The Huawei Mate 40 Pro with truth serum -

20 Minutes

  • The American embargo that has hit Huawei since May 2019 does not prevent the Chinese manufacturer from developing new smartphones.

  • More efficient than ever, its Mate 40 Pro sold for 1199 euros bears witness to this, which has incredible virtues in photos.

  • But the absence of Google services on board necessarily makes their daily use less practical.

Ok Huawei.

Let us immediately get rid of the annoying questions.

The new Mate 40 Pro from the Chinese brand cannot access Google services.

No Gmail, Drive, Maps, YouTube ... Since May 2019, the manufacturer hit by an American embargo has been forced to do "without".

A tile that makes the happiness of its competitors, like Oppo, determined to steal market share from the Asian giant.

However, we can also live without Google.

But it's not that easy.

Huawei's AppGallery, a still incomplete alternative to traditional application stores.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

15 billion transistors on board

Why, in this case, pay the trifle of 1199 euros for this toy (in its 256 GB / 8 GB version)?

First to afford a competitive smartphone.

Because even if the Mate 40 Pro works with a big stone in its shoe, this 212 gram terminal is equipped with the latest technology from the world of telephony.

Obviously 5G, the device is powered by the latest Huawei processor, the Kirin 9000.

This integrates more than 15 billion transistors (30% more than previously).

More responsiveness, more processing possibilities, more energy savings… with this

chipset

, we are already teleported to the next world.

In a very detailed lab test, our colleagues from Les Numériques salute a “monstrous (…) processor with spectacular performance”.

Problem: Some games, like Fortnite, are not compatible.

In short, with this smartphone in your pocket, it's like driving a Porsche on a French highway: you know that you can drive up to 280 km / h, but you cannot exceed the 130 ...

Better than a photophone: a real camera

We can especially consider the purchase of the Mate 40 Pro for its photo and video functions.

In this area, Huawei has continued to innovate since its P9 in 2016, holding out against most of its competitors.

Four years later, the Mate 40 Pro is still widening the gap.

More than a photophone, the device stands out as a real pocket camera, as the quality of the images and videos it produces exceeds that of many rivals.

Very close to the subject ... the Mate 40 Pro will seek out details down to the infinitely small.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

The optical manufacturer Leica, a long-standing partner of the brand, has not left the Huawei ship since it took to the water.

It once again equips the Mate 20 Pro with three lenses dominating 50, 12 and 20 megapixel cameras *.

If by default, the camera takes pictures in 12.5 megapixels (it uses

Pixel binning

technology

and divides the original definition by four to obtain much more detailed and luminous views), the rendering is almost unmatched.

Good results with the Night Shot mode of the Mate 40 Pro.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

Ultra wide-angle ... - CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

... 5x optical zoom - CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

... up to 50x hybrid zoom, the Mate 40 Pro sees far.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

Only the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and Oppo Find X II Pro can claim to climb the podium alongside him.

The macro photos of the Mate 20 Pro are full of details.

Its 5x optical zoom is astounding (digital zoom up to 50x does what it can, but it does!);

the photos in low light clash.

As for selfies, the 13-megapixel front sensor associated with a TOF (

Time of Flight

, to calculate the depth of field)

sensor

delivers self-portraits that snap.

Watch out for details: wrinkles cannot be forgiven when you immortalize your face 50 cm from the lens!

Blinds effect for overall successful selfies.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

Too bad the smartphone's excellent Monochrome mode only works with rear photo modules, depriving the user of powerful black and white selfies.

The Monochrome world has always been part of the pedigree of Huawei smartphones.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

The French laboratory DxoMark, which is a benchmark in the field, awards the Mate 40 Pro a score of 136 in its “camera” ranking, ahead of Xiaomi's Mi 10 Ultra (133) and… Huawei's P40 Pro (103).

Regarding selfies, the Mate 40 Pro comes just ahead of the P40 Pro with a score of 104, against 103.

Video is also one of the virtues of the Mate 40 Pro.

Filming up to 4K at 60 frames / second at the front or the rear, the smartphone can use its 20-megapixel ultra-wide-angle sensor to shoot very wide shots.

Optimized video comfort for the eyes and ears

And the screen?

Oled, with a diagonal of 6.76 '', curved and displaying a definition of 2772 x 1344 pixels, the panel benefits from a refresh rate of 90 Hz (Against 60 Hz usual).

The players will gain in fluidity.

We were able to connect our Netflix account to the Mate 40 ° Pro and see how the video views were performed in conditions of optimal comfort.

The Mate 40 Pro's Portrait Mode convinces with every shot.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

The very "cinema" rendering of the OLED works here at full capacity.

No 3.5 mini-jack (we will connect a headset via USB-C or Bluetooth), but the mobile's stereo speakers are more than effective.

Although diffusing a rather sharp sound, they benefit from a real power.

Failing to install the YouTube application (which is also prohibited from staying), we were able to simply install a direct link to the streaming platform to the home screen of the Mate 40 Pro and thus stuff ourselves with music videos.

Huawei's Mate 40 Pro launched at 1199 euros.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

Autonomy remains.

Huawei has served its latest offspring rather well by equipping it with a 4400 mAh battery.

Announcing an autonomy of up to 2 days, the manufacturer nevertheless slightly inflates the service levels of the Mate 40 Pro.

With regular use, alternating between videos, gaming, music listening and Internet consultations, the smartphone accompanied us until the end of the evening.

Not so bad.

There remains an eternal question: what to do with such a jewel when the experience offered is not complete?

Huawei is doing its utmost to develop its

AppGallery

(its own application store) at full

speed

.

At the same time, the

Petal Search

search bar

 helps users find tips to install those that might be missing.

In spite of everything, we must accept to comply with certain usage constraints.

Hard hard.

With a price that remains at the level of smartphones of equivalent quality but with Google and others on board, the Mate 40 Pro is moving forward on a tight thread.

* 50 megapixels (f / 1.9 - 23mm equivalent);

12 megapixels (f / 3.4 - 125 mm);

20 megapixels (f / 1.8 - 18 mm).

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