HUAWEI’s Mate50 Pro is by far the best smartphone in the Mate lineup

HUAWEI saves its best work for its Mate lineup of devices. Each new entry is better than the last but the jump from the previous generation to the HUAWEI Mate50 Pro is especially substantial. More than an incremental update, the HUAWEI Mate50 Pro incorporates a substantial design update, display improvements, performance updates, and battery skills to stand out further than any device before it.

In addition, HUAWEI has incorporated new AI-powered features everywhere it could find a place to stick in. The result is an attractive, more intelligent device, available in several colourways, that will stand out in any company.

Less is more

One of the first things you’ll notice about the HUAWEI Mate50 Pro is that it looks especially attractive. The front and rear panels slope together, meeting along the metallic edge that plays host to the speaker vent, USB-C charge port, and SIM tray. The phone’s buttons are as solid as ever but they all but disappear when you’re taking in the gently curved 6.74in OLED screen.

It’s in the rear that all the real design action happens. HUAWEI supplies its newest flagship in three different hues and two different finishes. There’s the option of either a Silver or Black glass panel in the rear, surmounted by the tasteful round camera housing. This segment manages to exist without adding weight to the top of the phone, resulting in a balanced smartphone. The third option is a bright Orange leather back – vegan leather, as it happens – that makes the phone even more lightweight and easy to handle. This model also features an IP68 water resistance rating, in case you needed another reason to check it out.

An attractive display

Kunlun has a few associations in China. It’s an existing mountain range, stretching more than 3,000km. It’s also got mythical connotations, particularly with regard to immortality. That association plays a part in the HUAWEI’s Mate50 Pro’s 6.74in OLED display. The screen itself supports the P3 wide colour gamut and a refresh rate of 120Hz (plus 1,440Hz pulse width modulation or PWM dimming) but it’s the protective glass that’s especially noteworthy.

Kunlun Glass, which is layered over the HUAWEI Mate50 Pro, makes this Huawei’s most durable smartphone ever. That’s thanks to a specialised manufacturing process to create reinforced nanocrystals. It’s a complicated 108-step process that results in a smartphone that should shrug off day-to-day use while being exceptionally drop-resistant.

Projecting a good XIMAGE

HUAWEI’s Mate range has always featured excellent cameras and the HUAWEI Mate50 Pro is no different. The slight change? HUAWEI is forging ahead with its own camera designs with its XIMAGE camera system. Expect improvements to every aspect of the camera, from the mechanical to the digital. The result is a speedier, more capable camera setup that doesn’t have to rely on a massive megapixel count to deliver its results.

The main 50MP wide-angle camera sensor is something of a unique character when it comes to smartphones. It consists of a variable aperture capable of taking the main sensor from f/1.4 to f/4.0, allowing users more control over the phone’s depth of field. When you throw the 64MP periscope telephoto (f/3.5) and 13MP (f/2.2) ultrawide into the mix, you’re looking at a camera system capable of some impressive imagery. No matter the conditions, you should get your shot. Tweaks to the camera’s image processing algorithms just finish the job.

The raft of other camera features is worth investigating. There are dedicated night modes, portrait and bokeh specialisations, and even the ability to zoom in up to 200 x range. Finally, the HUAWEI Mate50 Pro features some serious macro photography skills.

Super. Charged.

The HUAWEI Mate50 Pro is powered by an excellent 4,700mAh lithium-polymer battery. It’s capable of 66W fast-charging, 50W wireless charging, and it’ll even top up other devices (at 5W) in the event someone has taken an inferior phone out with them. But there’s also something new in the realm of Huawei’s battery tech.

You’ll almost never need it but if you ever do, a new feature called Emergency Mode will turn 1% of battery charged into three hours of standby or a twelve-minute phone call. That’s enough to get you through almost any emergency and to a charge port. Best of all, SuperEnergy Boosting, another battery feature, will see your phone last longer on a charge than ever before.

More to see

HUAWEI’s  Mate50 Pro has more to share than just its hardware improvements EMUI 13 brings cross-device collaboration to the table. SuperStorage, a new file compression technology, ensures that multiple copies of the same file aren’t hogging storage and that old apps don’t overstay their welcome.

New software hubs, widget features, and privacy controls have been included to give users more control over their device and information than ever before.

The question really becomes: Where can you get your hands on a Huawei Mate50 Pro?

The answer to that is laughably simple. You can get the HUAWEI Mate50 Pro at any network provider or pay a visit to Huawei’s online store and grab either the Silver or Black HUAWEI Mate50 Pro for R24,999 or the Orange model (which only launches with 512GB of storage) for R26,999.