Samsung’s latest premium flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S21 Ultra, has brought a few improvements that consumers are willing to spend for some bucks. Another top-notch, 5G smartphone available in the local market is the Huawei Mate 40 Pro which was launched in Q4 last year. Although both smartphones bring special productivity features, we would like to see which one brings more to heavy consumers. Is waiting for the Samsung Galaxy S21 a wise move or should you opt for the Huawei Mate 40 Pro?
| Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra | Huawei Mate 40 Pro | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.8-inch Edge QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display | 6.76-inch FHD+ (2772 x 1344) OLED display, 456ppi | ||||
| 10~120Hz Dynamic refresh rate | 90Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate | ||||
| Gorilla Glass Victus | -- | ||||
| Samsung Exynos 2100 | Huawei Kirin 9000 octa-core CPU | ||||
| ARM Mali-G78 | Mali-G78 GPU | ||||
| 12GB, 16GB RAM | 8GB RAM | ||||
| 256GB, 512GB storage | 256GB storage (expandable with Huawei NM card) | ||||
| Quad-rear cameras: • 108MP Phase Detection F1.8 (wide) • 12MP Dual Pixel F2.2 (ultrawide) • 10MP Dual Pixel F4.9 (10x tele, 100x Space Zoom) • 10MP Dual Pixel F2.4 (3x tele) | Triple-rear cameras: • 50MP F1.9 Ultra Vision Camera (main) • 20MP F1.8 Cine Camera (ultrawide) • 12MP F3.4, OIS (telephoto) | ||||
| 100x Space Zoom, 10x Optic Zoom, up to 100x Super Resolution Zoom | 50x Digital Zoom, 5x Optical Zoom, 10x Hybrid Zoom | ||||
| 40MP Dual Pixel F2.2 front camera | 13MP F2.4 Ultra Vision Selfie Camera + 3D Depth Sensing Camera | ||||
| Dual-SIM | Dual-SIM | ||||
| 5G, 4G LTE | 5G, 4G LTE | ||||
| WiFi 6E | WiFi 6, 2 x 2 MIMO, HE160, 1024 QAM, 8 Spatial-stream Sounding MU-MIMO | ||||
| Bluetooth 5.1 | Bluetooth 5.2, BLE, SBC, AAC, LDAC | ||||
| NFC | NFC | ||||
| GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, Galileo | GPS (Dual-band), A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS (Quad-band), GALILEO (Tri-band), QZSS (Dual-band), NavIC | ||||
| USB Type-C | USB Type-C | ||||
| Fingerprint scanner (in-display) | Fingerprint scanner (in-display) | ||||
| Face Unlock | 3D Face Recognition | ||||
| AKG Stereo Speakers | Dual speakers (3D audio) | ||||
| IP68 water and dust resistance | IP68 water and dust resistance | ||||
| Samsung Knox | -- | ||||
| Link to Windows | Huawei Share | ||||
| -- | Huawei MeeTime | ||||
| S-Pen support | -- | ||||
| -- | IR Blaster | ||||
| Google Mobile Services | Huawei Mobile Services | ||||
| OneUI 3.1 (Android 11) | EMUI 11 (Android 10) | ||||
| 5,000mAh battery w/ 25W fast charging, wireless charging, reverse wireless charging | 4,400mAh battery w/ 66W SuperCharge, 50W Wireless SuperCharge | ||||
| 75.6 x 165.1 x 8.9mm | 162.9 x 75.5 x 9.1mm (Glass) ~ 9.5mm (Vegan Leather) | ||||
| 229g(mmW), 227g(sub6) | 212 g (Glass, Vegan Leather) | ||||
| Phantom Black, Phantom Silver | Mystic Silver, White, Black, Green, Yellow |
Summary of advantages
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
• Higher screen resolution and refresh rate
• Quad rear cameras
• Higher resolution front camera
• Android 11 w/ GMS out of the box
• Larger RAM option
• Larger battery capacity
• S-Pen support
Huawei Mate 40 Pro
• Higher resolution for the ultra-wide and telephoto sensor
• Expandable storage via Huawei NM card slot
• 3D Depth Sensing Camera
• Faster wired and wireless charging
• IR Blaster
Table of Contents
At first glance, the Galaxy S21 Ultra has a slightly bigger display at 6.8-inch compared to Huawei Mate 40 Pro’s 6.76-inch screen. Although both feature an OLED panel, the former has a better Edge QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display than the latter’s FHD+ display. The Galaxy S21 Ultra also ships with an adjustable refresh rate that stretches between 10 to 120Hz. Meanwhile, the Mate 40 Pro has a lower refresh rate that can go up to 90Hz through its Smart Resolution that allows the device to adjust the resolution based on the user’s activity to save power. It also comes with a 240Hz touch sampling rate for smoother gameplay.
In terms of glass protection, the Galaxy S21 comes with a better Corning Gorilla Glass Victus that can survive accidental drops on hard, rough surfaces from up to 2 meters. Huawei, on the other hand, didn’t mention if the Mate 40 Pro has any display protection.
For the processor, the Galaxy S21 Ultra Galaxy S21 runs with the latest 5G-ready and octa-core Samsung Exynos 2100 processor. It is built on the 5nm extreme ultra-violet (EUV) process node and offers up to 20-percent lower power consumption or 10% higher overall performance than the 7nm predecessor. It has up to 2.9GHz clock speed and is mated with ARM Mali-G78 graphics.
As for the Huawei Mate 40 Pro, it is powered by a Kirin 9000 processor which is also based on a 5nm architecture with a maximum clock speed of up to 2.54 GHz and an ARM Mali-G78 graphics. It is an octa-core processor consisting of four Cortex-A77 and four Cortex-A55 paired with an NPU. We can compare benchmark results once we’re done reviewing the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Moving on to the smartphone’s memory, the Galaxy S21 Ultra provides larger memory and storage options at 12GB + 256GB and 16GB + 512GB. The Mate 40 Pro, on the other hand, offers 8GB RAM and 256GB storage with a dedicated Huawei NM card to store more app data and media files.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is equipped with a rectangular, Dual Pixel quad-rear camera module consisting of a higher resolution 108MP main, 12MP ultrawide, and double 10MP telephoto with 100x Space Zoom. Compared to the Mate 40 Pro, which has a round rear camera module with 50MP Ultra Vision main, 20MP ultrawide, and 12MP telephoto with OIS, the Galaxy S21 Ultra has better main and telephoto cameras. It also has a higher resolution for its front cameras at 40MP versus the Mate 40 Pro’s 13MP. The Huawei Mate 40 Pro also has a 3D Depth Sensing camera up front that provides a natural-looking bokeh effect on portraits.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra’s zoom capabilities seem better on paper with its 100x Space Zoom, 10x Optic Zoom, and up to 100x Super-Resolution Zoom. The Mate 40 Pro also competes decently with 50x Digital Zoom, 5x Optical Zoom, and 10x Hybrid Zoom.
In terms of OS, the Samsung Galaxy S20 offers One UI 3.1 based on Android 11. Since it supports Google Mobile Services, it is pre-loaded with other Google apps and may download mobile apps and games from the Google Play Store. Meanwhile, the Mate 40 Pro runs under Huawei’s latest Android 10 skin dubbed as the EMUI 11. It has Huawei Mobile Services such as AppGallery for downloading mobile apps and games.
Both smartphones have the usual special features from flagship smartphones like IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, face unlock, in-display fingerprint scanner, NFC, 5G connectivity, Dual-SIM slots, and USB Type-C. The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra has Bluetooth 5.2, AKG Stereo speakers, Samsung Knox for security, Link to Windows for accessing smartphone straight from a connected Windows 10 laptop or PC, more advanced Wi-Fi 6E, and S-Pen support that’s sold separately. The Mate 40 Pro, on the other hand, has Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi 6, Huawei Share for wireless file sharing and multi-screen collaboration across Huawei devices, and IR Blaster for hands-free controls of connected smart home devices.
The latest Galaxy S21 Ultra has a larger 5,000mAh battery capacity than the Huawei Mate 40 Pro’s 4,400mAh. Although both feature fast charging and wireless charging, the Mate 40 Pro offers faster wired and wireless charging rates at 66W and 55W, respectively. The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra has slower wired and wireless charging at 25W and 10W. The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra also acts as a power bank with its reverse wireless charging feature.
The Huawei Mate 40 Pro comes at a more affordable price of PHP 55,999USD 954INR 80,896EUR 909CNY 6,949 (8GB + 256GB). On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra starts at PHP 69,990USD 1,193INR 101,108EUR 1,136CNY 8,686 for the 12GB + 256GB and PHP 79,990USD 1,363INR 115,554EUR 1,298CNY 9,927 for the 16GB + 512GB.
Which one should you get?
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra definitely brings more new features than the Mate 40 Pro. The latest flagship Galaxy S21 Ultra sports an advanced OS and chipset, better display resolution, quad rear cameras, 40MP front camera, larger memory and storage configurations, bigger battery capacity, security through Samsung Knox, Google Mobile Services and supports the optional S Pen. Should you value these factors more and is willing to spend PHP 9,000USD 153INR 13,001EUR 146CNY 1,117 more, then upgrading to the Galaxy S21 Ultra is a good choice. However, if expandable storage, a fast-charging battery, and a more affordable price tag are what you need, then the Mate 40 Pro is a decent option for a premium smartphone.
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