It’s time to compare the very best of Apple and Huawei. In this article we compare the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Huawei Mate 50 Pro. These two phones were launched 1 day apart in September last year. They are both extremely powerful and have a lot going for them. Please note that the Huawei Mate 50 Pro does not include Google services, but it does come with Huawei services. It’s still an Android phone, very much.
That said, we’ll list their specs first, then compare their designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio performance. These two phones are quite different in many ways, and this comparison might surprise you. If you’re considering getting one of the two phones, you might find what we have to say helpful. Read on if you are interested.
Specifications
| Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max | Huawei Mate 50 Pro | |
| Screen size | 6.7-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display (120 Hz refresh rate) | 6.74-inch QHD+ curved OLED display (120Hz refresh rate) |
| Screen resolution | 2796×1290 | 2616×1212 |
| SoC | Apple A16 Bionic | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 |
| RAM | 6GB | 8GB (LPDDR5) |
| Storage | 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, not expandable | 256 GB/512 GB, expandable (UFS 3.1) |
| Behind cameras | 48MP (f/1.8 aperture, wide angle, 1.22um pixel size, sensor-shift OIS, dual pixel PDAF) 12 MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 13mm, 120 degree FoV, 1.4um pixel size, dual pixel PDAF) 12 MP (telephoto, f/2.8 aperture, 77mm lens, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom) |
50 MP (f/1.4-f/4.0, 24mm lens, wide angle, OIS, PDAF, laser autofocus) 13 MP (f/2.2 aperture, 13mm lens, 120 degree FoV, ultrawide, PDAF) 64MP (f/3.5 aperture, 90mm lens, OIS, PDAF, 3.5x optical zoom) |
| Front cameras | 12 MP (wide angle, f/1.9 aperture, 23mm lens, PDAF) SL 3D (depth/biometric sensor) |
13 MP (ultrawide, f/2.4 aperture, 18 mm lens) ToF 3D (depth/biometrics) |
| Battery | 4,323 mAh, non-removable, 23W wired charging, 15W MagSafe wireless charging, 7.5W Qi wireless charging, 5W reverse wireless charging Charger not included |
4,700 mAh, non-removable, 66 W wired charging, 50 W wireless charging, 5 W reverse wireless charging Charger included |
| Dimensions | 160.7 x 77.6 x 7.9mm | 162.1 x 75.5 x 8.5mm |
| Weight | 240 grams | 205 grams (vegan leather)/209 (glass) grams. |
| Connectivity | 5G, LTE, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi, Lightning port | 4G LTE, NFC, Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C |
| Safety | Advanced facial scanning | In-display fingerprint scanner (optical) |
| Operating system | iOS 16 | Android 12 EMUI 13 |
| Price | $1,099 | €1,299 |
| To buy | Apple | Huawei |
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Huawei Mate 50 Pro: design
The iPhone 14 Pro Max and Huawei Mate 50 Pro are significantly different in design. They do come with a metal frame and a glass back plate, but that’s where the similarities end. There’s also a vegan leather variant of the Mate 50 Pro, which is actually the variant we tested. Anyway, the iPhone 14 Pro Max has flat front and back, and the same goes for the left, right, top and bottom. The phone is flat all around.
However, that’s not the case with the Mate 50 Pro. It actually has a lot of curves. The screen is curved, while the back is curved forward symmetrically. The iPhone 14 Pro Max features a pill-shaped camera cutout and symmetrical bezels. The Mate 50 Pro comes with a notch at the top, which is not particularly high, but quite wide. Even their camera islands on the back are placed in different spots. The iPhone’s is in the top left corner, while the Mate 50 Pro’s is in the top center.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max is slightly shorter and wider than the Huawei Mate 50 Pro. It is also slightly thinner. Apple’s flagship is significantly heavier compared to the Mate 50 Pro. It weighs 240 grams, compared to 205 or 209 grams of the Mate 50 Pro, depending on the variant. The Mate 50 Pro is a lot more comfortable to hold due to its design and weight. The iPhone 14 Pro Max does cut your hand a bit when you hold it. The vegan leather variant of the Mate 50 Pro is actually a joy to use and feels smaller in the hand than it actually is. Huawei has also done a great job with the weight distribution. Both phones feel premium in the hand.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Huawei Mate 50 Pro: display
The iPhone 14 Pro Max has a 6.7-inch 2796 x 1290 LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display. That screen is flat and offers a refresh rate of 120 Hz. It does support HDR10 content and Dolby Vision is also supported. This panel goes up to 2000 nits of brightness at its peak. It’s protected by the Ceramic Shield Glass and we’re looking at a 19.5:9 aspect ratio here.
The Huawei Mate 50 Pro, on the other hand. Features a 6.74-inch 2616 x 1212 OLED display. The screen is curved and has a refresh rate of 120 Hz. This screen can project up to 1 billion colors. It’s protected by the Huawei Kunlun glass and we’re looking at a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, so the same as on the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The Mate 50 Pro does have a higher screen-to-body ratio than the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Both screens are excellent to say the least. The Mate 50 Pro doesn’t have an LTPO panel, but you don’t really notice that. The phone has excellent battery life, so it doesn’t really matter. Both panels look very vibrant and have excellent viewing angles. They also offer good touch response and those deep blacks we’ve come to expect from OLED panels. The Mate 50 Pro’s panel doesn’t get as bright as the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s, but it does get mighty bright nonetheless. You can’t go wrong here.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Huawei Mate 50 Pro: Performance
The iPhone 14 Pro Max is powered by the Apple A16 Bionic SoC. In addition, Apple has included 6 GB of RAM and NVMe storage here. The Huawei Mate 50 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC. It is also equipped with 8 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 flash storage. Both phones are well equipped hardware-wise, but how does that translate to performance? Honestly, these are some of the smoothest smartphones out there.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max had some issues at first, thanks to some bugs, but Apple fixed them pretty quickly. Since then, the phone has been buttery smooth. However, the Mate 50 Pro also belongs to the buttery soft category. Huawei has done a great job with optimizations and the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC is doing a great job. That’s one of Qualcomm’s best chips yet.
Both phones just fly through everyday tasks. They open and close apps quickly, the same goes for switching between apps. They are great for consuming multimedia, browsing and they can also quickly take great pictures and so on. Even if you’re a gamer, these two phones don’t slow down. The truth is that the game selection in the AppGallery is quite limited, but based on our testing, this phone can run just about any Android game without a hitch. All in all, we don’t really have any performance-related complaints.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Huawei Mate 50 Pro: battery
The iPhone 14 Pro Max has a 4,323 mAh battery. The Mate 50 Pro comes with a 4,700 mAh battery. Keep in mind that iPhones tend to have smaller batteries than Android phones, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they have worse battery life. In fact, the battery life is comparable between these two smartphones. We’ve managed to consistently break the 7-hour mark on both phones.
That actually makes them really good in the battery department. One thing to note though is that gaming was barely included in the usage scenarios, but everything else was. However, your results may vary because you use your phones differently, have different signal strengths, and so on. The battery life of both smartphones is really good, and chances are you won’t have many complaints regardless of your usage.
When it comes to charging, the Mate 50 Pro puts the iPhone 14 Pro Max to shame in more ways than one. The iPhone 14 Pro Max supports 20W wired, 15W MagSafe wireless and 7.5W Qi wireless charging. The Huawei Mate 50 Pro supports 66W wired, 50W wireless and 5W reverse wireless charging. Huawei’s flagship also comes with a charger in the box, unlike the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Huawei Mate 50 Pro: Cameras
Both smartphones are more than capable in terms of cameras, but they are also quite different at the same time. These two are also considered as some of the best camera smartphones out there for good reasons. The iPhone 14 Pro Max is equipped with a 48-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera, a 12-megapixel telephoto lens and a 3D LiDAR sensor. The Huawei Mate 50 Pro, on the other hand, has a 50-megapixel main camera, a 13-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 64-megapixel periscope telephoto camera.
Note that ultra-wide cameras on both phones have the same 120-degree field of view. That said, the Mate 50 Pro also uses the XMAGE camera – in other words, it has a variable aperture and is more than a gimmick. Both phones do a great job in most scenarios. People usually consider the iPhone’s camera to be one of the most reliable, but the truth is that in this comparison, the Mate 50 Pro is possibly the most reliable in terms of photos. It did great in just about every shot, while the iPhone 14 Pro Max tends to exaggerate the highlights in certain scenes and also sharpen the foliage.
Both phones offer shooting modes that let you change the color science before taking a photo. Both phones have hugely capable ultra-wide cameras that are color-in-line with the main camera. The Mate 50 Pro does offer more zoom options and up to 3x the two phones have comparable telephoto cameras. The loss of Leica as a partner apparently didn’t really hurt Huawei, while Apple has yet to adapt its camera processing to the new camera sensor. Still, both phones are absolutely excellent when it comes to taking photos, while the iPhone still has the edge when it comes to video capture.
Audio
Both phones come with a set of stereo speakers. Speakers on both devices sound very good, they are quite similar. They’re even a little bassy when needed, and the soundstage is quite wide. It appears to be slightly wider on the Mate 50 Pro. Both sets of speakers get plenty loud too, with no noticeable distortion.
Unfortunately, neither phone has an audio jack. You have to use their Type-C (Mate 50 Pro) and Lightning (iPhone 14 Pro Max) ports to get wired connections. When it comes to wireless audio, the iPhone 14 Pro Max offers Bluetooth 5.3, while the Mate 50 Pro supports Bluetooth 5.2.