Reviewed in isolation, the Mate 20 is a superb phone. It takes great photos, has oodles of power and a long-lasting battery, a huge HDR-friendly screen, and the latest version of Android. But of course, that's only half the picture. Its bigger brother goes one better in just about every area, and despite being more expensive, is a much better phone as a result - so much so you have to question why you'd buy the vanilla Mate 20 at all. That's kind of a moot point, though, because the Mate 20 is largely going to be sold in countries where the Mate 20 Pro isn't. You won't see the pair side-by-side in Carphone Warehouse, and you'll actively have to go out of your way to track the cheaper phone down here in the UK. I'm not convinced you should, either. Seeing how the OnePlus 6T manages to find room in the budget for an OLED display and still come in cheaper, and the Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro has just arrived at an equally competitive £499, Huawei starts to look a little outclassed at the one-step-below-flagship level.
Flagship-grade performance; Latest version of Android; Capable, flexible cameras; Actually has a headphone jack;
Outshone by the Mate 20 Pro in almost every way; Proprietary expandable memory format frustrating; Limiting choice between models is anti-customer;