Huawei has finally launched the Mate 20 Pro smartphone in India. The flagship smartphone comes with a powerful chipset, three cameras, and more. According to IDC, Huawei managed to dethrone Apple as the second largest smartphone brand during the second quarter of 2018. Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei announced that the company plans to sell 200 million units during the entire fiscal year.
With Mate 20 series, Huawei seems to have launched its strongest flagship product portfolio yet. The Mate 20 Pro seems to be the challenger to Apple iPhone XS Max and Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and here is a look at how the three devices stack up against each other.
Huawei Mate 20 Pro vs Apple iPhone XS Max vs Samsung Galaxy Note 9: Design and Display
With the Mate 20 Pro, Huawei is going after Apple and Samsung in a big way, by packing latest hardware and a design that makes it much more competitive. The Mate 20 Pro features a glass back and metal casing with an overall build that seems much better than that of the P20 Pro. The smartphone feature a 6.39-inch OLED display with a resolution of 3120 x 1440 pixels and 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The display is also curved at both the edges, giving it the look of Samsung Galaxy S series flagship when seen face up. In order to make it more appealing, Huawei is offering the Mate 20 Pro in five colors including Morpha Aurora color that was first seen on the Huawei P20 Pro.
The display seems bright in terms of what Huawei showed at the event but it needs to be tested in real world for accuracy, brightness and color saturation. In comparison, the iPhone XS Max and Galaxy Note 9 feature a 6.5-inch and 6.4-inch OLED displays made by Samsung’s display division. The displays on these two devices are the best on any smartphone right now and Huawei has a tough task to match them.
In terms of built, the iPhone XS Max features a stainless steel casing with glass back, that the company claims is much durable than its predecessor. At the front, it has an edge-to-edge display with a notch at the top. The Galaxy Note 9, on the other hand, has a design similar to that Galaxy S9 series with metal sides and glass back. It has visible forehead and chin surrounding the display but it also offers comfortable fit.
Huawei Mate 20 Pro vs Apple iPhone XS Max vs Samsung Galaxy Note 9: Specifications
The Huawei Mate 20 Pro is the first smartphone to be powered by Kirin 980 chipsets. The Kirin 980 is an octa-core CPU based on new 7nm process with 6.9 billion transistors. The chipset brings faster CPU, GPU and NPU performance compared to Kirin 970. The chipset is paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage. With the Mate 20 series, Huawei is also introducing a new form of external storage called NM card, which is basically memory card in the size of nano SIM card.
It supports under-display fingerprint sensor but also supports 3D facial recognition similar to iPhone X. The Mate 20 Pro runs EMUI 9 based on Android 9 Pie and brings new features like Digital Wellbeing. Its USP is the huge 4,200mAh battery with 15W fast wirelesss charging support and superfast wired charging via supplied 40W charger.
The iPhone XS Max is powered by Apple A12 Bionic CPU, which is also fabricated using TSMC’s 7nm process. The iPhone XS Max has 4GB RAM and option for 64GB or 256GB or 512GB storage and is arguably the most powerful smartphone in the market. It is IP68 water and dust resistant and runs iOS 12 with Face ID facial recognition. It comes with a 3,174mAh battery but comes with only 5W charger. It does support wireless charging and can be purchased in space grey, silver or gold color.
Watch: Apple iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max Hands-On
Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is powered by either Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 or Exynos 9810 octa-core CPU, which clearly falls short against the other two rivals. Both Snapdragon 845 and Exynos 9810 are based on second-generation 10nm process, which clearly cannot match the newer 7nm process. The Galaxy Note 9 comes with 6GB or 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 512GB internal storage.
It offers a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor in addition to iris scanner for facial recognition. It is IP68 water and dust resistant and comes bundled with Bluetooth-enabled S Pen. The Galaxy Note 9 packs a 4,000mAh battery and supports fast charging and wireless charging.
Huawei Mate 20 Pro vs Apple iPhone Xs Max vs Samsung Galaxy Note 9: Camera
Huawei Mate 20 Pro is a monster in terms of specifications but it also brings improved camera setup. It has three cameras arranged in the form of a matrix with LED flash acting as the fourth element. The primary camera is the same 40-megapixel sensor with f/1.8 aperture that we first saw on the P20 Pro. The main sensor is paired with an 8-megapixel secondary shooter that also supports 5x optical zoom and 10x hybrid zoom. This year, Huawei is dropping the third monochrome sensor seen on Huawei P20 Pro in favor of a 20-megapixel ultra wide-angle sensor.
Huawei is also dropping a lot of new features in terms of software including options for a AI video mode which keeps only the subject in color while changing the background to monochrome. All the three sensors also use AIS, which Huawei describes as a combination of optical and electronic image stabilization.
Both iPhone XS Max and Galaxy Note 9 feature dual rear camera setup with a primary 12-megapixel sensor for wide-angle images and secondary 12-megapixel sensor equipped with 2x telephoto lens. They pail in comparison to Huawei’s camera setup, which offers better low-light performance. However, we need to test the camera in real-world condition to offer a verdict.
Huawei Mate 20 Pro vs Apple iPhone XS Max vs Samsung Galaxy Note 9: Price
Huawei Mate 20 Pro is priced at Rs 69,990 for 6GB RAM and 128GB storage variant. It will be available to purchase from Amazon India starting December 4. The iPhone XS Max is priced at Rs 1,09,900 for the 64GB storage while the 256GB and 512GB variants are priced at Rs 1,24,900 and Rs 1,44,900 respectively. The Galaxy Note 9 is priced at Rs 67,900 for the 6GB RAM variant while the 8GB RAM version will set you back by Rs 84,900.
| Features | Huawei Mate 20 Pro | Apple iPhone XS Max | Samsung Galaxy Note 9 |
| Display | 6.39-inch QHD+ OLED | 6.5-inch FHD+ OLED | 6.4-inch QHD+ OLED |
| Processor | Huawei Kirin 980 octa-core |
Apple A12 Bionic hexa-core |
Samsung Exynos 9810 octa-core |
| RAM | 6GB | 4GB | 6GB/8GB |
| Storage | 128GB (expandable) |
64GB/256GB/512GB (non-expandable) |
128GB/512GB (expandable) |
| Rear Camera | 40-megapixel + 20-megapixel + 8-megapixel | 12-megapixel + 12-megapixel | 12-megapixel + 12-megapixel |
| Front Camera | 24-megapixel | 7-megapixel | 8-megapixel |
| Battery | 4,200mAh | 3,174mAh | 4,000mAh |
| Connectivity | 4G LTE, Dual-SIM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | 4G LTE, Dual-SIM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth |
| OS | Android 9 Pie | Apple iOS 12 (upgradable) | Android 8.1 Oreo (upgradable) |
| Price | Rs 69,990 | Rs 1,09,990 (4GB/64GB) Rs 1,24,990 (4GB/256GB) Rs 1,44,990 (4GB/512GB) |
Rs 67,900 (6GB/128GB) Rs 84,900 (8GB/512GB) |
