Huawei P20: Plans | Pricing | Specs

Alex Kidman

Last updated: Jan 8, 2021

Huawei's latest style-centric phone series promises exceptional photo quality along with premium performance.

5.8 inches

Display size

1080 x 2244px

128GB

Internal storage

12MP + 20MP

Rear camera

3,400 mAh

Battery size

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Display

Display Size

5.8 inches

Resolution

1080 x 2244px

Pixels per inch (PPI)

428 ppi

Camera

Rear camera megapixels

12MP + 20MP

Rear camera aperture size

f/1.8 + f/1.6

Video recording

N/A

Front camera megapixels

24MP

Front camera aperture size

f/2.0

Physical Dimensions

Dimensions

149.1mm x 70.8mm x 7.65mm

Weight

165g

Connectivity

NFC

Yes

Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n

Network category speed

N/A

Power, storage and battery

Processor

Kirin 970

RAM

4GB

Operating system

Android 8

Internal storage

128GB

Battery capacity

3,400mAh

Device features

Headphone jack

Fingerprint sensor

Yes

Water resistance rating

IP53

Wireless charging

Launch price (RRP)	$0

Go to Huawei's site More info

Alex Kidman

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A multi-award winning journalist, Alex has written about consumer technology for over 20 years. He has written and edited for virtually every Australian tech publication including Gizmodo, CNET, PC Magazine, Kotaku and more. He has also been the Editor of Gizmodo Australia, PC Mag Australia, CNET.com.au and the Tech and Telco section at Finder. Alex has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New England and a serious passion for retro gaming.

Where to buy

What's in this guide?

Design and performance
Camera
Pricing and availability
Compare SIM-only plans for Huawei P20
Huawei P20 specs

Huawei's strategy for its premium phone lines has run along a repeated pattern of a premium "Mate" device for the professional crowd towards the end of the year, with the earlier half covered by its more style-centric P series phones.

That's exactly what it did in 2017 with the Huawei P10 announced at Mobile World Congress 2017, followed by the Huawei Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro.

Huawei's 2018 playbook ran the same way, save for the fact that Huawei gave MWC 2018 a miss for new handsets, launching new Mediapad tablets and Matebook laptops instead. Huawei has a launch event set for Paris on 27 March 2018 and it's there that it formally launched the Huawei P20.

Design and performance

Notched display
Kirin 970 processor

The Huawei P20 is actually be a series of phones, comprising the low-cost Huawei P20 Lite, regular Huawei P20 and Huawei P20 Pro, each with slightly different specifications. There's also a premium Porsche Design model, although it's sold as the PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate RS, rather than with P20 branding.
The Huawei P20 features a prominent screen "notches" to house its front-facing cameras, giving it a style not dissimilar to that of the Apple iPhone X.
In terms of power, Huawei uses the same Kirin 970 SoC that powers the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro, so the P20 series should be very solid performers, although possibly not on the level of the Snapdragon 845-based flagships we're seeing in the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S9 or Sony Xperia XZ2.
Huawei's contention is that its use of a neural co-processor gives its own silicon a processing edge, although to date relatively few apps have tapped that functionality to any appreciable degree.
The Huawei P20 is only rated for IP53 water resistance, which means that it's essentially "splash" resistant, rather than being able to survive full immersion in water. If you want that kind of ruggedness, you'll have to opt up for the Huawei P20 Pro, which features IP67 water resistance.

Camera

Dual 12MP/20MP rear camera
24MP selfie camera
AI optimisations for improved image quality

Where the Mate series sells itself as a serious business tool, the P series phones have long been about style and camera improvements. While the Huawei P20 Pro gets the biggest and best camera goodies, the regular P20 is no slouch.
It features a dual camera array at the rear with with a 12MP RGB and 20MP monochrome Leica lenses, assisted by Huawei's AI-driven optimisation routines that can reduce image shudder and automatically identify scenes and apply the optimal image settings depending on what it's looking at.
On the front of the Huawei P20, you'll find a 24MP selfie camera with inbuilt beautification features, driven again by AI to smooth out those unsightly blemishes. As always, your particular appreciation for those features will depend on the type of selfies you like to take.

Pricing and availability

Price: RRP $600
Where to buy: Target Australia | eBay

Compare SIM-only plans for Huawei P20

Name	Product	Features	Data	Price
Monthly winner: Data Circles.Life 100GB for $38 SIM-only Plan SIM-Only - Postpaid No contract New customers get over 20% off for 12 months - pay $30/mth, then $38/mth onwards. T&Cs apply. Ends 30.04.2021, 9pm AEDT Unlimited standard national calls & texts 100GB Data $30 per month Go to site View details	Monthly winner: Data Circles.Life 100GB for $38 SIM-only Plan SIM-Only - Postpaid Optus 4G network	New customers get over 20% off for 12 months - pay $30/mth, then $38/mth onwards. T&Cs apply. Ends 30.04.2021, 9pm AEDT Unlimited standard national calls & texts 3GB bill shock protection Plan reverts to $38/month after 12 months	100GB Data	$30 per month Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...
felix Subscription $35 1 month SIM-Only - Subscription No contract Unlimited standard national calls & texts No download limit Speeds limited to 20Mbps $35 per month Go to site View details	felix Subscription $35 1 month SIM-Only - Prepaid Vodafone 4G network	Unlimited standard national calls & texts Unlimited international calls + text to over 40 selected countries. $5/mth add on One tree planted monthly for every active subscription	No download limit Speeds limited to 20Mbps	$35 per month Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...
Dodo Mobile SIM-only 36GB $30 1 Month SIM-Only - Postpaid No contract Unlimited standard national calls & texts 36GB Data $30 per month Go to site View details	Dodo Mobile SIM-only 36GB $30 1 Month SIM-Only - Postpaid Optus 4G network	Unlimited standard national calls & texts Includes 200 international mins to 35 selected countries	36GB Data	$30 per month Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...
Moose 35.80 50GB 1 Month SIM-Only - Postpaid No contract Unlimited standard national calls & texts 50GB Data $35.80 per month Go to site View details	Moose 35.80 50GB 1 Month SIM-Only - Postpaid Optus 4G network	Unlimited standard national calls & texts Voice over LTE and WiFi calling from Optus	50GB Data	$35.80 per month Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...
Circles.Life 20GB for $28 SIM-only Monthly Plan SIM-Only - Postpaid No contract New customers get 50GB data and over 20% off for 12 months - pay $22/mth, then $28/mth onwards. T&Cs apply. Ends 30.04.2021, 9pm AEDT. Unlimited standard national calls & texts 50GB Data $22 per month Go to site View details	Circles.Life 20GB for $28 SIM-only Monthly Plan SIM-Only - Postpaid Optus 4G network	New customers get 50GB data and over 20% off for 12 months - pay $22/mth, then $28/mth onwards. T&Cs apply. Ends 30.04.2021, 9pm AEDT. Unlimited standard national calls & texts 3GB bill shock protection Plan reverts to $28 for 20GB/month after 12 months	50GB Data	$22 per month Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...
TPG Super Value Large 40GB $29.99 1 Month SIM-Only - Prepaid No contract New customers pay $15/month for the first 3 months, then $29.99/month. Unlimited standard national calls & texts 40GB Data $15 per month Go to site View details	TPG Super Value Large 40GB $29.99 1 Month SIM-Only - Prepaid Vodafone 4G network	New customers pay $15/month for the first 3 months, then $29.99/month. Unlimited standard national calls & texts	40GB Data	$15 per month Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...