It's spring which means that it's time for Huawei to unveil its latest P series flagship. While Huawei has previously used MWC to introduce its new handsets, the P20 Pro is such a massive update that Huawei rightly decided to hold a separate launch event for it.

With previous models of the P series, the difference between the regular and the Pro/Plus versions have been minimal- such as a slightly better camera. But that’s not the case with the 2018 edition.

The Huawei P20 Pro is a much more impressive phone than the Huawei P20. While both phones come sporting new designs, the P20 Pro is by far the better handset, with a larger screen and a huge camera upgrade compared to what we saw on the Huawei P10 Plus.

Below you’ll find everything you need to know about the Huawei P20 Pro. We will be publishing our hands-on review as soon as we get more time with the unit.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? Huawei's new top-end flagship phone
• When is it out? Some time in April
• What does it cost? Were expecting around AED 2,799'

Huawei P20 Pro price and release date

The P20 Pro was just announced at a launch event in Paris where Huawei announced it alongside its sibling, the P20. We don’t currently have any pricing details for either handset, but we expect to learn more on the pricing in UAE, Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Middle East soon.

Huawei has confirmed the phone will be coming to the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the next few weeks but an exact launch date is not yet known. The company usually holds a regional launch event for its flagship products where such details are announced and we expect the same for the P20 series.

Huawei P20 Pro design and display

We got a peek into Huawei's design language for the new P20 series through the nova 3e that was revealed last week. But where the move 3e felt light and mainstream, the P20 Pro is full-on premium. 

Like the Mate 10 Pro, Huawei has made the switch to a glass back on the P20 Pro which is a departure from the full metal body unibody design we saw on previous years models. 

The fingerprint sensor has moved from the back of the phone to below the display, and you can swipe left and right on it to navigate the phone if you’ve set it up in the settings. That seems like an odd decision because the sensor on nova 3e was placed on the back and worked well.

Exact dimensions of the phone are currently unclear, but we know it’s set to be 7.8mm thick and on the rear it’ll have Huawei branding down the side below the camera setup.

Unlike the Huawei P20, this phone is waterproof up to IP67, so you’ll be able to drop this in a puddle without worrying about flooding the internals. This is also Huawei’s justification for not including a 3.5mm headphone jack on the P20 Pro, which is a bit of a shame if you wanted to use wired headphones on this phone.

Color choices for Middle East will be Midnight Blue and Black at launch with the Twilight version following at a later stage.

The trend for major manufacturers in 2018 is to opt for an 18:9 aspect ratio display, and Huawei has done that for the P20 Pro. It’s a 6.1-inch OLED screen with a resolution of 2240 x 1080.

That’s Full HD+, so we don’t expect the picture quality to be as high as on QHD products like the Samsung Galaxy S9. That being said, our time with the nova 3e didn't leave us asking for more in terms of screen sharpness so we expect the OLED screen on the P20 Pro to look just fine.

There’s a notch at the top of the screen, so you may initially think it looks like a lot of other phones. Inside that notch sits the front-facing camera and a few others features, but if you want to hide that you can head into the settings and find a way to block out a whole line at the top of the phone for notifications and other details.

Huawei P20 Pro specs and performance

As expected, the P20 Pro is powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 970 chipset that is made by Huawei and that we’ve seen before inside the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro.

Although we haven’t tested the P20 Pro extensively, the chipset was impressively quick and powerful inside those phones from last year so we’d expect a similar level of power on the P20.

Coupled with 6GB of RAM, it should be capable of handling anything thrown at it such as playing high-end games or editing photos.

The chipset is also packed with artificial intelligence features that allow the phone to learn your habits and better optimize for them ahead of time.

The way the company usually shows this off is by showing how fast it can organize photos, but for your day-to-day use it should work out when you use your phone to better optimize the battery and offer a few camera features that we’ll explain in the section below.

There’s only one storage version of the P20 Pro and that comes with 128GB of space. As with other Huawei phones, there is an extra SIM card slot if you want to use dual SIM cards.

Huawei P20 Pro battery and OS

Inside the P20 Pro you’ll find a 4,000mAh battery powering the thing. That sounds big, but then it also has a large screen to power. We’ll be sure to test the battery in our full review when we can.

There’s fast-charging technology here as well, but there’s no wireless charging on the P20 Pro which is odd considering that Huawei has moved from a metal to a glass back which is more fragile.

Huawei’s latest handset also comes with Android 8.1 Oreo software onboard, but it won’t look like it does on the Google Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL as it comes with Huawei’s own overlay over the top.

It’s called Emotion UI (EMUI) 8.1 and adds extra features from Huawei including its Share app that allows you to upload photos, video and more to your laptop, and the Huawei Clone app that allows you to copy your phone data across to another device easily.

Other features within Emotion UI 8.1 are a little bit unclear at the moment but we’ll be sure to push it to its limits for the Huawei P20 Pro review and find out everything else it offers.

Huawei P20 Pro camera

Where the Huawei P20 Pro really stands out from the P20 is with its rear camera. As all of the teasing and marketing has been about, this is the first phones to feature three cameras on the rear.

Huawei claims it has the highest pixel count on a smartphone ever, with a 40MP RGB sensor working alongside a 20MP monochrome one. The phone will then combine the same image from both to create highly detailed photos. Aperture-wise the monochrome is an f/1.6 and the RGB is f/1.8.

There’s also an 8MP telephoto sensor on the rear of the phone which can offer up to five times zoom.

That rear setup also comes with new features such as an improved white balance, larger pixel sizes than most of the competition and a 4-in-1 hybrid focus system.

Huawei’s AI features allow the camera to know what it’s pointing at. If you point the rear cameras at a plate of food it should be able to identify it and use its AI smarts to optimize the settings perfectly for taking photos of food.

There are a bunch of new modes with six different scene detections, including fireworks and waterfall.

As for video, the main new feature is a Super Slow Motion mode that can record at 960 frames per second in 720p. That’s the same as the Samsung Galaxy S9, but not as good as the Sony Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact.

On the front you get a 24MP camera, which is far more megapixels than most front-facing cameras. We’ll let you know how much difference all those pixels make when we’ve put the P20 Pro through a full review.

Early 2017's HTC U11 is an impressive phone, receiving 4.5 stars in our review, but the company seems to be aiming for that final half a star with its newly launched bigger and better version.

The HTC U11 Plus features a larger screen - without increasing the handset size much - with improved specs compared to the best previous phone from HTC this year. We've put together this guide to tell you everything you need to know about the new device previously known as Ocean Master.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? A larger and more powerful version of the HTC U11
• When is it out? Some time in January 2018
• What will it cost? AED 2,699 for 6GB/128GB

HTC U11 Plus release date and price

The HTC U11 Plus was announced in Dubai today but the actual release date for it is a few weeks away with the phone to land in stores some time in January.

Pricing wise we know the phone will cost AED 2,699 which sounds a bit on the higher side but you are getting a flagship product with dual SIM slots, 6GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage.

HTC U11 Plus design and screen

The HTC U11 Plus will be launched in three colours in the region which are Ceramic Black, Silver and our favourite- Translucent Black. It may sound like the U11 Plus is just a larger version of the phone we saw earlier this year, but there are some big changes to the spec and look of the phone too.

The screen on the U11 Plus has an aspect ratio of 18:9, which means it fills more of the phone and the company has been able to cut down the bezels to make it almost all screen on the front. That means HTC has been able to include a 6-inch screen without increasing the body size too much.

The phone is 158.5 x 74.9 x 8.5mm, when the U11 was 153.9 x 75.9 x 7.9mm, so the phone isn't much bigger. It's a bit weighty but in a good way, and will be able to survive a dunk in the bath or a quick rainshower as it's IP68 water and dust resistant.

There's glass on the rear of the phone and the fingerprint sensor sits on the back too. On the right hand edge you'll find the power/unlock key as well as the volume rocker, and there's a USB-C port on the bottom edge.

The display itself is a QHD+ offering from the company with a resolution of 2880 x 1440. It has opted for Super LCD 6 technology with protection on the front coming from Corning's Gorilla Glass 5 tech.

HTC U11 Plus camera and battery

HTC is using similar camera tech to the U11 for the U11 Plus with a 12MP rear shooter that includes HTC's UltraPixel 3 technology with big 1.4µm pixels that should allow for lots of light. The camera also has an aperture of f/1.7.

There's optical image stabilization as well as electronic image stabilization (EIS), and there's also HDR Boost and a Pro mode that should allow you to take some great photos with the rear camera.

For video there is a slow-mo feature that films 1080p footage at 120fps, which is a bit disappointing compared to most flagship phones now. You can record in 4K though with hi-res audio too.

An 8MP camera sits on the front of the phone, with an 85 degree field of view as well as HDR Boost and Selfie panorama, so you should be able to fit all of your mates into your selfie shots.

This is all being powered by a 3,930mAh cell inside the phone that HTC hopes will last you the whole day from a single charge.

It also comes with Quick Charge 3.0 tech and an extreme power saving mode, so you can ensure you won't fully run out of battery when away from the charging socket.

HTC U11 Plus OS and power

Android Oreo 8.0 is all ready here and waiting on the HTC U11 Plus which is great. Unfortunately, you won't find support for Project Treble which means future updates will not be handled by Google but by HTC and there is no clear date on when we can expect Oreo 8.1.

The HTC U11 Plus comes with both Google Assistant pre-installed, plus HTC's Sense Companion is here to use if you want to get recommendations based on the things you do with your phone.

The U11 Plus is powered by the top of the range Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset that we saw included in the U11 and that has done well in a lot of top-end phones already this year.

That's backed up by 6GB of RAM with 128GB to play with. If you need more storage than that you'll be able to up it with microSD support of 2TB.

HTC U11 Plus other features

The U11 Plus comes with the squeezy feature we saw debut on the U11 and also featured on the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. That means you can squeeze the edges of the phone to launch features.

There's also a new feature called Edge Sense Launcher, which allows you to quickly access some of your apps, such as your torch or the calendar.

HTC's U11 BoomSound speakers are back for the U11 Plus but are now 30% stronger than they were on the original phone, and it also comes with Active Noise Cancellation, so we're expecting some great audio from the phone.

• Read our review on HTC U11

The Mate 10 Pro is the most exciting device that Huawei has announced for the end of this year.

It comes alongside the Mate 10, but the Mate 10 Pro is a phone you can really get excited about as it has improved some key elements we missed from most Huawei products.

Below you'll find all of the details you need to know about Huawei's new phone ahead of its launch.

• Read the hands on Huawei Mate 10 Pro review

Cut to the chase

• What is it? The newly announced phone from Huawei
• How much will it cost? Probably around AED 2,949
• When will it release? Just been announced, should launch later in October

Huawei Mate 10 Pro price and release date

We don't know any details about the price of the Huawei Mate 10 Pro yet, but we can safely assume it'll be around the same cost as the Mate 9 Pro was last year.

The Mate 9 Pro cost AED 2,949, but the price may rise gently in each of these markets for the next generation. .

Huawei has yet to share an official release date for the Middle East, but we hope to hear more about the Mate 10 Pro launch date in the future and will update here when we officially know more.

Huawei Mate 10 Pro design and display

The Huawei Mate 10 Pro comes with a glass back design with curved edges to help it sit comfortably in the hand.

We've yet to learn the exact dimensions of the phone, but it's definitely large as this is a phablet device with a 6-inch screen in the center. The phone itself is no bigger than the Mate 9, though, as the screen is an OLED with a ratio of 18:9.

Unlike the Mate 10, Huawei has opted for a Full HD resolution here at 2160 x 1080. On paper that may sound disappointing, but this is one of the first times Huawei has used an OLED tech and that should help with brightness on the display.

The upgraded screen tech also allows for HDR 10 content, which should mean you can enjoy better contrast and more intense colors in some of the videos you watch.

On the rear of the phone is the fingerprint sensor with the dual-sensor camera sitting up just above it. There's also a strip with a different color to draw the eye away from the rest of the phone.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the upgrade, though, is the waterproofing. The Huawei Mate 10 Pro is IP67 water and dust resistant, much like the iPhone 8 and Google Pixel 2, meaning you can run your phone under a tap and it won't be flooded with liquid.

That waterproofing also means there's no 3.5mm headphone jack. Huawei has admitted it wasn't able to make a waterproof phone that still used the tech like Sony has with its Xperia XZ1 series.

Color choices for the Huawei Mate 10 Pro are Midnight Blue, Titanium Gray, Pink Gold and Mocha Brown. It's currently uncertain what color choices will be available in each market, but we'll hopefully hear more details on that soon.

Huawei Mate 10 Pro camera and battery

The camera on the Mate 10 Pro is similar to what we've seen on previous Huawei products using a 12MP color sensor and a 20MP black and white option.

Photos are taken using both sensors and the shooter now has a super wide aperture of f/1.6 which means it should perform well in low light.  On the front is an 8MP selfie shooter, too.

The Mate 10 Pro is packing a 4000mAh battery, which is the same size we saw perform fantastically in the Mate 9 last year. With a better optimized processor running everything behind the scenes here we can safely expect the Mate 10 Pro to perform well in the charging department.

It's also packed with Huawei's SuperCharge feature that means you can charge it from 0% to over 50% in under 30 minutes. There's no wireless charging though, which is a bit of a shame for those who wanted to get rid of their cables.

Huawei Mate 10 Pro specs and OS

The newly announced Kirin 970 chipset is running inside the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro. It features top of the range specs and though we haven't had the chance to try it out for long, it seems to work well on both the new phones.

Huawei is putting a big focus on its new Neural Processing Unit feature that sits separately to the CPU and GPU on the chip. This features a new AI feature that will monitor how you use your phone.

It will then try to optimize features better for how you use the device. For example, it will learn that you use more battery toward the end of the day so will try and keep settings low and conserve energy before opening it up later to allow you to use the full potential of the phone.

Exactly how this will impact your use of the phone on a daily basis is a little unclear at the moment, but it's something we'll be sure to push in our Mate 10 Pro review, which is coming soon.

Other specs include 6GB of RAM and the choice of either 64GB or 128GB of internal storage. Strangely Huawei has decided not to include microSD expandable storage on this phone, so you will be limited to just 64GB or 128GB.

It's also running the latest Android Oreo software with Emotion UI 8 - Huawei's own overlay - sitting on top with a few extra features that you may find useful.

These include a new way to enter split screen mode simply and easily with only one motion and a new Smart Tips feature that will notify you when you could be using a useful feature included on the phone, such as Reading Mode.

• Want to know more? Check out our hands on Huawei Mate 10 Pro review