After three long years, the HUAWEI Mate 80 series is staging a comeback here in the Philippines. If you’re a long time HUAWEI fan, then you’ll know that the last Mate series launched in the country was the Mate 50 series back in late 2022.
Sure, we did get the Mate X7 a few months back, but that’s a different story altogether.
Seeing as the Philippines already missed out on two generations worth of advancements that the Mate series has been known for, the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro, as the de facto leader of the pack, definitely has some big shoes to fill. With that in mind, will the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro step up to the challenge or leave users wanting more?
Unboxing
You would think that after three years without a follow up, the company would stuff the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro in a box that screams “I’m back, baby!” but no, they chose the safe, subtle, but premium all-black design with gold lettering that the series has always been known for. I guess it is better to under promise and over deliver rather than the exact opposite.
Slide the top part up and you’ll immediately be greeted with the phone itself, wrapped in a dark tinted parchment like paper. Underneath the spot where the phone is cradled is a black box containing the case, quick start guide, warranty information, and a SIM ejector tool. For the final reveal, you’ll find the USB Type-C to Type-C charging cable and the 100W HUAWEI SuperCharge charging brick.
When I was first unboxing the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro, I thought that the included case would be your run of the mill soft clear jelly case, but upon inspection, I found out that it was stiffer than what I initially thought. HUAWEI probably chose clear because a solid colored case would diminish such a beautiful design.
Design
If there’s one thing that you can expect HUAWEI to always deliver, it’s the design. HUAWEI phones are built with such beauty and precision that you can’t find anywhere else. All the materials used are top notch. Just the design itself already pays for the amount that you paid for it.
There are two colors to choose from: Black, and the one we’re using, Gold. At first glance, you’d think that the back is made from metal, but it’s actually made from an exclusive vegan fiber finish crafted with micro nano-3D embossing technology. It may not be cool to the touch, but it is highly durable.
The combination of the aluminum alloy and the vegan fiber finish allows the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro to be 5x more impact resistant and 39% more bend resistant. And the cherry on top? IP68 and IP69 dust and water resistance rating. All that in a package that measures just 7.95 mm and weighs only 219 g.
Sure, the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro isn’t the lightest phone around, but most of that added weight is due to the tank of a camera system that the phone has.
But apart from the massive camera bump at the back, probably the second most prominent feature of the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro would be the large ring at the back. HUAWEI calls it the Dual Space Ring design. When held horizontally, the rings align to reveal an Infinity Symbol, symbolizing HUAWEI’s relentless pursuit of exploration.
Display
You can think of the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro as a sandwich of all things beautiful. The display is just as beautiful in its own way, which drives the Mate 80 Pro’s point of beauty and functionality rolled into one magnificent package.
At the front, you’ll find a 6.75-inch flat-edged HUAWEI X-True LTPO OLED display encased in a 2nd Gen Kunlun Glass that promises up to 20x drop resistance. How ’bout that? Form and function.
As for the display itself, it’s an LTPO panel, which means that the refresh rate can adaptively change from 1-120Hz depending on the content, thus making it more efficient and saving precious battery life. It can also go as bright as 3000 nits while still being easy on the eyes in low light thanks to the 1440Hz PWM dimming feature.
Camera
Alright, we’ve teased you long enough. The camera system has always been the Mate series’ bread and butter. From the nova series to the Pura, the camera has been a focal point in HUAWEI’s mantra in making phones. Truer words have never been spoken, especially in the case of the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro.
There are three cameras that make up the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro’s arsenal. Let’s first tackle the tech specs of each sensor.
- Main Camera: 50 MP Ultra Lighting Main Camera with an RYYB sensor and a physical variable aperture (F1.4-F4.0).
- Telephoto & Macro: 48 MP Ultra Lighting Macro Telephoto Camera with 4x optical zoon and Optical Image Stabilization (OIS).
- Ultra-Wide: 40 MP RYYB Ultra-Wide-Angle Camera.
- Front Camera: 13 MP F2.0, Ultra-Wide Angle Camera.
Given that not all readers are photography nerds, heck, even I’m not, I’ll try to explain it the best way I can. For the Mate 80 series, HUAWEI sought after a true to color camera that captures what you see in real time, meaning what you see is what you get.
If you’ve been holding out on buying a new phone or if you were one of the people that bought the HUAWEI Mate 50 series, then you’re in for a treat because compared to last year’s Mate 70 Pro (which we didn’t get…), the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro takes in 96% more light, has 300% higher dynamic range, and delivers 100% better processing thanks to the 2nd gen Ultra Chroma Camera that reproduces 43% better color.
For an amateur photographer such as myself, I sometimes find it frustrating to have a sight in front of me or an idea in my mind, only for it to come out differently when shot with a camera. You’d need to tweak it a bit just for you to get that vision made into reality. But with the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro, all you need is to point and shoot.
And even if you’re not a photographer, the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro makes you into one, thanks to useful features like AI Composition that leverages artificial intelligence trained on 500K+ models. Composition is what gives your photos that extra oomph, seeing a subject in a whole new light.
Besides AI Composition, you still have AI Remove that, as the name suggests, removes unwanted distractions from your photo, and AI Best Expression, which replaces facial expressions with ones that better suit your photo, a feature we first saw on the HUAWEI nova 14 Pro.
Oh, and before we forget, the front camera cutout doesn’t just house the 13 MP front camera sensor, it’s also where the 3D ToF camera is located, which allows the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro to have a more secure facial recognition system, similar to what you’ll find on a certain fruit brand…
Performance
Unlike in photography where HUAWEI has been consistently dominating, performance is an aspect that the company is tirelessly working to perfect and, to HUAWEI’s credit, they are putting in the work. Which is evident in the new Kirin 9030 Pro chipset found in the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro.
Along with the new chipset are 16GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage, which for flagship standards are waaay beyond what its competitors offer. Plus, it also introduces an industry first SuperCool Dual Phase Change Heat Dissipation which reduces temperature spikes by up to 33%.
But how does it actually perform? We ran our usual host of benchmarks (AnTuTu Benchmark V11, GeekBench 6 CPU and GPU, and PCMark Work 3.0) and here are the results:
- AnTuTu Benchmark V11: 1,602,236
- GeekBench 6 CPU: Single-Core: 1036 | Multi-Core: 4974
- GeekBench 6 GPU: 5638
- PCMark Work 3.0 Performance: 9784
On the software side of things, the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro runs on EMUI 15, and a key part of this ecosystem is the AppGallery, which has significantly grown over the last few years to become the third largest app store globally.
Honestly, there’s a lot to HUAWEI’s AppGallery. We have yet to scratch the surface of what it’s capable of, so be sure to stay tuned for a complete and comprehensive coverage, which we’ll be releasing soon…
Going back, although HUAWEI’s AppGallery offers most, if not all, of your essential apps, there will be instances where a specific app you need won’t be available for some time, which is why HUAWEI made it easier for the user to use a tool like GBox to serve as an alternative way to acquire apps that aren’t readily available in the AppGallery.
Battery and Charging
Powering all those features we talked about is a 5750 mAh battery with support for 100W wired SuperCharge and 80W wireless SuperCharge. In today’s market, you’d think that 5750 is quite small considering phones nowadays border north of 7,000 mAh, but as I’ve always said, there’s more to battery life than just the capacity.
In our testing, the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro managed to last 18 hours and 32 minutes on the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test. The figures we just quoted are from a synthetic benchmark, meaning that the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro lasts for more than 18 hours straight. Imagine how it performs in real world usage with screen off time.
Charging the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro is also a breeze. While we may not have exact figures, we can guarantee that charging from 0 to 100% only lasts under an hour.
Other Notable Features
Remember the 3D ToF sensor that I mentioned earlier? Yeah, the one housed near the 13 MP front camera. Well, aside from offering a quick and easy, not to mention secure way of unlocking your phone, it’s also used in AI Messaging and AI Gesture Control.
AI Messaging utilizes the 3D ToF sensor to identify which person is looking at the screen, censoring private messages from unknown people with access to the phone. Meanwhile, AI Gesture Control lets you scroll or take screenshots without having to touch your phone. I can see AI Gesture Control being useful for someone like me who doomscrolls on Reels while eating lunch.
Final Thoughts
So, is the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro your next best mate or just a really good roommate? Honestly, for me, it’s the former.
I think the three year hiatus was worth the wait because HUAWEI didn’t just show up, they made sure their return actually meant something. It’s kinda refreshing to see a manufacturer wait for three years before making a follow-up, whether that’s intentional or not, we’ll never know.
But with such a premium design, a display that’s operating on a whole ‘nother level, and a camera system that’s hard to beat, HUAWEI reminds everyone why they’re the manufacturer to beat in the mobile photography game.
However, it’s not without caveats. When it comes to raw performance, the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro performs decently but HUAWEI has been closing the gap with improvements in thermals and overall efficiency. Regardless of what we think, battery life holds its own, charging is ridiculously fast, and the added AI features feel useful than gimmicky.
Of course, the elephant in the room is still the software situation. While there’s still some shortcomings here and there, EMUI and AppGallery have come a long way from when they started. Most of the apps and games that are popular right now, especially in the local market, are already available in AppGallery, so app presence is no longer an issue.
At the end of the day, the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro remains a statement of smartphone design and camera performance, a true testament to the traits that we look for a flagship phone. It might not be perfect, but it’s confident, capable, and undeniably compelling.