Despite the Trump Ban on Huawei in the US, Huawei isn’t wasting any time preparing its next round of devices for Fall release. The latest leak from DigitalChatStation is for the flagship Mate 30 series, and it shows some changes between the upcoming smartphone and the Mate 20 series released last year.
First, there is a reduced notch in the Huawei Mate 30 as opposed to the Mate 20 Pro. The notch is as long and rectangular as it was in the Mate 20 but the bottom portion has been chopped to make the notch thinner. The Mate 30 seems to have the same notch as last year’s Mate 20 Pro, so Huawei may give both the Mate 30 and the Pro version the same notch as opposed to the Mate 20 Pro’s rectangular notch and the Mate 20’s waterdrop notch. Huawei calls its display with the waterdrop notch “the Dewdrop display,” so there’s that.
Next, there is a larger display than found on the Mate 20 series. According to rumors, the Mate 30 Pro will see a 6.71-inch display as opposed to the 6.39-inch display of the Mate 20 Pro. A larger screen is expected, and the leak is something of a confirmation (though we can’t see that the screen will be exactly 0.32 inches wider).
Huawei will stick with its 3D Depth Sensing system that it used in the Mate 20 Pro as well, which isn’t surprising considering how incredibly well the Mate 20 Pro did with camera tester DxOMark Mobile. This 3D Sensing camera is similar to that found on the iPhone X. What is surprising, however, is that it appears as though Huawei could bring the 3D Depth Sensing camera to the Mate 30 as well as the Mate 30 Pro.
There are slimmer bezels than can be found on the Mate 20 Pro, too, which is in line with more of the bezel-less phone trend taking place across the entire Android scene. The efforts behind the bezel-less display pertain to preventing little from standing in the way of the user and his or her screen. The goal is to create a phone that is ultimately “just screen,” and Huawei remains cutting-edge by chasing this same design trend.
The large curves on the upcoming Mate 30, from the leak, reveal that Huawei is trying something it hasn’t tried in the Mate flagship series. In the Mate 20 Pro, Huawei used 3D glass to create a curved look, but the new leak shows that it is experimenting with curves on the front display and the back glass. The concept here in the upcoming Mate 30 is likely inspired by Vivo’s Apex 2019 smartphone announced earlier this year that features a “Super Unibody” curved glass design to create a seamless phone.
With the Galaxy S8, Galaxy S9, and Galaxy S10, Samsung has brought the glass curve on the front and rear to the metal frame on the Korean juggernaut’s flagship devices. Huawei’s attempt to create a Super UniBody design means that Huawei will remove the metal frame that has stood between the front and rear of the smartphone. In other words, the design here will be more audacious than the Chinese vendor has attempted in years past.
The optical fingerprint sensor will be used in the Mate 30 as it was used in the Mate 20 Pro. If you recall, though, the Mate 20 (non-Pro model) had a back-mounted or rear-mounted fingerprint sensor as opposed to the in-display, optical sensor of the Mate 20 Pro. Well, if the leak reveals anything, Mate 30 buyers could see the in-display sensor make its way to the regular Mate 30. This isn’t surprising, seeing that the new in-display biometric authentication is on the rise and necessary for user data protection and sleeker smartphone design nowadays.
Last year’s Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro were not released in the US, and it’s unlikely that, with the current political climate and Huawei’s Entity List Ban, that the Mate 30 series will land here also. In Europe, however, interested buyers will see a price tag of at least $915-$975, though, with additions such as the Mate 20 Pro’s 3D Depth Sensing camera and optical, in-display fingerprint sensor, the price of the Mate 30 is likely to be higher than that of the regular Mate 20.
The new gapless “Super UniBody” design could also see the price tag rise on both the Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro, so don’t expect something more affordable here. Those interested in picking up last year’s phone can always get a Mate 20 Pro for around $500 right now at Amazon and other places.
Finally, as for the OS, it’s likely that, without a US launch, the Mate 30 series won’t see Android Q but Huawei will instead opt for its own HongMeng OS. Huawei has been testing it out on the Mate 30 in recent days (Vivo and Oppo have tested it too), and Huawei has added its own boot animations and ringtones to customize it for new users.
HongMeng was designed to be Huawei’s Android alternative in the event of a political ban. Though the company says it’s for IoT solutions instead of mobile devices, Huawei’s back is too pressed against the wall to not release its Mate 30 series this Fall. Expect a September-October release for both the Mate 30 series and Huawei’s new HongMeng OS.
