I needed to upgrade from my 16GB iPhone 6s for space and just couldn't rationalize the cost of even upgrading to a used iPhone 8. I was nervous to switch to Android, so I certainly didn't want a cheap phone to be the cause of my frustration, but the whole point of switching was to save money. This phone's specs blew the same-price competitors away and was within my price range. So far I'm very happy with it (1 month). Speedy, good looking, responsive... really no complaints as far as not doing what I need versus my iPhone. I connect to my car via an external bluetooth, attaching my phone to a mounted magnet for use (I have an older vehicle that doesn't have built-in bluetooth and screen). I only stream music (never use the car's radio/cd player) and I use maps frequently... everything has worked flawlessly. Phone calls have been clear using the phone's headset, speaker and bluetooth. Quality check with friends: everyone says I sound just as clear as I did on my iPhone in all scenarios. I've had no dropped calls and 4G works fine on AT&T. Signal isn't as great in my house (1-2 bars), but my calls have still been perfect. Battery lasts twice as long as my iPhone (and I replaced the battery on it a few months ago, getting the same battery life as I did when new). I can easily get a full day, play white noise overnight, and get through most of a second day. Charging is super fast. I think my biggest concern was the camera, and there are definitely pros and cons. Huawei gets grainy quicker in low light situations vs iPhone, BUT it also does a better job making low light pics look brighter. Pics that simply wouldn't turn out on the iPhone will turn out on Huawei, although grainy. In better light, pics are very similar. Huawei also has a lot of cool picture options that the iPhone didn't have, so overall I'm happy with it. I think I actually like the video quality better on Huawei, especially screen resolution. I get a much wider shot. Videos are very sharp with bright colors and clear sound.
Regarding Android: Huawei includes a number of apps of their own that can't be deleted, but I think it's pretty minimal as far as bloatware goes. I got Nova Launcher from the Play Store, so my home screen is totally customized... which has gotten me hooked on Android now! For anyone else switching from iPhone, this is a must! You can choose custom icons for your apps, double up apps (I have my camera app, but then I just slide up on the app to open my photo viewer instead of having that app on the screen; same with FB and Messenger - tap or slide one icon, the two communication apps my kids' teachers use, etc). This seriously reduces clutter! The widgets are super awesome too. I have my music streaming set up as a widget and can control most of it through the home screen now. I also have weather and time (larger print is much easier to use than the little clock on the top, and I can tap on the time to open the timer and the weather to open my weather app). My messaging app is also set up as a widget so I can see my most recent texts at a glance. You can also create rapid dial widgets, so I have 2 groups with custom icons for most common friends and family, so I rarely have to use my dialer's contact list or navigate to favorites now. The downside to Android, though, is that all the stuff that comes standard on Apple isn't standard... so many dialer, voicemail, messaging, and keyboard apps, and the crappy one's are useless and full of ads. It's a total time-suck finding what works! To possibly save you some time: I use the Huawei dialer and Visual Voicemail (customize to open when I swipe up on the dialer app). I use Pulse for messaging - it works flawlessly and syncs on multiple devices (I loved using iMessage on my Mac and had no issues migrating to Pulse), plus it is super reasonably priced unlike others that want $80/year subscriptions... might as well get an iPhone at that rate! I liked Digital Clock Xperia as my time, date and weather widget. SwiftKey Keyboard is my favorite, although I don't think it's quite as intuitive as Apple, but has other customization options that balance it out.
Definitely order a new case - the clear one that comes with it if cheap. It'll prevent scratches, but I doubt there's any shock absorption in falls. The choices were limited when I purchased this because it's a new model, but I went with Spigen Rugged Armor. I also ordered a 3 pack of 6' type c cables. The Supershieldz screen protector didn't work (air gap around the edges and loosened after a few weeks, effecting touch screen sensitivity, but at that point peeled off very easily).
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Reviews with images
Excellent quality for the price, camera AI features really impressive
[Cons]1. Disable wi-fi calling to avoid not receiving calls and text. Follow page 2 of https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-20-pro/help/issues-receiving-calls-text-t3869291/ to download QuickShortcutMaker app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sika524.android.quickshortcut&hl=en_US to find wi-fi calling activity and disable it.2. With the latest OS update, I found that wifi hotspot causes 06 Mbps slow download. upload is about 10Mbps. There is some kind of bug in the hotspot feature.[Pros]1. I thought I had to buy Huawei Mate 20 to really find a competitive phone compared to the most expensive 2018 iPhone. I already have a Ticwatch c2 with Google pay so I was reluctant to spend $600 for the Mate 20 which has NFC. This LITE version does not have NFC for Google pay. But the price offered here is excellent. A review says 1080p at 60fps makes soft video but I'd barely change video settings and don't need to use any video over 1080p. The camera isn't as good as Mate 20 in low light but that's something I can tolerate. 5 stars to the price.2. the 12 nm Kirin 710 processor isn't as bad as I thought. Geekbench 4 score of 1600 is comparable to Snapdragon 660's near 1640. I don't feel slowness Opening apps except I heard games maybe slow. iPhone's A12 processors are known to have high geekbench score and optimized for gaming. If you check company emails, social media, G suite, online banking, make calls, do video conferencing, you wouldn't feel a difference.3. Face unlock and printer unlock are seamless. Face unlock may have difficulties in complete darkness. I like the feature to wake the phone when I pick it for better face unlock experience. Headphone jack is great for not needing an extra adapter to plug the headsets. I don't use Bluetooth headsets so having a headphone jack is important to me.
Top reviews from other countries
Brent Toombs
Flagship-like phone at half the price.
Reviewed in Canada on January 31, 2019Ali's Reviews
The best value for money phone in the market these days
Reviewed in Canada on January 28, 2019Cecilia Acosta Garcia
Muy buen aparato en cuanto a costo - beneficio
Reviewed in Mexico on December 17, 2018