SpecEagle
SpecEagle review · Huawei

Huawei Mate 40 review: Compact Kirin 9000E flagship with 90Hz OLED and Leica triple-camera.

SpecEagle Editorial·Oct 2020·$899
Overall
80/100
Class rank
#2 of 12
Tier
Flagship
Buy?
At the right price
The verdict, up front

Why the Mate 40 mattered

The Mate 40 was the last Huawei flagship with full Kirin silicon at 5nm — sanctions later forced Huawei to use older nodes — making it a collector's milestone for fans of HiSilicon's pre-trade-ban engineering peak.

01Display

84/100

84/100 puts it above the 81-point average for flagship phones of 2020.

TypeOLED, 90Hz, HDR10
Size6.5 inches, curved
Resolution1080 x 2376 px

02Camera

86/100

86/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2020.

Main50 MP Sony IMX700 RYYB, f/1.9, OIS
Ultrawide16 MP, f/2.2
Telephoto8 MP, f/2.4, 3x optical
Selfie13 MP, f/2.4

03Performance

84/100

84/100 puts it above the 79-point average for flagship phones of 2020.

ChipsetHiSilicon Kirin 9000E (5nm)
CPU1x A77 @ 3.13 + 3x A77 + 4x A55
GPUMali-G78 MP22 (vs MP24 on Pro)

04Battery

80/100

80/100 puts it above the 76-point average for flagship phones of 2020.

Capacity4200 mAh
WiredSuperCharge 40W
Wireless40W

05Build

82/100

82/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2020.

What works
  • Kirin 9000E 5nm node a generation ahead in efficiency
  • Best-in-class low-light camera (RYYB sensor)
  • 40W wireless matched 40W wired
What doesn't
  • No GMS hurt Western sales
  • Mate 40 Pro's extra GPU cores tempted buyers to upgrade
  • IP53 only
Cross-shop it against
Galaxy Note 10+
$1099 · score 90/100

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 12-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .