Huawei Mate 40 Pro leaves a bad taste in the mouth and the fault is not his. It is an exceptional smartphone on which unprecedented care has been taken but which finds itself facing a limit that has become too great: the absence of the entire Google ecosystem due to the bans imposed by the United States. A lack that, sorry to say, becomes really heavy when to take excellence home you need 1.249 euros. This is in fact the figure at which the Shenzhen giant has decided to position its new top of the range. To be sure, there is also a Plus version that won't come in.
Excellent performance, photographic sector among the best available on the smartphone market and remarkable build quality. I don't think there was any doubt that these would have been the elements that would have brought the Mate 40 Pro to the top. If we think this will probably be the last smartphone to feature a powerful Kirin processor, then you will understand why the Mate 40 Pro leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Not to mention that - despite all the attention and care given by Huawei - it remains a product that unfortunately starts at a disadvantage compared to its competitors.
Construction: quality without ergonomics
On Mate 40 Pro, Huawei continues the aesthetic line inaugurated by its predecessor. And here comes the OLED display with a bending angle on the edges of 88 °. It is a 6,76-inch panel with 1.344 x 2772 pixel resolution and 90Hz refresh rate. At first glance, the curvature is really impactful but - personally - I think it's more of an exercise in style than anything else. Generally, I'm not a fan of edge displays, much less when I'm that much.
While remaining a subjective judgment, some limits are instead objective: the physical buttons are further behind than where you expect to find them, the edges always have that visible greenish color, some elements of the interface are distorted and the curvature makes the smartphone very slippery. Unlike last year, physically returns the volume balance wheel (fortunately) but we still have the possibility to use the virtual keys simply by double-tapping the edge of the display. The answer is not always quick. You need to locate the precise point to see the bar to adjust the volume appear.
This feature together with the dimensions (162.9 x 75.5 x 9.1 mm) and weight (172 grams) inevitably sacrifices ergonomics. For those with small hands like mine, holding the smartphone, they will be able to barely reach half of the screen. Beyond this, we are faced with a very high quality display: excellent contrasts, excellent color rendering and very high maximum brightness that does not create problems outdoors. In short, a panel worthy of a real top of the range.
The 90Hz refresh rate also helps to make everything smoother. In this regard, you can choose between Standard 60Hz, Ultra (fixed at 90Hz) and Dynamic (balances fluidity and battery life) modes. Huawei also offers the ability to set the resolution we want between high (2772 x 1344 pixels), standard (2376 x 1152 pixels) and low (1848 x 896 pixels). As always, the customization options are endless. C’è l’Always-On-Display (We will deal with some software goodies developed by the Shenzhen giant later on).
Let's go back to an absolutely subjective level again. Mate 40 Pro is beautiful. The back shell is made of glass and comes in two colors: Black (which you see pictured here) and Mystic Silver (the more beautiful of the two with its iridescent shades). The back houses Space Ring, the circular photographic module that makes the Mate 40 Pro immediately recognizable. The protrusion of the photographic compartment is not excessive and is completely eliminated by the protective cover included in the package. In our color scheme, the rear panel tends to hold fingerprints a little too much. The smartphone enjoys the IP68 certification which makes it resistant to splashes, water and dust.
The 3,5mm audio jack is missing, but there are a couple of earphones with Type-C connection. As for connectivity, among other things, the Mate 40 Pro can boast a Bluetooth 5.2 connection.
Performance and camera: excellence is achieved
I don't think there was any doubt. Mate 40 Pro achieves excellence in performance and photography. Huawei has decided to give the newcomer the best technology currently available: a processor, the Kirin 9000, made with a 5 nm production process. To be clear, the only other chip to boast these characteristics is Apple's A14-Bionic included in the new iPhone 12. In short, the Shenzhen giant has given everything for what will most likely be the last SoC produced by HiSilicon (a pity).
Needless to say, it also has a 5G modem available that allows the smartphone to connect to the new network standard. However, the processor is paired with 8 Gigabytes of RAM and 256 Gigabytes of internal memory expandable via NM-Card. A configuration that ensures extreme fluidity in any situation. Mate 40 Pro never shows the side.
Under the body we find a 4.400 mAh battery that satisfies. During our test, with very intense use, the Mate 40 Pro arrived until the evening with about 30% of remaining charge compared to over 4 hours of active display. With milder use, you can even get to the next day.
As always, the judgment on autonomy remains subjective as it depends very much on everyone's habits and on the chosen settings. The smartphone supports 66W fast charging with the included charger and 50W wireless charging. Obviously there is also reverse charging.
Let's now move on to the photographic sector, a peculiar trait of the top of the Huawei range. Mate 40 Pro in its Space Ring integrates three cameras: 50 Megapixel (23mm, f / 1.9) main sensor, 20 Megapixel wide angle (18mm, f / 1.8) and 12MP periscope telephoto lens (125mm, f / 3.4) with OIS enabling 5X optical zoom , hybrid 10X and digital 50X. What looks like a fourth camera, in reality, is a sensor with laser focus that replaces the ToF sensor seen - for example - on P40 Pro. A photographic sector, however, that has already obtained the consecration by the DxOMark portal.
The main camera manages to pull out shots with an extremely high level of detail, both during the day and at night. In this case, moreover, the appropriate modality intervenes which, as we have already seen since last year, is really capable of working miracles. It must be admitted that the shots at night still remain high level even without activating the "night" mode. Indeed, if there is some light available on the scene, they are also preferable by showing more natural colors.
In general, the most surprising is the color rendering, very faithful to reality, and praised by DxOMark. The wide-angle sensor is also satisfactory, even if the viewing angle is not particularly wide. The latter, among other things, is used for close-up shots with good results. Excellent shots in portrait mode with a blurred background which, in most cases but not always, manage to maintain complex details, such as hair.
It is always surprising to see in action a zoom like that of the Mate 40 Pro which - in daytime - manages to obtain excellent results even in digital 50X. It is obvious that going that far there will be a loss of detail but if we consider the distance of the photographed object, the shots are equally amazing. Focus has been improved. The result drops a bit at night, where you notice some noise and also a loss of detail. You can activate night mode on all sensors.
Videos can be recorded up to 4K resolution at 60 fps. As known, the video quality is a step back to the photographic one. However, you will still be able to record good quality videos. In addition, Huawei has introduced interesting software features. Tracking Shot allows you to lock the moving subject and keep it always in the center of the scene. However, we did notice a slight delay in tracking. Or, Double view which allows you to record with both the front and rear cameras at the same time.
Excellent selfies taken with the 13 Megapixel front camera (f / 2.4), which has left the notch to move into an oval-shaped hole on the screen. Here there is also the 3D ToF sensor that enables unlocking through face recognition.
In fact, this sensor is also used to enable other software functions, including Smart Gesture: Google Motion Sense-style functions that should allow you to perform actions on your smartphone without touching it through some hand gestures. A technology that is still very immature. In many cases, in fact, the system does not detect the hand. Or rather, it seems that the system recognizes some gestures more easily than others.
Then there are other software goodies. Most notable is Eyes On Display: just look at the camera even from a distance to make the display activate showing the screen chosen for the Always-On which - in this way - will not always be active, saving us battery. The automatic rotation operation is also very useful. In practice, if activated, the screen will not turn only because we have tilted the smartphone but will follow the rotation of our head. To be clear, if we turn the smartphone and the head remains still, the screen will turn; if our head follows the inclination of the smartphone, the screen will not turn. Very useful, for example, when we are lying on the bed. Voice assistant Celia now also works in, but still needs a lot of refinements.
The software functions made available by Huawei are really many, but all of this it is not enough to make us forget the absence of Google Mobile Services and Big-G apps. AppGallery continues to welcome new applications every day, banking ones begin to arrive and Petal Search (the universal search engine of the Chinese company) is increasingly proving to be a useful tool to make up for some shortcomings but the gap with the Californian counterpart is still vast .
Although I am part of that group of people who believe that in most cases one can live without the entire Google suite, I also believe that a smartphone sold for 1.249 euros does not have to present any compromise. And the Mate 40 Pro, unfortunately, has them.
Here in conclusion the bitterness returns to the mouth. Huawei has created an excellence that - for political reasons that we will not be discussing here - has been maimed and after all, we too are lost.
Conclusions: who should buy it?
As with the latest Huawei flagships, it is difficult to identify the ideal Mate 40 Pro buyer. We are faced with the umpteenth excellence of the Chinese giant which carries the same limitation as its predecessor. The only real flaw of this smartphone, let's face it, is the absence of Google services which represents a compromise too big to accept for a product that costs 1.249 euros. To return to the title, therefore, the GMS are the only thing more to ask.
As I have said on other occasions, if you are not particularly interested in the world of Big-G and you want the best of the technology currently available, you should consider purchasing the Mate 40 Pro: excellent display, high-level build quality. , excellent photographic sector and performance to the nth degree. Speech also valid for all fans of the smartphone world. Sure, Huawei could have thought of a more aggressive positioning but - by doing so - it is proving once again that he has no intention of giving up his job, despite everything.
All those who purchase the Mate 40 Pro by November 15 will receive FreeBuds Pro included in the price (commercial value 179,00 euros), as well as 6 months of Huawei Music, 3 months of subscription to Huawei Video and 50 GB of extra space on HUAWEI Cloud for 12 months.
