Huawei’s new Mate 30 range is set to be revealed to the world on September 19, with the Mate 30 Pro, Mate 30, and the Mate 30 Lite (as well as a special Porsche Design model of the Mate 30 Pro) all expected to be in attendance. The thing is, we already know what they all look like, thanks to a comprehensive set of leaks from experienced and noted leakster Evan Blass.
Huawei Mate 30 Pro
The jewel in Huawei’s crown, the Pro range represents the absolute peak of Huawei’s abilities. This year, it seems Huawei has chosen not to mess with the Mate 20 Pro‘s design too much, choosing to make some fairly small aesthetic changes. The biggest change is to the camera module on the back of the phone. Huawei is ditching the square look, but retaining the 2×2 layout, placing all of the phone’s lenses within a Moto Z-like round camera module. A slightly darker silver ring surrounds the module, highlighting the camera. There also appears to be four camera lenses now, rather than three, with the flash unit being pushed off to the top-left corner.
The design is more familiar around the front. There’s still a notch, though it seems smaller than the Mate 20 Pro’s, and the bottom bezel has also apparently been on a crash diet. The lack of a fingerprint scanner suggests the return of the in-display fingerprint scanner, and it looks like the headphone jack won’t be making a return. One nice touch is the addition of a red highlight on the presumed power key.
Huawei Mate 30
The Mate 30 is the slightly less expensive version of the Mate 30 Pro, and it’s the phone to turn to if you want Huawei’s best tech, but at a lower price. It generally means you’ll sacrifice some of the toys, but it’s generally worth the cull. Last year’s Mate 20 was one of our favorite unsung heroes, and we’re expecting the Mate 30 to do just as well.
Unfortunately, Blass hasn’t given us quite as much to go on as with other models, and we’re only treated to an up-close shot of the front of the phone. But there’s still information to be gleaned from this. As in previous years, the Mate 30 is set to have a smaller notch than the Mate 30 Pro, though it’s substantially larger than the teardrop notch of the Mate 20. Could this be hiding some facial-recognition tech? Without shots of the back, we can’t gauge whether the Mate 30 will use an in-display scanner or not — but honestly, it’s not something that should put you off if it doesn’t.
It does seem that the Mate 30 will continue to eschew a curved screen in favor of a flat display, and we expect it will come with fewer of the special features that will make the Mate 30 Pro, well, “pro.” But if previous performance is anything to go by, the Mate 30 may also come with four similar lenses to the Mate 30 Pro, just with lower resolutions. It’s likely to have the same 5G-enabling Kirin 990 processor. In fact, the shot we have shows “5G” in the top-left corner. Expect the Mate 30 to have 5G capabilities.
Huawei Mate 30 Lite
We got a couple of shots of the upcoming midrange entry in the Mate 30 line, the Huawei Mate 30 Lite, but more valuable was a casual mention by Blass. According to Blass, the Mate 30 Lite is the same phone as the Huawei Nova 5i Pro. That means we can expect to see a 6.26-inch IPS LCD display, powered by the Kirin 810, and with storage options starting at an impressive 128GB.
There’s yet another display design here too, as the Mate 30 Lite will sport a Galaxy S10-like punch-hole display. The cutout will house an impressive 32-megapixel selfie lens, while the rear camera module features a 48-megapixel main lens, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, a 2-megapixel macro lens, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor.
Porsche Design Huawei Mate 30 RS Edition
Finally, but by no means least, is the now-traditional partnership with car manufacturer Porsche. While the internals are likely to stay much the same as the Mate 30 Pro, it’s the design that will absolutely set this limited-edition phone apart from the rest of the range. While similar-looking to the Mate 30 Pro from the front, flip the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 30 RS Edition over and the glass has been replaced with soft and luxurious leather — apart from a single, striking band of glass down the center of the phone. This is where you’ll find the four camera lenses, along with the Porsche Design logo.
There are also pictures of a case for the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 30 RS Edition, which flips the phone’s design aesthetic, adding a leather band to the center of the phone. Why you’d cover a phone this beautiful becomes immediately evident in the pictures, as the leather band can be pushed up to form a hand-loop or a kickstand. It’s quite the piece of design, and we hope other case manufacturers take notice.
Evan Blass is an experienced leaker with an excellent record, so it’s safe to presume these are the phones we’ll see on Thursday, September 19. However, other questions surround the launch of the Mate 30 — most notably, whether the devices are set to include Google Play services or not. Reports are solid that the Mate 30 will use Android over Huawei’s new Harmony OS — but it’s worth keeping in mind that a device can use Android, and not come with Google’s Play services. As has been usual for the last few years, none of these phones are likely to be available in the U.S.
