Huawei Mate 40 Pro Review: Powerful Phone, Fantastic Camera, but…

We’re back with a phone that looks great and performs excellently, but you might not want it because, well, it has no Google services. It’s the new Huawei Mate 40 Pro.

As mentioned, there’s no Google services on this phone, and that’s the biggest drawback of this device. Besides that, the Mate 40 Pro is powerful, the cameras are great, it’s very fast and the design will be liked by a lot of people. It’s a really good phone, but if you can’t use Gmail, Google apps and YouTube, it’s a little tough.

Anyway, on to the phone. It’s using a 6.76-inch OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate, and the colours are beautiful. It’s bright enough for outdoor usage, but unfortunately Huawei is keeping the waterfall design for the screen. At certain viewing angles, it can be a little distorted and if you want to select items on the edge of the display, the curved edge poses a bit of a problem.

Inside, the phone is powered by Huawei’s first 5nm chip, the Kirin 9000. It’s a very powerful chip, but it might be the last year we see the 5nm chip because of the legal issues surrounding Huawei sourcing their chips and parts from the US.

There’s the main 50MP camera on the rear, with a larger sensor. Image quality is fantastic, and the wide-angle lens is better on the Mate 40 Pro too. On the front, you get two great lenses, with the standard lens and an ultra-wide-angle lens. The front lenses could even be too sharp, so you might want to consider turning on the beauty mode.

There’s a 4,400mAh battery inside that will get you through a day and a half at least. Huawei even includes a 66w fast charger in the box so you won’t have to spend additional money getting one. More than that, the charger can even charge your laptops, tablets and more, which is pretty convenient.

Let’s talk usability. Of course, Google apps are out of the question, and that’s where the issue lies. Huawei has their own app store and they’ve been partnering with developers to get essential apps onto the app gallery, but not every app is available.

A lot of people buy Huawei phones nowadays because of the camera system, and while the cameras are great on the Mate 40 Pro, the competition has caught up. It’s going to be a bit of a challenge for Huawei to make the camera system even better to keep ahead of other brands that are around the same performance level.

If you’re a diehard Huawei fan, or love the cameras and don’t require the Google apps, then the Mate 40 Pro is a good phone. But if you really require Google apps like Gmail, YouTube and more, it’s hard to recommend this phone. And it’s saddening to have to say that, because this phone is great in all aspects, except if you need Google services.

For more information about the Huawei Mate 40 Pro or to support us, get it on Amazon here.

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Content by Bobby Tonelli