Following the launch of the P40 series, Huawei is continuing its twice-yearly flagship launch cycle, with the Mate 40 series expected in the last quarter of 2020. It's said the new phone series will feature a 'freeform' lens, according to Tian Feng International analyst Guo Mingchi.

So what is a freeform lens? Really it's just a better optic that's specifically matched to its intended use in order to minimise blurring and aberration. It's long been used in eye-glasses, as world-renowned lens-maker Zeiss explains on its website (note: Zeiss doesn't make optics for Huawei, as yet anyway).

In short: think of it as a vari-focal. The lens zoom in the Mate 40 should therefore be designed so it provides clearer resolve for both near and far distance focus. This is achieved by using a progressive lens where small components of its surface are tailored to bend light in the most suitable way for a multitude of possibilities.

However, we don't expect this to be a feature found on the entry-level Mate 40. Like with the P40 series, we would anticipate the Mate will come in three flavours: Mate 40, Mate 40 Pro, and Mate 40 Pro+. The more advanced optics - and we would again anticipate a penta camera system - are likely to be found in the higher-end model (or models) only.

The Mate series is also always the company's platform to present its latest Kirin processor. For 2020 that's anticipated to be the Kirin 1020, a 5nm process, which will no doubt bring greater processing potential and lower power consumption - with Huawei leveraging its neural processing and artificial intelligence angles.

We're quite a long way out from anything being official, though, as we wouldn't anticipate any concrete news until September 2020. More as we have it.