At a company product event held in Munich, Germany, Huawei revealed its new flagship handset, the Mate 30 Pro. The device, which had leaked extensively in the run-up to its launch, is launching a new quad-lens camera system and supporting new, ultra-fast mobile 5G networks across the UK.
A week earlier, Apple’s highly-anticipated iPhone 11 series, including a new flagship 11 Pro Max device sporting a triple-lens camera system and a revamped OLED panel.
Both will compete for a place on top of the flagship smartphone pile, with Apple’s iPhone hitting shop shelves last Friday for a head start. On the other side, the Mate 30 Pro will not release in Europe until October-and there are doubts as to whether it will launch at all in the UK.
While we wait for an official word from Huawei on the Mate 30 Pro’s release, here’s how the two rival flagships stack up against each other:
Display:
- iPhone 11 Pro Max – 6.5in OLED panel with 2,436×1,125 resolution
- Mate 30 Pro – 6.53in OLED display with a resolution of 2,400×1,176
The iPhone 11 Pro Max’s display, meanwhile, isn’t drastically different from the panel on the previous-generation model, the XS Max. The 6.5in OLED screen is the same size as the outgoing model, although Apple has upped the resolution and improved the panel’s brightness, The Guardian reports.
While the changes are minimal, the Daily Express hails the updated panel as “the best to ever ship inside an iPhone”. The resolution increase means the panel looks “pin-sharp”, while colors and images “pop” from the screen.
Although the OLED display of the Mate 30 Pro is the same size as its predecessor at 6.53 in, the layout of the panel has been tweaked slightly. GSMArena’s mobile news site defines the new screen as having “wildly curved sides” sloping down at an 88-degree angle.
Now that the panel covers the phone’s sides, Huawei has ditched the physical buttons of the Mate 20 Pro in favor of several “virtual buttons,” states the tech site. These include the camera’s rocker volume and the shutter key.
Price:
Prices for the iPhone 11 Pro Max kick off at £1,049 for a 64GB model. That figure rises to £1,299 and £1,499 for 256GB and 512GB versions respectively.
Huawei has yet to release UK pricing – or confirm a release date – for the Mate 30 Pro. The company has, however, announced that the phone, complete with 8GB of ram and 256GB of storage, will cost €1,099 (£970) on the Continent.
Camera:
- iPhone 11 Pro Max – 12-megapixel wide, 12-megapixel ultra-wide and 12-megapixel telephoto camera
- Mate 30 Pro – 40-megapixel wide-angle lens, 40-megapixel ultra-wide, 8-megapixel telephoto, and a 3D depth sensor
Nestled in the “Halo Ring” camera module at the back of the Mate 30 Pro is a quad-lens system, which has been developed in conduction with German photography firm Leica, says Engadget.
The system boasts a new slow-motion mode that records video at 7,680fps, while the phone’s new Kirin 990 processor helps cut image noise – a grainy effect that often occurs in low-light conditions – by around 30%.
There’s also a 3D-depth sensor at the back, which improves depth-of-field effects when taking images in portrait mode, the tech site says.
The iPhone 11 Pro may have gained an extra lens over last year’s model, upping the rear-facing camera count to three, but it’s one sensor shy of the Mate 30 Pro’s quad-lens system.
With that said, CNet argues that the new iPhone sports a camera setup that’s more appealing to use every day. This is especially true now that Apple has included a “Night Mode” feature, delivering “amazing low-light effects”, as well as an ultra-wide lens that makes the rear-facing camera system more versatile than before.
Verdict:
The two phones appear to be evenly matched at first blush. Both have complicated multi-lens camera systems, sophisticated software for photography and punchy OLED displays that make both of them worthy of their flagship status.
Due to Google’s revocation of Huawei’s license to use its Android mobile software in May, the Chinese tech giant will not ship its Mate 30 Pro with the app suite of the search firm, including the Play Store and Gmail. Instead, Huawei will deliver its own variety of applications.
While Huawei’s mobile chief, Richard Yu, is adamant that the mobile will launch in Europe, Wired argues that it’s “hard to imagine” British mobile networks being keen to sell a device that are devoid of “core software components of an Android phone.”
Fans will have to wait a bit longer for Huawei to confirm when, or if, the Mate 30 Pro will arrive in the UK. For now, it seems, the iPhone 11 Pro Max is the one to go for.