Huawei Mate 20 power confirmed as the new Kirin 980
The Mate 20 series is official
The Huawei Mate 20 will feature the firm's new Kirin 980 chipset at its heart, after the Chinese company confirmed the fact in a press release.
The press release was sent to South African media, and Gearburn reports that it included the line "the Kirin 980 will power the Mate 20 Series."
That means that we could well see a Huawei Mate 20 Pro as well, with the wording suggesting multiple devices under the Mate 20 banner. We've also heard rumors of a Mate 20 Lite, which could see three handsets packing the brand new chipset.
However, the Huawei's 'Lite' handsets usually boast a lower power chipset to help reduce the cost, so if the Mate 20 Lite does exist it may not pack the Kirin 980.
New chips please
The Kirin 980 is the successor to the Kirin 970 found in the Huawei P20, P20 Pro, Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro, and features an octa-core setup with four A76 cores and four A55 cores.
Huawei also claims that the Kirin 980 will be the world's first, commercially available 7nm chipset - making it incredibly small, but also apparently 20% more powerful and 40% more power efficient than its predecessor.
We're expecting Huawei to launch its Mate 20 series in October, as the Mate 10 series arrived in the same month last year, but the firm is yet to send out any form of invitation to a launch event.
Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
John joined TechRadar over a decade ago as Staff Writer for Phones, and over the years has built up a vast knowledge of the tech industry. He's interviewed CEOs from some of the world's biggest tech firms, visited their HQs and has appeared on live TV and radio, including Sky News, BBC News, BBC World News, Al Jazeera, LBC and BBC Radio 4. Originally specializing in phones, tablets and wearables, John is now TechRadar's resident automotive expert, reviewing the latest and greatest EVs and PHEVs on the market. John also looks after the day-to-day running of the site.