 20. This larger notch is to leave space for additional sensors that would be used for their 3D Face Unlock capability. These extra sensors include: Dot Projector, TOF Proximity, Flood Illuminator, and IR Camera. However, the Mate 20 does look aesthetically more pleasant to the eye with the notch being almost gone (like the Essential Phone).
Camera Megapixels
Unlike the P20 Pro and the P20, where the P20 lacked the Telephoto lens in the P20 Pro, this time around it is different. Huawei generously provided both the Mate 20 Pro and Mate 20 with the same number and type of lens, with the only difference being the smaller resolution lens of 12MP/16MP (Mate 20) vs 40MP/20MP (Mate 20 Pro) for the Wide Angle and Ultra Wide Angle lens respectively.
In-Screen Fingerprint Sensor
Huawei brought this feature from their premium Porsche Design Mate RS down to us mainstream folks. Taking advantage of the Dynamic Pressure Sensing technology built into the Mate 20 Pro (sorry Mate 20), unlocking your phone with a traditional fingerprint sensor is not needed. This allows the Mate 20 Pro owners to unlock their devices from the front, while still having an extremely slim bottom chin.
Waterproofing with IP68
Achieving IP68 in their products is a first for Huawei, and is definitely always a welcomed improvement. However, you should take note that only the Mate 20 Pro has this rating, and the Mate 20 does not. But could it also be the reason why the Mate 20 Pro has no speaker grill, and uses the Type-C as a speaker?
Reverse Wireless Charging
This was a real shocker. Not only is Huawei finally adding fast wireless charging (15W) to their mainstream flagship device, they are also allowing the Mate 20 Pro to wireless charge other devices, thus the name – Reverse Wireless Charging. Now you can really share the love with your friends, family and loved ones. Unfortunately, the Mate 20 does not even have the capability of wireless charging.
In the topic of battery, the Mate 20 Pro now comes with a bigger 4,200 mAh capacity, while the Mate 20 still has a decent 4,000 mAh. It also boasts a faster SuperCharge of 40W, while the Mate 20 retains the same 22.5W charging rate. Huawei promises a charging speed of 70% in 30min, but is only applicable to the Mate 20 Pro. As an owner of the P20 Pro, the charging speed of 22.5W has been a lifesaver on multiple occasions. It would be mind-blowing to see the new SuperCharge of 40W in practice!
Price… Duh
| Device | Storage and RAM | Color Options | RRP (SGD) | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mate 20 | Storage: 128GB (up to 256GB) RAM: 6GB | Midnight Blue, Black | $998 | 27 October 2018 |
| Mate 20 Pro | Emerald Green, Twilight, Black | $1,348 | ||
| PORSCHE DESIGN Mate 20 RS | 256GB + 8GB | Black, Red (only in China) | TBC | Late- November |
| HUAWEI Wireless Charger | - | TBC | S$98 | |
| HUAWEI Watch GT | - | Black, Brown | TBC |
With the addition of Reverse Wireless Charging, a bigger battery, IP68 and more, there will surely be a difference in price between the Mate 20 Pro and the Mate 20. Whether or not the S$350 price increase is justifiable is up to your needs. Do you need wireless charging? Is water and dust resistant important? Do you need the souped up version of SuperCharge?
Full Specification Difference
We covered the highlights of the Mate 20 Pro and Mate 20 here. You can also check out the Porsche Design Mate 20 RS over here, or view the specification comparison between the Mate 20 Pro and the Mate 20 in the table below.
| Mate 20 Pro | Mate 20 | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.39” OLED 3120 x 1440 HDR & 3D Curved ??? PPI | 6.53” LCD 2244 x 1080 ??? PPI |
| SoC | Kirin 980 2x Cortex-A76 @ 2.6GHz 2x Cortex-A76 @ 1.92GHz 4x Cortex-A55 @ 1.8GHz Mali-G76 Dual-NPU 7nm process |
|
| OS | Android 9.0 + EMUI 9.0 | |
| Colors | Emerald Green Twilight Black | Midnight Blue Black |
| Rear Camera | Wide Angle RGB Lens: 40MP @ ƒ1.8 Ultra Wide Angle Lens: 20MP @ ƒ2.2 Telephoto Lens: 8MP @ ƒ2.4 | Wide Angle RGB Lens: 12MP @ ƒ1.8 Ultra Wide Angle Lens: 16MP @ ƒ2.2 Telephoto Lens: 8MP @ ƒ2.4 |
| Front Camera | Single-lens camera, 24MP @ ƒ2.0 aperture | |
| Battery | 4200mAh | 4000mAh |
| Charging Speed | HUAWEI SuperCharge (40W) HUAWEI Wireless Quick Charge (15W) Wireless Reverse Charging | HUAWEI SuperCharge™ Technology (22.5W) |
| Storage | Internal Storage: 128GB Expandable up to 256GB with nano memory card |
|
| RAM | 6GB | |
| Dual SIM | Dual nano SIM Dual VoLTE |
|
| Connectivity | 4.5G LTE Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Dual Band GPS |
|
| Size & Weight | 157.8mm (H) x 72.3mm (L) x 8.6mm (W) @ 189g | 158.2mm (H) x 77.2mm (L) x 8.3mm (W) @ 188g |
| Water/Dust Resistant | IP68 | ?? |
| Price | $1,348 | $998 |
