Huawei Mate40 or Apple iPhone 12, which one is more worth buying?

Author | Jin Yufan

Editor | Wei Jia

Huawei Mate · Kirin 9000 swan song · The last machine emperor · Buy one less one · 40, finally here .

I believe that before the emergence of Huawei Mate40, many people had hesitated on the iPhone 12 reservation interface for a long time. A few days before the first batch of iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro started shipping, Hours later, on the evening of October 22nd, Beijing time, Huawei presented four Mate40 series mobile phones at the global press conference: Mate40, Mate40 Pro, the first "super large cup" version Mate40 Pro+, and Mate40 RS Porsche Design Edition.

The conference was still hosted by Huawei Consumer Business CEO Yu Chengdong. In addition to mobile phones, he also introduced the 5nm process Kirin 9000 chip as well as smart watches, glasses, speakers, etc.

Faced with the restrictions on Google services at the system level and the ban on Kirin chips at the hardware level, what kind of works has Huawei delivered? How is the performance of Kirin 9000? The battery and signal are stronger than the iPhone How much, what is the imaging capability, whether the fast charging has been upgraded, and the most important thing is the price and is the quantity sufficient? The public is eager to know the answers to this series of questions.

The domestic version of Huawei Mate40 will be released on the evening of October 30. Many interviewees analyzed that it will be about 2,000 yuan cheaper than the overseas version. The current overseas version prices are: Mate40 starts at 899 euros (approximately RMB 7,102), Mate40 Pro starts at 1,199 euros (approximately RMB 9,473), and Mate40 Pro+ starts at 1,399 euros (approximately RMB 11,052). Mate40 RS starts at 2,295 euros (approximately RMB 18,130).

Because Huawei Mate40 and iPhone 12 are currently the only mobile phone series in the world equipped with 5nm process chips, and they are respectively the top flagships of the two camps of Android and Apple. It can even be said that It is one of the best mobile phones you can buy between the two systems, and many potential switchers are wandering between these two models.

Which one is more worth buying?

An important premise is that the applicability is different for different people. In addition to considering whether the system you are using and whether other electronic devices are in the Android or Apple camp, users who are struggling need to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the two machine kings, especially paying attention to whether one model has shortcomings that you cannot accept.

This article will compare chips and systems, appearance and images, signals and navigation, as well as price and scarcity.

In this fast-paced, one-hour press conference, Yu Chengdong introduced the new products in English. One of the most frequently spoken words was - fast.

"Fast", first of all, the Kirin 9000 5G chip is based on the much-anticipated 5nm process.

Kirin 9000, A14 parameter summary source/ Huawei, Apple press conference

Comparison Currently the most powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 865Plus in the Android camp, Kirin 9000 integrates eight-core 5nm. The chip's CPU performance is improved by 25%, NPU performance is improved by 125%, and GPU performance is improved by 50%. It is the Kirin generation that has the most advantages over Qualcomm.

Kirin 9000 integrates 15.3 billion transistors, which is 30% more transistors than Apple A14, and because Apple processors do not have built-in communication basebands, they directly integrate 5nm 5G basebands. More power-saving, Kirin 9000 also has an additional title: the world’s first 5nm 5G mobile phone processor.

However, in the GeekBench CPU test published by foreign media, the Kirin 9000 multi-core running score is better than the A13, but weaker than the A14. The single-core running score cannot beat the A13, and is beaten by the A14. A lead of almost 55%.

It should be noted that the entire iPhone 12 series is equipped with the 5nm A14 bionic chip; there are two versions of the Kirin chip. The processor used by the Mate40 is the Kirin 9000 Youth Edition, also The previously exposed Kirin 9000E is the same 5nm process as the Kirin 9000 used in Mate40 Pro & Pro+. The difference is that the 9000E lacks one NPU core and two GPU cores. There is not much difference in daily use experience.

A digital enthusiast told Shenran that this may be related to TSMC’s 5nm yield rate. If so, Kirin 9000E is a chip with a worse system than Kirin 9000, but even if it is shielded Some cores are added to ensure energy consumption, and their CPU performance is the same.

Each system has its own merits. The iPhone 12’s iOS achieves a stable and secure user experience with its fully closed ecosystem. The iOS system and hardware are highly integrated, and the APP has corresponding entry thresholds. It is also high, and users who rely on Apple’s ecosystem will prefer its complete ecosystem and seamless connections between devices. Apple pushed the latest iOS 14.1 version to users around the world in the early morning of the 21st of this month.

Before Hongmeng matured, Huawei Mate40 series was equipped with the EMUI11 system, which did not change much and continued the consistent style of EMUI. Here we focus on some small functions: when the user's gaze is detected, there are also gesture operations, and some improvements have been made. For example, the screen display is only available when the user is gazing, and gestures have added functions such as pressing and sliding left and right.

EMUI11 summary source/Huawei press conference

Air-to-air operation source/Huawei press conference

Huawei also launched its own map application Petal Maps to replace Google Map for the first time. It also launched Petal Search for search, which can not only perform simple text and image searches, but also provide localized classified search services. .

From the overall appearance, the Huawei Mate40 series is more business-style; the borders of the iPhone 12 series have returned to the right-angle design of the iPhone 4 era, and the width of the black edges has been narrowed, which is better than before. The new generation is more beautiful, the overall appearance continues to maintain a strong iPhone style, and it is more adaptable to a wider range of people.

Both series have less than five colors. Huawei Mate40 and Mate40 Pro come in five colors, namely secret silver, glaze white, bright black, green, and yellow. Green and yellow are made of plain leather, and the rest are conventional glass back panels. Mate40 Pro uses a high-strength nano-microcrystal ceramic body and is available in black and white.

Mithril Source/Huawei Press Conference

iPhone 12 comes in white, black, blue, green, red, iPhone 12 Pro is available in four colors: gold, silver, graphite, and ocean blue. However, the sea blue color scheme, which had high hopes, overturned after the real machine photos were exposed.

The navy blue color scheme of the iPhone 12 is reported online, and is nicknamed the “trash can color”

Focusing on the appearance of the Huawei Mate40 series, All four models use curved screen designs. The curved screens of the Pro, Pro+ and Porsche versions have a larger curvature, and they are all 88 waterfall screens, the same as last year’s Mate30 Pro.

After the Mate30 Pro canceled the physical volume buttons, this generation has added them back, but the virtual buttons have not disappeared. The use of virtual + physical buttons can solve the problem of accidental touches on the Mate30 series. question. In other aspects, the entire series uses stereo dual speakers, and game enthusiasts may feel more strongly about this.

Huawei Mate40 series supports virtual + physical buttons Source/Huawei Press Conference

In addition to the single punch hole on the front of Mate40, Several other models use a notch design in the upper left corner similar to the Huawei P40 series, which supports 3D facial recognition, and the camera in the notch has also become a front-facing super-sensing ultra-wide-angle camera, but the front-facing camera Bias makes many users feel bad.

Huawei Mate 40 Pro&Pro+ and iPhone 12 Pro Max screen comparison source/Huawei press conference

When introducing the screen and design , Yu Chengdong compared Mate40 Pro&Pro+ and iPhone 12 Pro Max, which use 6.67-inch flexible OLED screen and 6.7-inch OLED full screen respectively. He came to the conclusion that his product has a larger screen and a narrower body, which is suitable for people who are accustomed to using one hand. The operator is relatively more friendly.

However, Yu Chengdong did not compare thickness and weight. The body thickness of Mate40 Pro+ and iPhone 12 Pro Max are 8.8mm and 7.4mm respectively, and the weight comparison is 230g respectively. , 226g, but the battery capacity of the Mate40 series is larger.

In comparison, the iPhone 12 Pro Max has a thinner body and a more comfortable feel.

Nowadays, high refresh rate seems to have become a standard feature of flagship phones. This time, Huawei Mate40 series finally supports high refresh rate, and the screen refresh rate is 90Hz. Yu Chengdong said that it is not difficult to make 120Hz, but the power consumption is higher, and 90Hz achieves a balance between smoothness and power consumption. However, the entire iPhone 12 series has 60Hz screens.

The back is the biggest difference between the four Huawei Mate40 models. The "octagonal type (also known as palace lantern octagonal window)" rear camera in the official spoiler poster was originally exclusive to the Mate40 Porsche model, and the other The Mate40 series still has a ring design. With more and more cameras, this was ridiculed by netizens as a brand new bearing design camera.

Source of the bearing design camera ridiculed by netizens/Huawei Mall official website (left), Internet (right)

Taking pictures , it can be said that each has its own advantages, it mainly depends on personal preference. In fact, Apple has been firmly on the throne of camera realism since the iPhone 4s. Wang Chao, founder of Wenyuan Think Tank, concluded that the two took different photography routes, and Apple was more realistic.

Huawei’s Mate20 Pro performed well two years ago. It is said that Mate20 Pro squeezed Huawei dry, and the 30 series did not have much excellence. However, this year it lost Google Service In the case of Ultra wide angle + 8 million telephoto.

Mate40 Pro has a 13-megapixel front camera + 3D depth camera, a 3-camera rear camera, a 50-megapixel super-sensing main camera + a 20-megapixel movie lens + a 12-megapixel periscope camera It has a telephoto lens, a laser focus sensor, supports OIS optical image stabilization and autofocus, and a 10x hybrid zoom.

Mate40 Pro+ has 5 rear cameras, which are 50-megapixel super-sensing camera + 20-megapixel movie camera + 12-megapixel telephoto + 8-megapixel multi-reflective periscope telephoto +3D depth camera supports 10x optical zoom, 20x hybrid zoom, and 100x digital zoom. It is stronger than Mate40 Pro. The ultra-wide-angle camera is wider, has higher pixels, and has a larger aperture. It also has an additional ultra-wide-angle camera. Telephoto camera.

iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 are still equipped with two cameras, wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle respectively; iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are still equipped with three cameras, wide-angle, ultra-wide-angle, and telephoto. The lenses are all 12 million pixels; the iPhone 12 Pro also adds LiDAR technology for the first time. Its improvement in the photo effect is reflected in the focusing speed. For example, when capturing fast-moving objects, the picture will often be blurred because there is no time to focus. This This technology effectively improves the efficiency of focusing. In low-light mode, the focusing speed is increased by 6 times.

The iPhone 12 Pro series has also further improved in terms of night scenes. In terms of video shooting, the iPhone 12 Pro series already supports Dolby Vision photography up to 60fps.

Judging from some current evaluations, the improvement of the iPhone 12 series in imaging system is very significant, but embarrassingly, on the PPT displayed by Yu Chengdong at the press conference, the Mate40 series The image performance is still compared with 11Pro max.

When buying a machine rationally, you should also consider whether this model has shortcomings that you cannot accept.

Because of the distrust caused by previous generations, signal and battery life are considered shortcomings of the Phone 12 by some users. Some people who are considering the iPhone 12 are waiting for the real phone to be launched. Verify after a period of time.

As the successor of iPhone 11, iPhone 12 finally supports 5G. It is equipped with Qualcomm X55 baseband and is plug-in. For signal problems, you can basically rest assured.

As we all know, the patent war between Apple and Qualcomm lasted until April 2019 before finally announcing a settlement. As for the Qualcomm X55 baseband, this baseband is currently built into many Snapdragon 865 models, and the signal level will remain consistent. The signal problems that were complained about in the previous generation were mainly due to Apple's use of Intel's baseband chips.

In terms of 5G experience, some users are worried that the Mate40 series is Huawei’s fourth-generation 5G mobile phone after all. Is it better than Apple’s first-generation 5G mobile phone iPhone 12? Insurance? In the opinion of a senior product manager, iPhone 12 has made up for the previous shortcomings of not supporting 5G this year, and there are no shortcomings. Although Apple's mobile phone is the first generation of 5G, the design solution used is from Qualcomm. Qualcomm's rich experience coupled with Apple's technical strength in R&D and radio frequency will not cause any problems.

However, one thing to note in particular is that the iPhone 12 mini only supports a single-SIM 5G network. Users who need dual SIM cards will need an iPhone 12 to start.

In terms of battery capacity, the battery capacity of Mate40 is 4200mAh, while Mate40Pro and Pro+ are 4400mAh. The latter is 100mAh smaller than the previous generation Mate30 Pro. According to information exposed on the website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the battery capacity of the iPhone 12 series is still in the range of 2227mAh-3687mAh. Compared with the previous generation iPhone 11 series, the three mobile phones have shrunk to varying degrees.

Many iPhone users have previously reported that they consume too quickly during heavy use and rely on low-power mode all year round. American IT media Tom's Guide recently reported that in a 5G environment, iPhone 12 battery consumption is faster than that of Android phones.

A mobile phone user who joined the Huawei camp last year said that there are some things that you can never go back to after using them, and fast charging is one of them.

In terms of "fast" charging, compared with the previous generation Mate30 Pro, Mate40 Pro&Pro+ has wired charging increased from 40W to 66W, and wireless charging increased from 27W to 50W. 66W is equivalent to fully charging a mobile phone in half an hour. In addition, this fast charging solution is upgraded with all fast charging accessories, including wired charging cables, wireless charging boards, car chargers, car wireless chargers, mobile power supplies, and GaN multi-port chargers.

Source of 66W wired charging and 50W wireless charging/Huawei press conference

Huawei’s 66W wired + 50W wireless fast charging combination is not the fastest. , but also kept up with the mainstream of the industry. In comparison, the iPhone 12 series all support Magsafe magnetic wireless charging function and 20W fast charging, which is much inferior.

A product manager told Shenran that in terms of fast charging, Huawei’s greatness in the past was that it bypassed OPPO’s fast charging patent restrictions and achieved this in Mate20 Pro 40W fast charging. Unexpectedly, two years later, Xiaomi 10Ultra and iQOO5 Pro have already achieved 120W, and OPPO has also begun to put 65W in thousand-yuan phones. The 40W wired fast charging and 22.5W wireless fast charging commonly equipped on Huawei mobile phones have fallen behind. . But if nothing else, Huawei should soon enter the era of 66W guarantee.

In past comparisons of flagship phones from two brands, price is a factor that cannot be ignored.

The price of the domestic version of Mate40 will be released on the evening of October 30. Many interviewees analyzed that it will be about 2,000 yuan cheaper than the overseas version. Based on this calculation, the price of buying the regular iPhone 12 or even the 64GB starting version (6,299 yuan) can almost buy a Huawei Mate40 Pro. This aspect is estimated to be the reason why some people make shopping decisions.

Does that mean the "Pro" experience is better than the regular version of iPhone 12? Wang Chao said that compared to Android, Apple’s performance decays relatively slowly.

Yu Chengdong "responded" at last night's press conference that with the blessing of the 5nm process Kirin 9000 5G chip, and with EMUI11, the Mate40 series can be used for 36 months without lag, and the Mate40 Pro can be used After 36 months, fluency dropped only 2.5% from the beginning.

"The quality of the current mobile phone experience cannot only depend on the configuration." The judge believes that the main consumer groups of these two models are not price-sensitive groups, especially for flagship phones. In terms of model, users buy not only the configuration, but also a certain brand premium. And this year is different, there is another scarcity.

More than one mobile phone channel dealer told Shenran that due to the scarcity of chips, this year’s Mate series will definitely have larger channel price increases, and the domestic price will most likely be higher. Overall pull up.

“No matter how large or small the domestic sales volume is, whether the shortage is real or fake, the channel will definitely stock up and hype ‘out-of-print models’ and ‘buy one and lose one’ "The channel price increase after the launch of the Mate40 series will definitely be stronger than that of the iPhone 12." Judge Xiang Shenran speculated that after the price increase of a machine is thousands or even thousands, the price gap with the iPhone 12 will not be as big as in previous years.

According to his analysis, due to the epidemic in the first half of this year and the unsmooth circulation of many channels, channel parties generally did not make any money, and they may all be counting on Huawei Mate40 series or iPhone 12 to turn around. Now, a large number of channel merchants will stock up the goods in some way. It is conceivable that the Mate40 series is out of stock. It is definitely a flagship phone that needs to be snapped up. In contrast, the unlimited supply of iPhone 12 can be said to be "available every year". Supply and demand The relationship will not be so disparate.

Because the output of the previously exposed Kirin 9000 chip is less than 9 million, in addition to supplying the Mate40 series, it also supplies the MatePad Pro 2 tablet and the Mate X2 folding screen, plus the reserved For next year's P50 series, there are even voices that the P50 series may not exist, so it is inevitable that Huawei Mate40 will be snatched up. Apple only revealed that the number of units in stock has increased to 80 million units.

In other words, there will be a considerable gap in sales between the two models.

The judge’s judgment is that Huawei’s Kirin processor stockpile will not be a problem to maintain shipments for two quarters, but if it continues to be out of stock, channel price increases will be maintained until March next year.

At present, some detailed information about Mate40 has not been fully announced. It seems that there is still suspense at the domestic press conference on the 30th.

*The title picture comes from the official websites of Huawei and iPhone.