New Huawei P20 release date, news, price and leaks
The Huawei P20 launch is just around the corner
The Huawei P20 is the next flagship phone from the Chinese firm. While it's not been officially launched - that will happen on March 27 (tomorrow at time of writing) - there's no question that the Huawei P20 will be with us very, very soon.
We know this for sure because Huawei has already teased the P20, complete with name, ahead of its Paris launch on Tuesday.
Update: The Huawei P20, P20 Pro and P20 Lite has been leaked in full, revealing the cameras, the battery sizes and more. We've also pondered how the rumored triple camera setup on the rear of the P20 Pro will work - head to the camera section to watch our video.
We'll be reporting live from the French capital to bring you everything you need to know about the Huawei P20 and Huawei P20 Pro (which has also been teased by Huawei) tomorrow - so stay tuned.
The Huawei P20 follows on from the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro which arrived towards the end of 2017. It won't replace the duo though, rather it will be the next iteration of the Huawei P10, which has a smaller form factor and will likely slide in to the price bracket below the Mate 10 and 10 Pro.
While a lot of the initial rumors and leaks surrounding the phone called it the Huawei P11, we've now had confirmation that it will be the Huawei P20. Here's everything else that you need to know about the phone - along with the P20 Pro and P20 Lite - ahead of their launch.
- Read our in-depth review of the Huawei P10
If you can't wait until March 27 to see what the new phone is going to be like, we've distilled down all the leaks to explain the key things you'll be likely to see.
Design: The Huawei P20 is likely to boast a premium metal and glass design and arrive in three variants - the Huawei P20, Huawei P20 Pro and Hauwei P20 Lite. The P20 and P20 Pro are set to have front-facing fingerprint scanners, while the Lite will have its digit reader on the rear.
Screen: Big screens with slender bezels are expected to feature on all three of the rumored handsets with an iPhone X-style notch housing the front-facing camera and sensors. The P20 Lite is expected to be either 5.6 or 5.84 inches, the P20 is tipped to have a 5.8-inch display and the P20 Pro a 6.1-inch panel, all with Full HD+ resolutions.
Camera: The big talking point on the Huawei P20 is the camera. Or should we say, cameras? Leaks point to the P20 and P20 Lite both having dual rear facing snappers, while the Huawei P20 Pro is said to pack in three cameras on its rear, potentially reaching up to 40MP for a single lens.
Specs: Huawei's own Kirin 970 chipset is expected to run the show, with a rumored 6GB of RAM alongside it in the P20 Pro and 4GB in the standard P20. The P20 and P20 Pro are also tipped to come with 128GB of storage as standard. The P20 Lite meanwhile could have a Kirin 659 chipset, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.
Battery: The latest leaks point to a 3,400mAh battery in the Huawei P20, a massive 4,000mAh one in the P20 Pro and either a 3,000mAh or 3,520mAh one in the P20 Lite.
Other key features: AI is expected to play a major roll in the P20 handsets, with the launch invite referencing artificial intelligence built into the camera.
Is this the Huawei P20 Pro? (credit: @evleaks)
Cut to the chase
- What is it? Huawei's next flagship phone
- When is it out? Tipped to land on March 27
- What will it cost? Possibly around $830 (£600, AU$1,080)
Huawei P20 release date
Hottest leaks:
- CONFIRMED Huawei P20 launch date: March 27
- Huawei P20 release date: Likely April
The Huawei P20 launch event will take place on March 27. We've received an invitation for an event on that date, plus Huawei has since teased the name of the phone in reference to the event.
If you want to watch that event live, you'll be able to tune in on March 27 at 2pm BST / 9am ET / 6am PT or midnight March 28 AEST. We also have this handy guide so you can work out how you want to watch the P20 live stream.
Currently it's not clear when the Huawei P20 will actually hit stores, but we'd expect the handset to go on sale sometime in April.
Huawei P20 price
Hottest leaks:
- Huawei P20 price: €679 (around $830, £600, AU$1,080)
- Huawei P20 Pro price: €899 (around $1,100, £790, AU$1,430)
- Huawei P20 Lite price: €369 (around $450, £320, AU$580)
There haven't been many leaks regarding the cost of Huawei's next flagship handset, but one rumor pegs the Huawei P20 price at €679 (around $830, £600, AU$1,080), which has since been backed up by Twitter leaker Roland Quandt.
The same leak also claims the Huawei P20 Pro price will be €899 (roughly $1,100, £790, AU$1,430), while the Huawei P20 Lite price could be €369 (around $450, £320, AU$580) - with the latter matching up with a separate price leak.
We've since seen another source quote the same prices for the P20 Pro and P20 Lite, but a marginally lower price of €649 (roughly $805/£565/AU$1,040) for the standard P20.
The Huawei P10 launched at around £599 (roughly $840, AU$1,090), while the P10 Plus was available for £679.99 (roughly $950, AU$1,230) SIM free, so if these rumored prices are accurate the new phones will be around the same as their predecessors.
Huawei P20 name
Hottest leaks:
- CONFIRMED Huawei P20, not P11
- We will probably also see the P20 Pro and P20 Lite
As Huawei's next flagship follows on from the Huawei P10 it's logical to assume that it would be called the Huawei P11, but it's been confirmed that it will be called the Huawei P20.
The Huawei P20 Pro has also been confirmed, and it's widely rumored that we'll see a Huawei P20 Lite too.
Huawei P20 design and display
Hottest leaks:
- iPhone X-style screen 'notch'
- Almost bezel-less premium design
- Different camera and fingerprint setups for P20, Lite and Pro
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We've got a pretty good idea of what the Huawei P20 will look like. There has been a glut of image leaks claiming to show the handset both in real life, and in a number of official-looking press renders.
One of the most complete Huawei P20 design and display leaks comes from reputable leaker Evan Blass. In a series of tweets, Blass posted a number of images showing the Huawei P20, P20 Pro and P20 Lite in several colors.
The images reveal a notch in the screen and a dual-lens camera on the back of both the P20 and P20 Lite.
There are a few noticable differences however. The P20 Lite has a rear fingerprint sensor, while the P20 and P20 Pro appear to have their digit reader on the front, in the bezel below the screen.
The Huawei P20 Pro also boasts three rear cameras - yes, three - which chimes with teaser images that Huawei has been posting with three Os (OOO).
As if that wasn't enough, we've also seen another leak that shows off more shades across the three devices, including a cool-looking new 'twilight' color.
The standard Huawei P20 will probably have a 5.8-inch 2240 x 1080 screen according to rumors. While recent leaks surrounding the Huawei P20 Pro suggest it will have a 6.1-inch 2240 x 1080 OLED screen with a 19:9 aspect ratio. We've heard this more than once.
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One of the same sources claims that it will be IP67 certified for dust and water resistance, will be 7.65mm thick and will weigh 174g.
Before Blass shared the above shots, he posted real-life images of phones claiming to be the P20 and P20 Lite.
Again the pictures appear to show the notch in the display, and two different locations for the fingerprint scanner - front for the P20 and rear for the P20 lite.
Along with the shots, Blass claims the Huawei P20 Lite has a 5.6-inch 1080 x 2250 screen, though a more recent leak lists it as having a 5.84-inch 1080 x 2280 display.
And if you want a proper close-up look at the Huawei P20 Lite, take a look at this hands-on video of a unit in an Italian retail store.
With all of these now out in the wild, we can probably dismiss previous leaks, such as the pictures below.
We've also seen a 3D render supposedly showing the Huawei P20 Plus (which is expected to actually be called the P20 Pro), this time with a notch above the screen (absent in the image above) and three cameras vertically running along one edge.
The render is accompanied by dimensions, claiming the P20 Plus will have a 6-inch screen and be around 155.3 x 74.2 x 7.7mm (rising to 9.8mm at the camera bump).
This somewhat lines up with other leaks, such as one from XDA Developers, which was provided with firmware files backing up leaks that suggest the P20 will have an almost bezel-less design with a notch at the top of the screen.
The cutout at the top of the Huawei P20 screen is referenced as a 'notch' within the system build and an example of how it's set to look suggests it may just house the front-facing camera.
There's also word from that source which suggests the Huawei P20 will ship with a 4K display.
That's unlikely considering Huawei has continued to use Full HD panels in its phones up until now, but it would be interesting to see the company make a device to keep pace with the Sony Xperia XZ Premium.
Huawei P20 Face ID and biometrics
Hottest leaks:
- Face unlock that's better than Apple's Face ID
- Unlikely to drop fingerprint scanner
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A report from Notebook Italia suggests the Huawei P20 may have its own Face ID-style unlocking technology, taking inspiration from Apple's TrueDepth sensors and possibly improving on them.
The iPhone X made a splash towards the end of 2017 for a number of reasons, and one of those was the introduction of Face ID.
Apple ditched the Touch ID fingerprint scanner in favor of a facing-scanning system - although other leaks suggest the Huawei P20, P20 Pro and P20 Lite will utilize both face and finger biometrics.
Huawei P20 camera
Hottest leaks:
- Rear camera could be as high as 40MP
- Likely to made in partnership with Lecia again
- P20 Pro could have three rear cameras, P20 just two
Between the numerous image leaks and Huawei's teasing launch event invite, we expect the Huawei P20 camera to feature heavily during its unveiling and subsequent marketing campaigns.
The biggest potential news hinted at are a trio of lenses on the back of the phone, with the use of three circles on the event invite following the "OO" moniker used around the Huawei P9 and P10 launches.
The invite also hints that the camera will use AI, perhaps giving it additional processing power. That could be a big feature of the camera, as AI of some kind has since been teased again.
Huawei P20 launch invite
Elsewhere, we've heard that the Lecia partnership is set to continue and there will be some big changes to both the front and rear snappers.
Images from a digital artist that works with Huawei - and spotted by @evleaks - further suggest the P20 (or more likely now, the Huawei P20 Pro) is set to come with three lenses on the rear camera for the first time and one of those may be as high as 40MP. That also looks like it will be capable of 5x hybrid zoom.
The leak also suggests the front camera will be a 24MP sensor, which would be a big upgrade over the 8MP one on the Huawei P10.
Another source has since agreed with this, adding that as well as a 40MP sensor, the Huawei P20 Pro will have a 20MP monochrome one and an 8MP telephoto one, with apertures ranging from f/1.6 to f/2.4. We've heard the same specs multiple times now, so this is likely accurate.
As for the standard Huawei P20, that's rumored to have a 20MP and 12MP rear camera pairing.
The Huawei P20 Lite meanwhile is rumored to have a 16MP dual-lens camera with hybrid zoom capabilites. Though one source lists a 16MP lens and a 2MP one.
Leaked camera photos from the Huawei P20
Would you like to see some photo samples from the upcoming Huawei P20? Of course you would, so check out the snaps above, which have recently trickled out online.
Looks like the camera will once again be the focus (ho ho ho) of attention when the P20 gets unveiled.
How will Huawei's rumored triple camera setup work on the P20 Pro though? We've had a think, and put our thoughts into a video just for you.
Huawei P20 power
Hottest leaks:
- Latest Kirin 970 chipset
- Up to 6GB or 8GB of RAM
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One report from China previously suggested the P11 will ship with the latest Kirin 970 chipset, which features inside both the Huawei Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro.
Usually Huawei debuts the new chipset tech on the Mate line and brings it to the P device later, so we expect that to happen again for the Huawei P11.
The same source also suggests the phone will ship with 8GB of RAM onboard, in a similar move to this year's OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T. Though another rumor points to a maximum of 6GB.
Indeed, 6GB has popped up multiple times though and the latest leaks suggest even that might be reserved for the P20 Pro, with the standard P20 getting 4GB. That same source adds that the three phones will run Android 8.1 overlaid with EMUI 8.1 (or EMUI 8.0 in the case of the Huawei P20 Lite).
Speaking of the P20 Lite, we've also heard some other rumors about that, which will apparently have a mid-range Kirin 659 chipset, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, though rumors disagree on the battery size, with the above saying 3,520mAh and another saying 3,000mAh.
One disappointment to brace yourself for: Huawei might be ditching the microSD card on the P20 and P20 Pro models.
However there's some potentially good news, as 128GB of storage is rumored to be the standard option on both the Huawei P20 and P20 Pro, so the loss of an expandable storage option may not be an issue.
A recent leak for the standard P20 suggests we are indeed looking at 128GB of storage and no microSD card. That's coupled with 4GB of RAM, apparently.
Huawei P20 battery
Hottest leaks:
- A 3,400mAh battery in the P20
- A 4,000mAh one in the P20 Pro
- Fast charging, but no wireless charging
A recent rumor lists a 3,400mAh battery in the Huawei P20, a 4,000mAh one in the P20 Pro and a 3,000mAh one in the P20 Lite, with the standard P20 and P20 Pro also supporting Huawei's SuperCharge fast charging tech.
We've heard the same info about the P20 Pro's battery elsewhere, adding that it won't support fast charging, while an earlier P20 Lite leak lists a 3,520mAh battery.
In any case, with a more efficient chipset at its core, we're hoping we'll see longer battery life from the P20 range than from the P10.
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