Huawei Mate 40 Series Full Review: Mate 40, 40 Pro, Pro+, 40RS

Huawei Mate 40 Series Full Review

By Kendra D. Mitchell |

October saw the introduction of the much-awaited iPhone 12 lineup and the premium OnePlus 8T. During the same month, Huawei also introduced probably the last major smartphone flagship of the year – the Huawei Mate 40 series. Alongside the entry-level Huawei Mate 40 will be the premium Huawei Mate 40 Pro, Huawei Mate 40 Pro Plus, and the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 40 RS. But with the lack of Google Mobile Services, how does the Huawei 40 compare against the fierce competition? Let's find out!

Part 1. Huawei Mate 40 Series: Release Date and Price

The Huawei Mate 40 was announced on October 22, 2020. That's also the Huawei Mate 40 Pro release date and the Mate 40 Pro Plus and Mate 40RS. As for the price, the Huawei Mate 40 will be available starting €899/$1,063. The Huawei Mate 40 Pro Price will start at €1,199/$1,418 with a November 13 pre-order date in the UK. The Premium Mate 40 Pro Plus and Mate 40 RS will go for €1,399 /$1,655 and €2,295 $2,715.

Part 2. Huawei Mate 40 Series: Color & Design

The first three Huawei Mate 40 modes spot very similar designs. Out of the box, you'll see a big circular Space Ring camera design at the back that reminds us of Apple's old iPods with click-wheel. The Space Ring houses the Leica-branded cameras. The Mate 40 RS departs from this design, though, with its octagonal camera arrangement. Huawei has also reintroduced the physical volume button to supplement the virtual volume rocker located on the waterfall screen's edge.

Quickly moving on to the colors, the Porsche Design Mate 40 RS comes in either Ceramic Black or Ceramic White, similar to the Mate 40 Pro Plus. The entry-level Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro are available in Mystic Silver, White, Silver, Yellow, Green, and Black. I like the Mystic Silver color because you can easily spot the phone in any environment. Another thing, the Huawei Mate 40 Pro, Pro Plus, and 40 RS are IP68 rated for water and dust resistance. The standard Mate 40 is IP53 rated.

Part 3. Huawei Mate 40 Series: Display

Credit where it's due; the Huawei Mate 40 lineup boasts big and beautiful screens. To start with the standard Mate 40, you'll get a 6.5-inch curved (68-degree) OLED panel that supports a 90Hz refresh rate and 2376 x 1080 pixel resolution. The screen also has a fingerprint reader. The Pro, Pro Plus, and RS all boast bigger 6.76-inch displays with a higher 1344 x 2772 pixel resolution and a steeper 88-degree curvature. The three premium phones also have an impressive screen-to-body ratio of 94.1% and a 90Hz refresh rate. The 90Hz refresh rate gives you a smoother operation compared to 60Hz.

Part 4. Huawei Mate 40 Series: Camera

The Huawei Mate 40 Pro camera system and its siblings spot a massive 50MP (f/1.9) SuperSensing rear wide. As usual, a bigger megapixel means better low-light performance and more precise color and detail. Also, the iconic Leica Imaging offers excellent portrait shots and vivid colors in any surrounding. However, other camera features vary a little bit. On the entry-level Mate 40, you'll get an 8MP 85mm telephoto that offers 3x lossless optical zoom. While this is obviously impressive, the Pro and Pro Plus take it a notch higher with their 5x and 10x lossless periscope sensors.

For the Mate 40 RS Porsche Design, you'll get a 50MP wide, 20MP Cine ultrawide, 12MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and an 8MP SuperZoom with 10x optical zoom. With the Cine Camera, users will enjoy super-steady shots with ultra-slow motions even under darkness covers. You'll also get a wider dual 13MP (f/2.4) front camera that supports 3D face unlock. The camera can also automatically adjust the FoV (Field of View), depending on the faces available. Further, the HDR Fusion Engine will help you take some excellent 4K clips with real-time HDR processing.

Part 5. Huawei Mate 40 Series: Hardware

All of these Huawei 5G phone models run on a Kirin 9000 chipset. Much like the powerful A14 Bionic processor on the iPhone 12 models, the Kirin 9000 a 5-nanometer chipset. According to Huawei, this chipset is 10% more efficient than the renowned Snapdragon 865+, thanks to the 15.3 billion transistors. Now, that's 30% more transistors than the A14 Bionic chip. The company also claims the 24-Core GPU is 52% quicker than the Snapdragon 865+, while the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) is 2.4x faster. So if you're a fan of mobile gaming, the fast GPU should come in handy.

As for the storage, the smaller Mate 40 boasts 8GB RAM with 128GB of internal storage. The Mate 40 Pro comes with a similar RAM storage capacity, although with memory flexibility of 512GB and 256GB. The Pro Plus and Mate 40 RS features 12GB RAM with 256GB of internal memory.

Finally, the Mate 40 packs a 4,200mAh battery capacity and supports 40W of fast charging. All the three other models offer an improved 4,300mAh with 66W of fast charging via the Huawei SuperCharge adapter and cable. Huawei says this is the quickest SuperCharge on any flagship smartphone. You can also use the 50W Huawei SuperCharge adapter for fast wireless charging. Remember that the wireless charger is sold separately.

Part 6. Huawei Mate 40 Series: Software

As expected, there's no Google Mobile Services, which means no Google Maps. But you can make do with Peta Maps – Huawei's navigation map. This app works tremendously and is backed by excellent TomTom mapping that looks great. Although it's not yet available in all countries, it's undoubtedly a great start.

The upgraded EMUI also comes with other exciting features. For instance, you'll get the Hi, Celia, Huawei's own version of Google Assistant. This voice assistant supports up to five languages and is available in fifteen countries. The Privacy and Protection feature also gives you no disturbance, no tracking, and zero exposure when you're browsing the web. In other words, websites and online advertisers can't track your online information.

If you love the AoD (Always on Display) function, Huawei Mate 40 Series offers an improved dynamic graphic AoD. This makes the screen more beautiful and customizable. On top of AoD, you'll also get an EoD (Eyes on Display) feature. In this case, your phone will light up whenever you look at it.

The Gesture Control on the previous Mate 30 Series also sees a massive upgrade. Previously, there was only up and down air scrolls. But now you can also scroll left or right and even press. In the meantime, the Smart Multi-Window feature removes interruptions by allowing repositioning, resizing, and organizing of windows, just like on your computer. And lest I forget the Multi-Screen Collaboration feature that enables users to multitask between devices like PCs, smartphones, and tablets.

Part 7. Huawei Mate 40 Series: Specs & Features

Configuration	Huawei Mate 40 Specs	Huawei Mate 40 Pro Specs	Huawei Mate 40 Pro Plus Specs	Huawei Mate 40 RD Porsche Design Specs
RAM	8GB	8GB	12GB	12GB
Memory Storage	128GB	256GB, 512GB	256GB	256GB
CPU	Kirin 9000	Kirin 9000	Kirin 9000	Kirin 9000
OS	Android 10, EMUI 11	Android 10, EMUI 11	Android 10, EMUI 11	Android 10, EMUI 11
Display	6.5-inch OLED 1080 x 2376 pixels, 90Hz refresh rate	6.76-inch OLED 1344 x 2772 pixels, 90Hz refresh rate	6.76-inch OLED 1344 x 2772 pixels, 90Hz refresh rate	6.76-inch OLED 1344 x 2772 pixels, 90Hz refresh rate
Front Camera	13MP, HDR	13MP, HDR, ToF 3D	13MP, HDR, ToF 3D	13MP, HDR, ToF 3D
Rear Camera	50MP main, 16MP ultrawide, 8MP telephoto	50MP main, 20MP ultrawide, 12MP periscope telephoto	50MP main, 20MP ultrawide, 8MP periscope telephoto, 12MP telephoto	50MP main, 20MP ultrawide, 8MP periscope telephoto, 12MP telephoto
Video	4K at 60/30fps	4K at 60/30fps	4K at 60/30fps	4K at 60/30fps
Sensors	FaceID, TouchID	FaceID, TouchID	FaceID, TouchID	FaceID, TouchID
5G	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Battery and Fast Charging	4,200mAh, 40W of fast charging	4,300mAh, 66W of fast charging, 50W of fast wireless charging, 5W of reverse wireless charging	4,300mAh, 66W of fast charging, 50W of fast wireless charging, 5W of reverse wireless charging	4,300mAh, 66W of fast charging, 50W of fast wireless charging, 5W of reverse wireless charging
Colors	White, Black, Yellow, Green, Mystic Silver	White, Black, Yellow, Green, Mystic Silver	Ceramic White, Ceramic Black	Ceramic White, Ceramic Black

Part 8. Where to buy: Huawei Mate 40 Series Best Deals

• Huawei Mate 40: €899
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro: €1,199
• Huawei Mate 40 Pro Plus: €1,399
• Huawei Mate 40 RS Porsche Design: €2,295

Huawei Mate 40 Series: Final Verdict

Huawei is certainly doing great in the competitive smartphone market, despite the lack of Google Mobile Services. The powerful camera system and upgraded EMUI overlay supported by open-source Android 10 and Huawei Mobile Services is a big boost. Simply put, the Mate 40 lineup is one of the best in the ever-evolving smartphone world. You can also check out our iPhone 12 vs. Samsung S20 detailed comparison.

Pro Tip: With a 50MP smartphone camera, it's apparent that you'll be taking pictures frequently. However, you may need to convert JPG image files to a different photo file format like PNG. In that case, I recommend Online UniConverter (Originally Media.io). With this online app, you can convert JPG photos to PNG, BMP, GIF, or TIFF anywhere, anytime. Just open your updated web browser and apply these steps:

Step 1. Open Image Converter

Open Online UniConverter website on your web browser and then tap Online Tools. Now proceed to choose the Image Converter tool under the Image section.

Step 2. Choose an image file format

Open the "Convert all files to" menu list and then select a new image file format. You can also click the Settings icon to set a custom size for your image.

Step 3. Convert images

Finally, tap CONVERT to begin transcoding your JPG photos to a new image format and size. Download and share!