Header Ads

Huawei P40 Pro Unboxing and First Impressions

OPPO
Infinix
Tech giant Huawei aims to step up its mobile photography game once more with the introduction of the P40 seriesthe highly anticipated upgrade of the revolutionary P30 phones last year.
Huawei P40 Pro Unboxing and First Impressions
This is the P40 Pro in Silver Frost colorway

This year, the company launched a total of 3 P40 phones instead of just 2. It includes the P40 with triple-cam, P40 Pro with quad-cam, and P40 Pro+ with penta-cam.

All three devices are packed with a revamped design, more powerful specs, modern 5G connectivity, and of course, bleeding-edge camera technology.

For this unboxing and first impressions, we will be checking the middle child P40 Pro priced at PHP 50,990.

Unboxing/Accessories

The box
The box

The P40 Pro arrived with the familiar white box of Huawei highlighting its partnership with German camera expert Leica. What's new is the print of the AppGallery icon in the lower portion of the box. This means that Huawei is actively promoting its own app store as a replacement for Google Play.
The phone with the case
The phone with the case

Inside the box, you will first see the handset itself. Then, you'll find that it has a FREE clear TPU flexible case.
Other goodies inside the box
Other goodies inside the box

It also has the SIM ejector tool, 40W USB wall charger, USB-A to USB-C data/charging cable, and USB-C earbuds with microphone.

The package is pretty complete. I like that it has a case and earphones included in the box.

What's missing is a pre-install plastic screen protector. Maybe Huawei is just confident about the durability of its screen.


Build Quality/Design

Beautiful back design
Beautiful back design

Like most high-end smartphones, the P40 Pro sports a 3D curved glass back design. But, what made this different is its use of a refractive matte finish with scratch and fingerprint smudge resistance.

The frame is made out of a sturdy-looking metal material and the front stars an all-glass Quad-Curve Overflow Display.

There's no mention of scratch resistance on the screen. The entire phone has IP68 water and dust resistance rating.

Overall, the phone feels super-premium and quite durable. Still, I'll recommend putting the case to prevent unwanted damages like hairline scratches and dents from accidental drops.
A display with curves on all sides and a pill-shaped punch-hole
A display with curves on all sides and a pill-shaped punch-hole

Design-wise, this is a handset that will look so much better without a case. It is simply beautiful.

This phone has stunning curves!

The back panel refractive matte finish has a nice shine and gradient look on different angles. It also has nice curves allover and a rectangular camera hump to house its complex camera system with a dual-tone LED flash and a microphone.
Large camera hump, but not as massive as the Galaxy S20 Ultra
Large camera hump, but not as massive as the Galaxy S20 Ultra

The camera hump is quite large because of its use of massive sensors. Fortunately, it is slimmer and not as annoying as the S20 Ultra camera hump.

In front, you'll see its unique 6.58-inch Quad-Curve Overflow Display 3D curves on top, bottom, and sides. It also has a pill-shaped punch-hole for the 32MP + IR Depth/Gesture dual-cam and Ambient + Proximity sensors.

Coming from the Mate 30 Pro, its sides aren't as curved as the Horizon waterfall screen anymore. But, Huawei was able to eliminate the larger notch and replaced it with a smaller pill-shaped punch-hole without losing the important sensors for 3D depth sensing, gestures, more secured face unlock, and more.

Like new Huawei high-end devices, the P40 Pro replaced the traditional ear speaker with an In-Display speaker for calls. In case you missed it, it works just like a regular ear speaker.

This display design results in super-slim bezels with 91.6 percent of the screen-to-body ratio.

The phone is noticeably small at 158.2 x 72.6 mm despite having a large 6.58-inch display. It is also fairly slim at 8.5 mm.
Top and bottom (No headphone jack as expected)
Top and bottom (No headphone jack as expected)

On top, you'll see a mic along with the IR blaster remote. Below, there's the hole to open the SIM/NM card slots, another mic, USB-C port, and the loudspeaker.
Left and right
Left and right

There's nothing at left and you'll find the usual volume rocker with the power button at right.

The best part of its design is how it feels in the hand. It is super smooth, soft, and comfortable to hold. The screen is very comfortable for swiping and typing as well.

It is just a bit slippery on non-flat surfaces, so be careful. The device is also quite hefty at 209 grams.

Initial findings

A display with beautiful colors and crisp details
A display with beautiful colors and crisp details

1. The display of this handset is big, beautiful, and futuristic. Quad-Curve Overflow OLED has a near 2K crisp resolution of 2640 x 1200 and a silky-smooth 90Hz refresh rate. The 90Hz refresh rate is a bit lower than the 120Hz of Galaxy S20 Ultra, but it is still a really good type of display.

The 90Hz panel can be reduced to the regular 60Hz to save some power.


2. The internals of this device is similar to the Mate 30 Pro 5G and that is a good thing. It uses the 2.8GHz Kirin 990 5G SoC solution built using the 7nm+ EUV process with a tri-core NPU, and Mali-G76 MP16 GPU with a new-generation GPU Turbo.

The 3rd 5G phone in PH!

The RAM and storage stayed at 8GB and 256GB. The internal storage can be upgraded using Huawei's proprietary NM card slot up to 256GB.

There's no mention if it is using the new LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.0 or 3.1 storage.

The battery is the same on the P30 Pro. It uses a 4,200mAh battery with USB-C 40W Wired SuperCharge. But, it has an improved 27W Wireless SuperCharge and 5W Wireless Reverse Charge.

Of course, this device has an on-chip multi-mode 5G that allows 4G, 3G, and 2G to work at the same time.

Basically, it has the specs that can run any task you throw at it.
EMUI 10.1 skin with AppGallery
EMUI 10.1 skin with AppGallery

3. It runs on the new EMUI 10.1 skin based on Android 10 OS with improved optimizations, gestures, new wallpapers, and more. Due to the China-US conflict, Google is restricted from offering its services with Huawei.

To download apps, you can use Huawei's fast-growing AppGallery. In the past few months, the company has dramatically increased the number of apps in its store. This means that Huawei is really serious about building its app store to compete with Apple and Google.

Also, if your apps are not there. You can always try other methods

Huawei has also introduced the new Celia AI voice assistant that can help you identify objects, measure calories, set an alarm, and more.
A very promising camera system
A very promising camera system

4. P40 Pro has one of the most robust camera systems out there. It highlights a massive 50MP f/1.9 RYYB primary camera with a 1/1.28-inch sensor size, 2.44μm pixel size, Full Pixel Octa PD Autofocus, and OIS.

Monster cameras!

In comparison, this sensor is even bigger than the 108MP with a 1/1.33-inch sensor size on the Samsung Galaxy S20 UltraThis means that it allows more light for better low light photography.

It is paired with another massive 
40MP f/1.8 SuperSensing Cine ultra-wide camera, 12MP f/3.4 periscope RYYB camera with 5x optical zoom, 10x hybrid zoom, and 50x digital zoom, and a ToF 3D Depth sensing shooter paired.

It also has a Color Temperature Sensor and a dual-tone LED flash.

For selfies, it sports a 32MP f/2.2 cam w/ AF + IR Depth/Gesture Camera.

For more info about its camera features, read here.


Huawei P40 Pro: First Camera Samples

5. This device is complete with the new-gen WiFi 6 Plus, Bluetooth 5.1 LE, complete GPS bands, and 4G LTE aside from 5G. It also has an accurate In-Display fingerprint reader that is said to be 30 percent faster than previous-generation models.

Huawei P40 Pro Specs

Display: 6.58-inch Quad-Curve Overflow OLED screen w/ 90Hz refresh rate, 2640 x 1200 resolution at 441 ppi
CPU: 2.86GHz 7nm+ EUV Kirin 990 5G octa-core processor w/ Triple NPU (2x Big-Core + Tiny-Core)
GPU: Mali-G76 MP16 w/ GPU Turbo (New-Gen)
RAM: 8GB
ROM: 256GB expandable via NM card slot up to 256GB
Back Camera: 50MP f/1.9 RYYB Ultra Vision Wide w/ Full Pixel Octa PD Autofocus, OIS + 40MP f/1.8 SuperSensing Cine + 12MP f/3.4 RYYB 5x Optical Telephoto w/ OIS + ToF 3D Depth Sensing + Color Temperature Sensor + dual-tone LED flash
Selfie Camera: 32MP f/2.2 w/ AF + IR Depth/Gesture Camera
Battery: 4,200mAh w/ 40W Wired SuperCharge, 27W Wireless SuperCharge, and 5W Wireless Reverse Charge
OS: Android 10 w/ EMUI 10.1
Connectivity: WiFi 6 Plus, 4G LTE, 5G, Bluetooth 5.1 LE, OTG, NFC, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo (E1 + E5a dual-band), QZZS (L1 + L5 dual-band), dual SIM
Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
Others: In-Display fingerprint sensor, face unlock, IR Blaster, IP68 water and dust resistance, triple-mic, USB-C, Colors: Deep Sea Blue, Ice White, Black, Blush Gold, Silver Frost
Dimensions: 158.2 x 72.6 x 8.5 mm
Weight: 209 g
Price: PHP 50,990

As of the moment


The Huawei P40 Pro is a major leap coming from the P30 Pro.

Priced at PHP 50,990, it is loaded with an upgraded and functional design, powerful internals, big battery capacity with multiple fast-charging solutions, future-proof 5G connectivity, and a powerful Ultra Vision Leica Quad Camera configuration.

Since the P40 Pro+ is not yet official in the Philippines, the P40 Pro is arguably the most capable camera phone in the market today regardless of price.

So far, I'm impressed. Watch out for our full review. 

For the pre-order details of the P40 and P40 Pro, read here.
Powered by Blogger.
close
gizguide