Still, we want to start with the camera on the Huawei Mate 40 Pro 5G. Huawei has a new 1/1.28” main sensor, which, along with the P40 models, is the largest on the market. Compared to the previous Mate, the resolution has been increased to 50MP (up from 40MP). The new model is equipped with omnidirectional autofocus and f/1.9 lens with optical image stabilization (OIS). The pixel size is 1.22µm, which doubles when binning is enabled. A Laser autofocus system allows for fast and accurate focus locks.
The main camera is capable of shooting 4K
video at 60 fps as well as slow-motion clips at 1080p resolution and 480 fps.
And you can practically stop time with 3,840 fps mode, which records at 720p
resolution. The selfie camera is quite adept at video capture too, it can do
4K/60 videos and 1080p/240 slow-mo clips, but we’ll get back to it in a minute.
The second-generation Cine camera is
equipped with a 20MP sensor and an f/1.8 ultrawide-angle lens. It's the first
mobile cam in the world to feature a free form lens, which reduces the
distortions characteristic of ultra-wide lenses. Huawei is bringing back the
125mm periscope lens in front of a 12MP sensor. It offers 5x magnification over
the main cam and is a significant upgrade over the 8MP camera with 3x zoom
found on the Mate 30 Pro. It has an f/3.4 aperture and OIS, just like on the
P40 Pro.
We’ll take a slight detour to the Huawei
Mate 40 Pro+ 5G as zooming capabilities are the major difference between the
two Pros. The periscope lens goes up to 10x optical zoom; this module features
an 8MP sensor and an f/4.4 aperture, similar to the P40 Pro+. And it’s not
alone – there’s a 12MP camera for mid-range zoom, which offers 3x
magnification. Both zoom modules have OIS.
Both versions of the Pro feature a 13MP
front-facing camera joined by a depth sensor. This sensor detects hand gestures
to control the EMUI 11 interface and serving face unlock duties. There’s also a
fingerprint reader built into the display. The 6.76” OLED display that is quite
a jump from the 6.53” panel of the 2019 phones. Resolution is increased to
1,344 x 2,772 px, making for a sharper image. The display's sides are strongly
curved; they meet the sidewall of the phone at an angle of 88°. Despite the
extreme curve, there are still hardware controls (power, volume) on the side
(but virtual buttons are available).
The refresh rate is set to 90 Hz but
improves on the P-series with a 240 Hz touch sampling rate. The multimedia
experience is further improved thanks to stereo speakers - the combination of
3D audio and vibration from the linear motor makes for a more immersive
experience. The battery department also got a major upgrade. Not in terms of
capacity, at 4,400 mAh, it’s about the same size as last year, but it now charges
much faster. If you use a USB-C cable, it can go up to 66W. Wirelessly, it can
do 50W, faster than the Mate 30 Pro and P40 Pro charged on a cable. Naturally,
reverse wireless charging is supported as well.
The Huawei Mate 40 Pro flagships are
powered by the latest Kirin 9000 chipset. It’s fabbed on a 5nm process and
features four Cortex-A77 cores, one of which is clocked at the record-breaking
3.13 GHz, and four A55 cores. The GPU is a Mali-G78 with 24 cores, which is the
maximum configuration possible. There’s also the integrated 5G modem, of
course. Local connectivity is blazing fast, too; Wi-Fi 6+ can soak up 160 MHz
of bandwidth - that translates to a whopping 2.4 Gbps transfer speed. You'll
need the right router (and Huawei has one to sell you), but those are
practically 5G speeds.
The Mate 40 series supports the new Huawei
M Pen 2 stylus. We mentioned gestures too, an alternative way to control the UI
- move your hands left/right to look through photos in your gallery, up/down to
flip through pages of an ebook, hover your hand to answer a call, or control
the music player. The upgraded Multi-screen Collaboration feature allows you to
teleport an app from your phone to your PC. Unlike Microsoft's Your Phone
application (which supports almost exclusively Samsung phones), you can bring
multiple apps to your laptop screen.
The Huawei Mate 40 Pro is coming to Europe
in only one configuration – with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB storage (expandable via
NM cards). It will cost € 1,200 and is available in a variety of colors. If you
are interested, you can check out our detailed review to know all about the
phone.
The Pro+ uses ceramic materials, available
in White and Black. This one upgrades to 12 GB of RAM while keeping the storage
at 256 GB. Both versions are available as dual-SIM or single-SIM phones (the
Pro has an eSIM as well). The Huawei Mate 40 Pro+ will set you back € 1,400.
