The Mate 30 Pro model broke with everything that had come before, both in design (for its spectacular screen) and powerful camera, and because it was Huawei’s first flagship phone without Google services. This new generation maintains the essential features of its predecessor with small aesthetic changes and better software, although it is still hurt by the absence of the search giant’s apps. Of course, it matters less and less that you don’t take them because – forced by circumstances – it advances unstoppably with the App Gallery and its tools, such as the Petal Search search engine and the Petal Maps and Huawei Docs applications.

A gifted in photography

Huawei has opted for a triple camera – with the same circular design as the predecessor, although without the ring adornment that gave it so much beauty – and includes a 50-megapixel primary sensor (wide angle, f/1.9 aperture), another ultra-large 20-megapixel wide-angle (f/1.8 aperture) and a 12-megapixel telephoto lens (f/3.4 aperture, OIS). To take selfies, it joins the trend of incorporating a dual camera with 13 megapixels and a 3D depth sensor. In the video, the phone records in 4K, supports a maximum of 60 fps, and has a powerful image stabilizer (Steady Shot).

The Mate 30 Pro camera bar was very high, and this is no less. With this equipment and the software, the result of the photos and videos is brutal, indoors and outdoors, with a lot of light or minor, at night, in selfies… and all with very natural and realistic colors. The weakest thing is the 50x zoom, which is very powerful, but the image loses sharpness.

For macro photography, it does not come with a lens; it is replaced by software, and it is no longer necessary to activate it by going to the More section of the camera (it does not appear there); instead, it starts automatically when it detects that you are taking a photo very close (now it does not it’s called super macro, if not close-up). With the night mode activated, taking a picture with little light does not matter. Again, it captures the image smoothly, and the result is brilliant.

1. Wide angle
2. Zoom 1x
3. Zoom 20x
4. Zoom 50x

As a novelty, this model comes with an application called Story Creator. It can give you a lot of fun and is very simple to use: you record five videos of between two and four seconds each (the time is predetermined), and then you hit the button, and it joins them all to create a single one.

The more fast charging, the less battery

Mate 40 Pro is the middle of the three brothers in the series, and Huawei has reserved the best specifications for the Mate 40 Pro Plus model (and the version with Porsche Design). However, the processor is the same, Kirin 9000, and the Pro’s 8 GB of RAM gives you everything you could need. They are not resistant to multitasking or video games. It has plenty of power for everyday tasks (and it is not less for its price).

With several companies competing to launch the phone with the fastest charge, Huawei Mate 40 Pro does not reach the record speeds of other manufacturers. Still, it improves in this section considerably (and it is not that the previous one was bad). The included 66W adapter fills the battery to half in just 15 minutes. It completely takes about 48 minutes. Its 4,400 mAh battery is also not among the best, and, according to our tests, it lasts around 48 hours with the use of taking photos, reading news, and playing YouTube videos (just over four hours a day) and without turning it off. Night. It is a very average time. It does not stand out, but is a lot of autonomy needed with such a fast charge?

Gestures with which you feel like a magician

In this section, the phone brings together many new features. Huawei Mate 40 launches the EMUI 11 customization layer that allows you to put gifs or your text in the Always on Display function, among other customization options. And it incorporates new hand gestures in the air to handle the device. This way, it is possible to take screenshots, browse news (slide up and down) and activate or stop audio and video playback. It uses the 3D depth detection front camera and the gesture sensor to do this. The movements are simple, and immediately, it is possible to reproduce them correctly so that it executes the order (following the tutorial, you learn quickly), although sometimes it resists. The screenshot is the easiest of all, and it is done instantly.

The Petal Search search engine launches improvements, including image searches so that you can find not only products but also the name of that actor who you forgot o The Huawei Docs application includes not only tools for text editing but also for making presentations, spreadsheets, and a (very complete) document scanner.

Regarding third-party applications, the App Gallery store offers more and more alternatives to those of Google. The renewal that has just been launched promises to adapt to local preferences. Among those that are already pre-installed on the Mate 40 Pro is Snapchat. Huawei’s navigation service, Petal Maps, is not yet available on the Mate 40 series; you can try it now if you have a P40 Pro with the latest update, as the company has clarified.