Huawei Mate 20 series: All the rumors in one place (Updated Aug. 20)

Leaked images of the Huawei Mate 20 Lite, in black, gold, and blue. A leaked image of the proposed Mate 20 Lite. Evan Blass In this post, which will be updated regularly, we take a closer look at the latest rumors surrounding the upcoming Huawei Mate 20, Mate 20 Lite, and Mate 20 Pro smartphones. The Huawei Mate 20, Mate 20 Lite, and Mate 20 Pro are among the most anticipated smartphones of the year. They are expected to feature top-of-the-line specs and will take on the likes of the Galaxy Note 9 and LG V40. Before we dive into the latest rumors surrounding the three handsets, I want to point out that their names have yet to be officially confirmed. Their predecessors are the Mate 10 and 10 Pro, and it’s assumed that Huawei will skip the number 11 and jump straight to 20 — just like it did with the P20 series. Therefore, I’ll refer to the three devices as the Huawei Mate 20, Mate 20 Lite, and Mate 20 Pro in this post. Huawei Mate 20, Mate 20 Lite, and Mate 20 Pro: Release date The nitty-gritty The exact launch date of the Huawei Mate 20 series has yet to be announced. Huawei confirmed that the Mate 20 will launch in October. However, the Mate 20 Lite may arrive in August. Huawei launched the Mate 10 smartphones on October 16 last year, while the Mate 9 made its debut on November 3, 2016. We know via a Huawei press release that the Huawei Mate 20 (and likely the Mate 20 Pro) will launch in October, but we don’t know an exact date. Read next: Here are the best Huawei phones you can buy right now The Huawei Mate 20 Lite, meanwhile, is currently tipped to launch a bit sooner and possibly go on sale before the end of August. The Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro will probably hit shelves in Europe and other regions within a month or so after the October launch. One or even both smartphones are expected to go on sale in the U.S. as well, but at a later date. The Mate 10 Pro, for example, was released stateside in February 2018, around four months after going on sale on the old continent. Due to the company’s recent U.S. woes, Huawei is not likely to launch the Mate 20 or 20 Pro with any carrier partners in the U.S. — it’ll likely sell both phones through Amazon. Huawei Mate 20, Mate 20 Lite, and Mate 20 Pro: Specs and features The nitty-gritty The Huawei Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro will be powered by the Kirin 980 chipset, while the Lite model might feature a Kirin 710. The Mate 20 Lite would likely have a dual rear camera, the other models could feature a triple rear camera setup. The Pro model may sport an in-display fingerprint scanner. The folks over at XDA-Developers got their hands on alleged firmware files of the Huawei Mate 20, which reveal some of the specs and features the smartphone may offer. The flagship is said to feature a 6.3-inch AMOLED display, up from the 5.9-inch panel found on its predecessor. Unfortunately, there’s no word on resolution, but we do have an idea on aspect ratio. According to renders leaked by XDA, the Mate 20 will have an 18:9 ratio with a tiny waterdrop notch at the top. See the design section below for more info on the display. The Mate 20 will definitely be powered by the Kirin 980 chipset, as confirmed by a Huawei press release. The Kirin 980 will be the first commercially available 7nm smartphone chipset, which is incredibly exciting. The Huawei Mate 20 may feature a triple-camera setup on the back. The Mate 20 is expected to sport 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, although there might be a few other memory variants available. According to XDA Developers, the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro will feature a triple-lens camera setup, just like the Huawei P20 Pro. If the rumors are true, the Huawei Mate 20 will feature a 4,200mAh battery, which would make it a market leader in its class. For comparison, the Galaxy Note 9’s battery has a capacity of 4,000mAh, even though the phone has a 6.4-inch display. Other specs and features include wireless charging, some kind of IP rating for protection against water and dust, and Android 9.0 Pie with Huawei’s EMUI skin on top. WinFutre.de recently leaked details regarding the Mate 20 Lite, including images and specs. It’s said to come with a 6.3-inch, LCD display at 2340 x 1080 resolution, and an octa-core Kirin 710 SoC with four 1.7GHz ARM Cortex-A53 cores and four 2.2GHz Cortex-A73 cores. Huawei announced this chip in July and it’s Nova 3i smartphone and it’s set to give its midrange devices a big boost — find out more here. The Mate 20 Lite is also expected to house 6GB of RAM and 64GB internal storage space, as well as a 3650mAh battery. As for photography, WinFuture points to a 20MP + 2MP dual rear camera system with f/18.8 aperture, and a 24MP+2MP dual front camera. Information regarding the Huawei Mate 20 Pro specs, on the other hand, is scarce. According to The Bell, the device could sport a massive 6.9-inch AMOLED display made by Samsung, which would be quite an upgrade over the 6-inch panel found on its predecessor. Like the Mate 20, we haven’t heard anything about the resolution, but we can expect an 18:9 aspect ratio. Based on its size, the device should sport a larger battery than the Mate 20. A capacity of 5,000mAh would make sense, as that is what the recently announced 6.9-inch Honor Note 10 is packing. The Huawei Mate 20 Pro should be powered by the same Kirin 980 chipset as the regular Mate 20. It could have at least 6GB of RAM, with an 8GB model also being an option. Camera details haven’t been confirmed yet, but I’d be surprised if it doesn’t come with a triple-camera setup that’s similar to the one found on the P20 Pro. Rumors also suggest we’ll see wireless charging, an IP rating, and an in-display fingerprint scanner (hooray!). Huawei Mate 20 rumored specsHuawei Mate 20 Pro rumored specs Display6.3-inch AMOLED QHD+ resolution 18:9 aspect ratio6.9-inch AMOLED 18:9 aspect ratio ProcessorHiSilicon Kirin 980HiSilicon Kirin 980 RAM6GB6 or 8GB Storage128GBTBA CameraTriple-camera setupTriple-camera setup Battery4,200mAh5,000mAh In-display fingeprint scannerNoYes SoftwareAndroid 9.0 Pie with EMUI 9.0Android 9.0 Pie with EMUI 9.0 Other featuresWireless charging, IP ratingWireless charging, IP rating Huawei Mate 20, Mate 20 Lite, and Mate 20 Pro: Design Leaked render images of the Huawei Mate 20 Lite from the front and back. Leaked renders of the rumored Huawei Mate 20 Lite. WinFuture.de The nitty-gritty We have leaked renders of the Huawei Mate 20 which give us an idea of its design. We also have a slew of leaked images of the Mate 20 Lite, so we have a really good idea of its design. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen anything for the Mate 20 Pro yet. If you look above, you’ll see some leaked images of the Huawei Mate 20 Lite. The device has a big notch like the iPhone X, a rear fingerprint scanner, and a dual camera setup on the rear. We also have the image below: Phone Arena There are also leaked images that show the Mate 20 Lite will have a headphone jack. With these renders, we have a pretty good idea of what the Mate 20 Lite will look like. While one would assume these Mate 20 Lite images could give us an idea of how the more expensive models will turn out, for the Mate 10 series, the Lite model wasn’t exactly a good barometer. The Mate 10 Lite looked quite different to the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro — it wasn’t curved in the same way, its camera and flash setup weren’t the same, it was an altogether different shaped phone featuring different materials. Editor's PickWhat is 5G, and what can we expect from it?You've likely heard the term a lot recently, but what is 5G? Good question. Simply put, 5G networking is the next major evolution of mobile wireless technology. It will empower customers with even faster data connections, … So, we can’t say much about the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro based on the above. However, we do have some leaked renders of the Mate 20: As you can see from the renders, the Huawei Mate 20 will likely have a triple-lens camera on the rear in a new “squircle” configuration that looks much different from the Huawei P20 Pro. There’s also a waterdrop notch, a stark contrast to the notch on the Mate 20 Lite. The Mate 20 will also likely have a headphone jack. The Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro will probably to look similar to each other. If the rumors are true, the Mate 20 will have a fingerprint scanner on the rear, while the Pro will come with the scanner hidden beneath the display. Huawei Mate 20, Mate 20 Lite, and Mate 20 Pro: Price The nitty-gritty The Huawei Mate 20 smartphones could all cost more than their predecessors. The Pro model could go for as much as 1,000 euros, while the regular Mate 20 should be around 100 euros cheaper. The Mate 20 Lite may cost 399 euros — up 100 euros on the Mate 10 Lite price. We don’t know how much any of these phones will cost, but we can get a good idea of what to expect by looking at their predecessors. The Mate 10 launched with a price tag of 700 euros, while the Pro model went for 800 euros. Only the Mate 10 Pro made its way to the U.S., where it initially retailed for $800. The Mate 20 Pro could be up to 200 euros more expensive than its predecessor. The Mate 20 smartphones, with all their upgrades, probably won’t be cheaper than their predecessors. The best case scenario would be for the pricing to remain unchanged, but I have a feeling it’s going to go up. The Mate series is generally more expensive than the P series, and as the P20 Pro costs 900 euros, the Mate 20 Pro could potentially go for 950 or even a 1,000 euros — making it up to 200 euros more expensive than its predecessor. In the U.S., the price-hike may be less drastic, possibly coming in at around $100. The regular Mate 20 will probably cost around 100 euros less than the Pro version, just like last year. The Mate 20 Lite could be a far more affordable handset though, as speculation suggests it will come in at 399 euros (~$450). This is still 100 euros up on the Mate 10 Lite price, which started at 299 euros (~$340). These are all the rumors we’ve come across so far about the Huawei Mate 20 series. We’ll update this page as soon as we hear more. In the meantime, share your thoughts on Huawei’s upcoming smartphones. Do you think they will give the Galaxy Note 9 a run for its money? Let us know in the comments!