Huawei Mate 20 Pro, the ideal smartphone?

MEXICO CITY (Expansion).- The way users and consumers of technology is becoming more complicated than a smartphone really surprises. Beyond campaigns and marketing promises of companies to have created a mobile phone with "the best battery", "the best camera", "the best design", "the best screen" or "the best" "For the The vast majority of today's users, smartphones are just pieces of glass with screens, chips and cameras whose appeal is reduced to two main elements: their visual appeal and their appeal. price.

Especially for users seeking to buy high-end or high-end equipment, the surprise tends to be reduced and defined by the taste or passion it arouses in them. Whether it's the iPhone, Galaxy S or Galaxy Note, G7, Pixel, P20, to name a few, the reality is that they have all processors at the forefront of technology (in many cases it's even the same: Qualcomm), a large screen a lot of cases is the same panel: Samsung) and an excellent camera (in many case with very similar sensors).

No doubt there will be one that will be better than another in some areas or functions, but none is perfect and all will respond without major problems to the most common requests of all users: messaging, email, networks social, videos and photos.

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But from time to time, companies are launching equipment that attracts attention to be the first in something. The new Mate 20 Pro is one of those phones with several first. This is the first commercial mobile with fingerprint reader under the screen (Oneplus 6t was introduced later and Vivo, although this is the first brand made in a smaller model), it is is the first to charge wireless reversible, it is the first to a memory card system called Nano Memory and the first with a mobile processor of 7 nanometers.

The big question is whether many of these changes represent big changes for the user, are early stage technologies with a bad user experience or are the famous "gadgets" or technological tricks, ie say the functions that the brands are selling you as widely. features that will only serve to praise your friends from your purchase but will never be part of your daily use.

Expansión tested a week before the official launch in Mexico the new Mate 20 Pro, which will be sold in Mexico for $ 20,999 for the Pro model (the team we tested) and 15,900 pesos for the Mate 20, to check whether the "best smartphone of the moment" or the famous iPhone killer or Galaxy Note 9.

Design and screen

Gone are the days when Huawei seemed to be striving to make his phone the most similar to an iPhone. The Mate 20 Pro is the result of many years of research that have punctuated the already typical design of the company. The phone has a glass finish on both sides, with an aluminum frame on the sides, similar to the P20 Pro with light tones or bright colors for the Twilight version. Even the firm has opted for a square layout for its three rear cameras, which makes the phone distinctive and eye-catching by a simple visual appeal.

Its 6.3-inch screen features a curved design similar to equipment such as the Samsung Galaxy S9 or Note 9. This is an AMOLED Quad HD panel, the screen colors, contrast and brightness are accurate even in very bright environments. The team is HDR 10 certified, making it an excellent candidate for content consumption on streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or YouTube.

A small detail that I noticed in the test unit is that even though the equipment comes with the latest generation Gorilla glass, it was possible to detect, on a daily basis, slight scratches on the surface of the glass. Nothing serious, but for the most difficult, it will be remarkable.

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A photo with your fingerprint

If something is catching the attention of the Mate Pro 20, it's its fingerprint reader under the glass that, unlike a sensor that literally reads your fingerprint, uses the light of the screen to take it as a sort of photograph your fingerprint and since the OLED panel has the ability to illuminate your pixels individually, the moment the user places his finger on this part of the glass, it illuminates the patterns of his fingerprint to give or deny access .

It works? Much better than expected, this is a first-generation technology, but some details are not a sensor, so it takes longer to save the fingerprint. As a result, the fingerprint reading is longer by milliseconds. with the current sensors. But nothing is a technology that generates frustration or disappointment. More than anticipating being the first, Huawei has taken the time and care to launch something new that really works.

However, if you have two major disadvantages, the first and least annoying is that if the screen is dirty, it is quite possible that it does not work as well, even if you do not place your finger well on the area where find the lighting vector. The second and a bit more boring is that since the player needs the screen light to work, the phone's battery consumption will be affected because it needs to turn on the pixels in that area more constantly.
Fortunately for those who do not wish to use the fingerprint sensor, Huawei has significantly improved its facial recognition technology, which now uses a three-dimensional face mapping system, which allows unlocking equipment in dimly lit environments. .

Camera: three yes are better than two

If there is a reason to have the Mate 20 Pro, that's your camera. Although Huawei is not the first smartphone equipped with three rear cameras, it is the first in which the company modifies its strategy of using a monochromatic sensor by means of a wide angle sensor. Now the equipment has a 40 megapixel main sensor, a 20 MP wide angle lens and a 3x 8mp telephoto lens.
The change is more than a hint, the new wide angle allows the phone to take pictures with a distance of approximately 2.5 centimeters between the camera and the object with a detail that no other mobile phone can capture without special lenses.

Similar to equipment like the LG G7, a wide angle allows you to capture more open shots, but with slight distortion in the corners. The optical zoom sensor in 3x mode now incorporates a stabilizer, which makes it possible to capture images with fewer scans, although the big reality is that it is a feature that most users will use little and in dimly lit environments , photographs tend to record some false items

Similar to Note 9 and the iPhone XS, the portrait mode also maintains a considerable improvement, perhaps the best solution for a device with multiple rear cameras, even if it continues to surprise equipped smartphones from a single camera, such as the Pixel 3 or the iPhone XR, can create images. with blur effects more and more accurate to 100% with the software.

Huawei continues to promote its artificial intelligence technology, which in fact has significantly improved, but the end result will depend on the tastes of the user. The advantage, as always, is that the user has the option to disable it at any time.

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However, in general, the camera offers one of the best mobile photography experiences on the market. The photos retain good colors, the contrast is usually correct and the dynamic range of the images does not tend to be exaggerated. The phone is particularly useful for photographing scenarios, landscapes or people in bright environments. And as with the P20 Pro, the night mode of the new Mate 20 Pro is awesome for capturing dimly lit scenes without so many moving objects.

Troll with elegance

The Mate 20 Pro has a huge battery of 4,200 milliamps, which comes to offer nearly two days of regular use to the tests performed. The team, however, incorporates two remarkable technologies: the first is that its fast charging system already supports up to 40 watts, which allows the equipment to recharge up to 70% of its battery in 30 minutes (verified during test) and supports wireless fast charge up to 15 watts. The inconvenients? It is that you need the charger and the original cable of the equipment or wireless chargers supporting the standard.

However, Huawei went further and integrated the first reversible wireless charging system into the Mate 20 Pro, ie. Galaxy, iPhone, LG, Pixel or any other compatible product. A function that the same brand presented with a slight tone of derision for users with phones of other brands and suffering from low battery permanently.

Audio, its biggest fault

The phone has stereo sound, but it has two big problems. The lower and larger speakers are no longer placed on a grill, but inside the USB C port; so it's easy to cover it with your hand when watching videos, but also when you're connected and watching content or listening to music. The audio quality is not only minor, but it is distorted by the same obstruction generated by the cable.

Its other big problem is that the second speaker, placed directly on the tab with the camera, has a smaller size, which makes some sounds are not as balanced. This does not mean that the audio is bad for a phone in its class, but below equipment such as the iPhone XS Max or even the LG G7.

conclusion

Is the Mate 20 Pro the perfect smartphone? No, there is no perfect motive. Is it the iPhone or Galaxy killer? No doubt it will be for many users who are looking for a change or who have the interest of having a phone equipped with new technologies and a camera, but not necessarily for everyone. In general, the Mate 20 Pro is the smartphone with the most technological innovations of the market that a Mexican could acquire at that time. It is perhaps the most complete photographic experience to date on a smartphone.

And, like any other premium phone, this is a mobile phone that meets all the performance needs of users, whether they are simple or advanced, largely because the new Kirin 980 works in conjunction with It's software and hardware has enabled brands such as Apple to maintain a functional, up-to-date ecosystem with equipment that has a longer lifecycle. This is without a doubt one of the best smartphones that were launched in 2018 and a clear sign that Huawei is serious when it says that it wants to make Samsung lose the top spot in global sales.

However, for many, the final decision will be upheld based on the cost benefits perceived by the consumer over the telephone. What is clear is that Huawei, this time, has several first to show with the Mate 20 Pro.