Leak reveals that the Huawei Mate 30 Pro will sport a quad-camera setup

A leaked promotional image of the upcoming Huawei Mate 30 Pro published by Slashleaks not only confirms that the device will have a circular camera module on the back, but it also shows a total of four cameras inside the circle. A case render that we passed along earlier this month was correct in showing the circular module but was wrong in showing only three cameras on the back. We could see the phone sport two 40MP cameras, one for primary use and the other for ultra-wide-angle shots (offering a 120-degree field of view). An 8MP telephoto camera is expected to feature 5x optical zoom and 10x hybrid zoom. The fourth sensor could be a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor. This sends out of beams of infrared light and tracks the time it takes for the light to bounce off of the subject and return to the phone. This data can be used to create more secure 3D mapping for facial recognition and to improve the bokeh effect on portraits.

The Mate 30 Pro will be powered by the Kirin 990 chipset, designed by Huawei's own HiSilicon unit and manufactured by foundry TSMC using its 7nm process. The new chip will be unveiled on September 6th at the IFA show in Berlin, and a short video teaser released by the company suggests that it will have an integrated 5G modem. It also will employ ARM's latest and greatest Cortex-A77 CPU core and a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for AI capabilities. For now, Huawei is planning to release the device with the Google Play services of Android pre-installed. If the phone isn't introduced on September 6th along with the Kirin 990, it might be unwrapped during an event that will take place on September 19th.

Huawei's next flagship phone is expected to be equipped with a 6.7-inch AMOLED waterfall display with a wide notch at the top of the screen, and two curved edges that drop down at an 88-degree angle. There is speculation that Huawei will offer a 90Hz refresh rate for the Mate 30 Pro, which is 50% faster than the 60Hz traditionally used on smartphones. The faster rate will help the animation on video games look smoother and allow for buttery smooth scrolling. A previous leak reveals that the Mate 30 Pro will include a 4500mAh battery that could support wired charging at 55W and wireless charging at 25W. The latter, if true, would be the fastest wireless charging speed supported by a smartphone. The Mate 30 Pro needs such a large battery, not only for the faster refresh rate but also for the device's reverse wireless charging feature. This allows users to flip the phone face down and use the rear panel as a wireless charging pad. Reverse wireless charging debuted on last year's Mate 20 Pro and has been copied by Samsung (as Wireless PowerShare) for its 2019 high-end models. Apple, too, will reportedly include this feature with its 2019 iPhones.

Of course, the Mate 30 Pro will be equipped with many of the features found on a typical 2019 flagship including an in-display fingerprint scanner, a large amount of memory and storage (8GB/128GB for the basic model) and an IP68 certification rating; the latter means that the handset will be impervious to dust and can be submerged in nearly 5-feet of water for as long as 30 minutes.

Last year's Mate 20 Pro was a critical and financial success (we gave it a score of 8.9 out of a possible 10) although it was not officially available in the states. This year's model also won't be found in the U.S. but was still expected to help Huawei surpass Samsung to become the world's largest smartphone manufacturer by the end of 2019. While the company did deliver 118 million handsets during the first half of the year, the confusion surrounding the U.S. supply chain ban means that Huawei might have to settle for second place this year.