Huawei's Honor smartphone brand has unveiled the Chinese tech giant's new 5G chip and the Honor 30S 5G phones powered by the platform.

The move is part of Honor's broader push to popularize 5G handsets, with China scheduled to start building large-scale standalone 5G networks this year.

HONOR 30S is the first 5G smartphone to be released in HONOR’s 2020 lineup, and is first to feature the new Kirin 820 SoC, bringing flagship-level performance and 5G capabilities to the Kirin 8 chipset series.

HONOR 30S also features a 3D effect on its back for the red, green and white colors. When held at different angles to catch the light, the curved glass back resembles a butterfly spreading its wings. Also available in black, the HONOR 30S starts at RMB2399 and will be available from major online stores in Chinese Mainland starting April 7.

Kirin 820 is the first 5G SoC in the Kirin 8 series, which supports 2G/3G/4G/5G full-frequency, NSA/SA dual-mode, and 5G+4G dual-card dual-standby.

Performance-wise, the Kirin 820 CPU uses one large core (based on Cortex-A76), three medium cores (based on Cortex-A76), and four small cores (based on Cortex-A55), with a maximum dominant frequency of up to 2.36GHz.

The Kirin 820 GPU also brings better gaming performance than the Kirin 810. Equipped with the new Mali-G57 MC6 architecture, it features higher performance and better energy efficiency, and is further boosted by next-generation GPU Turbo and Kirin Gaming+ technologies.

Powered by Huawei's latest NPU, the Kirin 820 has greatly improved AI computing power. According to the AI Benchmark test result, the HONOR 30S scored 60834 points in the AI Benchmark test, 73 percent higher than the HONOR 20S equipped with the Kirin 810.

The new HiSilicon 820 5G chip offers a 27 percent performance boost over the Kirin 810 introduced last year, said Zhao Ming, president of Honor.

The HONOR 30S is the first HONOR phone to be equipped with a 64-megapixel all-focus AI quad-camera module.

Kirin 820 Sports the same flagship Kirin ISP 5.0 as Kirin 990 for improved noise reduction and low-light shooting capabilities. The lens modules used in HONOR 30S include a 64-megapixel primary camera and an 8-megapixel 3x optical zoom lens. An 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens and 2-megapixel macro lens complete the system, which covers all scenarios from 17- to 80mm.

The 64-megapixel main camera has an f/1.8 wide aperture, and outputs 16-megapixel images by default. The 8-megapixel optical zoom lens supports 3x optical zoom, 5x hybrid zoom, and 20x digital zoom so you can get in close to subjects. The 120° wide-angle lens is ideal for vast landscapes and buildings, while the 2-megapixel macro lens supports 4cm macro shooting, for a different view of the world. The HONOR 30S comes with a 1/1.7-inch ultra-large sensor that supports the quad Bayer algorithm, and also supports hand-held super night mode, making those tough low-light night shots a breeze.

The HONOR 30S is also a videography device, supporting 4K 30fps video shooting, 32X (960 fps@720p) slow-motion, and 4K HD time-lapse shooting. The device also supports AIS five-axis image stabilization to ensure high-quality videos.

The HONOR 30S comes with a 6.5-inch 20:9 screen, with a resolution of 2400 x 1800, screen brightness of 450 nits, and a typical contrast ratio of 1500:1. It features an NTSC color gamut of 96 percent and has a high screen-to-body ratio of 90.3 percent.

Giving speed and accuracy of fingerprint identification, the HONOR 30S is equipped with an extremely narrow side fingerprint unlock (2.4mm), which doubles as a power button. The design is more ergonomic and can be unlocked in 0.25s, with a success rate of up to 98 percent

Even with the battery life challenge posed by the 5G high-speed network, the HONOR 30S can be used all day thanks to its 4000mAh battery. In addition, the HONOR 30S is certified by TUV Rheinland as a standard 40W fast charging product, and can be charged to 70 percent of its battery level in 30 minutes.