The most exciting Android phone of the year is, at least on paper, a phone that you can’t even buy right now. That’s the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, a phone that packs a bunch of features that aren’t available on other 2018 Android flagships, including Face ID-like 3D facial recognition, revered wireless charging support, a 7nm processor, and a triple-lens camera on the back — these are just a few of the phone’s highlights.
Come next year, Samsung will wow Android fans with a hot Infinity-O design of its own for the various Galaxy S10 models, but Huawei won’t be able to replicate it.
Huawei happens to be Samsung’s worst nightmare right now when it comes to competition in the Android market. Not only has Huawei started selling more smartphones each quarter than Apple, but the Chinese company is looking to displace Samsung from the top spot. And Huawei is very aggressive when it comes to competing against Samsung. The company launched a Galaxy S10-like phone months ahead of the Galaxy S10’s arrival, and now it’s working on its own foldable phone, which will also pack 5G connectivity.
#HUAWEIP30Pro | Concept pic.twitter.com/UGTTVY7J4m
— Ben Geskin (@BenGeskin) December 12, 2018
The Huawei P30 Pro, meanwhile, is suspected to drop at some point in the first half of 2019, putting even more pressure on Samsung, by competing directly against the Galaxy S10. A Samsung insider that goes by Ice Universe posted an image showing a screen protector for the P30 Pro earlier this week, revealing that Huawei is designing an even crazier camera setup for the upcoming flagship. Benjamin Geskin then created the concept above based on those leaks, imagining a P30 Pro with an Infinity-O screen.
Huawei P30 Pro uses curved screen (BOE or LG), but OLED's Hole in Display is currently only available in Samsung display. So P30P is definitely a drop or Notch
— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) December 13, 2018
Ice was quick to follow up on that render, saying that the P30 Pro will have a design similar to the Mate 20 Pro. Ice reiterated a claim we heard in the past, that the technology needed to make Infinity-O OLED screens would be a Samsung exclusive at first. Geskin’s error is easy to explain: Huawei is about to unveil a mid-range phone with an Infinity-O screen, but the Nova 4 will feature an LCD screen with a camera hole punching through it, similar to Samsung’s Galaxy A8s that was released earlier this week.
But Huawei may not be able to replicate the Galaxy S10’s gorgeous OLED screen just yet. Thus, the Galaxy S10 could end up having the most exciting design of the first half of 2019 when it comes to flagship phones. It might not take long for the Chinese company to copy Samsung’s design, however. As impressive as the Mate 20 Pro is when it comes to features, the phone still looks like the lovechild of an iPhone X and a Galaxy S9. The phone has both has a notch at the top like the iPhone X and a curved display like the Galaxy S9.
That said, the Galaxy S10 might not include facial recognition support (not the 3D kind, anyway), which is a feature Huawei took the time to develop for the Mate 20 Pro and its successors. And since we’re talking about smartphone makers copying designs and features from rivals, Samsung is hardly an innocent party here. For years, the company followed closely in Apple’s footsteps. And the Galaxy S10 will supposedly have a feature that was first introduced by the Mate 20 Pro: The reversed wireless charging trick that lets the phone charge other gadgets.
