The Huawei Mate 50 Pro enters the market as a flagship smartphone promising top-tier performance, outstanding camera capabilities, and an elegant design. During my extensive testing, I carefully evaluated its strengths and weaknesses, covering design, image quality, video capabilities, software experience, connectivity, and overall value. Here's my detailed Huawei Mate 50 Pro review.
Design and Build Quality
From my first impression, the Huawei Mate 50 Pro screams premium quality. Featuring a curved-edge glass and aluminum frame, it feels exceptionally well-built and luxurious in hand. The phone’s substantial yet comfortable weight adds to its solid feel, while the IP68 rating assures protection from dust and water, enhancing daily practicality.
The iconic circular camera housing on the rear provides a distinctive design touch, setting it apart from competitors. During my usage, the fingerprint-resistant finish kept the phone looking pristine, though the high-gloss back can still attract some smudges.
Display Quality
Huawei equipped the Mate 50 Pro with a stunning 6.74-inch OLED display, boasting a sharp resolution and vibrant color reproduction. In my experience, colors popped vividly, making multimedia consumption thoroughly enjoyable. HDR support further enhanced video playback, delivering deeper blacks and bright highlights.
One notable drawback, however, is the aggressive curvature on the edges. While aesthetically pleasing, it occasionally resulted in accidental touches, detracting slightly from usability. Screen brightness was excellent indoors and sufficient outdoors, ensuring visibility in most conditions, though direct sunlight sometimes posed minor challenges.
Performance and Software Experience
Powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, the Mate 50 Pro handled everything I threw at it with ease. Gaming, multitasking, and intensive productivity tasks all ran smoothly without noticeable lag or overheating issues. Coupled with 8GB of RAM, app switching remained fluid, demonstrating flagship-level responsiveness.
However, the absence of Google Mobile Services (GMS) was a significant drawback in my experience. Despite Huawei's commendable efforts with its HarmonyOS and AppGallery, the lack of native Google apps and services posed inconveniences. Users heavily invested in Google's ecosystem might find this challenging, requiring workarounds or alternative apps that might not offer the same seamless experience.
Camera and Image Quality
The Mate 50 Pro’s camera system is one of its standout features, featuring a versatile triple-camera setup headlined by a 50MP main sensor. During testing, daylight photography consistently impressed me with excellent detail, accurate color reproduction, and good dynamic range. Night mode performance was equally remarkable, producing sharp, well-lit images even in challenging lighting conditions.
The adjustable physical aperture of the main camera—a rare feature among smartphones—allowed for impressive background blur effects and improved low-light performance. Portrait photos had an almost DSLR-like quality, making the phone an excellent option for photography enthusiasts.
The ultra-wide and telephoto lenses further enhanced the camera’s versatility, offering additional creative options. However, I noticed a slight inconsistency in color balance between different lenses, which could require post-processing adjustments for professional-quality results.
Video Performance
Video recording capabilities on the Mate 50 Pro proved strong, supporting up to 4K resolution at 60fps. Video stabilization effectively minimized shake, resulting in smooth and professional-looking footage even when filming handheld. Colors appeared natural, and autofocus performance was reliably quick and accurate.
Despite its robust capabilities, I found the absence of 8K video recording somewhat surprising, given its flagship positioning and the competition's offerings. Nevertheless, most users will find 4K sufficient for their needs, delivering impressive quality suitable for casual videographers and content creators alike.
Audio Quality
Audio performance on the Mate 50 Pro is commendable, featuring stereo speakers with good clarity and balanced output. During my usage, audio was crisp and loud enough for casual listening or speakerphone calls without significant distortion, even at higher volumes.
The lack of a headphone jack may disappoint some users, though this is becoming increasingly standard in premium smartphones. Bluetooth audio connectivity performed flawlessly, with minimal latency during video playback and gaming sessions.
Connectivity and Battery Life
Connectivity features were mostly robust, with reliable 5G support, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and NFC. Signal reception and call quality remained consistently good throughout my testing period.
Battery life proved another strong point for the Huawei Mate 50 Pro. Its 4700mAh battery consistently delivered all-day performance under heavy use, including gaming, multimedia streaming, and productivity tasks. Huawei’s 66W fast charging and 50W wireless charging ensured quick battery top-ups, significantly reducing downtime.
Pricing and Overall Value
The Huawei Mate 50 Pro positions itself clearly within the premium smartphone market segment, reflected in its pricing. For users valuing cutting-edge hardware, impressive camera performance, and superior design, the Mate 50 Pro provides considerable value despite its high cost.
However, the software limitations posed by the absence of Google services may significantly impact its appeal and perceived value, especially for users heavily reliant on Google's ecosystem.
Conclusion
Overall, the Huawei Mate 50 Pro is a capable and luxurious flagship smartphone, excelling in areas like camera performance, display quality, design aesthetics, and battery life. Its impressive hardware credentials ensure it competes favorably with the best smartphones on the market.
Yet, its software limitations due to the lack of Google Mobile Services remain a significant caveat. Prospective buyers must consider their dependency on Google apps and services before purchasing. If this isn't a deal-breaker, the Huawei Mate 50 Pro remains an exceptional choice offering powerful performance, robust photography capabilities, and a premium user experience.