Huawei Mate 30 Pro design breaks cover in undercover spy shot

The return of the notch

Huawei Mate 30 Pro
(Image credit: Ice universe)

Leaks regarding the much-hyped Huawei Mate 30 Pro smartphone have been gathering pace as of late, with the phone set to compete against the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 reportedly coming with an advanced 'Cine-Lens' camera, a beguiling rear camera array, a powerhouse internal hardware spec, and even a OnePlus 7 Pro-matching 90Hz screen.

What we still haven't seen much of, though, are any leaks indicating just how the Mate 30 Pro is going to look. There have been a couple of slick concept videos, such as this pageant winner, which show a minimal bezel, curved front screen with teardrop front camera setup along with a circular quad camera rear camera unit, but these couldn't really call on a credible source for authenticity.

However, that ambiguity as to how the Huawei Mate 30 Pro will look seems to have just been well and truly obliterated, with what is reportedly the official screen protector for the device laid bare in a series of revealing spy shots. The shots themselves come courtesy of mobile phone leakster-in-chief Ice universe, who has a pretty much bullet-proof reputation for future phone information reveals and news.

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Analyzing the Mate 30 Pro spy shots and two things stand out. Firstly, CRIKEY THAT NOTCH IS MASSIVE! OK, so it doesn't actually seem much different from the notch on the Huawei Mate 20 Pro from last year, but considering that 2019 has seen almost all major phone makers move away from notches and towards teardrop or full-screen displays, such as on the Samsung Galaxy S10, Oppo Reno 5G, and Xiaomi Mi 9, it really stands out now.

According to current whispers on the mobile phone rumour grapevine, this chunky notch will have room for five separate tech units. These are likely to include the selfie camera, proximity sensor and speaker, and a new ToF (Time of Flight) camera for 3D facial unlock. What the fifth unit is currently remains unknown.

The other thing that really stands out looking at these papped pics is just how huge the screen curvature is on the protectors. It is slightly unclear just how far down the edges go, with the possibility of no left and right frame (even an absence of side-mounted buttons?) mooted, but even if the Mate 30 Pro comes with a more traditional frame it'll definitely feature a more Note-like edge curvature.

Here at T3 we can't wait for the Huawei Mate 30 range, which after the Chinese maker's heavily disrupted year thanks to the Trumpian blacklisting, we're keen to see the maker really regain its footing and fight back with more of the top-tier innovation it made a name for itself delivering. Hopefully we'll hear more about how Huawei plans to do this with the Mate 30 Pro soon.

Robert Jones

Rob has been writing about computing, gaming, mobile, home entertainment technology, toys (specifically Lego and board games), smart home and more for over 15 years. As the editor of PC Gamer, and former Deputy Editor for T3.com, you can find Rob's work in magazines, bookazines and online, as well as on podcasts and videos, too. Outside of his work Rob is passionate about motorbikes, skiing/snowboarding and team sports, with football and cricket his two favourites.