When Huawei announced at IFA that it would be launching the Mate 20 series on October 16 at an event in London, little did anybody know, that it would launch not one, not two, not three, but four new phones under the banner. The Mate 20 series as it turns out now consists of four brand new phones, the Mate 20, the Mate 20 Pro, the Mate 20 X and the limited edition Mate 20 RS Porsche Design. All of these phones pack something unique but at their core lies varied degrees of notch design, a Kirin 980 chipset and Leica-tuned triple rear cameras.

No matter which phone you get, you’re bound to get flagship-grade hardware. Based on TSMC’s 7nm process — the only other chipset based on the 7nm process is Apple’s A12 Bionic that powers the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR — the Kirin 980 is notably the world’s first processor built around ARM’s Cortex-A76 CPU and Mali-G76 GPU. It has an octa-core tri-cluster configuration consisting of two high-performance Cortex-A76 cores, two high-efficiency Cortex-A76 cores, and two extreme efficiency Cortex-A55 cores. The result is an SoC that is claimed to deliver 20 per cent improved performance and 40 per cent improved efficiency over its predecessor, aka the Kirin 970. The Kirin 980 is also the world’s first SoC to pack a Cat.21 smartphone modem capable of achieving speeds up to 1.4Gbps.

The Mate 20, the Mate 20 Pro, the Mate 20 X and the Mate 20 RS Porsche Design belong to the first wave of Huawei phones to make use of the Kirin 980. Huawei’s subsidiary Honor is set to launch the Honor Magic phone soon that would also be powered by the same chipset.

Huawei Mate 20, Mate 20 Pro specs and features

Although the Mate 20 X is a bigger phone in terms of size and the Mate 20 RS Porsche Design is much more expensive, the Mate 20 Pro is Huawei’s actual flagship phone for 2018. It comes with a 6.39-inch curved OLED display with 2K+ resolution, and support for DCI-P3 and HDR. There’s a notch up-top but Huawei is justifying it by adding fancy 3D face unlock tech inspired from Apple’s Face ID. There’s also an optical in-display fingerprint scanner, just in case.

The Mate 20 Pro comes with up to 8GB RAM and 256GB storage which is expandable albeit a little differently. The Mate 20 Pro supports nano-SD cards (NM cards) that are smaller than the usual micro-SD cards and are exclusive to Huawei for now. The dual SIM Mate 20 Pro runs Android 9 Pie-based EMUI 9 and supports dual band GPS and dual VoLTE. The phone comes with stereo speakers and is IP68-certified for dust and water resistance.

The Mate 20 Pro uses a massive 4,200mAh battery and supports both fast (40W) and wireless (15W) charging. If that wasn’t enough, the Mate 20 Pro is also the first phone in the world to support wireless reverse charging which is the technical way of saying that it can wirelessly charge another Qi standard-compliant phone like the iPhone XS.

On to photography, the Mate 20 Pro packs three cameras on the rear like the P20 Pro but Huawei is offering more versatility this time round. The Mate 20 Pro houses a 40MP sensor with f/1.8 wide-angle lens, a 20MP sensor with f/2.2 ultra-wide lens and an 8MP f/2.2 telephoto camera. The system is arranged in a distinct rectangle on the back, something that Huawei calls a matrix system. On the front, the Mate 20 Pro comes with a 24MP camera.

The Mate 20 is essentially a watered down version of the Mate 20 Pro that shares a lot in common with its more high-end sibling but offers a water-drop style notch on the front. This means there’s no fancy 3D face unlocking on this one, and also it misses out on an in-display fingerprint scanner in favour of a conventional rear-mounted mechanism.

The Mate 20 comes with a 6.53-inch LCD display with a 1080p+ resolution. It comes wit up to 6GB RAM and up to 128GB storage with support for Huawei’s nano-SD cards for expansion. The dual-SIM phone runs Android 9 Pie-based EMUI 9 and uses a 4,000mAh battery with support for only fast charging (22.5W). There are no stereo speakers and also the Mate 20 isn’t IP68-certified. It does retain a 3.5mm audio jack though something which is missing on the Mate 20 Pro.

On to photography, the Mate 20 Pro packs three cameras on the rear like the Mate 20 Pro but with different sensors. The Mate 20 houses a 12MP sensor with f/1.8 lens, a 16MP sensor with f/2.2 ultra-wide lens and an 8MP f/2.4 telephoto camera. The system is arranged in a distinct rectangle on the back like on the Mate 20 Pro. On the front, the Mate 20 comes with a 24MP camera.

Huawei Mate 20 X, Mate 20 RS Porsche Design

The Mate 20 X can be regarded as Huawei’s answer to the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. It’s huge for one — not in the literal sense since the actual screen is near edge-to-edge — and also it supports a stylus, aka Huawei’s M-Pen. The Mate 20 X’s 7.2-inch OLED 1080p+ display supports 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity allowing for seamless touch using the stylus. There’s a catch though. The stylus will be sold separately and there’s no slot in the Mate 20 X to house that stylus.

There are a few other novelties to justify the Mate 20 X’s note-taking and multimedia consumption credentials. The phone packs vapor chamber cooling with a graphene film heat spreader and uses a massive 5,000mAh battery. There are also Dolby Atmos stereo speakers on-board.

The Mate 20 X packs the same cameras as the Mate 20 Pro both on the front as well as on the back. But because there’s a water-drop style notch on the front, it misses out on the Mate 20 Pro’s 3D face unlock tech.

Last but not the least, the Mate 20 RS Porsche Design continues Huawei’s collaboration with Porsche and may be regarded as a limited edition take on the Mate 20 Pro. It comes with the same set of hardware as the Mate 20 Pro but packs an updated design. The back panel in the case of the Mate 20 RS Porsche Design is clad in leather with a vertical strip of glass in the centre that extends all the way from the top to the bottom.

Huawei Mate 20, Mate 20 Pro, Mate 20 X, Mate 20 RS Porsche Design price and availability

— Huawei Mate 20 (4GB, 128GB): EUR 799
— Huawei Mate 20 (6GB, 128GB): EUR 849
— Huawei Mate 20 Pro (6GB, 128GB): EUR 1049
— Huawei Mate 20 X (6GB, 128GB): EUR 899
— Huawei Mate 20 RS Porsche Design (8GB, 256GB): EUR 1695
— Huawei Mate 20 RS Porsche Design (8GB, 512GB): EUR 2095

While the Mate 20, the Mate 20 Pro and the Mate 20 RS Porsche Design will be available for buying in Europe from October 16, the Mate 20 X will start selling in Europe from October 26. Huawei is yet to announce when either of its new phones will be coming to India.