jman
Expert Member
So I’ve been on lockdown for the past few days with the very pretty and awesome P40 for company. This is giving me a great opportunity to put it through its paces, so I thought I’d share my thoughts.
Pro’s:
Con’s:
Specs:
Design
The design of the P40 is great for someone looking for a device that isn’t as cumbersome as the larger flagships of today. It fits in the hand perfectly, while still providing a pretty large, 6,1-inch display. It feels every bit as premium as any other flagship out there. The typical glass/metal sandwich is familiar here.
The colour of the device (Silver Frost) I have is stunning and just eye catching. Its matte finish also helps with keeping those fingerprints away from the back of the device.
The sim tray has space for two nano sims, or one nano sim and a nano SD card. I use two sims so this is an essential feature for me.
I’ve compared the size of the P40 to a P20 Pro, which has the same screen size, but much larger footprint. Just shows how far we’ve come in two years.
Software
I was a little apprehensive at first about using an android phone without Google services, meaning no Google Play store. However, I’ve found that this phone can handle 99% of the apps that I’m used to using on an Android phone.
With App Gallery (Huawei’s app store) and Aptoide (a 3rd party app store), I’ve been able to install all my favourite apps like Spotify, Nedbank Money, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tapatalk, Waze, Whatsapp, Telegram, Lastpass, Netflix, DSTV Now, to name a few. I am missing the Discovery app and Youtube (though one can use the mobile browser). There’s no Google Drive or Google Photos, which is a bit of a shame, but Huawei does have their own cloud storage option.
Otherwise, EMUI 10 is built on the latest version of Android - version 10. I do like the visualisations and animations that it brings, all the while being really snappy and fluid. I haven’t used gestures before to navigate an Android phone, but having done so for the past couple days on the P40 has been a breeze and I can’t imagine going back to the 3 button implementation.
Battery
Comparing this to my previous phone, a Huawei Mate 10 Pro, the battery life on the P40 is a step up, despite the capacity being slightly less on the P40 (3800mah vs 4000mah on the M10P). I tend to get about 5,5 - 6 hours screen on time with the P40, where with the Mate 10 Pro, I would average about 4 hours screen on time. In my experience (and with my usage), 5,5 hours screen on time is very decent. The phone has no issue lasting me the whole day, with various snaps being taken, Spotify playing with bluetooth headphones connected, social media, a couple calls, backing photos up to Onedrive, etc.
Screen
The screen on the P40 is on the more compact size these days (try and travel back to 2015 and tell them a 6-inch screen in a smartphone is actually pretty compact). It’s an OLED, so blacks are really deep, and the display is vibrant and bright. I much prefer a flat screen, as opposed to some of the steeply curving displays out there, and the P40 provides a refreshing, flat screen. Unfortunately it doesn’t have the 90Hz refresh rate that the P40 Pro, and Pro+ have, which is a little disappointing, considering the standard Samsung S20 (which this P40 directly competes with) comes with a 120Hz refresh rate. The camera cutout for the front facing camera is on the large side, but it does include a 3D sensor for more secure face unlock. I have just hidden the cutout in the software, making it noticeable.
Camera
The cameras on the P40 are pretty great. There is a main 50 megapixel sensor, which is standard across the P40 range. It’s a RYYB sensor, which brings more light and detail in than the standard RGGB sensors. As a result, low light performance is excellent. In terms of the ultrawide camera, it’s a 16 megapixel, f/2.2 sensor. I managed to get some great snaps with it, and it provides some great versatility to the mix. There’s also a 8 megapixel, 3x telephoto lens, which given some good lighting, provides some good pictures. Though I prefer to just walk closer to the subject if possible, to use that incredible 50 megapixel main sensor, because it’s so good.
I’ve taken a few snaps where I can, but have been quite limited with stuff to snap due to the lockdown.. One thing that has struck me is that even without night mode enabled, the main camera picks up so much light and detail in really tough scenarios - I’ve been thoroughly impressed.
I'll post more pics with the P40 once I have some decent subject matter after lockdown.
This was not with Night Mode enabled, just the regular auto setting. Middle of the night
Wide angle lens
Performance
Throw any task at the P40, and it handles it with ease. The Kirin 990 chip handles all tasks that I’ve thrown at it. It’s the same chip that you’ll find across the P40 range, as well as the Mate XS and Mate 30 Pro. It comes with 8GB of RAM, and I’m yet to feel that it could do with any more - multitasking is done with ease. The Kirin 990 is also 5G enabled, which should future proof the phone for a few years to come, when this technology picks up in the coming months in South Africa.
Overall, I am really impressed by the P40. It’s a device that fits in the hand really well, brings flagship internals at a lower price point to the P40 Pro. Having said that, I do wish that the same 90Hz refresh rate were given to the P40’s screen
Pro’s:
- Great cameras
- Battery life is great, despite being a relatively small capacity
- Really snappy performance - the Kirin 990 is a beast
- Lightning quick 3D face unlock (with an optical in-screen fingerprint sensor as well)
- 5G connectivity (though not widespread yet in SA)
- I love the flat display, in a world full of curved displays
- Fits in the hand perfectly due to its more compact size and contours
- Matte texture on the back is awesome
Con’s:
- Camera cutout for the front facing cameras is on the large side
- Camera bump on the back is quite big
- No 90Hz refresh rate, like the Pro, and Pro+
- No 40W or wireless charging
- Lack of Google apps (though this seems to be less of an issue in my experience)
Specs:
| Display size, resolution | 6.1-inch Flex OLED 2,640x1200-pixels |
| Pixel density | 441ppi |
| Dimensions (Millimeters) | 148.9 x 71.06 x 8.5 mm |
| Weight | 175g |
| Camera | 50-megpixel (ultra vision wide) ; 16-megapixel (ultrawide) ; 8-megapixel telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and color temperature sensor |
| Front-facing camera | 32-megapixel |
| Processor | Kirin 990 5G |
| Storage ; RAM | 128GB; 8GB |
| Battery | 3,800 mAh (with 22.5 watt fast-charging) |
Design
The design of the P40 is great for someone looking for a device that isn’t as cumbersome as the larger flagships of today. It fits in the hand perfectly, while still providing a pretty large, 6,1-inch display. It feels every bit as premium as any other flagship out there. The typical glass/metal sandwich is familiar here.
The colour of the device (Silver Frost) I have is stunning and just eye catching. Its matte finish also helps with keeping those fingerprints away from the back of the device.
The sim tray has space for two nano sims, or one nano sim and a nano SD card. I use two sims so this is an essential feature for me.
I’ve compared the size of the P40 to a P20 Pro, which has the same screen size, but much larger footprint. Just shows how far we’ve come in two years.
Software
I was a little apprehensive at first about using an android phone without Google services, meaning no Google Play store. However, I’ve found that this phone can handle 99% of the apps that I’m used to using on an Android phone.
With App Gallery (Huawei’s app store) and Aptoide (a 3rd party app store), I’ve been able to install all my favourite apps like Spotify, Nedbank Money, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tapatalk, Waze, Whatsapp, Telegram, Lastpass, Netflix, DSTV Now, to name a few. I am missing the Discovery app and Youtube (though one can use the mobile browser). There’s no Google Drive or Google Photos, which is a bit of a shame, but Huawei does have their own cloud storage option.
Otherwise, EMUI 10 is built on the latest version of Android - version 10. I do like the visualisations and animations that it brings, all the while being really snappy and fluid. I haven’t used gestures before to navigate an Android phone, but having done so for the past couple days on the P40 has been a breeze and I can’t imagine going back to the 3 button implementation.
Battery
Comparing this to my previous phone, a Huawei Mate 10 Pro, the battery life on the P40 is a step up, despite the capacity being slightly less on the P40 (3800mah vs 4000mah on the M10P). I tend to get about 5,5 - 6 hours screen on time with the P40, where with the Mate 10 Pro, I would average about 4 hours screen on time. In my experience (and with my usage), 5,5 hours screen on time is very decent. The phone has no issue lasting me the whole day, with various snaps being taken, Spotify playing with bluetooth headphones connected, social media, a couple calls, backing photos up to Onedrive, etc.
Screen
The screen on the P40 is on the more compact size these days (try and travel back to 2015 and tell them a 6-inch screen in a smartphone is actually pretty compact). It’s an OLED, so blacks are really deep, and the display is vibrant and bright. I much prefer a flat screen, as opposed to some of the steeply curving displays out there, and the P40 provides a refreshing, flat screen. Unfortunately it doesn’t have the 90Hz refresh rate that the P40 Pro, and Pro+ have, which is a little disappointing, considering the standard Samsung S20 (which this P40 directly competes with) comes with a 120Hz refresh rate. The camera cutout for the front facing camera is on the large side, but it does include a 3D sensor for more secure face unlock. I have just hidden the cutout in the software, making it noticeable.
Camera
The cameras on the P40 are pretty great. There is a main 50 megapixel sensor, which is standard across the P40 range. It’s a RYYB sensor, which brings more light and detail in than the standard RGGB sensors. As a result, low light performance is excellent. In terms of the ultrawide camera, it’s a 16 megapixel, f/2.2 sensor. I managed to get some great snaps with it, and it provides some great versatility to the mix. There’s also a 8 megapixel, 3x telephoto lens, which given some good lighting, provides some good pictures. Though I prefer to just walk closer to the subject if possible, to use that incredible 50 megapixel main sensor, because it’s so good.
I’ve taken a few snaps where I can, but have been quite limited with stuff to snap due to the lockdown.. One thing that has struck me is that even without night mode enabled, the main camera picks up so much light and detail in really tough scenarios - I’ve been thoroughly impressed.
I'll post more pics with the P40 once I have some decent subject matter after lockdown.
This was not with Night Mode enabled, just the regular auto setting. Middle of the night
Wide angle lens
Performance
Throw any task at the P40, and it handles it with ease. The Kirin 990 chip handles all tasks that I’ve thrown at it. It’s the same chip that you’ll find across the P40 range, as well as the Mate XS and Mate 30 Pro. It comes with 8GB of RAM, and I’m yet to feel that it could do with any more - multitasking is done with ease. The Kirin 990 is also 5G enabled, which should future proof the phone for a few years to come, when this technology picks up in the coming months in South Africa.
Overall, I am really impressed by the P40. It’s a device that fits in the hand really well, brings flagship internals at a lower price point to the P40 Pro. Having said that, I do wish that the same 90Hz refresh rate were given to the P40’s screen
WOW!
