Maybe it’s time to ditch the cameras? Huawei has just announced its newest Mate series of phones, the Mate 40, Mate 40 Pro, and Mate40 Pro+, offering an upgraded photography and videography experience, among others, in a single device.
Let’s talk about design. Following last year’s Mate 30, the Mate 40 series offers a circular setup of lenses at the back of the device. This time, though, the lenses are positioned inside a circular ring, leaving the middle part colored like the rest of the back part. It mimics those ‘ring lights’ you see nowadays.
It’s also offered in five different colors — Mystic Silver, White, Black, and vegan leather options in Green and Yellow, except for the Mate 40 Pro+ which is offered in ceramic black or white colors. It also features a seamless edge-to-edge AMOLED display that feels great to touch, plus the return of physical buttons such as the volume and power/lock keys. All of these feature the latest flagship Kirin chipset, the Kirin 9000 (or 9000E for the Mate 40), which also brings 5G connectivity and more AI power to the phone than its predecessor.
Huawei also debuts new software improvements to the Mate40 series in the Huawei Mobile Services-centered EMUI, which now comes with an Eye On Display. The feature mimics a ‘glance’ feature where the always-on display elements pop up when eyes are tracked to look at the device. There’s also Celia, Huawei’s personal assistant, and their own MeeTime video conferencing, which is now available in 12 countries including the Philippines.
The cameras are still co-engineered with Leica, and they’ve shown that they can up the ante with every single release. The Mate40 and its pro variant both feature triple rear camera lens setups, while the Mate 40 Pro+ brings the setup to a whopping five lenses. All of these phones (except the Mate 40) feature two front cameras, with one offering a 100-degree wide-angle view. The camera software is also improved, with improvements to features such as Steady Shot, Tracking Shot, and even up to 10x optical zoom.
Huawei Mate 40 specs:
- 6.5-inch FHD+OLED display, 2376 x 1080 px
90Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate - Octa-core Huawei Kirin 9000E chipset
Mali-G78 GPU, NPU unit - 8GB RAM
- 128GB or 256GB storage
- Triple-rear cameras:
50MP f/1.9 Ultra Vision Camer
16MP f/2.2 ultrawide Cine Camera
8MP f/2.4, telephoto with OIS - 13MP f/2.4 Ultra Vision Selfie Camera
- 5G, 4G LTE, Dual-SIM
- WiFi 6 with 2 x 2 MIMO, HE160, 1024 QAM, 8 Spatial-stream Sounding MU-MIMO
Bluetooth 5.2 with BLE, SBC, AAC, LDAC
Dual-band GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Quad-band BDS, Tri-band GALILEO, Dual-band QZSS, NavIC - USB 3.1 Type-C, 3.5mm earphone jack, Fingerprint scanner
- EMUI 11 (Android 10, Huawei Mobile Services)
- 4,200mAh battery
40W SuperCharge - Colors: Mystic Silver, White, Black, Green, Yellow
Huawei Mate 40 Pro specs:
- 6.76-inch FHD+ OLED display, 2772 x 1344 px
90Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate - Octa-core Huawei Kirin 9000 chipset
Mali-G78 GPU, NPU - 8GB RAM
- 256GB storage
- Triple-rear cameras:
50MP f/1.9 Ultra Vision Camera
20MP f/1.8 ultrawide Cine Camera
12MP f/3.4 telephoto with OIS - Dual Selfie cameras:
13MP f/2.4 Ultra Vision
3D Depth Sensing - 5G, 4G LTE, Dual-SIM
- WiFi 6 with 2 x 2 MIMO, HE160, 1024 QAM, 8 Spatial-stream Sounding MU-MIMO
Bluetooth 5.2 with BLE, SBC, AAC, LDAC
Dual-band GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Quad-band BDS, Tri-band GALILEO, Dual-band QZSS, NavIC - USB 3.1 Type-C, 3D Face Recognition, Fingerprint scanner
- EMUI 11 (Android 10)
- 4,400mAh battery
66W SuperCharge
50W Wireless SuperCharge - Colors: Mystic Silver, White, Black, Green, Yellow
Huawei Mate 40 Pro+ specs:
- 6.76-inch FHD+ OLED display, 2772 x 1344 px
- 90Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate
- Octa-core Huawei Kirin 9000 chipset
Mali-G78 GPU, NPU - 12GB RAM
- 256GB storage
- Penta-rear cameras:
50MP f/1.9 Ultra Vision Camera with OIS
20MP f/2.4 ultrawide Cine Camera
12MP f/2.4, telephoto with 3x Optical Zoom, OIS
8MP f/4.4 SuperZoom, with 10x Optical Zoom, OIS
3D AF Depth Sensing Camera - Dual Selfie Cameras:
13MP f/2.4 Ultra Vision
3D Depth Sensing Camera - 5G, 4G LTE, Dual-SIM
- WiFi 6 with 2 x 2 MIMO, HE160, 1024 QAM, 8 Spatial-stream Sounding MU-MIMO
Bluetooth 5.2 with BLE, SBC, AAC, LDAC
Dual-band GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Quad-band BDS, Tri-band GALILEO, Dual-band QZSS, NavIC - USB 3.1 Type-C, 3D Face Recognition, Fingerprint scanner
- EMUI 11 (Android 10)
- 4,400mAh battery
66W SuperCharge
50W Wireless SuperCharge - Colors: Ceramic White, Ceramic Black
There’s also a Porsche Design variant of the Huawei Mate 40 series called the Huawei Mate 40 RS Porsche design and features a hexagonal protruding rear camera layout along with elements that define elegance as executed by the design studio. Inside the device is the internals for a Mate 40 Pro+ with larger storage and an Infrared Thermometry Sensor for detecting temperatures.
Huawei Mate 40 RS Porsche Design specs:
- 6.76-inch FHD+ OLED display, 2772 x 1344 px
- 90Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate
- Octa-core Huawei Kirin 9000 chipset
Mali-G78 GPU, NPU - 12GB RAM
- 256GB storage
- Penta-rear cameras:
50MP f/1.9 Ultra Vision Camera with OIS
20MP f/2.4 ultrawide Cine Camera
12MP f/2.4, telephoto with 3x Optical Zoom, OIS
8MP f/4.4 SuperZoom, with 10x Optical Zoom, OIS
3D AF Depth Sensing Camera - Dual Selfie Cameras:
13MP f/2.4 Ultra Vision
3D Depth Sensing Camera - 5G, 4G LTE, Dual-SIM
- WiFi 6 with 2 x 2 MIMO, HE160, 1024 QAM, 8 Spatial-stream Sounding MU-MIMO
Bluetooth 5.2 with BLE, SBC, AAC, LDAC
Dual-band GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Quad-band BDS, Tri-band GALILEO, Dual-band QZSS, NavIC - USB 3.1 Type-C, 3D Face Recognition, Fingerprint scanner, Infrared Thermometry Sensor
- EMUI 11 (Android 10)
- 4,400mAh battery
66W SuperCharge
50W Wireless SuperCharge - Colors: Ceramic White, Ceramic Black
The Huawei Mate 40 series are priced as follows EUR 899 (Mate40 –8GB + 128GB), EUR 1, 199 (Mate40 Pro 8GB + 256GB), EUR 1,399 (Mate40 Pro+ – 12GB + 256GB), and EUR 2,295 (Mate 40 RS Porsche Design – 12GB + 512GB) No word yet on local availability, but it’s expected that the device will land in the country just in time for the holiday season.
