There was going to be a Huawei event in Paris on March 26. Due to the whole COVID-19 situation, Huawei decided to just do an online event. Despite that, Huawei sure made a BIG SPLASH with the Huawei P40 Series!
What’s New With the Huawei P40 Series?
These smartphones place yet another huge focus on taking better photos AND videos! Huawei’s P series showcases the latest and greatest when it comes to camera capability.
The regular P40 comes with three cameras: a 50MP main sensor, an 8MP telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom, and a 16MP ultrawide sensor. That alone gives you all the cool features which are common across the Huawei P40 Series.
One example is the Huawei Golden Snap set of features where it takes advantage of the AI capabilities found in the Kirin 990 chip. Even low light on BOTH photo and video is very much improved across the whole series!
The Huawei P40 Pro ups the ante with its Quad Camera Setup! It consists of the same 50MP main sensor, a 12MP Periscope telephoto sensor with 5x optical zoom, a 40MP ultrawide sensor, and a time-of-flight sensor. It basically means that you can get even better zoom photos with up to 10x hybrid zoom!
If that alone was insane enough, enter the Huawei P40 Pro+! (The name’s a handful, I know.) It basically has FIVE REAR CAMERAS! The P40 Pro’s system contains a 50MP main sensor, an 8MP Periscope telephoto sensor with 10x optical zoom, another 8MP telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom, a 40MP ultrawide sensor, and a time-of-flight sensor. It seems overkill at first, but having TWO TELEPHOTO SENSORS gives you more flexibility with up to 20X Hybrid Zoom! You also get a maximum zoom level of 100x but 20x will serve you well in most cases.
The First P Series Phones WITHOUT Google Services!
Thanks to the US-China trade debacle, Huawei still cannot use Google services in its latest Android phones. Despite that struggle, the company pushes on with its Huawei Mobile Services platform. The HUAWEI AppGallery spearheads this effort and now is the Top 3 app marketplace worldwide. It is available in over 170 countries/regions and has 400 million monthly active users (MAUs).
As much as I still prefer Google services, I applaud Huawei for providing an alternative suite of services. Many of the apps I download when using Android phones are available in AppGallery. Here are some of them:
Social media apps like Facebook and Instagram are also in the AppGallery so there’s not a lot of worry about that. It’s just sad that you won’t be able to get the best YouTube experience because of the lack of Google services.
If you wanna know more about Huawei Mobile Services, head over to revu.com.ph for its nice article on debunking myths
Huawei P40 Series Full Specs
In case you want to know the nitty gritty, here are the full specs of the P40 series:
Huawei P40
- 6.1-inch Quad Curve Overflow OLED Display with 2340×1080 resolution (19.5:9 aspect ratio)
- Kirin 990 5G processor
- 6 / 8 GB RAM
- 128 / 256 GB UFS 3.0 internal storage
- Huawei NM Card support up to 256GB
- Dual-SIM support (cannot use when occupied by NM Card)
- 32MP front camera with f/2.2 aperture, time-of-flight 3D sensor
- Triple rear cameras: 50MP main sensor with f/1.9 aperture, 8MP telephoto sensor with f/2.4 aperture and 3x optical zoom, 16MP ultrawide sensor with f/2.2 aperture
- Splash, water, and dust resistant (IP53 rating)
- Android 10 (using AOSP and Huawei Mobile Services) with EMUI 10.1
- 3800 mAh battery with 22.5W fast charging
- Comes in three glossy colors: Black, Deep Sea Blue, and Ice White
- Also comes in two matte finishes: Silver Frost, and Blush Gold
Huawei P40 Pro
- 6.58-inch Quad Curve Overflow OLED Display with 2640×1200 resolution
- Kirin 990 5G processor
- 8 GB RAM
- 128 / 256 / 512 GB UFS 3.0 internal storage
- Huawei NM Card support up to 256GB
- Dual-SIM support (cannot use when occupied by NM Card)
- 32MP front camera with f/2.2 aperture, time-of-flight 3D sensor
- Triple rear cameras: 50MP main sensor with f/1.9 aperture, 12MP Periscope telephoto sensor with f/3.4 aperture and 5x optical zoom, 40MP ultrawide sensor with f/1.8 aperture
- Splash, water, and dust resistant (IP68 rating)
- Android 10 (using AOSP and Huawei Mobile Services) with EMUI 10.1
- 4200 mAh battery
- 40W fast wired charging, 27W fast wireless charging
- 27W fast reserve wireless charging
- Comes in three glossy colors: Black, Deep Sea Blue, and Ice White
- Also comes in two matte finishes: Silver Frost, and Blush Gold
Huawei P40 Pro+
- 6.58-inch Quad Curve Overflow OLED Display with 2640×1200 resolution
- Kirin 990 5G processor
- 8 GB RAM
- 128 / 256 / 512 GB UFS 3.0 internal storage
- Huawei NM Card support up to 256GB
- Dual-SIM support (cannot use when occupied by NM Card)
- 32MP front camera with f/2.2 aperture, time-of-flight 3D sensor
- Triple rear cameras: 50MP main sensor with f/1.9 aperture, 8MP Periscope telephoto sensor with f/4.4 aperture and 10x optical zoom, 8MP telephoto sensor with f/2.4 aperture and 3x optical zoom, 40MP ultrawide sensor with f/1.8 aperture
- Splash, water, and dust resistant (IP68 rating)
- Android 10 (using AOSP and Huawei Mobile Services) with EMUI 10.1
- 4200 mAh battery
- 40W fast wired charging, 40W fast wireless charging
- 27W fast reserve wireless charging
- Comes in two colors: Ceramic Black and Ceramic White
Preorder Info for the Philippines!
Like most countries, only the regular P40 and the P40 Pro will come out starting this month. The Philippines preorder period is from March 27 – April 24, 2020. If you preorder now, you will get a pair of Huawei FreeBuds 3, a Huawei Band 4 (for MemoXpress and Lazada purchases only), and 50GB of cloud space for 1 year! You also get more freebies from the following apps: GCash, Booky, Paymaya, and GMovies!
What do you think of Huawei’s latest flagship smartphones? Do you think it’s wise for anyone to get a flagship phone in the midst of this COVID-19 situation? Sound off in the comments.