When the Huawei Mate 30 series launched in September the company introduced a range of top-end smartphones, but none of these devices featured Google apps and services so they're limited in their functionality.
Because of the lack of Google's apps, we weren't sure if the handset would ever come out in Europe. Huawei did announce European pricing at its launch, and a new rumor suggests it could be coming to Europe very soon.
This rumor comes from a source close to TechGarage – that's not a website we've seen break news before so we'd take it with a pinch of salt, but there's enough information there to make it seem like it could be true.
- Check out our hands-on Huawei Mate 30 review
- And our full Huawei Mate 30 Pro review
- These are the best Huawei phones
According to TechGarage, the release date for the Huawei Mate 30, the Mate 30 Pro and the latter's 5G variant will be November 15, 2019, just two weeks before Black Friday.
The source couldn't provide a full list of countries where the phone would be available, but it did say it'd come to the usual European countries where Huawei introduces its products. That may mean a UK launch is on the cards.
The source reiterates the prices that we heard from Huawei back at the launch event of €799 (around $880 / £700 / AU$1,300) for the base model and €1,099 (around $1,200 / £970 / AU$1,700) for the Pro.
Should you buy the Huawei Mate 30?
That release date would be a bit of a surprise given we weren't certain whether the Mate 30 smartphones would even be released at all outside of China.
This is stemming from the Huawei ban that has meant the company is unable to include Google apps on its smartphones. That includes the Google Play Store, your one-stop shop for all third-party apps.
Without the Google Mobile Services (GMS), most of the things you'd usually do on your smartphone are unavailable here. You won't be able to download third-party services like WhatsApp, Facebook or Instagram, and likewise you can't download Netflix, Spotify or games.
However, that could change, as Huawei has confirmed that if the Android ban should lift, it'd be able to quickly and easily repopulate its smartphones with Google's apps in a pinch.
So while it's probably not worth buying the Huawei Mate 30 at launch, if the political situation changes so could our buying advice.
