In this situation, can I use “What about that?” instead?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
Great question! "How about that?" is a rhetorical question, meaning it is not meant to receive a response. Instead, this phrase is used to express surprise or excitement. The phrase "what about that?", however, is not a rhetorical question, and it used to ask someone their opinions about something. So you cannot use "what about that?" to express the same meaning of surprise in this context.