The Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G is undoubtedly one of the best smartphones on the market at the moment. It has DxOMark's seal of approval as the best camera smartphone of 2019. Its low-light imaging capabilities are far better than anything Apple and Samsung can develop. Unfortunately, it was a China-only device. That changes today, as the device will be available in some markets in the coming weeks.
Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G will launch without Google Play Services
Huawei confirmed the Mate 30 Pro 5G's availability in foreign markets at a launch event in Dubai. Pre-orders will start on January 15th followed by a January 23trh launch. It will be available in the UAE will for 3899 AED ($1061). If you do pre-order the device, Huawei will throw in a free SuperCharge Wireless in-car charger, DJI Osmo Mobile 3 smartphone gimbal, and some 'VIP services'. Unfortunately, Huawei didn't shed any light on what these 'VIP services' are.
There is no word about an international release of the device just yet. If things go well, we should see it make its way to some 5G-ready European markets. Huawei and Honor devices are extremely popular in the UAE, so it makes sense that Huawei test out the waters in that region before expanding to other markets. Besides, 5G is only available in a handful of regions, so there aren't too many options, to begin with.
The differences between the 4G and 5G variants of the phones are marginal, at best. The latter runs the same Kirin 990 chip, but with a 5G modem slapped on top. The Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G is, undoubtedly, one of the best smartphones on the market, and the lack of Google services is relatively easy to work around once you find suitable alternatives. The company is hard at work developing alternatives for Google services, and we'll likely see more of those in future Huawei/ Honor devices.
