Before you buy that Huawei P40 Pro, you should know these 5 things

Huawei P40 series of smartphones are now available in Europe and the UK. The range includes the basis P40, P40 Pro and P40 Pro Plusand Huawei hopes that they will lead the fight to people like that iPhone 11 Pro, Galaxy S20 and OnePlus 8. I used the P40 Pro – the middle child of the three – and put it through its paces. The phone is available here in the UK for GBP 900 (around USD 1,120 or AU $ 1,770), however due to the US ban on Huawei productsIt is not officially available in the U.S.

This ban also means that no Google apps are used – including access to the Google Play Store – but the phone has 5G and a good camera. The big brother, the P40 Pro Plus, is even more focused on photography with the first 10x optical zoom of a phone. Photography enthusiasts among you should think until the phone lands in June, or at least until we’ve checked it out.

If you are in one of Huawei’s hypermarkets and are curious about the phone, there are five things you should know about this phone before you consider spending your money.

Continue reading: 10 best phones under $ 500

Huawei P40 Pro has no Google Apps

Due to the company’s ongoing difficulties with the U.S. government, Huawei phones are not using Google services. This means that there is no Google Play Store for apps and no support for services such as Gmail, YouTube, Maps or the Chrome browser. For many of you, this is a deal breaker, especially if you rely on the Google app suite for your work.

But that doesn’t mean that there are no apps at all. Huawei has its own email client, browser and calendar on board and its own app store. There are already many well-known apps like Amazon, TikTok, Adidas Running, SnapChat, PicsArt and the popular ones Fourteen days. However, there are many more, including Instagram or editing apps like Adobe Lightroom, that are simply not available in the Huawei Store.

While Facebook and WhatsApp are not directly available, the store takes you to the websites of these apps, where you can download and install the app (in an APK file) using your browser. The apps are then displayed on the phone and work as usual.

It is therefore important to check whether the apps you rely on are currently available. Huawei says it works closely with developers from around the world to try to bring a lot more apps to its store. As a result, larger names are likely to emerge over time.

P40 Pro has 5G

No flagship phone worth its money in 2020 would hit the market without 5G connectivity, and the P40 Pro is no exception. You must be in a 5G area and have a 5G-enabled phone plan to use the next generation network. If you want to get these lightning-fast speeds instantly, check for availability near you before upgrading to a 5G phone.

The P40 Pro’s camera is good, but needs to be improved

Huawei has a success story in equipping its phones with fantastic cameras. The P40 Pro has four lenses: a standard zoom, a super wide-angle lens, a 5x optical zoom lens and a depth detection lens. While the phone’s camera capabilities are certainly the best, the software has yet to be optimized before the crown can be rated the best of the best.

My main problem is the white balance or the overall color temperature of the photos taken by the cameras. It often appears to tint images with a magenta hue than was the case in real life, making various test shots from the phone look less natural than the same shots taken with the iPhone 11 Pro or Galaxy S20 Ultra. It’s a minor shift, and if you don’t make direct comparisons with other phones, you may not notice it. According to Huawei, an update will be available in May to fix the problem. I will then test the phone to see how the update helps.

Apart from that, the phone takes great pictures with even exposures and nice contrasts. The 5x zoom delivers razor-sharp pictures of distant subjects, and pictures taken in low light and at night are certainly the best.

If you want a great camera, you should wait for the P40 Pro Plus

If you’re tempted to purchase the P40 Pro instead of the standard P40, this may be due to camera upgrades to the base model, such as 5x optical zoom.

However, the P40 Pro Plus offers a 10x optical zoom, which promises an amazing magnification without loss of quality. It is the highest optical zoom that has ever been seen on a phone and I am very happy to try it out. But this phone will only come on the market sometime in June, so we still have to see how it really stacks.

It may not be a massive upgrade over the P40 Pro and is not worth the money unless you are really in your zooms. However, if you are interested in photography, you should at least wait to see what the phone looks like before investing too soon and getting disappointed.

Don’t buy the black version

Huawei’s recent product launches, including the P30 and P20 series, included some vibrant color options that looked amazing. While the P40 Pro was shown in some gorgeous-looking hues, the test model that landed on my desk was plain black and, like all plain black phones, looks boring and memorable.

Nobody wants to be boring and unforgettable – not if you could be happy, lively and exciting. So if you plan to make money on the P40 Pro, you should at least buy it in its deep blue, shimmering pink or soft gold variations.