Huawei Mate40 Pro Review - Android

2020 has been a challenging year for Huawei, but it didn’t stop the company from releasing multiple smartphones to address the users’ demand for...

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2020 has been a challenging year for Huawei, but it didn’t stop the company from releasing multiple smartphones to address the users’ demand for performance, photography, and 5G. The company showed no signs of slowing down, though, and unveiled the Huawei Mate 40 Series just last month. One of those devices is the Huawei Mate40 Pro, packing almost everything the company is known to be good at. Is this the flagship smartphone to get in 2020? Let’s find out.

Design and Construction

The Huawei Mate40 Pro sports a familiar design and is like a merge between the Mate 30 Pro and the P40 Pro. We have a large screen that curves on the sides, although it seems like it has thicker bezels at the top and bottom.

Gone is the notch and is replaced with a hole-punch for the dual-front camera, similar to the P40 Pro.

We have the volume buttons and the power/lock button with a red accent on the right side. The buttons are placed near the center, so it’s still easy to reach. The buttons feel clicky but firm and solid.

Up top, we have the earpiece, loudspeaker, IR blaster, and microphone.

Below, we have the loudspeaker, USB-C port, and the card slot for the nano-SIM card and NM card.

At the back, you will see a reflective glass back, along with the protruding circular camera module that houses the 50MP main camera, 20MP ultrawide, 12MP telephoto, Laser AF, dual-LED flash, and another microphone for video recording purposes.

As expected of a flagship smartphone coming from Huawei’s Mate lineup, the Mate40 Pro is every inch a premium device. It’s cool to the touch, has a decent heft, and the curves are seamless. It’s also a tall device but thin enough to be comfortably gripped.

We’re also glad that it already has a screen protector pre-installed and a clear case included in the package as the back panel attracts fingerprints and smudges like crazy. If you’re worried about water damage, you don’t have to, as the Mate40 Pro is IP68-certified.

Display and Multimedia

The Mate40 Pro is equipped with a large 6.76-inch screen with a 2772 x 1344 resolution, equal to 456ppi. The screen resolution can be adjusted between 2772 x 1344 or 1848 x 896, or choose Smart Resolution to allow the device to adjust the resolution based on your activity to save power.

It’s a pretty packed screen for its size, so icons and hi-res images and videos come out sharp. Its OLED panel produces punchy colors and deep blacks, while the 90Hz refresh rate is just visually pleasing with its smooth animations and transitions.

Go in the display settings, and you will see several options to tweak. You can adjust the color mode and temperature, activate Eye Comfort and enable and disable Dark mode. You can also select between 60Hz and 90Hz, depending on your preference or power needs. If the hole-punch bothers you, there’s also an option to hide it. However, it would look like it has a thick forehead.

When it comes to audio, the Mate40 Pro boasts two speakers, one at the top and one at the bottom. As expected of the Mate series, the audio is excellent. It’s not as good as a dedicated Bluetooth speaker, but it’s loud, rich, and full. You will really enjoy the experience if you’re just casually enjoying a movie or TV show on a couch or bed.

Camera

Huawei’s most powerful cameras are not just reserved for the P-Series. They’re also found in the Mate-series. For the Mate40 Pro, it has a triple camera setup consisting of a 50MP F1.9 Ultra Vision primary, 20MP F1.8 Cine Camera ultrawide, and 12MP F3.4 telephoto with OIS. It comes with the following modes: Aperture, Night, Portrait, Pro, Slow-mo, Panorama, Monochrome, AR Lens, AI Lens, and Dual-View, to name some.

Images produced, as expected, are just excellent. The images produced are one of the sharpest we’ve seen, even when cropped. The colors are punchy yet accurate, the contrast is just right, and the dynamic range is great. It’s easy to just point-and-shoot as the autofocus is fast in most cases, even in low-light. It’s quite slow, though, when shooting in macros.