At its latest glitzy event in Beijing, Honor took the wraps off its new flagship smartphone series, with a clear focus on 5G and the kind of camera excellence we now expect from the company. The Huawei sub-brand announced the Honor View30 Pro alongside a cheaper, but almost identical, View30 model. Both phones ship with Android 10, but due to the trade ban, there are no plans to launch them in Europe at this time. Here's what we're missing out on.

Huawei's 5G-integrated Kirin 990 SoC powers the View30 series, which should make for blazing performance to go with the super-fast network capabilities. The form factor is the same for both, featuring a 6.57-inch FHD+ TFT LCD display (2,400x1080) with a double hole punch cutout — yep, they've thrown a Pixel 3-esque wide-angle selfie cam into the mix.

View30 Pro

On the back, the triple camera modules are almost the same. The View30 has a 40MP main sensor (f/1.8), an 8MP wide-angle lens (f/2.4), and an 8MP telephoto (f/2.4, OIS). The View30 Pro uses the same main sensor, but ups the aperture to f/1.6 and adds OIS, while the wide-angle has a higher-resolution 12MP sensor, and the telephoto add autofocus.

Honor managed to squeeze a slightly bigger battery in the more affordable handset, 4,200 vs 4,100mAh. They both support 40W fast charging over USB-C, but the Pro model can also do 27W wireless charging and 7.5W reverse for charging accessories. All in all, there should be just enough there to justify the Pro moniker and the higher price tag.

View30

The View30 comes in 6/128GB and 8/128GB variants, starting at 3,299 yuan, while the View30 Pro offers 8/128GB or 8/256GB and starts at 3,999 yuan.

It's a shame that we probably won't ever see these phones in Europe, as they'll likely perform well, take great photos, and offer good value for money, if Honor's other recent products are anything to go by. If you live in China, you can pre-order them now in one of these intriguing color options — Magic Night Star River, Charm Star Blue, Icelandic Fantasy, and Twilight Orange.