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Huawei Mate 30 review: Premium economy for flagship phones

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/27/huawei-mate-30.jpg"/><figcaption>Huawei&#x27;s Mate 30 smartphone is shown in this photo. <em>ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA -- Buying a flagship phone minus the &quot;pro&quot; or &quot;plus&quot; branding is like flying premium economy instead of business class, such is the case of the Huawei Mate 30.</p><p>The pocket-friendlier sibling of the Mate 30 Pro packs the same Kirin 990 processor, Leica-engineered cameras and EMUI 10 as on the Mate 30 Pro. All but the fourth depth-sensing rear camera and the fancy curved sides.</p><p>This year, Apple differentiated its 2019 models with a &quot;pro&quot; branding for the higher-end model, which costs as much as its base model MacBook Pro. It&#x27;s a recognition that consumers are growing more cost conscious as manufacturers, especially the Chinese like Huawei, Vivo and Oppo are offering flagship features for less.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/11/13/19/mate-30-hands-on-flagship-experience-for-less">Mate 30 hands-on: Flagship experience for less</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/10/01/19/huawei-mate-30-pro-review-this-camera-is-also-a-phone">Huawei Mate 30 Pro review: This camera is also a phone</a></li></ul><div><strong>NON-PRO AT WHAT COST?</strong></div><p>On paper, the size difference between the Mate 30 (6.62 inches) and the Mate 30 Pro (6.53 inches) seems small, but are more pronounced in the hand thanks to the less expensive model&#x27;s flat panel and smaller notch. Both OLED displays are sharp with vivid colors, especially reds.</p><p>The Mate 30 Pro&#x27;s notch is bigger to accommodate the face unlock cameras, but not as obtrusive as the iPhone 11 series or the Google Pixel 4, which is huge.</p><p>The Mate 30 has a 4,200 mAh battery compared to 4,500 mAh on the pro, but both can go from sunrise to late night comfortably without a midday top-up. This includes browsing on Instagram and Chrome, taking photos, watching YouTube videos and answering emails and messages.</p><p>Minus work correspondence on weekends, the Mate 30 can go from Saturday to Sunday. For the first time, too, the non-pro Mate charges wirelessly.</p><p>Like the Mate 30 Pro, the Mate 30 runs on Huawei&#x27;s Kirin 990 with 8GB of RAM, but on board storage is at 128GB, half the 256GB on the Mate 30 Pro.</p><div><strong>HOW ARE THE CAMERAS?</strong></div><p>The Mate 30 has 3 cameras on the back, a 40-megapixel &quot;super sensing&quot; main camera with f/1.8 aperture, a 16-megapixel ultra wide with f/2.2 aperture and an 8-megapixel telephoto with f/2.4 aperture.</p><p>The Mate 30 Pro has two 40-megapixel cameras on the rear: a &quot;cine camera&quot; with f/1.8 aperture and a &quot;super sensing&quot; camera with f/1.6 aperture. It also has an 8-megapixel telephoto with f/2.4 aperture and a fourth depth-sensing lens, like the P30 Pro from earlier in the year.</p><p>The circular camera array on the back of the Mate 30 mimics that of the Mate 30 Pro, but it has 3 lenses instead of 4. The performance is also close, especially in the dark, where Huawei has performed well since the P20 series from 2018.</p><p>More than the camera specs, what differentiates the current crop of smartphone cameras is how their computational photography software works. Huawei&#x27;s Master AI tends to make red, blue and green hues pop, ditching the need for an Instagram filter.</p><p>In these dusk shots of the Rockwell skyline in Makati, a zoomed in shot heightened the red while the wide shot differentiated the blue from the red.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/27/mate-sunset-1.jpg"/><figcaption>The skyline in Rockwell, Makati is seen in this shot taken using the Huawei Mate 30. <em>ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/27/mate-sunset-2.jpg"/><figcaption>The skyline in Rockwell, Makati is seen in this shot taken using the Huawei Mate 30. <em>ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>When the on-board AI detects more pavement and concrete than sky, like in this wide shot of EDSA, it sharpens the head and tail lights of the crush of cars and buses.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/27/mate-wide-edsa.jpg"/><figcaption>An early Sunday evening on EDSA is shown in this shot taken using the Huawei Mate 30. <em>ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>The Mate 30 took bright and clear shots of Christmas displays around the city, albeit cooler than the night modes on the iPhone 11 Pro Max and the Galaxy Note 10+.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/27/mate-street.jpg"/><figcaption>Christmas lights are shown in Mandaluyong City&#x27;s Greenfield District in this shot taken using the Huawei mate 30. <em>ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/27/mate-triangle.jpg"/><figcaption>The Christmas display at the Ayala Triangle in Makati City is shown in this shot taken using the Huawei mate 30. <em>ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/27/mate-tower-one.jpg"/><figcaption>The Christmas display at the Tower One canopy in Makati City is shown in this shot taken using the Huawei mate 30. <em>ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>The Mate 30 can zoom up to 30 times like the Mate 30 Pro, but the zoomed images on the pro had less noise.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/27/mate-5x-zoom.jpg"/><figcaption>A building in Mandaluyong City is shot using 5x zoom on the Huawei Mate 30. <em>ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/27/mate-20x-zoom.jpg"/><figcaption>A building sign in Mandaluyong City is shot using 20x zoom on the Huawei Mate 30. <em>ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Wide shots have less distortion compared to the Mate 20. Close up shots of objects and food are clear and bright.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/27/mate-rice-pixel.jpg"/><figcaption>A bowl of fried rice and a Google Pixel 4 smartphone are shown in this photo taken using the Huawei Mate 30. <em>ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/27/mate-jag.jpg"/><figcaption>The headlight of a Jaguar car is shown in this photo taken using the Huawei Mate 30. <em>ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/27/mate-ortigas.jpg"/><figcaption>The skyline in Ortigas, Pasig is shown in this wide shot taken using the Huawei Mate 30. <em>ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><div><strong>WHO IS IT FOR?</strong></div><p>The Mate 30 is a solid phone, both on its own, and as an alternative to the Mate 30 Pro. It&#x27;s fast, lasts all day and packs the Leica cameras that consumers look for in a Huawei smartphone.</p><p>The P16,000 savings from the Pro is also enough to save, or splurge on a Huawei Watch GT 2 with some P5,000 left to spare, or a nice pair of noise-cancelling wireless earbuds.</p>

<p>The Mate 30 packs the same Kirin 990 processor, Leica-engineered cameras and EMUI 10 based on Android 10 as the pro version. What it lacks, though, is the fourth rear shooter and the curved "horizon" display that wraps around the sides of the device.</p>

The Mate 30 packs the same Kirin 990 processor, Leica-engineered cameras and EMUI 10 based on Android 10 as the pro version. What it lacks, though, is the fourth rear shooter and the curved "horizon" display that wraps around the sides of the device.