Huawei Mate 30 Pro: still one of the best on the market (and Google services are secondary)

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Huawei Mate 30 Pro: Still One Of The Best On
Huawei Mate 30 Pro: Still One Of The Best On

The new Huawei Mate 30 Pro has arrived in Italy. He did it without Google’s services but it is clear how its technological value is such as to make it one of the best smartphones of the moment ready to give way perhaps only to the future Huawei P40 Pro. We have taken it back in hand to understand how much the services of Google are needed and how difficult it is to implement them.

 

More than a month after its official sale also in Italy, let’s go back to Huawei Mate 30 Pro, the smartphone that has hit the world of technology both for its technical sector of the highest order and for the impossibility of having it with the much needed Google services whose use, due to the moves of the American government, is in fact prevented from Huawei.

Let’s go back to talking about it because we tried it again after the review made in early October when it was still unclear whether the device would land in Italy and above all under what conditions. Huawei Mate 30 Pro and now sold on the company’s official store Chinese to a price of € 1,099.90 and therefore it can be purchased by anyone who wants to obtain a top of the range smartphone. Yes, because retrying it daily the positive impressions we had during the review were confirmed and the quality of the phone overshadows the absence of Google services that are not there, it is true, at first power on but which can still be integrated in a more or less simple way. In fact, the smartphone can work even without them because Huawei App Gallery, the company’s app store, it is populating with applications.

Huawei: experience rewards in numbers and beyond

The numbers are on his side because Huawei Mate 30 Pro in just 3 hours from its release has sold, in the motherland, over 1 million units. The two devices attracted the attention of the Chinese public who even decided to camp outside the stores with mileage queues in order to be able to have one. “Home” popularity that has increased precisely with the situation that has arisen with the United States of America, giving strength to a company that does not want to give up because it knows how to make smartphones, from hardware to software.

Huawei’s promise has been fulfilled. The company said the trade war between China and the US would not affect plans to market the Mate 30 series in Italy. From September 19, the presentation date of the Huawei Mate 30 Pro, a few months have passed but in fact in its shop today it is possible to buy the smartphone and this makes it clear the stubbornness of a company that wants to guarantee today’s users to be able to take advantage of technologies, such as smartphones, capable of simplifying daily life.

To do this, it is clear that one must be competitive on all fronts and at this moment it is impossible not to reveal the fact that Huawei is 360 degrees or almost. Just Huawei Mate 30 Pro is a top of the range both for its being the first smartphone with Kirin 990 5G processor, that is, a chipset with high potential thanks to a latest generation Neural Processing Unit capable of high standards especially on photography. Both because the smartphone fills gaps that technically it possessed with previous versions (the video part in primis).

To make up for the lack of Google services, hopefully only momentary, Huawei has fielded part of its resources that it has accumulated in these years of experience and facing a $ 1 billion investment globally in developer support. An operating machine capable of bringing 10 million dollars to Italy to build an operating system based on AOSP, free and not licensed by Google, with the now known Huawei Mobile Services ready to heart the system itself.

A project that started from afar, about 7 years ago, when HMS (Huawei Mobile Services) allowed you to do a few things like changing the appearance of your smartphone by installing themes. Today App Gallery is the application present in all Huawei devices and allows free and global distribution of applications created precisely by developers for over 500 million users. It is one of the strengths on which the company wants to address the problem of Google services even if we remember it, Huawei itself has always confirmed the preference to continue the journey with Android and all that derives from it, USA permitting.

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Huawei Mate 30 Pro: a smartphone of the future, already real

Huawei Mate 30 Pro is what we like to call “top of the range” but not only for its technical characteristics including chipsets, wide-angle sensors, waterfall displays and whoever has more. We call it “top of the range” for his still being first in the class, albeit with his shortcomings due to external forces.

Fascinates that record display with curved edges (88 ° degrees of angle to be precise). A display that sees the lack of the physical volume rocker which is bypassed with a quick double tap on the right or left side of the device to bring up an on-screen bar easy to move with your finger. Technically, it is an important panel in terms of dimensions, given that it is diagonally 6.53 inches and is AMOLED type. The colors are extremely saturated and vivid just as you would like on a P3 gamut. Convenient the two modes, Intense and Normal, which allow you to manually configure the temperature.

The upper notch is typical which guarantees Huawei to be able to position a 32MPx front camera flanked by a ToF or Time Of Flight sensor that guarantees even more depth in the self-portraits as well as greater security during unlocking with face detection.

On a performance level we can only reiterate what we said in the review phase or that Huawei Mate 30 Pro is a guarantee. The company has invested resources over time from this point of view, obtaining a technologically advanced product, even more than others. We speak clearly of processor ” made in Shenzhen ” Kirin 990. Processor presented at IFA 2019, made with 7-nm production process, Octa Core clocked up to 2.86GHz. Power to be sold also thanks to the presence of 8GB of RAM that give reactivity in every operation and to which they come 256GB of storage memory also added internal expandable with NM Card.

The appearance on the back of Huawei Mate 30 Pro shows what has changed on a photographic level compared to previous generations. A field, this photo, Huawei’s flagship that has now decided to continue its collaboration with Leica and offers here 4 cameras. Technically we have a 40MP main sensor with OIS and opening from f / 1.6 then a 8MP telephoto lens for 3X optical zoom. One more Ultra Wide Angle 40MP cam with f / 1.8 and finally one ToF room for the best rendering in the details.

In particular:

  • Standard

    • 40MP SuperSensing sensor

    • Wide angle lens with f / 1.6 aperture (27mm, 1/17 ”, PDAF)

    • OIS

  • Ultra-Wide

    • 40 MP sensor

    • 0.5x lens with f / 1.8 aperture (18mm, 1 / 1.54 ”, PDAF)

  • Telephoto

    • 8 MP sensor

    • 3x Optical Zoom lens with f / 2.4 aperture (80 mm, 1/4 ”, PDAF)

    • OIS

    • 10x digital zoom

  • Depth

    • 3D TOF Camera

  • 4K Ultra HD video @ 60 fps

  • Slow-motion HD @ 7680 fps

  • Huawei AIS (AI Image Stabilization)

  • Hybrid Autofocus

We had defined the results as the first in the class and in this second round of tests with software updated several times by Huawei we can only confirm and reiterate that the shots and the experience obtained with the Mate 30 Pro only put it at the top in the world of smartphone photography. Huawei calls its Quad Camera “SuperSensing Cine Camera” designed for better photographic and videographic results. In practice there are noiseless poses without a real loss of detail with always bright colors. Nearly perfect exposures and color with good exposure to low light levels which are also compensated by a high dynamic range even in difficult scenes with high contrast.


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True, Huawei in Mate 30 Pro, leaves the periscope that we praised on the past P30 Pro especially on long distances. But somehow to improve videos and even photos, Huawei had to give up something even if relying on the 3x zoom allows you to achieve excellent shots. The shots at night have reached good exposures up to very low light levels, especially with urban subjects that are not too bright. Low noise levels with details sometimes a little soft in these conditions but perhaps the fault of the not yet optimized firmware.


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Improved videos. The steps forward are there and Huawei Mate 30 Pro allows you to record videos up to the maximum resolution of 4K Ultra HD at 60 fps by default. But it is not so much on the numbers that the improvements are noticed rather on the result. Good balance of sensors with a low noise profile. It renders the detail well with pleasant colors and with good lighting of the scene even in fast changes of shooting. Stability is effective and video tends to move little with a cinematic perception of shooting and above all with the perception that videos can be made while having fun.

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autonomy the 4,500 mAh capacity does nothing but bring in the evening without problems also with an intense use of the smartphone between videos, photos, web browsing and social sessions also and above all under the 4G network as well as in the Wi-Fi network and hotspot. The merit is all of theoptimization between Kirin 990 and EMUI which due to updates has reached a high level of symbiosis with the processor “made in Shenzhen”. Do not forget also the fast charging that just 15 minutes allows you to have 39% charge and above all to optimize the charging itself even with wireless technology up to 27W.

Huawei Mate 30 Pro: there is no Google but it can be installed

We haven’t talked about the operating system yet present in Huawei Mate 30 Pro. The reason is easy to understand: the smartphone does not own Google services and therefore does not currently have a Play Store as soon as you turn it on. We will not find the applications that we can find in a previous device of the company. And this following the problems that are having between the Chinese government and the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump. Problems cost the Android license for the new Huawei branded devices.

Now the choices users can make to make the best use of the new Huawei Mate 30 Pro, without Google services, they are manifold. On the one hand, it is possible install the Play Store using the wizard and any other apps dating back to Google just like on other Android smartphones. In this way you would have a device identical to the one we always had before the US blocked the license for Android to Huawei.

Different the possibility of abandon the Play Store for a more proprietary choice with the installation of the applications through theHauwei App Gallery and the use of services like Phone Clone, always created by the Chinese company, which allows transfer apps and data from an Android phone (or even iPhone) to the Mate 30 Pro. Finally, it is possible to obtain the installation of everyday applications through the individual APK files that users can find around the Net. Here it could come into play too Amazon App Store which, already integrated in the phone, allows you to download some known apps directly from the store of the giant of Jeff Bezos.

Along the first road, which is the one that allows you to have a complete smartphone with Google and Play Store services installed, you need to have some knowledge of Android and its operating system. The user will have to follow step by step the guide exposed here, which allows you to install Google services and the Android Store app by logging in with your Gmail account just like with any other Android smartphone. The procedure requires a previous backup performed on a Huawei Mate 30 Pro (which is clearly “granted” online). Then it will be necessary to download and install the APK files of the Google GMS apps and then proceed through the guided procedure to access the Play Store and everything you need to use the smartphone normally. A simple procedure at an operational level but which in fact may not be within everyone’s reach or perhaps not “digested” by all since the backup to be installed is made online already with the Google services installed or because in any case there are limitations on the digital payments side which can be convenient for many.

Considering instead to focus on the alternative solution of Huawei App Gallery or even through Amazon App Store integrated with APK files found on the net, it will be possible to download more or less all the applications necessary for the daily use of the phone. As said at the beginning Huawei’s App Gallery is integrated by default and although at the moment it guarantees a not very large number of applications, the company intends in the short term to populate its store thanks to incentives for developers. By leveraging on the Amazon App Store, you can find a greater number of applications that at least partially compensate for the lack of the Play Store.

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In both situations, however, all Google applications will be missing, from GMail to Google Drive, via Google Maps or YouTube. Now the solutions in this case are two: use Google services via web browser or use alternative apps installed through the stores or even through APK files downloaded directly from the web or perhaps from the official website, if any, of the service you want to use. Finding applications in this way will not be a problem and the good thing we will have about doubts about installing apps downloaded by third parties, will be to have a certification check of safe apps before their installation directly through the Mate 30 Pro algorithm , which will enable an alarm bell to be triggered in the event of an abnormal situation.

A single sore point will be that of digital payment services such as Google Pay. Here you will not have the possibility to make them work even by installing the Play Services. In fact, however, the applications of banks will work without problems once downloaded in various ways. No problem even on the gaming front where the biggest titles can be found between the Amazon App Store and other online stores. Moreover, many games can be downloaded directly from the official websites of the software houses.

The rest is what is called the usual graphical interface. On Huawei Mate 30 Pro we already have the new one EMUI 10 based on Android 10 which undoubtedly represents a big step forward in terms of modernity and graphic effectiveness by the company itself. Finally the icons are more beautiful to look at, less “old” than we see with the EMUI 9. We find the dark mode, much in vogue with Android 10. Once enabled, all the applications that have correctly implemented it according to Android specifications, will allow users to view the contents and everything related to the application with a dark background and elements.

The changes with the EMUI 10 are there and not only concern aesthetics but also usability of the interface by users. In everyday life, Huawei tries to make up for the almost infinite number of sections, menus and submenus, making the display of the various sections in the settings more immediate now. An improved design with more space between the lines and a subdivision of the similar elements or that concern similar concepts. In short, everything changes with a better aesthetic taste and greater reactivity in everyday use.

CONCLUSIONS

Huawei Mate 30 Pro is a true top of the range. Needless to turn around because the data sheet and what Huawei itself has put in place with this new smartphone it equals it to the other competitors of the moment on this price range especially in the photographic sector or in the optimization between the hardware and software sectors.

In fact as soon as you turn it on Huawei Mate 30 Pro is not like other smartphones. It does not own the Play Store as it does not own Google Play Services and cannot install applications as is done with other company or other brand devices. However, the methods for doing this are many and different. The only difference will be that of having to be a little more flexible in the use of the Mate 30 Pro which could be, in the first instance, perhaps less “user friendly” for the aforementioned reasons.

The hope is always that the glimmer of surrender of the blockade can be opened between the Chinese and American governments. Returning to a normal situation is the will that Huawei hopes for and hopes. Investments for developers, but also those on its own operating system have already been put in place but it is clear that Huawei is more willing to return to Android and everything related to this rather than open to a new course having to start over or less from scratch. Using Mate 30 Pro without Google is possible even if with some limitations but in fact using it with Google would be all simpler and within everyone’s reach.