The Huawei Mate 50 Pro has an elegant design, very high-quality cameras and high performance. But the lack of 5G and the lack of Google apps and services seem to make this device less desirable. This makes phones like the Mate 50 Pro work to be used in the same way as other Android phones, despite their shared capabilities.
Huawei Mate 50 Pro Specifications
- Release date: 2022, September 06
- Colors: Black, Silver, Purple, Orange
- Dimensions: 162.1 x 75.5 x 8.5 mm.
- Weight: 205 g.
- Screen: 6.74" in, 1212 x 2616, OLED
- Camera : Triple, 50MP
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM8475 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 4G (4 nm)
- CPU: Octa-core (1x3.19 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3x2.75 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4x2.0 GHz Cortex-A510)
- Memory: 256GB 8GB RAM, 512GB 8GB RAM
- Battery: 4700, Li-Po, non-removable
- Network: GSM / CDMA / HSPA / CDMA2000 / LTE
- Operating system: EMUI 13 (International); HarmonyOS 3.0 (China)
- Sensors: Face ID, fingerprint (under display, optical), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, barometer, compass, color spectrum
If you are curious to find out all the details before reading the full review, visit the page for Huawei Mate 50 Pro Specs, where you will find even the smallest detail about the phone.
Huawei Mate 50 Pro Design
- Beautiful elegant design
- Frosted glass back
- Curved edges
The Huawei Mate 50 Pro is a visually stunning and well-designed smartphone, with an elegant frosted glass back and curved edges that make it comfortable to hold. Despite the availability of a black version in Europe, the most attractive version of the phone, which features orange vegan leather with gold accents, is not available in the UK. However, the orange version is equipped with more durable Kunlun glass on the display and offers six meters of water resistance, while the silver and black versions have less resistant glass and only two meters of water resistance.
The standout feature of the phone is a large circular camera module on the back that houses three cameras and a laser for autofocus. The central positioning of the module prevents the phone from wobbling on the table, but also makes it quite slippery.
A TPU case is included in the box, which is necessary to prevent the phone from sliding off surfaces. The phone is large and difficult to use with one hand, which has two hands to reach the convenient top of the display. At the top of the display is a long, thin notch that houses the selfie camera and the biometric facial recognition sensor.
Huawei Mate 50 Pro Display
- 6.74-inch curved OLED
- 120Hz refresh rate
- Solid stereo speakers
The phone has a large 6.74-inch OLED screen, with vivid colors and a high resolution of 1212 x 2616 pixels. The screen has a 120Hz refresh rate and is of high quality, but it doesn't have the LTPO technology that allows other phones like the iPhone 14 Pro to adjust the refresh rate to save power. The phone's automatic settings only allow switching between 60Hz and 90Hz. The screen's high resolution is especially useful when viewing photos and videos in full screen, such as YouTube videos at 2160p. The display has a high peak brightness and the colors are not distorted despite the curved edges of the screen. The phone's stereo speakers provide good sound quality for videos, radio and podcasts.
Huawei Mate 50 Pro Specifications
- Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset
- 4G only - no 5G
- 66W fast wired charging
The Huawei Mate 50 Pro, which was launched in late 2022, uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, which was just replaced by the 8 Gen 2 at the time of launch.
Due to trade restrictions, the phone can only support a 4G network and doesn't have access to 5G, which may be disappointing for those who spend over a thousand dollars on a phone and expect it to be future-ready when 5G becomes more common.
Despite the limitations, the performance of the phone is excellent for daily use and can handle high-end mobile games like PUBG Mobile without any problems.
The phone comes with 8GB of RAM, which is less than other high-end Android phones like the OnePlus 10T, which has 16GB of RAM and 5G capability.
The phone has an impressive array of built-in location technologies, such as dual-band GPS, AGPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, GALILEO, QZSS and NavIC, but the European models lack the ability to send messages via satellite, compared to the Chinese version
Huawei Mate 50 Pro Camera and video
The main feature of the Mate 50 Pro is the variable aperture main camera sensor, which is the first phone with a lens with a manually adjustable aperture that can be changed between more than two stops. You can choose from ten steps between f/1.4 and f/4.0 in the camera app's professional mode, or let the system choose for you in automatic mode. Choosing a larger aperture number such as f/1.4 allows more light to enter, creating a natural bokeh effect where the subject is in focus and the background is blurred, while a lower aperture number such as f/4.0 allows more light to enter. -little light and make the background brighter in focus.
Fortunately, the Mate 50 Pro's primary 50Mp sensor is outstanding and produces some of the best photos you can take with a smartphone. It uses Huawei's RYYB sensor setup, which replaces the green pixel with a second yellow pixel, allowing more red and green light to be captured. This improves low-light photography.
Daylight shots are stunning with excellent detail and dynamic range, resulting in natural-looking photos. Low-light dynamic range is also remarkable, with good detail and light management where other phones' cameras might overexpose the white of the sky or a light source in the dark.
The Mate 50 Pro also has an ultra-wide f/2.2 sensor that can take close-up macro shots and a 64Mp, f/3.5 periscopic zoom lens with optical image stabilization that has 3.5x optical zoom. This creates a versatile camera that generally produces satisfactory results. In many ways, it is comparable to the Vivo X80 Pro and the Google Pixel 7 Pro.
Videos in 4K at 60 frames per second look amazingly clear. On the front of the phone is a 13Mp ultra-wide-angle f/2.4 selfie camera that's good for selfies and video calls. It sits next to a TOF sensor that enables 3D secure face unlock, making the Mate 50 Pro one of the few Android phones to have a face unlock feature that's as secure as Apple's Face ID on the iPhone.
Huawei Mate 50 Pro Battery
The Mate 50 Pro has a 4700mAh battery, which is big but not the biggest considering the device's high specs, which require a lot of power to process the screen. However, the battery lasts all day on 4G with normal usage like maps, taking pictures and messaging.
The package includes a 66W charger that charges the phone in about 40 minutes, which is faster than the charging time of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra or the Google Pixel 7 Pro. The phone also supports 50W wireless charging.
Huawei Mate 50 Pro Software
The main drawback of the Huawei Mate 50 Pro, like other Huawei phones, is its software. The phone runs EMUI 13, which is based on open source Android, and there's no word on how long Huawei plans to keep the phone updated.
The biggest downside for most users is that it doesn't come with the Google Play Store installed, so apps have to be downloaded from Huawei's AppGallery app store. However, AppGallery lacks most of the popular apps and also has a lot of full-screen ads, which is not something one would expect from an expensive device.
If you only use apps like TikTok, Telegram, Snapchat, Tinder, Microsoft Outlook, WeChat and Deezer, then the phone will do the trick. However, popular apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Netflix, Disney+, Twitter, PayPal and many more are not available in AppGallery.
Although it is difficult, there are ways to find all the applications you need. You can still download them by searching for them either in the AppGallery or in the separate Petal Search app, which will give you a confusing page with a list of possible APK files to download and install the apps from a different source. This process is called sideloading and is legal and allowed on Android, but it is not very user-friendly.
One of the useful features of the Mate 50 Pro is the ability to connect the phone to a Huawei laptop or tablet for easy file sharing and screen mirroring, although this requires the use of Huawei devices only. The Mate 50 Pro might be the best option for those looking to break the Google tie, but for most users it's limiting and doesn't function as Android was intended.
Huawei Mate 50 Pro Price
The Huawei Mate 50 Pro is available to buy in the UK in silver or black for £1,199 and can be purchased directly from Huawei.
It costs €1,299 in Europe, or €1,399 for the special orange edition, but is not available for sale in the US. The high price makes the phone less attractive due to the underwhelming software experience, and although it has a superb screen and a very good camera, it can't make up for it.
Huawei Mate 50 Pro Conclusion
The Huawei Mate 50 Pro is a beautifully crafted smartphone with an outstanding camera, but it has one of the most disappointing Android software experiences on the market. If you don't need or want a phone tied to Google apps and services, this is one of the best options available.
Pluses
- Gorgeous design
- Superb cameras
- Excellent screen
Cons
- No built-in Google support
- Awkward AppGallery
- No 5G
Huawei Mate 50 Pro video review
Disclaimer: The information presented in this article is based on our team's personal experience with the Huawei Mate 50 Pro and third-party sources. While every effort has been made to provide accurate and reliable information, readers should keep in mind that this is a subjective assessment. The writing of this article was not paid for or sponsored by Huawei.
