During an IFA 2019 keynote, Huawei CEO Richard Yu announced the upcoming Mate 30 will be powered by the Kirin 990.
The Kirin 990 is Huawei’s brand-new flagship chipset and we now know it’ll be first used in the Mate 30, which is getting its big unveiling in Munich on September 19. We’d also expect to see the chip present in next year’s Huawei P40.
Kirin 990 is the first chip available that boasts a 5G modem built-in, and Huawei has said it has been designed to improve 5G signals in weaker areas. There will be a version of the 990 available without the 5G modem.
Related: 5G in the UK
This makes complete sense as Huawei has already released a 5G phone in the UK with the Mate 20 X. The brand’s foldable Mate X is also a 5G phone.
Huawei’s latest flagship chipset is once again built upon the efficient 7nm architecture, boasts 10.3 billion transistors and improved AI performance.
For instance, the AI inside the camera can now pick out individual objects, rather than just people, and allow you to remove them from a picture.
During a briefing for the new chipset Huawei reps claimed you’ll see a 10% performance boost in single-core operation and 9% in multi-core when compared to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855. There are big upgrades to the GPU too, with the 16 core Mali G76 offering 6% improved performance over the 855 along with improved efficiency. We didn’t see how well it compares to the newer, and more gaming focussed Snapdragon 855 Plus.
Huawei also highlighted the improved image signal processor (ISP) inside the new chip. The claim here is the phone’s packing the Kirin 990 will have access to better noise reduction both for stills and video. Huawei has been pushing phone cameras forward impressively in recent years and this upgrade points to the Mate 30 series once again having excellent cameras.
We’ll be hearing more about the Kirin 990 throughout our time at IFA 2019 and in the weeks before the launch of the Mate 30 so keep an eye on Trusted Reviews for more details as we get them.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
