Huawei has rolled out its newest flagship devices: the Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro, debuting Huawei’s new flagship 5nm Kirin 9000 chipset and include curved 6.76-inch 90Hz OLED displays and 50W wireless charging.
The display on the bog-standard Mate 40 measures 6.5 inches, while the Mate 40 Pro is larger, at 6.76-inches. Both phones tout 90hz displays. Yu said this was a deliberate design choice designed to improve power efficiency, with 120hz panels notoriously energy-hungry.
Both models use an OLED display that curves around the sides, with the curvature 66-degrees on the entry-level model, and 88-degrees on the Pro variant. This approach improves the screen-to-body ratio of the device, and makes it possible to introduce touch inputs for things like volume control. This won’t be to everyone’s taste, however, and Huawei’s retained a physical volume rocker.
The 90Hz display works together with 240Hz touch sampling rate for greater responsiveness and now provides haptic feedback to correspond with the visual experience. This entertainment set-up is completed with dual stereo speakers to create experiences with super bass stereo.
The Mate 40 ships with a 4,200mAh battery, and is capable of a respectable 40W charging speed when using a wired connection. The Pro version has a slightly larger battery, at 4,400mAh, which supports 66W wired charging and 50W wireless charging. In terms of battery life, Huawei promises at least 9.7 hours of heavy usage.
Huawei Consumer BG’s Executive Director and CEO Richard Yu proudly said:
“Each year the HUAWEI Mate Series brings the most exciting technology together into one stunning package. This is what defines the Mate Series DNA and is all made possible by our dedication to innovation. In these unprecedented times, we remain committed to creating a better future, with innovative technology that delivers a positive and meaningful impact on the lives of consumers.
In the future, we will continue working closely with our partners to bring the Seamless AI Life experience to consumers all around the world.”
As is traditional with Huawei’s flagship phones, photography is a huge priority. The Leica-clad cameras are organised in a doughnut-shaped arrangement which Huawei calls a “space ring design.”
Both models use the same 50MP RYYB sensor previously showcased on the P40 Pro. The basic model accompanies this with 16MP ultra-wide, an 8MP telephoto, and a TOF (Time-of-flight) sensor. The Pro version keeps the TOF sensor, but offer an improved 20MP ultra-wide cine lens, as well as a 12MP 5x periscope lens.
The Dual Cine Cameras feature a 3:2 cinema-style shooting ratio sensor. Capturing high quality footage is easier than ever with Steady Shot, while the XD Fusion HDR Video ensures balanced exposure, even when users are capturing with extreme lighting contrast.
Other evolutions include Tracking Shot, while Story Creator allows for true cinematic effects. Background music, filters and effects can also be added with ease. Not neglecting audio, HUAWEI Mate 40 Series features Audio Focus, Audio Zoom, and dual stereo speakers.
The Ultra Wide Cine Camera now offers an even wider field of view, as well as richer detail, improved low light performance and distortion correction algorithms, allowing users to capture beautiful expansive landscapes, while the Super Sensing Wide Camera provides true high definition shots. Image quality has been further enhanced with Full Pixel Octa PD AutoFocus. Improved distortion correction targets the face, body and limbs, making the ultra-wide angle lens useful in more scenarios than ever.
HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro features a Periscope Telephoto Camera to support 10x hybrid zoom and 50x digital zoom, and HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro+ takes it further with a dual-telephoto camera system that enables 20x hybrid zoom and 100x digital zoom.
The Ultra Vision Selfie Camera on the HUAWEI Mate 40 Series take selfies and videos to new heights with support for 4K capture and the option to shoot in one of three available fields of view, ranging from up close and personal to ultra-wide. Slow-Motion Selfie adds even more versatility to the front camera by letting users add dramatic flair when documenting their fast-paced actions.
The handsets also offer IP 68 dust and water resistance, a choice of both virtual and physical volume controls and enhanced mistouch prevention algorithms.
Both phones come with Huawei’s EMUI11 software, which runs on the open source version of Android 10. As was the case with the previous P40 series, Google’s proprietary apps are nowhere to be found. Instead, users are pushed towards Huawei’s AppGallery.
The Mate 40 Pro will hit UK shelves on November 13 with a price tag of £1099.99. Those who pre-order between November 3 and 12 will bag themselves a free Huawei Sound X speaker. There’s yet no information when the cheaper Mate 40 will see a UK release.
