Huawei Mate 20 in review: The solid brother of the Mate 20 Pro?

A few weeks ago I had this for you here in the blog Huawei Mate 20 Pro tested. I was also able to test the cheaper version - the Mate 20 - for a while. You can read how it performed in everyday life in the following review.

The Mate 20 is one of the five smartphones in the Mate series, which Huawei introduced last year Has. Next to the Mate 20 there is still that Mate 20 Lite (Test follows), Mate 20 Pro, Mate 20X and Mate 20 RS (Porsche Design)The price of the Mate 20 clearly places it in the middle class. But is it really much worse than its Pro brother? After all, it costs 200 euros less. We'll check that out in the following test.

Smartphone unpacked

The packaging and accessories of the Mate 20 are identical to those of the Pro model. Open the lid and the smartphone - protected with a film on the front and back - comes straight out. The basic equipment consists of a power supply, charger and SIM needle. Unlike the Mate 20 Pro, there are "only" classic jack headphones instead of USB-C headphones and a USB-C jack adapter. The jack connection on the Mate 20 is on the top. There is also a thick quick start guide in all possible languages, along with a warranty card.

Processing and display checked

I have nothing to complain about in terms of the workmanship of the Mate 20 either. However, after a previous comparison with the Pro model, I don't like the design so much. It just feels clunky in the hand. This is probably due to the lack of rounded corners and the slightly larger 6,5-inch display and dimensions. This means that you need two hands to operate the Mate 20, whereas one hand was enough for the Mate 20 Pro. Huawei has solved the notch problem better here, however. It is only as big as the front camera itself. The sensors for 3D facial recognition had to be removed. We have explained how to hide the notch. in this guide already shown.

The display is sufficiently sharp with its resolution of 2244 x 1080 pixels - in 18,7:9 format. Instead of an OLED panel on the Mate 20 Pro, the slimmed down version has an IPS LCD display. This downgrade means that the contrast is less noticeable - in a direct comparison - but the best-selling model is a lot brighter. On the back you will find the fingerprint sensor, which is in the display on the Mate 20 Pro. The sensor on the Mate 20 seems a lot faster to me, though.

Looked under the hood

The Mate 20 doesn't cut corners when it comes to performance. This means that even the cheaper model can count on the latest in-house model Kirin 980 Octa-Core Processor. So in everyday life you don't notice any difference at all in the 200 euro price difference. Only the RAM in the Mate 20 is only four gigabytes instead of six gigabytes. As in the Pro model, 128 GB of internal memory is available for files, pictures and music. However, the memory can be expanded to up to 256 GB - with Huawei's new nano SD card. However, you then have to do without the dual SIM function. A few more benchmarks for performance comparison:

• Geekbench 4 single-core: 3312 points
• Geekbench 4 Multi-Core: 9718 points
• Antutu 7: 262.189 points

When it comes to gaming, the Mate 20 is no worse than its brother. Even under constant use, the smartphone never gets really warm. In addition, there is nothing to complain about when it comes to multitasking - just like with the Mate 20 Pro.

A closer look at the lenses

The well-known Leica lens combo on the back of the Mate 20. (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)

On the back we find the familiar camera square of the Mate series. Here are three lenses (RGB wide angle: 12 megapixels, f / 1.8; ultra wide angle: 16 megapixels, f / 2.2; telephoto lens (2x zoom, 8 megapixels, f / 2.4) plus flash Megapixels and comes with an f / 24 aperture. Thus, the cheaper model has been equipped with slightly poorer lenses, which you can also see in everyday photos in a direct comparison. Nevertheless, you don't have to hide from the pictures of the Mate 2.0 to share with others: here you get very good results again, even at night.

Battery tested

The 4000 mAh battery of the Mate 20 easily lasts a day with normal use. However, if you leave out social media, permanent WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS, you can easily manage two days without a charger. With the quick charger, the battery of the Mate 20 was fully charged in an hour. However, the price difference of 200 euros means that you do not have wireless charging. But that would not be a problem for me personally.

Conclusion given

The Mate 20 is not the same as the Mate 20 Pro - even if it seems very similar to the more expensive model on the data sheet. So, for a price saving of 200 euros, you make sacrifices on the camera, have to make do with a smaller battery and do without functions such as wireless charging and a fingerprint sensor in the display. Nevertheless, the Mate 20 also has stereo speakers and a jack connection. In return, however, you do without features such as water resistance - the Mate 20 is only splash-proof with IP53 certification. Although the Mate 20 does not have rounded edges and therefore looks a bit clunkier, I like the smaller notch.

So you can save the 200 euros and proeasily reach for the Mate 20 if you want a large smartphone. Otherwise that would be it P20 Pro interesting.

Buy Huawei Mate 20

• Buy the Huawei Mate 20 on Amazon
• More information about the Huawei Mate 20 at Huawei (DE | AT)

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