Huawei drops 5G SoC phones

The latest iterations of the Huawei Mate smartphone series appear to boldly go where no Huawei devices have gone before.

The Mate 40 series incorporates a space ring and includes a mystic silver colour variation. Space references aside it also includes the world’s first 5 nanometer 5G system-on-chip (SoC), an ultra vision cine camera system and a smarter digital experience.

The company says the Huawei Mate 40 Pro and Mate 40 Pro+ are informed by the design principle that ‘form manifests function’. The Huawei 88° Horizon Display creates an immersive viewing experience while the silky curve also means the devices are comfortable to hold. The handsets have IP 68 dust and water resistance, a choice of both virtual and physical volume controls and enhanced mistouch prevention algorithms.

They carry a small front camera cut-out, packed with technology, including 3D face unlock, an ultra vision selfie camera and smart gesture control.

On the flipside of the phones is the space ring design, an evolution of the Mate Series’ circular and symmetrical design.

The new phones are powered by the Kirin 9000 Series which is fully equipped for 5G and can handle capable intensive computations and multi-tasking operations. Embedded in both the Mate 40 Pro and 40 Pro+, the Kirin 9000 is the most sophisticated 5nm 5G SoC available.

The flagship 5G SoC has more than 15.3 billion transistors, making it the densest and most full-featured 5G SoC to date. The powerful CPU features a three-level power efficiency architecture with cores running at clock frequencies of up to 3.13GHz. Also integrated into the SoC is a 24-core Mali-G78 GPU, as well as an innovative NPU featuring two big cores and one tiny core, taking on-device AI to a new level.

The 24-core Mali-G78 GPU is the most powerful GPU ever seen on a Huawei device. It delivers advanced graphics performance and is complemented by a top-line audio visual experience for immersive gaming. 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 camera system on the Mate 40 Series has been co-engineered with Leica to provide the best camera solution possible and sees breakthrough upgrades to the ultra-wide angle lens, powerful high-definition main camera, impressive telephoto camera and more. With the dual cine cameras and dual ultra wide cameras on both phones, users can capture amazing wide angle videos and images from both the front-and rear-facing cameras.

They feature a 3:2 cinema-style shooting ratio sensor for cinematic videograph. Capturing high quality footage is easier than ever with Steady Shot, while the XD Fusion HDR Video ensures balanced exposure. Other improvements 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, the series features audio focus, audio zoom, and dual stereo speakers.

The super sensing wide camera provides true high definition shots, according to Huawei.

Image quality has been 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. The Mate 40 Pro features a periscope telephoto camera to support 10x hybrid zoom and 50x digital zoom while the Mate 40 Pro+ goes a step further with a dual-telephoto camera system that enables 20x hybrid zoom and 100x digital zoom.

The ultra vision selfie camera has 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. And there’s a slow-motion selfie option on the front camera.

The Huawei Mate 40 Pro will RRP in Australia and will be available for purchase from November in Mystic Silver, exclusively from Huawei Authorised Experience Stores at Chatswood and World Square in Sydney. RRP: $1999.