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Introduction
Today we’re looking to compare two phones from the same company. Well, sort of. HONOR is Huawei’s sub-brand, it operates on its own, even though it uses Huawei’s technology. In this comparison, we will compare HONOR’s brand new flagship, the HONOR View20, and Huawei’s latest and greatest, the Mate 20 Pro.
These two phones do technically come from sibling companies, but they’re quite different in a number of ways, despite the fact they are fueled by the very same processor. Having said that, let’s jump right into it, starting with listing their specifications, before moving to the design section and other “pillars” in our smartphone comparisons.
Specifications
Design
When it comes to the design, these two phones use similar materials, as both are made out of metal and glass, although they look considerably different. The Huawei Mate 20 Pro sports a rather large notch at the top of the display, mainly due to some fancy facial scanning technology, while the View20 takes an even more modern approach with that a camera hole in the top-left corner of the display. Both phones include extremely thin bezels, and a thin chin below the display.
Although these two phones have almost the same display size, the Mate 20 Pro is narrower, mainly thanks to its curved display, and slightly thinner side bezels. The Mate 20 Pro is actually considerably narrower, 75.4 vs 72.3mm, which makes it somewhat easier to grip and use, despite the fact it’s slightly taller and thicker than the View20. The Mate 20 Pro also has a different coating on the back, which makes it less slippery than the View20. The back of the Mate 20 Pro is better-looking than the back of the View20, as its sensors are better organized, while the View20’s sensors are all over the place. The View20 does have a really nice-looking pattern on the back, which reflects light in an interesting way.
In all honesty, we cannot really decide the winner here, the View20 looks far better to our eyes from the front, while the Mate 20 Pro’s back looks better. The Mate 20 Pro is easier to use with one hand and it is less slippery compared to the View20, but then again, the View20 has that nice-looking pattern on the back. So, this is a draw.
Winner: Tie
Display
This is a far easier category to compare, as the Mate 20 Pro’s display is a class above the View20’s. The Huawei Mate 20 Pro features a 6.39-inch QHD+ (3120 x 1440) curved AMOLED panel, while the View20 comes with a 6.4-inch fullHD+ (2310 x 1080) IPS LCD display. The View20’s display is more than decent, it’s one of the better IPS LCD panels out there, but it is an IPC LCD panel. These days the vast majority of consumers will prefer OLED panels these along with their deep blacks. On top of that, the Mate 20 Pro’s OLED panel also offers a considerably higher resolution than the View20’s which is also a plus for the Mate 20 Pro.
Both displays have really good viewing angles, and you will not spot any deficiencies in that regard, at least nothing that should concern you in any way. The fullHD+ resolution is more than enough for the View20, but the Mate 20 Pro’s display is simply a class above the View20’s, it’s as simple as that, despite the fact that both offer really nice colors, the View20’s is not as punchy as Mate 20 Pro’s.
Winner: Huawei Mate 20 Pro
Performance
What about performance? Well, this one may surprise you. Both of these phones are rocking the same processor, the Kirin 980, while both of them come in 6GB and 8GB RAM variants (depending on the market). The software is a bit different, though, the View20 comes with Android 9 Pie and Huawei’s Magic UI 2, while the Mate 20 Pro also ships with Android 9 Pie, but on top of it is Huawei’s EMUI 9. The two OSes are quite similar, but the Magic UI 2 feels more polished than EMUI 9, and therefore results in a smoother experience in pretty much every way.
Don’t get us wrong, EMUI 9 is a great Android overlay, but it just does not feel as polished as Magic UI 2. That, in combination with a lower resolution on the View20, the View20’s performance actually seems to trump that of the Mate 20 Pro. We’re talking about general day-to-day performance, from opening apps, using navigation gestures, running games, and so on, the View20 simply seems a bit ahead of the Mate 20 Pro – which is why we’ll give this category to the View20.
Winner: HONOR View20
Battery Life
Both of these smartphones are absolute beasts when it comes to battery life and that’s the best way of describing them. Both devices ship with some fine battery-tuning options that help to prolong battery life quite a bit, but when we look over battery life, we consider how they perform on default settings… and on default settings, these two are great. If you’re not a heavy smartphone user, chances are you will be able to get two-days worth of battery life out of both of these phones.
Truth be said, we have not finished our testing of the View20 (review to arrive soon), but based on our usage so far, they are quite similar in terms of battery life, even though the View20 can push a bit further than the Mate 20 Pro. The View20 comes with a 4,000 mAh capacity battery and 22.5-watt fast charging, while the Mate 20 Pro offers 40-watt charging, Qi wireless charging, and reverse wireless charging, for its 4,200 mAh battery. As these two are so close in terms of battery life, we’ll give this one to the Mate 20 Pro due to its sheer versatility when it comes to charging, and faster charging compared to the View20’s.
Winner: Huawei Mate 20 Pro
Cameras
The Huawei Mate 20 Pro offers one of the best camera experiences on the market as far as smartphones are concerned. While we really did not expect the View20 to be anywhere close to the Mate 20 Pro, we were wrong. The HONOR View20 holds its own in the camera department, its 48-megapixel main sensor can provide great images in pretty much all lighting conditions, and the TOF 3D sensor definitely helps with that. The View20 uses pixel binning tech in order to provide 12-megapixel images which look great in both daylight, and when the light is gone, but the Mate 20’s triple camera setup on the back still has the edge.
Not only does it offer more versatility when it comes to taking images, but it can produce somewhat better shots in most situations. Having said that, the View20’s camera quality is really close to the Mate 20 Pro’s. While it is a step behind, when you consider how much more affordable the View20 is, the lack of difference is quite surprising. Still, this category goes to the Mate 20 Pro.
Winner: Huawei Mate 20 Pro
Conclusion
As is always the case, we’ll first mention some things that did not fit in the categories above. First and foremost, it’s worth noting that the View20 comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack, while the Mate 20 Pro does not. On the other hand, the Mate 20 Pro offers stereo speakers and 32-bit/384kHz audio, which is something the View20 cannot offer you. The Mate 20 Pro comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner, though truth be told the View20’s capacitive rear-facing fingerprint scanner is both more convenient and faster than the in-display unit in the Mate 20 Pro. Something to keep that in mind.
Overall, the Mate 20 Pro is a better phone, but the View20 is closer than we anticipated. The HONOR View20 is worth its price tag, and if you’re looking to save up some cash, it may be the right choice for you.
Winner: Huawei Mate 20 Pro