Huawei is one of my favorite Android OEMs of all time. It’s always been a hardware king, cramming fantastic specs into devices that were ahead of their time and showing us what Android might be. However, while the software has always been excellent, it is not for everyone.
The Huawei Mate 50 Pro continues Huawei’s tradition of producing smartphones with excellent hardware, particularly when it comes to mobile photography. Despite the lack of Google Services on this phone, the Mate 50 Pro more than makes up for it with its fantastic camera system, brilliant AMOLED display, and rapid charging sorcery.
Design
The Huawei Mate 50 Pro has the appearance and feel of an ultra-premium smartphone. Rather than being a standard slab of metal and glass, the Mate 50 Pro stands out with its curved glass topping its 6.74-inch display and the circular ‘Space Ring’ housing for the rear cameras. The front camera array is housed in a narrow notch at the top of the screen, which isn’t excessively noticeable.
The Orange Variant that we are using for this review has a stunning vegan leather back and employs sturdy Kunlun Glass to protect the screen.
The Space Ring is a big center elevated circle that appears to hold four back cameras. There are three in all, including a laser focusing system. The Space Ring protrudes by a few millimeters, yet its central placement provides considerable stability when the handset is placed on a flat surface. A transparent bumper cover is included in the box, which aids in grip and protects the handset’s back.
The power button and volume rocker are both located on the right edge, leaving the left edge unoccupied. An infrared sensor and a microphone are located on the top edge, while the bottom edge includes a SIM/Nano Memory (NM) card slot, a USB-C connection, and a speaker grille. Face or fingerprint recognition may be used to unlock the Mate 50 Pro: the front camera array contains a 3D depth sensing camera for face identification, while the fingerprint sensor is a speedy and capable in-display device.
The Mate 50 Pro, like other current flagship-class smartphones, has an IP68 certification for dust and water protection. This implies the device is ‘dust tight’ and can withstand 30 minutes of immersion in static water at approximately two meters (Silver and Black variants) or six meters (Orange variation).
It’s worth mentioning that the Orange version has a vegan leather back, 512GB of internal storage (vs 256GB), Kunlun Glass, and improved water resistance.
Display & Audio
The phone’s size is due to its massive 6.74in OLED screen, which boasts outstanding colors and a high, crisp resolution of 1212 x 2616p. It has a fantastic display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Huawei’s auto settings only allow the phone to move between 60Hz and 90Hz.
It features a max brightness of 1,750 nits and looks fantastic for browsing the internet, viewing movies, and generally using your phone as you would any other. I actually don’t have any issues with the phone’s display. It’s simply fantastic.
The stereo speakers that employ the earpiece grille and a down firing speaker on the bottom edge produce a rich, full sound while playing films, radio, or podcasts.
Software & Hardware
The phone is powered by EMUI 13, which is based on Android 12. Again, there is no GMS; instead, it leverages HMS in conjunction with AppGallery to provide access to Android apps. We had become accustomed to not being able to access Google services through applications after a few years. However, the latest GBox workaround has reignited our enthusiasm by allowing us to install and utilize Google apps. It isn’t ideal, but it is preferable to not having it at all.
Huawei used to utilize its own Kirin chipsets, however the Mate 50 Pro instead uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 CPU, which was just recently supplanted by the 8 Gen 2 at the time of debut in late 2022. Because of Huawei’s trade restrictions, it can only support 4G networking, therefore you won’t be able to access 5G.
You also get an impressive array of location technology built in with dual-band GPS, AGPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, GALILEO, QZSS and NavIC.
Camera
The OIS-equipped 50MP Ultra Aperture camera, which features a changeable SLR-style physical aperture with six blades giving 10 selectable steps – in Pro mode – from f/1.4 (more light, shallower depth of field) to f/4.0, is the core element of the Mate 50 Pro’s XMAGE camera system (less light, broader depth of field).
A 13MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle (120 field of view) camera with macro capabilities and a 64MP f/3.5 periscope telephoto (3.5x optical zoom) with OIS are also included. A laser autofocus device, a multispectral sensor to aid improve color accuracy, and a twin LED flash are also included in the rear.
The Mate 50 Pro captures fine detail with 10x zoom, produces pleasing wide angle and macro shots, and performs well in low-light conditions. The Huawei Mate 50 Pro has an advantage over other flagships due to its variable physical aperture capabilities, which provides considerable creative control and, when combined with the RYYB sensor in the main camera, allows for great low-light performance.
A 13MP f/2.4 camera and a 3D depth sensor for facial recognition are part of the front camera array in the on-screen notch. To make the most of your selfies, you may use 1x, 0.8x, or wide angle, as well as beauty mode and numerous effects. Both the back and front cameras can record video at 4K@60fps, including picture stabilization on the former.
Sample shots using the Huawei Mate 50 Pro:
(100X ZOOM )
Random Shots:
Battery
The Mate 50 Pro’s 4700mAh battery is large but not the largest on a handset with these high features, which require a lot of power to process the screen. Despite this, it comfortably lasted a full day of 4G use, with me using maps, shooting photographs, and texting as usual.
A 66W power brick and cord are included in the box, which charges the phone through USB in around 40 minutes from empty. This is quite quick, even faster than the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra or Google Pixel 7 Pro.
It also has 50W wireless charging, which I was unable to test because the suitable charging station is offered separately.
Verdict
“With its faster refresh rate, superior CPU, enhanced cameras, and longer battery life, the Huawei Mate 50 Pro outperforms the Mate 40 Pro. The Mate 40 Pro, which was released in the Philippines, does include 5G, however the subsequent Mate 50 Pro does not. If 5G is a major need, we’d go with the older model; otherwise, upgrading to the Mate 50 Pro is still worthwhile. You’ll get superior performance, the greatest smartphone cameras, and a longer battery life.”
– Geoffrey D. ( Techg3 tech reviewer )
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