Huawei pitched its latest flagship, the Mate 40 series, on improved performance through its Kirin 9000 chipset, with consumer CEO Richard Yu (pictured) highlighting its latest devices outstripped alternatives recently presented by Samsung and Apple.

During the company’s Mate 40 series launch event, Yu said in addition to the company “leading in camera technology” for smartphones, its latest chipset provided significant power, speed and processing improvements on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 Plus chipset.

In two of a number of direct comparisons made between its Mate 40 series and high-profile rivals, Yu said the devices provided “much longer” battery life than the Samsung Galaxy Note20, with a larger screen but narrower device than the latest iPhone.

Huawei’s Mate 40 series comprises the standard, Pro and Pro+ models. They feature a 6.76-inch display, 4400mAh battery, four main cameras including a 50MP module, and a 13MP unit on the front.

Mate 40 Pro+ comes in black or white, with the other two available in black, white, silver, yellow and green. Mate 40 has 128GB memory and will cost €899; Pro €1,199 with 256GB; and Pro+ €1,399, also in 256GB guise.

As with its other recent flagship devices, Huawei was keen to push the abilities of its camera set-up and zoom functionalities. The devices oust the P40 devices unveiled in March as the top of its range.

Alongside the standard handsets, it also unveiled an special edition in partnership with Porsche Design, and upgrades to its earbuds, watch and headphones.

The event came a week after rival Apple unveiled its 5G iPhone 12 range and two months after a spate of device upgrades from Samsung.

Restrictions
Despite spending a significant segment of the launch highlighting the advanced capability of the chipset, the Mate 40 devices could be the last to feature its Kirin processors unless manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) secures a US licence to continue supplying Huawei.

Huawei’s latest handsets are the second in the Mate range to be released without Google services, also due to US restrictions.

The company has regularly shrugged-off the potential damage to its devices division as a result of omitting popular Google services, with the company highlighting uptake of its own AppGallery store and alternative software.

Speaking at Berlin consumer event IFA last month, the president of Huawei’s consumer business group Europe Walter Ji highlighted its progress investing in start-ups on the continent focused on developing applications for AppGallery.