The Number 20

The Chinese firm’s high end series of phablets (Huawei Mate 20 Lite, Huawei Mate 20 and Huawei Mate 20 Pro) are designed to compete with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and iPhone XS Max.

Both the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro come in five colors. The black, pink and blue-to-purple Twilight hues have a glossy finish on the phone's glass back, but the two others - Midnight Blue and Emerald Green - have something extra: a textured finish that adds a bit of tactility to the touch.

The standard version of a phone has a bigger screen than its higher-performing sibling (in this case, the 6.39-inch Mate 20 Pro). The Huawei Mate 20 has a 6.53-inch full HD (2244 x 1080) LCD display, which makes out to an 18.7:9 aspect ratio.  The Huawei Mate 20 runs Android 9 Pie out of the box, with Huawei's own EMUI 9 interface over the top. 

The Huawei Mate 20 might not have the tricks of its Pro sibling, but both are powered by the octa-core Kirin 980 processor, which Huawei claimed would handily outperform the other leading Android phone SoC, the Snapdragon 845. As for RAM, the Huawei Mate 20 comes in 4GB and 6GB configurations. The Mate 20 comes with 128GB of storage, and it does have expandable storage upt to 256GB, but in a proprietary format: NanoSD. 

The Huawei Mate 20 has the same triple array of cameras as the Mate 20 Pro, though with fewer megapixels in two of them. It has a 12MP f/1.8 primary lens, an 8MP f/2.4 telephoto with 3x optical zoom (paired with OIS) and a 16MP f/2.2 wide-angle camera with autofocus. The Mate 20's front-facing camera is a 24MP f/2.0 lens, producing sharp photos. All of the Mate 20's lenses have Leica optics, as expected for Huawei. In other words, a similar trio of lenses to other triple-camera phones, though Huawei's telephoto lens peers slightly farther than the LG V40's 2x optical zoom. As in its predecessor, the Mate 20 has a wide range of interesting camera modes that take advantage of its three lenses. 

The Mate 20 Pro can recharge 70% of its battery in half an hour, and Huawei promises the Mate 20 will recharge "quickly".

The Huawei Mate 20 is a powerful phone. It has all of today's best tech with an impressive processor and a novel, respectable camera array. Whether it's truly lacking for missing the Mate 20 Pro's flashier features may be a subjective judgment. You'll have to ask yourself: do you need an in-screen fingerprint scanner, facial recognition, higher-end curved screen or the ability to wirelessly charge other devices?