A lot of people wonder whether they should buy the base version of the latest flagships or spend a similar amount of money to get the high-end version of its predecessor. That is currently what you would probably be asking yourself if you wanted to get an affordable flagship by Huawei. The Chinese company recently launched the Huawei P30 series, but is the vanilla P30 really different and better from the previous Huawei flagship or is it better to save some money and choose the most powerful configuration of the Honor View 20 or the Huawei Mate 20? This comparison will clear your ideas and tell you which affordable Huawei flagship is worth choosing for your needs.
Huawei P30 vs Huawei Honor View 20 vs Huawei Mate 20
| Huawei P30 | Huawei Honor View 20 | Huawei Mate 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT | 149.1 x 71.4 x 7.6 mm, 165 g | 156.9 x 75.4 x 8.1 mm, 180 g | 158.2 x 77.2 x 8.3 mm, 188 g |
| DISPLAY | 6.1 inches, 1080 x 2340p (Full HD+), OLED | 6.4 inches, 1080 x 2310p (Full HD+), IPS LCD | 6.53 inches, 1080 x 2244p (Full HD+), IPS LCD |
| PROCESSOR | Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 980, octa-core 2.6 GHz | Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 980, octa-core 2.6 GHz | Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 980, octa-core 2.6 GHz |
| MEMORY | 6 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 64 GB – 8 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 256 GB – micro SD dedicated slot | 6 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 256 GB – micro SD dedicated slot | 4 GB RAM, 128 GB – 6 GB RAM, 128 GB – nano memory card slot |
| SOFTWARE | Android 9 Pie, EMUI | Android 9 Pie, EMUI | Android 9 Pie, EMUI |
| CONNECTIVITY | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS |
| CAMERA | Triple 40 + 16 + 8 MP, f/1.8, f/2.2 and f/2.4 32 MP f/2.0 front camera |
Dual 48 MP + TOF 3D camera, f/1.8 25 MP f/2.0 front camera |
Triple 12 + 16 + 8 MP, f/1.8 + f/2.2 + f/2.4 24 MP f/2.0 front camera |
| BATTERY | 3650 mAh, fast charging 22.5W | 4000 mAh, fast charging 22.5W | 4000 mAh, fast charging 4.5V / 5A |
| ADDITIONAL FEATURES | Hybrid Dual SIM slot, splash resistant | Dual SIM slot, in-display camera | Dual SIM slot, splashproof (IP53) |
Design
The design is the real strong point of the Honor View 20. After all, a lot of Honor devices succeeded for their stunning aesthetics. The Honor View 20 gets rid of notches, sliders, and bezels thanks to a futuristic punch-hole display, and it also comes with a stunning reflect back creating different light waves depending on the viewing angle. While the Honor View 20 has the most gorgeous design, Huawei P30 still comes with a good design and it also has a better build quality. The phone is dust resistant and splashproof, just like the Huawei Mate 20. In my opinion, Huawei P30 is much more beautiful than the Huawei Mate 20 because it comes in more attractive color variants, a cleaner rear design, and even a more compact body.
Display
While the design is the strong point of the Honor View 20, the display is definitely its weak point. It comes with a classic IPS panel, something that you can often find in the midrange segment. It is a good display and its punch-hole design is very attractive as well as the very thin bezels, but it is far from the levels reached from Huawei P30 and Mate 20 which come with a solid high-end screen. They support both DCI-P3 coverage and the HDR10 technology for better color reproduction. I like Huawei P30’s color better thanks to its OLED panel, while Huawei Mate 20 has an LCD display but it also comes with a bigger diagonal (6.53 inches vs 6.1 inches, so it is better for productivity).
Hardware/Software
At a similar price, you can get either the high-end memory configuration of the Honor View 20 and Mate 20 (8/256 GB and 6/128 GB) or the base configuration of the Huawei P30 (6/128 GB). Given that all of these handsets come with the same Kirin 980 chipset and they are all based on Android Pie out of the box, when it comes to performances, the higher-end version of the Honor View 20 is better, especially in multi-tasking environments. With more RAM, you can open more heavy games and apps at the same time. The higher-end version of the Honor View 20 also comes with more storage, but note that you can not expand it as it does not feature an expansion slot, unlike the Huawei P30 and Huawei Mate 20.
Camera
The triple rear camera of the Huawei P30 undoubtedly wins the comparison as it is able to capture a higher quantity of light for better photos in low light conditions, as well as a very high level of detail. Unlike the Honor View 20, it also has Leica optics and an ultrawide lens. Further, it supports up to 3x optical zoom thanks to its telephoto lens. The second place goes to the Huawei Mate 20 which comes again with a triple camera including an ultrawide sensor and a telephoto lens with a 2x optical zoom. Honor View 20 takes the last position with a still nice 48 MP dual camera. Even when it comes to selfies Huawei P30 is the winner with an impressive 32 MP snapper.
Battery
Here, the Honor View 20 wins. It has a bigger battery than Huawei P30 as well as a smaller display than the Huawei Mate 20, so it is pretty obvious that it can last more on a single charge. It even has a very fast charging technology: it can go up to 55 percent in just 30 minutes.
Price
You can get the base variant of the Honor View 20 for just €500 thanks to online street prices, but it has a listing price of €570/$640. Huawei P30 starts from €680/$764, while Huawei Mate 20 starts from €640/$718 globally (now about €500/$561 thanks to street prices). Despite you can get the higher-end version of the Honor View 20 and the Huawei Mate 20 at the same price as the Huawei P30, we still suggest you go for the Huawei P30 because of its better cameras and its great display, unless performances and productivity are your main priority. In that case, I would go for the Huawei Mate 20 due to its bigger and nicer display, even though Honor View 20 has better aesthetics and slightly longer battery life.
Huawei P30 vs Huawei Honor View 20 vs Huawei Mate 20: PRO and CONS
Huawei Honor View 20
PROS
- Great design
- Good price
- Big battery
- Nice hardware
- Micro SD dedicated slot
CONS
- Worse display
Honor P30
PROS
- Better camera
- In-display fingerprint reader
- Good display
- More compact
- Splashproof
CONS
- Costlier
Huawei Mate 20
PROS
- Bigger screen
- Big battery
- Good display
- Stereo speakers
- Splashproof
CONS
- Uglier design
