Thinking of buying a Huawei P40 Pro? Read this first

Thinking of buying a Huawei P40 Pro? Read this first

p40-pro product

Andrew Hoyle / CNET

Huawei P40 seriesthat contains the base P40, P40 Pro and P40 Pro Plus, are now available in Europe and the UK and hope to fight with 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 for £ 900 (approximately $ 1,120 or AU $ 1,770) but 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. Nevertheless, its big brother, the P40 Pro Plus, is even more photography-oriented with the first 10x optical zoom of a phone. Photography enthusiasts among you should think about it 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

Thinking of buying a Huawei P40 Pro? Read this first 1


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There are 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.

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Andrew Hoyle / CNET

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 apps 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 from the store, the store leads you to the websites of these apps, where you can download and install the app (in an APK file) via the 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 and bring a lot more apps to its store. As a result, bigger names are likely to emerge over time.

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Andrew Hoyle / CNET

It has 5G

Without 5G connectivity, no flagship phone would hit the market in 2020, and the P40 Pro is no exception. You must be in a 5G area and have a 5G 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 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, an optical 5x zoom lens and a depth detection lens. While the phone’s camera capabilities are certainly the best, the software needs to be improved a bit before the crown can be considered the best of the best.

Edinburgh’s Dean Village, taken with the P40 Pro’s standard camera.

Andrew Hoyle / CNET

A statue taken with the P40 Pro’s standard camera mode.

Andrew Hoyle / CNET

The same statue, taken with the 5x zoom lens of the P40 Pro.

Andrew Hoyle / CNET

Night mode on the P40 Pro.

Andrew Hoyle / CNET

My main problem is the white balance or the overall color temperature of the photos that the cameras take. It often appears to color images with a magenta hue than in real life, making different 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 are interested in photography, you should wait for the P40 Pro Plus

If you’re tempted to buy the P40 Pro instead of the standard P40, it may be due to camera upgrades to the base model like 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.

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Andrew Hoyle / CNET

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 you may invest too early and be 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 delightful shades, 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 can be happy and 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.

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