Huawei unveiled its new flagship device P40 phones a day after the firm's founder announced that 90% of the company's 150,000 C...
Huawei unveiled its new flagship device P40 phones a day after the firm's founder announced that 90% of the company's 150,000 China-based employees had returned to work after coronavirus pandemic.
But experts say demand for the handsets will likely be weak outside of its home market, at least in the short-term.
They say many consumers and businesses are focused on buying laptops, PCs and tablets if they are spending at all.
Specifications:
| LAUNCH | Announced | 2020, March 26 |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Coming soon. Exp. release 2020, April 7 |
| BODY | Dimensions | 158.2 x 72.6 x 9 mm (6.23 x 2.86 x 0.35 in) |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 209 g (7.37 oz) | |
| Build | Glass front, glass back, aluminum frame | |
| SIM | Single SIM (Nano-SIM/eSIM) or Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) | |
| IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins) |
| DISPLAY | Type | OLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 6.58 inches, 105.2 cm2 (~91.6% screen-to-body ratio) | |
| Resolution | 1200 x 2640 pixels (~441 ppi density) | |
| DCI-P3 HDR10 90Hz |
| PLATFORM | OS | Android 10.0 (AOSP + HMS); EMUI 10.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G (7 nm+) | |
| CPU | Octa-core (2x2.86 GHz Cortex-A76 & 2x2.36 GHz Cortex-A76 & 4x1.95 GHz Cortex-A55) | |
| GPU | Mali-G76 MP16 |
| MEMORY | Card slot | NM (Nano Memory), up to 256GB (uses shared SIM slot) |
|---|---|---|
| Internal | 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 512GB 8GB RAM | |
| UFS 3.0 |
| MAIN CAMERA | Quad | 50 MP, f/1.9, 23mm (wide), 1/1.28", 2.44µm, omnidirectional PDAF, OIS Periscope 12 MP, f/3.4, 125mm (telephoto), PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom 40 MP, f/1.8, 18mm (ultrawide), 1/1.54", PDAF TOF 3D, (depth) |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Leica optics, LED flash, panorama, HDR | |
| Video | 2160p@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, 720@7680fps, 1080p@960fps, HDR; gyro-EIS |
| SELFIE CAMERA | Dual | 32 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), 1/2.8", 0.8µm, AF IR TOF 3D, (depth/biometrics sensor) |
|---|---|---|
| Features | HDR | |
| Video | 2160p@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps |
| SOUND | Loudspeaker | Yes |
|---|---|---|
| 3.5mm jack | No | |
| 32-bit/384kHz audio |
| COMMS | WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
|---|---|---|
| Bluetooth | 5.1, A2DP, LE | |
| GPS | Yes, with dual-band A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS, NavIC | |
| NFC | Yes | |
| Infrared port | Yes | |
| Radio | No | |
| USB | 3.1, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector, USB On-The-Go |
| FEATURES | Sensors | Infrared face recognition, fingerprint (under display, optical), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, color spectrum |
|---|
| BATTERY | Non-removable Li-Po 4200 mAh battery | |
|---|---|---|
| Charging | Fast charging 40W Fast wireless charging 27W Fast reverse wireless charging 27W |
| MISC | Colors | Silver Frost, Blush Gold, Deep Sea Blue, Ice White, Black |
|---|---|---|
| Models | ELS-NX9, ELS-N04, ELS-AN00, ELS-TN00 | |
| Price | About 1000 EUR |
| TESTS | Performance | AnTuTu: 496356 (v8) GeekBench: 12848 (v4.4), 3942 (v5.1) GFXBench: 31fps (ES 3.1 onscreen) |
|---|---|---|
| Display | Contrast ratio: Infinite (nominal) | |
| Camera | Photo / Video | |
| Loudspeaker | -27.5 LUFS (Good) | |
| Battery life |
Endurance rating 94h
|
Review:
There are three other versions of these phones: the standard P40, with a 6.1in screen, and a larger mid-range P40 Pro and high-end Pro+, which both have 6.58in displays. That makes then slightly bigger than Apple's iPhone 11 Pro Max.
All support 5G. The basic model has three rear cameras, including one that is capable of a 3x optical zoom - meaning users can tighten in on the subject without sacrificing quality.
The P40 Pro adds a time-of-flight depth sensor and upgrades the telephoto lens to a periscope design, allowing light to be reflected in the device to deliver a 5x optical zoom.
And the Pro+ betters this with a 10x optical zoom periscope lens. If a digital effect is employed, the Pro+ can achieve 100x zoom. This matches Samsung's Galaxy S20 Ultra - but Huawei claims to produce a better shot.
Huawei also said its phones featured bigger camera sensors than those found in either the Galaxy S20 series or iPhone 11 range, giving it an advantage in low-light situations when the owner does not want to use the flash.
Other standout features include:
- Artificial intelligence techniques that can remove undesired objects from a scene and eliminate reflections in the glass
- A super-slow-motion video mode that captures footage at 7,680 frames per second
- A 32 megapixel selfie camera that can record in 4K. In the two higher models, this is enhanced with its own depth-sensing tech to create background blur in portrait snaps
- A smart assistant summoned by saying "Hey Celia", which can identify flowers and other objects the phone is shown
The Huawei App Gallery includes TikTok, Telegram, Viber, and Microsoft Office among other products. But beyond Google's apps, it is also missing Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp.
To help make up for the loss of YouTube, the firm has created its own Huawei Video app.
It has signed a deal with BBC Studios to provide access to 300 hours of content.
Huawei Video will include BBC drama, comedy and factual TV shows in 26 countries outside the UK.
And to replace the Duo video chat app, it offers MeeTime, which it claims offers superior performance in low-light conditions.
"The design of the devices is superb - they are very sleek," commented Ms Pinto.
"And it's clever that they've been able to bring more stability to the ultra-zoom lens than Samsung did with its S20 Ultra, assuming the P40 Pro+ lives up to its promise.
The P40 and P40 Pro go on sale on 7 April and start from €799 (£742, $890) and €999 respectively, The P40 Pro+ will be released in June and is priced at €1,399.
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