Now Huawei is getting serious. Forced to. The Chinese smartphone giant has announced its first Pro model, the Mate 40 Pro, which works without apps and services from Google. And the company sounds very confident even without the backing of Android. It expects very good sales figures from its new flagship.
No major design changes
Connoisseurs of the Mate models will quickly notice that the Mate 40 Pro is visually very similar to the Mate 30 Pro. Nevertheless, at 6.76 inches, the display has grown by just under 0.2 inch. The OLED display has a resolution of 2,772 x 1,344 pixels and, thanks to the curved sides, provides an almost borderless design. With a refresh rate of 90 hertz, Huawei can’t keep up with the 120 hertz of OnePlus or Samsung, but for most users this should be enough. An exciting feature of the refresh rate is the automatic adjustment of the refresh rate. The Mate 20 Pro is able to dynamically adjust the hertz number to the current screen content. If you don’t attach much importance to “battery saving”, you can also switch the 90 Hertz on permanently. Huawei has changed some things in his new Mate Pro. For example the use of the volume rocker. While this was only visible virtually in the previous model, the manufacturer now uses haptic buttons again. This is a very pleasing design decision. After all, the previous solution was susceptible to incorrect input.
Kirin 9000 should provide power
Under the hood of its upcoming flagship, Huawei makes no compromises. This is where the Kirin 9000 will be working, which was manufactured using a 5 nanometer process. The top processor also comes with the right 5G modem for high-speed mobile Internet. Huawei himself says that the Kirin 9000 should have about 30 percent more performance than the Kirin 990 5G from 2019. If you look at the graphics performance, the new processor in the Mate 40 Pro should even offer 50 percent more performance. So that the Kirin 9000 does not stand alone, Huawei provides with 8 GB RAM for a juicy support. The smartphone should also have 256 GB flash memory ex works. Anyone who needs more can easily expand it with a nano memory card. How the future looks like around Huawei’s processor choice remains exciting. After all, it is already clear that a cooperation with the long-term colleague TSMC is no longer possible. So Huawei has to provide a solution to the problem. The company does not yet have the capacity to manufacture processors in-house. However, this is not an acute problem. After all, Huawei made sure that enough processors were pre-produced by TSMC. However, it is uncertain that these will last for as long as Vienna.
Powerful triple camera
What stands out in the upcoming Mate 40 Pro is probably the camera. This was always the case with Huawei. This is due not least to the fruitful cooperation with Leica’s camera experts. And this time, too, a very strong camera quality seems to be emerging. The main camera has 50 megapixels, the ultra wide angle camera 20 megapixels and the tele zoom lens 12 megapixels. In addition to outstanding image quality, Huawei also speaks of greatly improved performance in the area of video recording. The so-called “Cine-Camera” is supposed to ensure this. The new Tracking-Shot function sounds exciting. This function actively supports the filmmaker in focusing. It is possible to specify a specific person who should remain in focus even when panning.
Front camera with 3D sensor
The front camera also comes with a proud 13 megapixels. But this is not the only technology that Huawei hides in the small punch hole on the front, there is also a 3D sensor. The Selfie camera offers the possibility to take pictures in a classic format or an ultra wide angle format. It also scores points with features such as the possibility of group selfies. Huaweis 3D Sensor in the Mate 40 Pro also comes with various features. First of all, it can be used for face recognition a la Face ID. In addition, you can use it to perform gesture control. This can come in handy in a car, for example. The Mate 40 Pro weighs 212 g and has a battery with a total of 4,400 mAh. This can be charged with a maximum of 66 watts. Those who prefer wireless charging can do this with a proud 50 watts. Speaking of wireless. The Mate 40 Pro comes along with WiFi 6, LTE, 5G and Bluetooth 5.2 also wirelessly very fast. The IP68 certification ensures sufficient protection against dust and water.
Own user interface
The Mate 40 Pro is a pioneer among Huaweis smartphones. After all, this flagship is the first to feature the new in-house user interface EMUI 11 ex works Huaweis. This is still based on Android 10, and the apps for the Mate 40 Pro are no longer available from Google’s Play Store. This is where Huaweis’ own App Store, the App Gallery, comes into play. Although Huawei is no longer allowed to use Android, EMUI offers some interesting features. These concern for example the Always-On-Display. For example, the Chinese company has established new patterns and artwork. Huawei also relies on so-called “live icons”. These animated icons are intended to make operation easier.
Eased communication with the computer
Huawei takes an exciting approach when it comes to communication between PC and smartphone. In the future, it should be possible to display three different apps on the screen simultaneously. The forwarding of data should also be easier. Classic drag and drop is sufficient here. In the future, it should even be possible to use your Huawei smartphone as a scanner. If you own a Windows PC, you will also be able to answer phone calls with the computer. We only know this very easy communication from Apple. Should Huawei be able to put these ambitious plans into practice, this would definitely be a decisive advantage over Google.
Price and availability
The Mate 40 Pro is scheduled to be launched on the German market in November this year. It will be available in the colors Black and Mystic Silver. In any case, the price looks like the flagship. Huawei wants to charge a proud 1,199 Euro RRP for the Mate 40 Pro. Although the smartphone offers some exciting features and a powerful hardware, the price seems to be very high.
