Huawei P40 Pro hands-on review | Stuff

Game for longer with a 3,800 mAh battery and 40w super fast charging, which also comes to the P40 Pro+. Wi-Fi 6 is on board, with the promise of lighting fast ... Skiptocontent Followuson: Search Searchfor: Clearsearchquery Showresults Trending Home/Reviews/Smartphones/HuaweiP40Prohands-onreview HuaweirelentlesslypushesdesignandperformancewiththeP40series– andtheP40Proisthepickofthebunch,butastheChinesecompanyisstilltroubledbya tradewarwiththeUS,a lackofGoogleservicescontinuestoblightthings. Now, ifwepushthistoonesideandappreciatetheP40Pro forwhatitis,whatyou’relookingatis animmenselypowerfulsmartphonewitha stunningoverflowdisplayand barely-therebezels. TheP30promisedto‘re-writetherulesofphotography’andwith thehelpofLeica technologyit kindofdid,buttheP40Proappears topushthingsevenfurtherwithan enormousnewsensorandsomemadAIskills. It’salsoa5Gblower,whichisnosurpriseasHuaweihasalwaysbeenaheadofthatparticular curve–plusits latestKirinprocessorandsomesmartcoolingsystemsforPUGBaddictsaddtoabeefylistofinnards. Totopitoff,it’llsupportWi-Fi6,whichasyou’lldiscoverbelow, mightjustbethemostcrucialinclusionofall. Designandscreen:Aheadofthecurve Glass,metalandattention-grabbinglevelsofswag,theP40Prolooksandfeelspremium,justliketheP30Pro.A6.58indisplaydwarvesthelikesoftheiPhone11Pro,withafulledge-to-edgeQUADHD+OLEDdisplay You’llfindanin-displayfingerprintsensorandlargepunchholefront-facingcamera(plusanIRsensor),almostdoublethesizeofthecentralcamerafoundontheSamsungGalaxyS20series. Attherear,there’sasizeablerectangularcameraunit,which,althoughsizeable,doesn’ttarnishtheoveralldesignsinceit’sbeendiamondcutandwithacasewillprobablysitflush. Icewhite,blackanddeepseabluearethecolouroptions,butifyouoptfortheP40ProPlus,you’llbeabletochoosefromattractiveceramicmaterialfinishesineithersilverfrostorblushgold. Camera:Theinnerlight ThecamerahasrecentlybeenHuawei’scrowningjewel,takingaslightlydifferentapproachtoimageprocessingthanitscompetitors.Keentoacceleratewhatisalreadyatech-packedpowerhouse,Huaweihasturneditsfocusfromzooming,toborrowingtheethosofbasicallyeveryphotographymanufacturereverandworkingouthowto,‘harnessthelight’. Howtodothis?It’sallaboutthesensor.Huaweihascompletelyredesignedthesensorformaximumlightintake,higherdynamicrangeandlowernoise.It’smorethandoublethesizeoftheP30Pro,witha1/1.28inType50MPRYYBsensormatchingmostcompactcameras. Ahighdefinitionimageengineshouldmeanthatwhenyoutakeaphotoandzoominonanysectionit’llbesharpanddetailed.Doesitwork?Inshort,yes.Takeaportraitaswedidandyoucanzoominandseeindividualeyelashes.However,aswe’veseenwithHuaweibefore,AIcanoversharpenimagesandsmoothoutskintone,whichisn’talwaysthedesiredeffect. TheP40Proconsistsofa12MP5xtelephotolens,f/3.4OIS,50MPwide-anglelensf/1.8,OIS,40MPultrawide-anglecinelens,f/1.8,plusaToFlensfordepthsensing.There’sa32MPfront-facingcameraandmyworddoesthehighdefinitionimageenginecomeintoplaythere.Icouldseeeverysingleporeonmyveryface,plusateenysplodgeofmoisturisercreammyeyesmissedinthemirror. IftheP30Prowasthebestzoomcameraonasmartphone,theP40Procontinuesthattrend,plusawholehostofotherskillswhichwe’llbereviewingoverthenextfewweeks.Itreadslikeachecklistwhereeverysinglepossiblephotographysituationiscateredfor. TheKirin990’sneuralprocessinghelpsoutwithimaginestacking,sharpness,optimisationfordifferentenvironmentsandhighdynamicrange. Aswellasalltheusualsmashhits,AIiscapableofsomebonustrickstoo.Afavouriteis‘EliminatePassersby’–unfortunately,thisdoesn’tmeanzappingthemintoanalternateuniverse,butyoucanremovethemfromthebackgroundofyourphotowithouttakingastepanearAdobePhotoshop.Solongphotobombers! There’salso‘EliminateReflections’,whichishandyforshotsoutofplanewindows,butnotsogoodforshowingoffyournewcrepsinacarefullycuratedfull-lengthmirrorselfie. Plus,capturemotioninasimilarveintoSamsung’sOneShot,whereyou’llbeserveda12MP‘bestshot’fromthe40takesbothbeforeandafteryoupresstheshutter.WhetheryoutrustAItochoosethebestoneisupfordebate.It’salsoabitofanactionjunkiewithsupersteadytelephotovideowithbothAISandOISforlongrangeshooting,andcanshoot4Kat60fps. Althoughit’stooearlytoformafullopiniononthecamera,it’sanabsolutebeastandwecan’twaittotryitoutinmorescenarios.Ourbiggestfearisitmightbeovercomplicated,asthereseemstobesomanyoptionsandwaystotweaksettings,andthat’sbeforeyoureachtheslightlydaunting‘moresection’atthebottomofthecameraapp. Performanceandbattery:Celia,you’rebreakingmyheart Withthemostpowerfulprocesseronthatmarketinside–theKirin9905G–wehaveeveryfaiththisphoneispackingsomeseriouspower.The90Hzdisplaymakesforsilky-smoothfootage,allclimatecontrolledbyafour-layercoolingsystem. Gameforlongerwitha3,800mAhbatteryand40wsuperfastcharging,whichalsocomestotheP40Pro+.Wi-Fi6isonboard,withthepromiseoflightingfastinternetspeeds.Huaweiclaimsit’sbringinguseritstopEMUI10.1experience,soyoucanliveyourbest(AI)life. There’sabigemphasisonMeeTime,similartoApple’sFaceTime,forhighqualityvideocalls.Pairedwiththatmonsterofacamera,wehopeit’llbeaceforvideoclarityinlowlightscenarios,like,er,night-time,andwithan1080presolutionyoushouldbeabletocommunicateclearly. Screen-sharingisanotherniftyassetbakedintothesoftware.It’sidealfordoinganysortofscreen-basedcollaborativeworkandallowsyoutomarkoverthescreenwithanycorrectionsoradditions. Multi-screencollaborationallowsyoutomakeandanswercallsonyourPCwithoutneedingtoeventouchyourphone,plusyou’llbeabletoopenallmobilecontentonyourPC–muchlikeSamsung’sDeX.There’sanewassistanttomeettoo–sayhitoCelia.Acenameforsure,buttheverdictisstilloutonwhereitlandsonourlistofbestandworstvoiceassistants. DeterminedtogetaroundthelackofGoogleapps,youhavetoadmireHuaweiforploughingonandattemptingtofindalternativesolutions.SuchasturningtoTomTomformaps,QuantforsearchandBBCforcontent.Thechequebook,itseems,isverymuchopen. It’sfartooearlytoseehowtheymanagetointegrateafullmapsolution,butifHuaweicanfigureouthowtosqueezea10xperiscopiczoominanastonishinglynarrowslab,thenwewouldn’tputitpastthem. HuaweiP40ProInitialVerdict YetagainHuaweihassqueezedoodlesofclevertechintoaclassy,glassydeisgn. Anewsensoralongwithalltheadditionalcameratech,includingsomeastoundingneuralprocessing,reallytakesthingstothenextlevel. However,forthosenotwillingtogothroughtherigmaroleofsideloadingservices–theP40Proisnotgoingtobeanoptionrightnow. 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