Despite the raging Covid-19 pandemic, Chinese tech firm Huawei is making a hard push for its trio of new 5G-capable smartphones under its P-series lineup.
Like the previous P-series phones, the new offerings will have cameras powered by German lens manufacturer Leica. Also similar to Samsung’s S20 devices, the P40 smartphones will also have the same camera tray design.
All three – the P40, P40 Pro, and the P40 Pro+ — will have 32MP dual front shooters that come with autofocus and IR Time-of-Flight (TOF) 3D. Each one comes with three rear cameras. The P40, for instance, has a 50MP main sensor, a 16MP ultra-wide, and an 8MP telephoto at 3x optical zoom.
This is a good balance when it comes to the type of cameras that are must-haves for mobile photography enthusiasts. Omitting an unnecessary low megapixel depth sensor or a macro shooter is an advantage against manufacturers who are getting away with higher prices through adding more lenses that can be replaced by good stock camera software.
The Pro version has a higher 40MP ultra-wide lens, a 12MP telephoto sensor, in addition to the TOF. Meanwhile, the Pro+ is pretty much similar to the Pro, save for the 8MP periscope and 8MP telephoto combo.
With most countries on lockdown, Huawei will have to overcome a set of challenges from cancelled tradeshows and launches to the absence of GMS (Google Mobile Services).
While the Samsung S20 Ultra 5G introduced the 48MP periscope telephoto lens, Huawei intends to keep up by equipping the most premium of the series, the P40 Pro+, with a dual optical telephoto arrangement comprised of a 10x periscope on top of a 3x lens that is marketed to also reach the S20 Ultra’s 100x zooming capabilities.
The Kirin 990 5G SoC is found on all three smartphone models. The vanilla P40 has a smaller 6.1” OLED screen with 2340×1080 resolution compared to the higher editions that come with a 6.58” OLED panel at 2640x1200p.
All P40 devices will be running Huawei’s own OS, EMUI version 10.1 built on top of Android 10. The standard unit will be backed by a typical 3800mAh battery while the Pro and Pro+ have a large-capacity 4200mAh battery with 40W fast-charging.
Although the staple Google Play Store is a no-show, Huawei is prepared with three ways to install mobile applications: through their Huawei Mobile Services’ (HMS) AppGallery, the Amazon app store, or through the App Search function that locates APK files on the Web.
The Huawei P40 8/128 standard version is set to retail for 799 euros (around P43,998), the Pro with a higher 8/256 configuration at 999 euros (around P55,012), while the most premium P40 Pro+ 8/512 is priced more expensively than the S20 Ultra at 1399 euros (around P77,039).