No Google Apps for Huawei's Mate 30 Lineup
MUNICH—Amid leaks and a trade war, Huawei today announced its latest flagship lineup: the Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro.
The Trump administration has banned US companies from doing business with China-based Huawei due to a battle over security and trade issues, so the phone maker’s new devices will run the open-source version of Android with Huawei’s EMUI 10 layered on top, not Android 10.
That means the Mate 30 lineup will not come pre-installed with Google’s Play Store and its commercial apps, such as YouTube. For apps, buyers can Touchez into Huawei’s own app store.
Chinese customers won’t really notice a difference since Google does not offer its services in the country, but it’s unclear how the restrictions will affect Huawei’s business overall. Huawei did not announce where it will sell the Mate 30, but CEO Richard YU said the company plans to release its new phones across Europe.
The flagship Mate 30 Pro has a 6.5-inch 2,400-by-1,176-resolution OLED screen and an 18.4:9 aspect ratio, which stretches around the side of the device. Unlike the OnePlus 7 Pro or Samsung Galaxy Note 10+, there is still a notch at the top of the device for facial recognition and a front-facing, 32MP selfie camera, gesture controls, and a proximity sensor.
We just took gestures to a whole new level.
Command your phone without even touching it, with smart gesture control.
See the magic happen with the #HuaweiMate30 Series#RethinkPossibilities pic.twitter.com/Df3JoXLGDS— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) September 19, 2019
The Mate 30 Pro’s camera has one 40MP f/1.8 super wide angle sensor, another 40MP f/1.6 wide angle sensor, an 8MP f/2.4 telephoto lens sensor, and a time-of-flight sensor for 3D depth effects. It also has 4500mAh battery with wireless charging capabilities.
One notable design feature is the lack of volume control on the Mate 30 Pro. Instead, you touch the screen and move your thumb up and down, a gesture that can also be used to take photos. While it looked seamless during the demonstration, we look forward to seeing how well it works in the wild.
The Mate 30, meanwhile, is slightly larger; it has a 6.62-inch display, which does not stretch around the side, a 4200mAh battery, and a slightly larger notch than the one on the Pro to house a 24MP selfie camera. On the back, the camera sports a 40MP f/2.2 wide angle sensor, a 16MP f/1.8 super wide angle sensor, and an 8MP f/2.4 telephoto lens. Huawei says both cameras are capable of 45x zoom (3x optical, 30x digital), and 2.5cm macro photography.
Both devices also feature the Kirin 990 chipset, which Huawei says will make the phone more efficient and enable a longer battery life. The device also supports 5G; Huawei says it’s 50 percent faster than the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G device, with 14 antennas for 5G and 21 antennas altogether.
Wherever it lands, the Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro will come in four colors: black, silver, green, and purple, as well as a vegan leather edition in orange or dark green. The Mate 30 will cost €799 for an 8GB RAM/128GB storage configuration, while the Pro will cost €1,099 for 8GB/256GB. A 5G version of the Mate 30 Pro will be priced at €1,199 at the same specs, but a launch date was not announced.
