Due to the US embargo, Huawei is in a difficult situation in this country. For over a year now, the Chinese manufacturer’s smartphones have had to do without Google apps. But that doesn’t prevent him from introducing the Huawei Mate 40 Pro, one of the best camera smartphones. TECHNOLOGY BUTTON reveals why the device will still have a hard time.

October is the month of the year in which Huawei introduces its latest generation of Mate. The smartphones in this series are traditionally not only slightly larger than those of the P family in spring, they also usually feature the manufacturer’s latest Kirin processor. And something else makes the top smartphones from Huawei special: the camera. They are among the best on the market. And so it is not surprising that the camera is also in focus in the new Huawei Mate 40 Pro.

Huawei introduces Mate 40 Pro

Design and Display

The Mate series has always had a slightly different look than Huawei’s P family. While the cameras are mostly positioned on the left on the back, Huawei always arranges them in the middle of the Mate. However, the manufacturer regularly changes the look of the camera module. This time, the Huawei Mate 40 Pro has a round camera arrangement that is somewhat reminiscent of Apple’s AirPod. The case is comparatively angular, but the edges are rounded. Overall, the Mate 40 Pro makes a modern and high-quality impression with its curved full-view display. Plus point: It is protected against dust and water according to IP68.

Huawei calls the Screen Horizon display. It is 6.76 inches in diagonal and 88 degrees bend. So it runs clearly visible around the sides. With 2772 x 1344 pixels, the OLED screen is also quite high-resolution. There is a narrow bar above and below the screen, the screen itself is only interrupted by an elongated punch-hole notch. Huawei has housed the 13-megapixel selfie cam with ultra-wide angle and gesture sensor and a ToF 3D camera in this, which can also be used for 3D face recognition.

Like the Huawei Mate 30 Pro, the smartphone can be controlled using gestures. However, if the manufacturer deleted the physical volume buttons on this model, they were reintroduced on the new Mate 40 Pro. They are located on the right edge of the housing together with the power button.

Technical Equipment

Kirin 9000: first and so far only 5-nm chip with 5G

When we come to the equipment of the device, the focus falls on a special feature: the processor. Huawei uses the Kirin 9000 for the first time in the Mate 40 Pro. The system on chip (SoC – combination of processor, graphics unit, cellular module, etc.) is manufactured in a very compact 5 nanometer process and is considered to have a maximum clock rate of 3.13 GHz one of the most powerful octa-core chips in the Android sector. Huawei uses the so-called Big.Middle.Little principle. Behind this is nothing other than the division of the chip cores. The most powerful core Cortex A77 offers the maximum clock rate of 3.13 GHz (Big). Three of these cores also work in the middle network, but are clocked down to 2.54 GHz for standard applications. The operation of the four Cortex-A55 cores in the Little network saves energy. These have a clock rate of 2.05 GHz.

At the same time, Huawei has improved the integrated NPU (Neural Processing Unit) in the SoC, which should make the smartphone’s artificial intelligence work even faster. The Kirin 9000 is also 5G-capable and comes with the powerful Mali-G78 GPU. The graphics unit gives users an even better graphics performance than with the graphics units of previous generations. This development should be particularly beneficial for gamers.

Gesture Operation Expanded

Das Huawei Mate 40 Pro ist Dual-SIM-fähig und unterstützt eSIMs. Es verfügt über ein modernes WLAN-ax-Modul sowie über Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, Infrarot und einen Fingerabdrucksensor. Letzterer befindet sich unter dem Display. Die bereits erwähnte Gestensteuerung hat Huawei weiter ausgebaut. So können Nutzer nun beispielsweise, ohne das Display zu berühren, nicht nur nach oben und nach unten, sondern auch nach links und rechts scrollen. Halten sie ihre Hand über das Display, geht dieses automatisch an und entsperrt, sofern die Gesichtserkennung eingerichtet ist. So lässt sich das Huawei Mate 40 Pro auch dann aktivieren, wenn Nutzer ihre Hände gerade nicht benutzen können.

Huawei Mate 40 Pro can be charged quickly

The Mate 40 Pro has 8 GB of RAM. There is also 256 GB of internal memory, which can be expanded using Huawei’s proprietary NM card. The battery has a capacity of 4400 mAh and, according to Huawei, has an optimized charging process. Thanks to 50 watt wireless charging, the battery of the Mate 40 Pro charges faster than that of the Mate 30 Pro when wired. At the same time, the smartphone is also able to charge other devices wirelessly thanks to reverse wireless charging. When connected to the cable, the Huawei Mate 40 Pro Super Charge supports 66 watts and charges from 0 to 85 percent in just about 30 minutes, according to the manufacturer.

Ultra-Vision-Cine-Camera

In addition to the processor, the Huawei Mate 40 Pro’s camera is also worth mentioning. In principle, it is based very closely on that of the Huawei P40 Pro from spring. Both smartphones have a 50-megapixel ultra-vision camera (wide angle, f / 1.9) and a 12-megapixel periscope telephoto camera with 5x optical, 10x hybrid and up to 50x digital Zoom. However, Huawei has improved the second lens in the triple camera network. A second generation cine lens camera is now used in the Mate 40 Pro. With it, better videos in 2: 3 format and optimized ultra-wide-angle photos should be possible. The sensor takes up a maximum of 20 megapixels. In the video area there is the new function “XD Fusion HDR Video”. The different cameras take several pictures and the Huawei Mate 40 Pro merges all metadata in the next step for a perfect picture.

Smartphone Without Google

So gut sich die Daten des Huawei Mate 40 Pro auch lesen, es bleibt ein entscheidender Knackpunkt. Und dieser ist es auch, warum es das Smartphone auf dem deutschen Markt so schwer haben wird: die fehlenden Google Apps. Zwar beruht das System auf dem noch relativ aktuellen Android 10, Huawei ist es aber nicht erlaubt, die gängigen Google-Anwendungen wie Google-Play-Dienste, Google Play Store, Google Maps, Google Mail oder YouTube zu installieren. Auch lassen sich die Apps nicht ohne weiteres selbst nachladen. Huawei musste sich also eine Lösung einfallen lassen. Diese heißt „Huawei Mobile Services“, oder kurz HMS.

The manufacturer has been developing its own app store for some time and is trying to offer alternatives to the Google apps. For example, he is currently working on a navigation app as an alternative to Google Maps. On the other hand, he has added third-party applications such as WhatsApp and Co. to his App Gallery. Huawei has also updated the user interface of the smartphones. The Huawei Mate 40 Pro runs from the factory Emui 11, which has been given a new design. The multi-screen collaboration makes it possible to transmit the smartphone content to a monitor and work with the device almost like a PC. What is new is that users can now open up to three Android apps in parallel.

Despite all these efforts, the HMS and the App Gallery are no substitutes for the missing Google connection. Buyers are skeptical, even if Huawei is reluctant to publish figures on current smartphone sales. The Mate 30 Pro and the P40 Pro already had the problem that the media and product testers referred to them more as cameras with telephony functions than as a real top smartphone. A fate that will probably also blossom for the Huawei Mate 40 Pro. Especially when you look at the price of the smartphone.

Price and Availability of the Huawei Mate 40 Pro

The Huawei Mate 40 Pro costs 1199 euros. This makes it significantly more expensive than some flagship products from other manufacturers. The high price and the lack of Google connectivity probably make the decision for the Huawei Mate 40 Pro even more difficult.

If you still want to buy the smartphone, you can now pre-order it in the colors Black and Mystic Silver and receive the Freebuds Pro true wireless headphones and six-month free access to Huawei Music (9.99 euros per month) free of charge until November 9th to the device.