Review: Huawei Mate 20 Pro Sets New Benchmark With Its Leica Cameras

By Women Love Tech
on 16 March 2019

The first thing that strikes you picking up the  P20 is the smooth round edges of the phone. It is glass front and back making it look and feel stylish. It continues to impress once switched on.

Having come from an old iPhone and converted to the Huawei, the screen at first seems huge and the display reaches to the far corners.

It’s like going from an old 32′ TV to a widescreen UHDTV. The colours are rich and sharp, bright with plenty of contrast.

As a die-hard iPhone user, I wasn’t looking forward to the transition. Fortunately, Huawei have taken some of the pain out of this with the Phone Clone app already installed.

Simple to follow procedure with no leads, just wi-fi and I before long I had soon successfully transferred all my data and photos in under 20 minutes.

Sure, there are differences with Android which will take time to adjust to but patience and acceptance that some things are not quite as pretty like the calendar and contacts and you’re soon be over it.

Just take a few snaps with the three (yes, 3!) rear mounted Leica cameras and there’s no turning back. The results are outstanding.

Just take a few snaps with the three (yes, 3!) rear mounted Leica cameras and there’s no turning back. The results are outstanding. Then the features as you scroll along the options beggar belief. I’m afraid those photographers who still loyally hike their DSLRs around will be in for a shock. Not only does this thing have a Pro mode (sure, white balance, you name it) but just click onto Portrait and that’s exactly what you’ll get, bokeh and all. The night setting reduces shake to an incredible degree so no tripod needed here. The results can then be displayed on the magnificent screen. This can be adjusted and you can turn on a ‘natural tone’ setting which changes the colour temperature according to the ambient light.

The phone is dust and water resistant which is a bonus but possibly more exciting for those looking for adventure is a Huawei waterproof snorkelling case which looks simple to use and enables you to take the phone to 5M underwater – not yet available in Australia but a great feature to look forward to. Of course the phone incorporates an ‘underwater’ mode.

Other great features include a dual sim card facility which is handy if travelling and needing a local phone number for a couple of weeks to top up. And another plus is the long battery life – with a further ultra power saving feature to give you extra days not just hours.

The Huawei Mate20 Pro is available in two colours – Black and Midnight Blue at RRP $1,599. The Huawei Mate20 is available in Black at RRP $1,099.

I struggle on the minus points when it comes to this phone. Maybe facial recognition and the fingerprint ID is a bit slow. There is no traditional headphone jack point which will disappoint many. And I had difficulty connecting to android auto which I discovered is a common issue which is solved by rebooting the phone. Finally this camera needs a case – it can become slightly slippery and I narrowly missed disaster when taking a photo and trying to unlock the phone using facial recognition. Fortunately it hit my wife’s foot and not the rock she was standing on, safely bouncing onto a patch of grass. Phew!

All in all though – hard to fault, particularly with that camera which surely sets a new benchmark.

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