Review of Huawei P40 Pro
The HUAWEI P40 Pro is a powerhouse of a smartphone. Sporting the Kirin 990, this phone is super fast and super smooth to use. Apps install quickly and easily and open in lightening quick time.
What stands out when you look at this phone is the beautiful screen. It is bright and vivid and colours look crisp and vibrant. With a 90Hz refresh rate, the screen scrolls smoothly and fluidly.
The cameras are a stand-out feature. The huge camera bump on the rear houses a normal, wide-angle and a periscope zoom lens. The quality of photos taken with this phone are phenomenal. The textures are crisp and even zoomed in images are well detailed.
The main thing I can complain about is that when using night mode blacks are crushed and detail is lacking. However, low-light photos are still detailed and appear bright.
One other thing I am not happy with is the position of the keyboard. The “123” button and the “enter” buttons are curved into the bottom edge of the display and are cut off prematurely. This means that I sometimes miss the button and hit the one next to it. I got used to it after a while, but it is annoying. I tried to use gboard instead, but that was an even worse experience, especially since I couldn’t port my settings due to no Google services compatibility. If I could change one thing, it would be the keyboard experience.
The elephant in the room is app compatibility. Many apps are available by using the built-in App Gallery and Petal Search. The Amazon appstore is also a great source of apps. Although it isn’t the smooth experience of using the Google Play Store, with some perseverance you can have a positive app experience on the phone.
Google services can be accessed through the browser, and I was able to add my Gmail account to the email app built into the phone. I added shortcuts to YouTube and Google Photos to the Homescreen. So although they are not available natively, there is some limited access to Google if you need it.
I did miss Google Assistant though. I have Google Home and Google WiFi at home, so not having access to the Google Home and WiFi apps would be a deal breaker for me with this phone long term.
The phone is quite heavy to use one-handed, but if you use both hands to type and use the phone it feels balanced in the hands. The large screen makes reading a breeze.
The fast charger is incredible. The phone charged from 41% to full in around 20 minutes. This compared to 1 hour for the Samsung S10+ to charge from 41% on a 25W charger.
The phone is made from premium materials and the heaviness gives the impression of a well-built flagship phone. The back cover is a glorious hue and a TPU case was included in the box for instant protection of that huge camera hump. But there is no doubt when holding this phone, that you have spent nearly £1000 buying it.
In conclusion, this phone is highly recommended to people who want a clean, non-Google experience on their smartphone. If you do own a lot of apps or in-app purchases on your apps, you won’t be able to take advantage of those purchases. But if you don’t mind that, then there is a lot going for this phone. If you are outside the USA and Korea, this phone has a huge advantage over the Exynos versions of Samsung phones, in that the battery life is markedly better and the processor is far superior to that of the highest quality Exynos chipset. It is just a better user experience.
The HUAWEI P40 Pro is a powerhouse of a smartphone. Sporting the Kirin 990, this phone is super fast and super smooth to use. Apps install quickly and easily and open in lightening quick time.
What stands out when you look at this phone is the beautiful screen. It is bright and vivid and colours look crisp and vibrant. With a 90Hz refresh rate, the screen scrolls smoothly and fluidly.
The cameras are a stand-out feature. The huge camera bump on the rear houses a normal, wide-angle and a periscope zoom lens. The quality of photos taken with this phone are phenomenal. The textures are crisp and even zoomed in images are well detailed.
The main thing I can complain about is that when using night mode blacks are crushed and detail is lacking. However, low-light photos are still detailed and appear bright.
One other thing I am not happy with is the position of the keyboard. The “123” button and the “enter” buttons are curved into the bottom edge of the display and are cut off prematurely. This means that I sometimes miss the button and hit the one next to it. I got used to it after a while, but it is annoying. I tried to use gboard instead, but that was an even worse experience, especially since I couldn’t port my settings due to no Google services compatibility. If I could change one thing, it would be the keyboard experience.
The elephant in the room is app compatibility. Many apps are available by using the built-in App Gallery and Petal Search. The Amazon appstore is also a great source of apps. Although it isn’t the smooth experience of using the Google Play Store, with some perseverance you can have a positive app experience on the phone.
Google services can be accessed through the browser, and I was able to add my Gmail account to the email app built into the phone. I added shortcuts to YouTube and Google Photos to the Homescreen. So although they are not available natively, there is some limited access to Google if you need it.
I did miss Google Assistant though. I have Google Home and Google WiFi at home, so not having access to the Google Home and WiFi apps would be a deal breaker for me with this phone long term.
The phone is quite heavy to use one-handed, but if you use both hands to type and use the phone it feels balanced in the hands. The large screen makes reading a breeze.
The fast charger is incredible. The phone charged from 41% to full in around 20 minutes. This compared to 1 hour for the Samsung S10+ to charge from 41% on a 25W charger.
The phone is made from premium materials and the heaviness gives the impression of a well-built flagship phone. The back cover is a glorious hue and a TPU case was included in the box for instant protection of that huge camera hump. But there is no doubt when holding this phone, that you have spent nearly £1000 buying it.
In conclusion, this phone is highly recommended to people who want a clean, non-Google experience on their smartphone. If you do own a lot of apps or in-app purchases on your apps, you won’t be able to take advantage of those purchases. But if you don’t mind that, then there is a lot going for this phone. If you are outside the USA and Korea, this phone has a huge advantage over the Exynos versions of Samsung phones, in that the battery life is markedly better and the processor is far superior to that of the highest quality Exynos chipset. It is just a better user experience.
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