Home IFTTT Pocket-lint Huawei Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro: Release date, rumours, features and specs

Huawei Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro: Release date, rumours, features and specs

October 21, 2020

Huawei typically announces two flagship smartphone series a year: the P Series and the Mate Series. The P Series normally arrives in the first half of the year, while the Mate Series is reserved for the second half of the year.

With the Huawei P40 and P40 Pro announced in March, all eyes are on the upcoming Huawei Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro. Here is everything we have heard so far.

Release date and price

  • 22 October 2020
  • From around €799 likely

Huawei has announced the Mate 40 series will be revealed on 22 October at 14:00 CEST. The company revealed the event on Twitter with the hashtag "LeapFurtherAhead".

In terms of price, the Huawei Mate 30 started at €799 when it first launched, while the Mate 30 Pro started at €1099 and the Mate 30 Pro 5G at €1199. We'd expect similar for the Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro, if not a little more expensive. 

Rumours claim the Mate 40 Pro will start at 5999 yuan, which is around £660 in the UK, $870 in the US and €730 in Europe. If true, this would make the starting price of the 2020 models cheaper than their predecessors, which seems unlikely.

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Design

  • Mate 40: 158.6 x 72.5 x 8.9mm, or 10.4mm with the camera bump
  • Mate 40 Pro: 162.8 x 75.5 x 9mm or 10.4mm with the camera bump

Based on the rumours, the Huawei Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro will have very prominent rear camera housings - even more so than the Mate 30 series did. Renders suggest both will be circular with the Mate 40 featuring a triple camera and the Mate 40 Pro featuring a quad camera.

That said, GizmoChina published images of the Mate 40 Pro's supposed cases.

They reveal Huawei's circular camera housing, with a rectangular opening for the periscope/telephoto camera at the top, a pill-shaped LED flash off to the side, and three different holes in an arc for the rear cameras. It's certainly a unique design, right?

It appears the Mate 40 could have a curved-edge display with a dual punch-hole camera in the top left - similar to what the Galaxy S10+ did. Meanwhile, the Mate 40 Pro could have a waterfall display like the Mate 30 Pro with dual punch-hole cameras instead of the notch we saw on the 2019 device.

In terms of IP ratings - the Mate 30 Pro has a higher IP rating than the Mate 30 so it wouldn't be too surprising to see the same for the Mate 40 series. Both devices are expected to have aluminium frames with glass backs.

Display 

  • Mate 40: 6.4-inch, OLED, curved, 90Hz
  • Mate 40 Pro: 6.7-inch, OLED, waterfall

According to the rumours, the Huawei Mate 40 will have a 6.4-inch display - which is a little smaller than the Mate 30 had. There's also been talk of a 6.67-inch display though, which is said to be curved with a 90Hz refresh rate. Resolutions haven't been mentioned but the Mate 30 has a Full HD+ resolution with HDR10 support so we'd expect at least that for the Mate 40.

The Mate 40 Pro meanwhile is said to have a 6.7-inch display - which is a little larger than the Mate 30 Pro. A Full HD+ resolution at least is expected on the Mate 40 Pro, like the Mate 30 Pro offers. It's said the Mate 40 Pro will have a waterfall display and also offer a 90Hz refresh rate.

Cameras

  • Mate 40: Triple rear camera
  • Mate 40 Pro: Quad rear camera

It's likely that cameras will be the main focus of the Mate 40 series, especially in the case of the Pro model. It's been claimed the Huawei Mate 40 could feature a freeform lens - which you can read more about here - but we suspect if this does appear, it will be reserved for the Mate 40 Pro or Mate 40 Pro+ if there is one.

According to reports, the Mate 40 will have a triple rear camera made up of a 50-megapixel sensor, 20-megapixel ultra-wide sensor, 8-megapixel telephoto sensor and laser autofocus will be on board. The Mate 40 Pro meanwhile, is reported to have a 50-megapixel wide-angle sensor with liquid lens technology, an 80-megapixel Cine sensor, along with a periscope and Time of Flight sensor. None of these specifications are confirmed yet though.

We'd expect Leica optics again and whatever the make up, we'd expect both to be very good given Huawei's recent prowess in this area. 

Hardware and specs

  • Mate 40: Kirin 9000, 6/8GB RAM?
  • Mate 40 Pro: Kirin 9000, 8/12GB RAM?

It's claimed the Huawei Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro will be the last devices to use Huawei's homegrown Kirin chipsets. With the US trade ban in place, Huawei's own Kirin chips that underpin its top smartphones haven't been able to be manufactured after 15 September 2020. The Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro will use already-stockpiled chips however according to the company.

These new devices are rumoured to come with a 5nm chip. That chip hasn't been announced, but is expected to be the Kirin 9000. It's estimated that Huawei has about 8 million chips available.

The Mate 30 had 6 or 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, while the Mate 30 Pro has 8GB of RAM with 128GB or 256GB of storage. We'd expect the Mate 40 to offer 8GB of RAM at least and the Mate 40 Pro the same, as well as maybe another higher option - perhaps 12GB.

In terms of battery, we expect to see 4000mAh plus on the Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro. With a bit of luck, the Mate 40 Pro will sit closer to the 5000mAh mark, like the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. Rumours have suggested 4300mAh, 4600mAh and 5000mAh battery capacities.

Software

  • No Google apps or services 
  • Huawei's own AppGallery app store will be present

The Huawei Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro will likely not offer Google apps and services, like the Mate 30, Mate 30 Pro, P40, P40 Pro and P40 Pro+ don't. This is due to the aforementioned US trade ban. 

Instead of Google Play for downloading apps there is Huawei's App Gallery. It's unlikely Google services will be restored on the devices and it will be difficult to use apps like WhatsApp or banking apps, for example, without going through the various complicated workarounds.

Huawei Mate 40 rumours: What's happened so far?

Here is everything that has been rumoured about the Huawei Mate 40 series so far.

16 October 2020: The Huawei Mate 40 seems to have an unusual looking camera module

Huawei shared a teaser image of its new phone on Weibo with the caption (according to Google Translate) Take a look first! 

The outline of the phone is fairly standard, of course, but the unusual camera module is clear to see. It appears it will move on to be an octagonal shape, once again mounted right in the middle of the rear of the phone.

collection: Huawei camera module teaser

12 October 2020: Huawei Mate 40 series will launch on 22 October

Huawei announced it would unveil its Mate 40 series on 22 October at 14:00 CEST.

8 October 2020: Huawei Mate 40 Pro case photos reveal camera arrangement

GizmoChina published images of the Mate 40 Pro‘s supposed cases

17 September 2020: Huawei might only have 8 million Kirin 9000 chips

Because of US sanctions putting restrictions on manufacturing, Huawei might only have 8.8 million units of the Kirin 9000 5G chip planned for the Mate 40 series.

16 September 2020: Huawei Mate 40 Pro gets Bluetooth certification

A device believed to be the Huawei Mate 40 Pro has passed through Bluetooth certification according to reports.

15 September 2020: Huawei confirms Mate 40 is coming soon

Huawei has taken to its social channels to confirm that the next Mate device will be announced soon.

14 August 2020: Pricing for Huawei Mate 40 Pro revealed

Twitter user @Rodent950 claimed some alleged prices for the Mate 40 Pro, though the starting price is cheaper than the Mate 30 Pro so take them with a pinch of salt for now.

14 August 2020: Huawei Mate 40 Pro specs leak

Twitter user @Rodent950 revealed some of the specifications coming to the Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro, including their camera systems. The Mate 40 is codenamed Ocean, while the Mate 40 Pro is codenamed Noah.

7 August 2020: Huawei Mate 40 confirmed, last to feature Kirin chipset

Android Authority reported that Huawei confirmed the Mate 40 is on its way and it will be the last smartphone to feature the company's Kirin chipset as they "cannot be manufacturered" after 15 September 2020. That date is when the US trade ban on US-based companies working with Huawei will become permanant. 

4 August 2020: Here's what the Huawei Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro could look like

Some renders have appeared online giving us an indication of what the Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro might look like. Based on the images, the Huawei Mate 40 will feature three camera sensors on the rear in a prominent circular camera housing, while the Mate 40 Pro will have three camera sensors and a periscope sensor on the rear, also in a centralised circular housing.

On the front, it looks like the Mate 40 will feature curved edges and a dual punch hole selfie camera in the top left corner. The Mate 40 Pro meanwhile, appears to feature the waterfall display from the Mate 30 Pro but switches the notch for a punch hole camera.

12 June 2020: Huawei said to be eyeing October release date for Mate 40 phone

According to a leaker on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, Huawei will launch its next flagship smartphone in October. The Weibo leaker also suggested the Huawei Mate 40 will have a 5nm chipset, likely based on the Kirin 1000.

26 May 2020: Huawei Mate 40 could be first with under-display camera

Huawei is tipped to be the first manufacturer to bring a phone to market with a front camera hidden under the display. Gizmochina cites a Chinese tipster as posting comment that the company is likely to lead the race in getting the camera tech into users' hands and under-display camera devices are likely to start to appear in the second half of this year.

Put those rumours together and it points to the Mate 40 and/or Mate 40 Pro being first.

30 April 2020: Huawei Mate 40 Pro to feature 'freeform' lens - here's what that means

The Huawei Mate 40 phone series will feature a 'freeform' lens, according to Tian Feng International analyst Guo Mingchi.

If this is the case, the lens zoom in the Mate 40 should therefore be designed so it provides clearer resolve for both near and far distance focus. 



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