Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro: All you need to know

These days, deciding on a high-end smartphone has become impossibly strenuous. Big hitters like Samsung and Nokia don’t have the upper hand they once had, with newcomers, such as OnePlus and Xiaomi stealing a big chunk of their market share.

Now, if you thought that browsing four, five OEM websites would help you land the best possible smartphone, you’re sadly out of luck. There are a bunch of other, capable companies, and the one we’re discussing today is probably at the top of the food chain.

Huawei may not be as recognizable as some of its competitors, but enthusiasts can’t possibly ignore the company’s latest offerings. Brushing aside recent controversies, Huawei has recently unveiled two new entrants to its Mate XX family — Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro. As always, Huawei has left no stone unturned to make the devices as head-turning as possible.

Coming in Emerald Green, Space Silver, Cosmic Purple, Black, and two vegan leather variants — Forest Green and Orange — and sporting a distinguishable circular camera cutout on the back, Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro have all it takes to make a mark. With the design and color options out of the way, let’s look at the raw internals.

Huawei Mate 30 Specs

6.62-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2340 x 1080
Kirin 990 chipset
EMUI10 OS (based on Android 10)
8GB RAM
128GB ROM with MicroSD expansion up to 256GB
Triple rear camera — 40 MP SuperSensing, f/1.8 primary camera; 16 MP Ultra Wide-Angle, f/2.2 camera, 8 MP Telephoto, f/2.4 camera
24 MP, f/2.0 selfie camera
4200 mAh battery with 40W wired and 27W wireless fast charging support
3.5mm headphone jack

Huawei Mate 30 Pro Specs

6.53-inch curved OLED display with a resolution of 2400 x 1176
Kirin 990 chipset
EMUI10 OS (based on Android 10)
8GB RAM
256GB ROM with MicroSD expansion up to 256GB
Quad rear camera setup — 40 MP SuperSensing, f/1.8 primary camera; 40 MP, f/1.8 Cine Camera; 8 MP Telephoto, f/2.4 camera; 3D depth-sensing camera
32MP, f/2.0 3D depth-sensing front camera
4500 mAh with 40W wired and 27W wireless fast charging support
3.5mm headphone jack
IP68 water-resistant
5G variant available

Price and Availability

Available in select European regions
Will be available in Australia
Mate 30 costs €799
Mate 30 Pro will set you back €1099
Mate 30 Pro 5G variant tops the chart at €1199

Instigated by Donald Trump’s intervention, Google withdrew Huawei’s license to use Android’s services on its future smartphones. While that doesn’t affect the current devices, any device that Huawei launches in the future (including the two we’are discussing here) can’t have any Google apps. As per this embargo, you won’t be able to access any of Google’s apps, including Gmail, YouTube, and even Google Play.

Huawei already didn’t sell its devices directly in the US, and this recent ban complicates things even further. The Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro won’t be available in every region across Europe, and the devices won’t be sold in the United Kingdom, either. The company has confirmed that the devices would eventually make their way to Australia, but pricing and availability haven’t been confirmed.

As for pricing, Huawei Mate 30 will cost you €799, while Huawei Mate 30 Pro and Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G will set you back €1099 and €1199, respectively.

Can you add Google Play Store and Play Services to Mate 30?

As we’ve already established, the Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro do not come with any of Google’s applications, including Play Store. It most definitely will be a dealbreaker for many people, but if you’re willing to look beyond the obvious and jump a couple of hoops, there’s a pretty simple way to get most (if not all) of Google’s apps.

Step 1: Download 谷歌服务助手 (Google Service Assistant) from lzplay.net.
[Note: You’ll need to grant permission to download apps other than the Huawei app store.]

Step 2: The app needs to be your device administrator to work as intended. The instructions, as expected, are in Chinese, but the process is quite simple. You’ll be able to see which permissions are being requested by Google Service Assistant and can tap on the blue button to proceed.

Step 3: Wait for the Assistant to Google Mobile Services and Google Play. After completion, tap on the blue button.

Step 4: Restart your device and download your favorite Google apps from Google Play. As it’s not officially supported by Google, apps that require DRM — such as Google Pay — won’t work on the Mate 30/Pro.

Step 5: Go to Settings > Security > More Settings > Device Administrators > remove admin privilege for 谷歌服务助手. Now, you can uninstall it safely.