As has been pored over in detail before, there is a lot riding on Huawei P40 Pro and co.. As Huawei’s first mass-market release in the West since the Trump embargo, this is their chance to show they can offer a viable alternative to Google Mobile Services.
For some, a good start and the potential to bring every Android addict’s favourite apps over sooner rather than later might be good enough. Especially for those after the camera excellence that Huawei has reliably offered since P20 Series.
For the latter, Huawei have kept up that end of the bargain. Building on P30 Series’ innovations and adding a few of its own, Huawei P40 Pro has again pushed the boundaries of mobile photography.
Unquestionable Visual and Design Quality
Our ‘Silver Frost’ review unit is glorious in real-life. Much like an old favourite of mine, Nokia 7 Plus, Huawei P40 Pro sports a matte, ceramic-like texture. This interesting texture is contrasted by a polished silver aluminium outer frame. The colour of the rear casing almost hovers below the glass layer. It creates an eye-catching iridescent effect but it’s not visually overpowering.
The obscene 91%+ screen-to-body ratio gives an almost-bezelless look from front-on, just like Mate 30 Pro before it. The Quad-Curve Overflow is a nice macro-detail that adds to the overall luxurious look.
The tolerances in the design are miniscule. The unit feels so tight and compact despite its 6.5″ screen-size. It’s also worth mentioning the lack of zoom lens noise. The recently-reviewed Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra and P30 Pro both make a little rattle as the periscope zoom mechanisms flop around their respective housings during a gentle shake.
The return of the volume rocker is welcome but no headphone socket – the day of using 3.5mm on flagships seems over. The device sports the same 4,200mAh battery as P30 Pro but so far the stamina has been slightly inferior. It’s fair to say Huawei’s aggressive app-quashing AI hasn’t learned my habits on the newer device and P40 Pro may yet equal the excellent battery life of its predecessor.
The 1200×2640 display is crisp and bright with excellent saturation. Contrast is superb and the inky black adds magnificent depth to the panel. The 90Hz refresh rate is available at maximum resolution and the increased smoothness over P30 is easy to discern.
Immediately Noticeable
The two standout photography features of P30 Series have received improvements and fixes. One of which was immediately obvious to me – zoom beyond 10x has improved markedly.
One complaint I leveled at P30 Pro in a review for a different publication was how the AI trickery was readily visible at higher zoom levels.
Huawei P40 Pro reduces the overall noise a little more and removes most of the tell-tale AI smoothness from the zoom shots. Thanks to image stabilisation it’s also much easier to shoot longer shots.
With the country a bit locked down and not much to shoot near my house, these lossy Twitter shots and Instagram video by some fierce rivals/nice lads will have to demonstrate what I mean. The shots from TheEffect.net‘s John Reilly show the crisp, natural focus that extends through the zoom range. Marty Meany of Goosed.ie‘s video (below) shows the stabilisation and tracking that aids the user keep their object in shot.
The other improvement is more general. The RYYB sensor that was introduced with P30 Pro had some white balance issues that meant more tinkering with shots than sometimes seemed necessary. Huawei P40 Pro harnesses the sensitivity of the yellow pixels while leveraging improved AI and a multispectral sensor to counteract the innate challenges of RYYB technology.
Number One DxOMark Smartphone Score
Huawei have reclaimed top spot in the DxOMARK smartphone main camera stakes. They have also added the video and selfie accolades to their mantle.
As stated in our Huawei Mate 30 Pro review, Huawei had made strides towards catching Samsung and Apple’s video quality but have topped them both overall with Huawei P40 Pro. DxOMARK were quick to note that it doesn’t blow the competition away like it does for main cam stills and there are sub-areas where other handsets win out. In our week’ suse, it was very easy to notice the excellent auto-focus, colour and white balance.
Like with video, P40 Pro’s selfie crown is not as assured as main cam stills. That being said, the ‘groufie’ feature stands out against its rivals. AI and some depth trickery find the best focus for all faces with some excellent results; even with subjects at different ranges.
At night the selfie cam takes two temporally offset snaps – one with the screen flash, one without. AI then stitches the two together and the results are impressive. Outdoor shots retain the background detail that is usually lost.
Some of the improvements to selfie cam shots are facilitated by the large pill-shaped notch. An IR scanner and larger sensor are welcome additions over P30 Pro but the notch could have been implemented better.
4K60 video from the selfie cam is a superb option to have but beautification, video effects and filters are not available at 4K or 60 fps.
Charging: Speed Has EVERYTHING to Do With it
Wired charging speed also remains the same at 40 Watts with the in-box charger. Wireless charging has seen a jump from 15W to 27W and the reverse wireless charging features also gets a bump to 27W.
I don’t have a wireless charger with an output anywhere near 27W so I haven’t been able to time that charge cycle just yet. The wired speed of 0-100% in about 70 minutes with a life-saving 0-70% charge in just 30 minutes.
Reserving Judgement on Software
With a week to go until release, Huawei Mobile Services and their App Gallery will still be receiving their final touches. There are already some changes (from the time of the Mate 30 Pro review and HMS apps guide) to the store front and how certain apps are downloaded to the devices.
With that in mind, you will have to wait until April 7th for our thoughts on whether the HMS experience shows the type of promise that can reel in potential defectors from Google or Apple.
