Huawei Mate 20 Vs. Mate 20 Pro: What’s The Difference?

In a time where its competitors such as Apple and Google are creating two versions of their flagships with everything similar apart from screen size, Huawei has stuck to their unconventional approach of differentiating their Pro and non-Pro versions by quite a bit.

1. Screen Size and resolution

The most obvious difference between the two is the display. The Huawei Mate 20 Pro houses a 3120 x 1440 6.39-inch OLED display, with a conventional notch cut out at the top of the phone. But the Pro model is not the larger device.

The Huawei Mate 20 has a bigger 6.53-inch LCD panel, running at 2244 x 1080 pixels. The bigger display is also complemented by a dewdrop cutout, which is seen on newer phones such as the OnePlus 6T and Oppo R17.

The obvious reason for a lower resolution LCD panel instead of an OLED is the savings in cost, but the larger screen real estate is great compensation for those who do not mind the difference in quality.

2. Wireless Charging

The Mate 20 Pro comes with a glass backplate to enable its wireless charging capabilities, while the Mate 20 sticks to standard charging via USB-C. The Pro also incorporates Huawei’s new reverse wireless charging technology, enabling you to charge your other devices that support wireless charging as well. All you have to do to give extra juice to your friends’ iPhone X or Samsung Note 9 is to put their phone’s backplate against yours.

Who’s everyone’s best friend now?

3. Camera

While both versions of the phone come with a triple camera system on the rear, the Mate 20 Pro has slightly bumped up specs over its non-Pro sibling.

Mate 20 Pro	Mate 20
40MP f1.8	12MP f1.8
20MP f2.2	16MP f2.2
8MP f2.4	8MP f2.4

While camera resolution does not determine the overall image quality, it remains to be seen how much they have a part to play in real-world tests.

4. Battery

There is a slight difference in battery capacity, with the Mate 20 Pro having a 4200 mAh battery, while the Mate 20 has a smaller 4000 mAh one. Alongside the difference in capacity, the charging speeds will also be different, as the Pro employs a 40W super charger while the Mate 20 has a 22.5W one. The Mate 20 Pro is also able to be charged wireless with a 15W wireless quick charger.

5. Biometrics

The Mate 20 Pro has incorporated an in-screen fingerprint sensor, previously seen on phones such as the Vivo x21, while the Mate 20 sticks to a traditional fingerprint reader on the back of the phone. The Mate 20 Pro is also able to unlock via 3D face unlock.

6. Nitty Gritty

Smaller differences include the lack of a headphone jack on the Mate 20 Pro, which also gives it an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance.

There are different colour variants available for each phone. The Mate 20 Pro comes in Black, Twilight and Emerald Green, while the Mate 20 comes in Black and Midnight Blue.

7. Price & Availability

The Mate 20 Pro will be available at S$1348, and the Mate 20 at S$998. Both phones will be available in Singapore on 27 October.

While there are quite a few differences listed above, both phones are running on a Kirin 980 chip, with 6GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage (expandable to 256GB) under the hood. This would mean that users can expect similar performances from both phones.

The deciding factor would be the price, and whether or not you want the latest and greatest smartphone tech has to offer. The difference of ~S$400 would give you a bump in camera specs and a few quality-of-life improvements, while the cheaper option compensates with a larger display.