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Huawei Mate 40 Pro in review: The forgotten flagship

Huawei Mate 40 Pro review header
Picture: TechnikNews
(Post picture: © 2021 TechnikNews)

The Huawei Mate 40 Pro was released at the end of last year for a recommended retail price of 1.199 euros. The features are more than impressive, but since the Mate 40 Pro also comes with some limitations, the RRP seems far too high. 

Fortunately, the price has dropped significantly. You can now get it for around 850 euros and whether it is worth recommending or whether it has little chance due to the Google problem, you will find out in the following lines.

Design - indescribably high quality & beautiful

If you look at Huawei smartphones from the past, such as this Mate 30 Pro or P40 Pro, they were quite large, but still within the limits and thus smaller than the trend of other smartphones, which also made them high-quality. However, this changed with the Mate 40 Pro. With dimensions of 75,5 mm in width, 9,1 mm in thickness and a weight of 212 grams, it is no longer much different from other large flagships. One-handed operation is almost impossible.

The frame of the smartphone is made of aluminum with a high-gloss finish, which feels very high quality. However, it is extremely thin because the display curves backwards by around 90 degrees in a large edge. It is also called a "waterfall display". This ensures that you can impress people very much and that the design looks extremely high-quality and expensive. In addition, you can double-tap the volume on both sides via an on-screen controller, which I used very much in everyday life and found to be much more practical than the regular volume control with buttons. Unlike the predecessor, these are still available. As beautiful and impressive as the waterfall display looks, you have to get by with visible discolouration in everyday life when you look at the screen from the front.

Both the front and the back are made of glass. The "Mystic Silver" color I tested consists of a matt material, whereby the color is divided into many bright colors depending on the incidence of light, which looks very nice to me personally. Unfortunately, the only other option in Europe is black, which almost magically attracts fingerprints thanks to its high-gloss finish. My favorite clean white or synthetic leather as a material are withheld from the Chinese market.

When it comes to the camera module, Huawei goes its own way, which is extremely different from the competition. I really like the design, it is one of the most beautiful backs in the smartphone sector, at least in my opinion. The Leica lettering looks extremely high-quality and refreshing. Together with beautiful roundings, a silver ring and the symmetrical arrangement, the Mate 40 Pro meets the requirements in terms of independence, high quality and appearance. Huawei's many years of experience in the design of flagship smartphones has once again paid off.

Display - small weaknesses, but not on paper

In terms of specifications, Huawei does not seem to be pushing the limits of the display. With a diagonal of 6,76 inches, it has a resolution of 2.772 x 1.344 (456 ppi), which is very similar to the iPhone. The Mate also only uses 90 Hertz for the repetition frequency, which feels less fluid compared to 120 Hertz, but represents a visible difference compared to 60 Hertz.

Huawei Mate 40 Pro Display

Among other things, the punch hole contains the technology for 3D face recognition. (Image: TechnikNews)

A much bigger problem, however, is the fact that Huawei relies on different display suppliers, whose screens can have differences in quality. For example, our test device has rather weaker viewing angles, which is why the display visibly turns yellow when tilted sideways. In addition, at darker brightness levels, the image is very blurry and has a lot of noise. The familiar green discoloration can also be seen on gray surfaces.

On the other hand, the color rendering and the improved brightness, which can keep up with the competition, are good.

Software - has everything but Google services

The Huawei Mate 40 Pro has the EMUI 11 user interface pre-installed over Android 10 as software. Due to some known issues, the latest Android 11 is not yet used here. However, you won't notice this in everyday use, as EMUI is a heavily customized user interface.

Apart from many useful functions, such as a very easy to activate one-hand mode or floating windows, the extremely fluid and constant operation is a great advantage. Huawei has responded to criticism from earlier years, in which EMUI had to be criticized for micro-stuttering and performance, and now, together with iOS, it is the most fluid user interface in my opinion. While there are always minor bugs, jerks or the like when I use other user interfaces, EMUI always runs constantly and extremely stable.

As you may have noticed, the current Huawei smartphones since the Mate 30 Pro have an unavoidable disadvantage, as they are delivered without pre-installed Google services. Most applications, apart from those from Google, can be downloaded via alternative app stores, the AppGallery or Petal Search. However, there are problems with banking apps and push notifications in apps such as eBay or Twitter.

Performance - impressive progress of the Kirin

The brand new Kirin 40 9000G SoC is under the hood of the Mate 5 Pro to ensure strong performance. As the first processor in the Android segment to be manufactured using the five-nanometer process, it is at the forefront in terms of performance and even has an advantage over the Snapdragon 888 in terms of energy consumption. It is also supported by 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of SFS storage as standard, which performs significantly better than UFS 3.1 storage in terms of read and write speeds.

More important, however, is everyday performance. Here, the Mate 40 Pro naturally performs perfectly. Apps start and close extremely quickly, there are no stutters or delays, and overall the operating speed is at a very high level. Together with the constant 90 Hertz refresh rate, operation feels extremely smooth. The smartphone also has no problems with complex games; the good cooling is particularly noticeable here, with the efficient Kirin 9000 ensuring that the smartphone gets below averagely warm.

Battery - good, but not perfect

Huawei has given the Mate 40 Pro a 4.400 mAh battery, which is even slightly smaller than its predecessor. Larger than the battery in the P40 Pro + it is, however. Strangely, you notice relatively little of this in everyday life, especially when you use the smartphone on the mobile network. Then I can get through a day, but only manage 6 to 7 hours of screen-on time, which sounds relatively good, but is not all that convincing for me. My P40 Pro+ performs noticeably better here despite the smaller battery and older Kirin 990 processor.

If, on the other hand, I use the smartphone in the WLAN, my screen on time increases to about 8 hours, which I am satisfied with.

Thanks to 66 watts fast charging, the Mate 40 Pro is fully charged in well under 50 minutes. This is slower than the competition's 65 watt fast charging, as Huawei does not use a split battery for various reasons. Nevertheless, the charging speed is completely sufficient for everyday use. Wireless charging is possible with up to 50 watts.

Camera - very good despite the setbacks

Huawei smartphones have been impressing with their extremely powerful camera setups for several years now. With the P40 Pro, the manufacturer introduced a periscope camera with its own RYYB technology for the first time at the beginning of last year, which reproduces colors even more accurately and also visibly improves low-light performance. Unfortunately, Huawei is taking a different path with the Mate 40 Pro and foregoing RYYB technology. The 12 megapixel sensor with 5x optical magnification comes with the usual green pixels. There is also a 50 megapixel main camera, which unfortunately is not equipped with OIS. This is also a step backwards compared to the P40 Pro. At least the ultra-wide-angle camera is getting an upgrade. It has a resolution of 20 megapixels and can capture an extremely large amount of light due to the large sensor size. The front camera has a resolution of 13 megapixels.

Huawei Mate 40 Pro Camera

The cameras have advantages and disadvantages compared to the P series. (Image: TechnikNews)

Compared to the P40 Pro, the more realistic color reproduction is definitely noticeable, even if the main camera of the Mate 40 Pro often tends towards warmer colors. The sharpness is excellent as usual and there is also a very good dynamic range. As soon as it gets darker, Huawei offers a night mode in which the images are exposed for a few seconds. Due to the lack of optical image stabilization, shots can quickly become blurry, which is why I recommend all potential buyers to take photos in manual mode. This usually results in better, more realistic shots. Photos in manual mode are nice and bright, impress with their high level of sharpness and the white balance is usually accurate, although it does get a bit off from time to time. Overall, I like the P40 Pro and P40 Pro Plus a little better in poor lighting conditions, but the Mate 40 Pro is also right up there with the best here.

There are slight improvements to the ultra-wide-angle camera. Colors look very natural, sometimes even a little too pale. The poor color matching between the main and ultra-wide-angle cameras is particularly noticeable. Otherwise the quality is on a very high level. Above all, the sharpness and the low-light performance are almost perfect. When it comes to sharpness, even OPPO can do with the Find X3 not quite keep up. On the other hand, OPPO is slightly ahead in poor lighting conditions.

The zoom camera left me with mixed feelings. The sharpness is quite convincing, but colors are often reproduced too pale and sometimes the images appear slightly overexposed. The zoom camera is clearly superior to Apple, OnePlus, OPPO and Vivo, but when you consider that Huawei can deliver even more with the P40 Pro and P40 Pro Plus, I am a little disappointed, especially with such a high recommended retail price of 1.199 euros.

Videos can be recorded in 4K at up to 60 FPS and look really good, even if they don't quite get close to Samsung.

Selfies look really good too. Faces are drawn a little too soft for my taste, but the image sharpness is great. In addition, the front camera is extremely wide-angled, which can be a huge advantage for group selfies.

Test photos

Let's take a look at a few test photos. The following images are absolutely unprocessed, but compressed without loss in order to keep loading times and memory consumption of the website low.

Comparison with the Hauwei P40 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

Last but not least, we want to compare the camera with the competition in different situations. I chose the Huawei P40 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra because the P40 Pro is the closest competitor from within the company and because the S21 Ultra cost a similar amount to the Mate 40 Pro at launch.

Daylight

Both the main and the ultra-wide-angle camera can convince across the board. Huawei could improve the color matching a bit with future updates, but the dynamic range and especially the image sharpness are excellent. When it comes to zoom, however, I see the other smartphones a little further ahead, especially when it comes to color reproduction.

low light

Despite the lack of optical image stabilization, the Mate 40 Pro is also at the forefront in low light. Sometimes I even like it a little better than the P40 Pro, although the latter has the edge in terms of sharpness and especially in extremely poor lighting conditions. The Galaxy S21 Ultra does a solid job, but has to admit defeat to the smartphones from Huawei.

Other - finally complete

While Huawei flagships from previous years were always liked for their special features, it was clear that they had to accept some weaknesses. For example, the mono speakers, the lower display resolution or a not very high-quality vibration motor. The Mate 40 Pro is the first flagship from Huawei that also comes with all the other features.

The balanced stereo speakers sound really good. They ensure a very full, balanced sound with nice bass. These are some of the best loudspeakers on the market, because I think they are one too My 11 from Xiaomi are superior.

The built-in vibration motor also feels very high quality. The competition from Xiaomi, for example, is a little better here due to better optimization, but that doesn't stop the Mate 40 Pro from positioning itself clearly ahead of an S21 Ultra, OPPO Find X3 Pro or Huawei P40 Pro with clean, short vibrations.

The Mate 40 Pro is unlocked either via a three-dimensional facial recognition in the slightly larger punch hole on the front or via a fingerprint sensor in the display. This luxurious combination alone is unparalleled. In addition, both methods are among the best on the market. The three-dimensional facial recognition works extremely reliably and unlocks the smartphone extremely quickly. This also works in poor lighting conditions and in all directions. The optical fingerprint sensor in the display is also one of the best on the market, as the speed has been further improved compared to the very fast P40 Pro. In addition, unlike the OnePlus 9 Pro, easy to reach with the thumb and unlocks the device extremely reliably.

In addition, the Huawei Mate 40 Pro naturally supports the latest standards, such as IP68 certification against the ingress of water and dust, a USB-C 3.1 port for fast transfer speeds or WiFi 6+. In my everyday life, too, more expensive Huawei smartphones have actually always had better network and Internet access than comparable products.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I can say that I really liked the Huawei Mate 40 Pro: From the unique and high-quality design to the smooth performance to the camera and speakers. Almost everything is just right here. But it is all the more sad that Huawei is not allowed to use Google services, which is why the Mate 40 Pro is unfortunately hardly recommendable. However, if you can imagine being able to live with the restrictions mentioned, you can certainly go for it, but you shouldn't lose sight of the competitors' smartphones that are equally expensive.

Buy Huawei Mate 40 Pro

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Fabian Menzel

Fabian has been part of since mid-September 2020 TechnikNews and regularly provides the site with various news, but also with some test reports on smartphones. He has a lot of fun and is extremely grateful to have such a great team at his side. In his free time, he likes to listen to music and occasionally takes photos with his Huawei Mate 50 Pro.

Fabian has already written 311 articles and left 24 comments.

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