No Google services is not the biggest problem of this device - Huawei P40 review

Huawei P40 - specification

4 advantages and 4 disadvantages of Huaweia P40

I didn't want to make it a "classic" review, talking about what features EMUI has or how looks like the camera interface in the latest P40. I have the impression that people reading reviews are looking for an answer to the question of whether it is worth spending their hard-earned money on this model. Therefore, in the list below, I will try to give you both reasons for and against this decision. As the number 4 is inextricably linked with the Huawei P40, here are the 4 biggest disadvantages and 4 biggest advantages of this model. In order not to build a negative and positive impression for too long, I decided to mix them together.

This may interest you How does the iPad Pro 11 perform at work? Surprising impressionsASUS TUF A15 - APU Ryzen 7 4800H enters the salons with its head held high

Advantage no. 1 - what the Huawei P40 looks like

When you open the box and pick up the phone for the first time, you immediately know that this is a high-end device. The phone is compact (if you can say that about a smartphone with a screen diagonal above 6 inches) and fits perfectly in the hand. The body is made of metal, and the screen at the front is not bent to either side. What I really like about the P40 is its bezels, which are virtually symmetrical on every edge. When it comes to design, I have to admit that I've been a fan of what the next Huaweie looks like for a long time. Be it the P or Mate series, the company has always been able to come up with an interesting design idea or stylistic accent. And although it must be admitted that in this respect there is not much going on in the P40, the device itself is very elegant. Even a large island for cameras does not spoil the appearance. The only things that can be considered accents are the many antennas around the phone, suggesting to everyone that we are dealing with a 5G-enabled smartphone, and a red insert on the power button. From the start there is also a film protecting the screen.

A good impression is not spoiled by the display of the device. It shines brightly, its colors are vivid and saturated, and the image is so sharp that it can easily be used as a substitute for a kitchen knife. Some people will certainly be disturbed by the longitudinal cutout for the front camera. It didn't bother me at all, and even in its own way it looks aesthetically pleasing. Maybe because Huawei does not try to hide it under a dark wallpaper like Samsung or Apple, or maybe because I know that there is an infrared ToF module hidden in it, thanks to which you can safely use facial unlocking. Overall - in terms of appearance, dimensions and performance, the Huawei P40 is a phone that I really liked.

Defect no. 1 - contents of the box

When I opened the box, I found a phone and... that's pretty much all the items worth listing. The rest of the set's content is much below expectations when it comes to a smartphone that is supposed to be considered a flagship. First of all, the headphones that came with this model made me laugh. Yes, in 2020 Huawei is still adding this imitation of Apple Earpods to its phones, which on the free market would have a problem with reaching the price of PLN 2 + VAT. Looking at the class of equipment, it is simply not appropriate. Huawei should learn from other manufacturers, such as Samsung, which has been adding AKG for years.

Read more below

Since the P40's fleas are for trash only, I wanted to plug in my own kit and then ran into another glitch. There is no headphone jack in the phone (of course), and the box does not even contain a minijack-USB C adapter worth PLN 5. Well, I'll take the phone, go to the store and buy it. And here's the third surprise - the set did not include the simplest, transparent, silicone case. At this stage, it really started to look like Huawei was very keen on consumers to trim every possible yuan. On the one hand, there is nothing to blame them, but I am of the opinion that it is such details that can buy a customer. I do not require that, like Xiaomi, they start adding wireless chargers or a USB-C to USB-A adapter to their devices, but if someone buys a phone for PLN 3,000, the company should provide accessories at least at a decent level. Because just as the device itself creates the impression of communing with a premium product, the packaging suggests that the manufacturer saves on us.

Advantage no. 2 - the camera is the strongest point of the phone

No, the camera in the new Huawei is not a "new hand" in mobile photography, but it definitely pushes its limits much further. Especially when it comes to night photography, but we'll get to that in a moment. At the beginning, I would like to focus on the functions that the camera itself offers, because there is a lot to choose from.

It is worth starting the discussion with the main camera, which thanks to the 1/1.28 matrix and f/1.9 lens quality can record a lot of light. The photos taken with it are sharp, full of details and I don't remember that the phase detection autofocus has ever been spectacularly wrong. Of course, Huawei lets you tweak your photos with built-in, scenery-detecting AI. We also have the option of saving files in RAW and a real professional mode with an exposure time of up to 30 s. However, most people will reach for it occasionally - the automatic mode takes photos of more than satisfactory quality. The only thing that can be annoying is that HDR is a separate mode here, and it doesn't work in the machine.

1 of 1

In addition, we also have a wide angle, which in my opinion makes the best impression here. Photos not only come out detailed, but also (thanks to OIS) sharp and unshakable.

1 of 1

When we talk about optical zoom, I always ask myself - will it give better results than simply cropping the photo from the main camera. Well, in the Huawei P40 we have 3x optical and 5x digital zoom, so I couldn't resist to check how it works. The results can be seen in the comparisons below.

So if you want to find out what time the next holy mass is, or take a sharp photo of the 5G transmitter responsible for the spread of coronavirus - the Huawei P40 telephoto lens will be the perfect tool for you. :)

If we're already on the subject of cameras, you can't help but mention it on the front. Despite the fact that I'm not a selfie maniac, I have to admit that the 32 Mpix unit can take really decent-looking photos.

What is the strongest point of Huawei, however, is the photos at night. These, let's not be afraid of this term, leave all existing competition in the starting boxes. Huawei in this aspect can only compete with itself. The participation of artificial intelligence is very visible in this, which clearly improves the photos after taking them. It is true - the effects come out differently - some photos look like they were taken in the daytime, and some show that the software worked hard there. Don't get me wrong - each of the photos taken with the P40 at night will beat those taken by another smartphone, but you would like their effects to be more even.

1 of 1

Huawei can also record videos in 4K resolution at 60 FPS. Here, too, there are no problems with the soft finish of the scenery or the raging stabilization - everything is smooth.

Huawei during its conference boasted heavily about the AI-related features in its smartphone. Unfortunately - in my case, the possibilities related to Golden Snap were not yet available during testing, which should be treated with understanding - the manufacturer announced that they will be delayed. However, there was another, very useful "bajer", i.e. on-the-fly translation of the text. Some of the translations look so-so, but if thanks to them I am able to understand the text that I have in front of my eyes, then I consider the test passed.

Defect no. 2 - the camera is the strongest point of the phone

Unfortunately, in this barrel of photographic honey there is room for a few spoonfuls of tar. What I mean here is that some of the phone's components differ in terms of capabilities from the camera, which gives the impression that we are dealing with a device that is very limited compared to others in this price range. As I remember the times when Huawei made phones that pushed Samsung and many others from the middle price range, I still expect a solid price-performance ratio from this manufacturer. Unfortunately - not this time.

First of all, I'm going to face the screen here. Yes, it's bright, nice and ... it's only 60 Hz. In an era where Realme 6 offers 90 Hz for less than PLN 1,000, its lack in a device 3x more expensive cannot be swept under the carpet. Next - the charger. We have 22.5 W fast charging here, but again - smartphones for 1/3 of this price already allow 30 W. Paradoxically, thanks to the fact that the battery is not very large (3800 mAh) we will charge it in less than an hour, and thanks to 60 Hz screen, the device should be able to withstand a day and a half on it (up to two, if we give up add-ons such as AoD). We also do not have reverse charging or even wireless charging - these aspects have been reserved for the Pro and Pro+ variants.

Another drawback is the fingerprint reader. I don't care that it is under the screen, but that it is an optical sensor - it illuminates the finger to take a picture of it. Not to mention the fact that it is incredibly annoying at night, but in my case this function also worked on average during the day. I have not encountered similar problems anywhere, so maybe it's just my copy, but when I stood with the Huawei P40 in a very bright April sun, the reader simply refused to cooperate. As I had a mask on my face, I had to access the device every time using a PIN code.

Another drawback is that we only have a single speaker, located in the lower bezel. Yes, due to the desire to save space, the speaker for calls is hidden under the screen. So let's forget about stereo. If we are talking about shortcomings, if you choose your P40, make sure that it has the right amount of memory to start (although only 128 GB is currently available), because the phone does not support microSD cards, but only Huawei nanomemory. Interestingly, despite exporting the minijack into space, the Huawei P40 is not waterproof, because its certificate is only IP53.

Advantage no. 3 - incredibly powerful processor

Returning to the good features, the Huaweia P40's Kirin 990 processor must be praised. Such power in such a small phone is my dream come true and a sign that producers do listen to consumers and draw conclusions. I tried to slow down the Huaweia P40 as much as I could, but neither game nor all applications open in the background could make something cut or animations start to lose frames.

Defect no. 3 - ...no cooling system

And here we come to what I think is the heart of the P40's problems. The manufacturer, wanting to better position the better variants of its flagships, decided to take some of the components from its smaller brother and went a bit too far. It does not have the "SuperCool" cooling system known from the Pro and Pro+ variants, but only "its less complicated variant". As with ordinary cooling systems, modern flagships can heat up mercilessly, think what happens when they still have compact dimensions and "simplified" cooling. This is how the P40 heats up. During my standard test, when I run 10 benchmarks in a row, my score dropped by more than half on the fifth one, and I stopped the test for fear of damaging the device. Even with less demanding titles, such as World ot Tanks, Huawei can get noticeably warm after only 20 minutes of play.

Advantage no. 4 - installing the app is a piece of cake

Yes - we finally had to figure it out. Applications, or rather the lack of them, is the basic topic when describing new models from Huawei. However, this time I will try to defend this system. Why? Because I believe that Huawei is not to blame and the company has done a lot so that users can enjoy their equipment. Therefore, let's establish - there are no banks, Netflix or YouTube applications on the P40, unless you start playing with unauthorized firmwares.

I didn't play around because I went the way the average user would go - I used the APK. And as I do not watch series on the phone and for most of my life with smartphones I did not have NFC, it took me literally a moment to get used to the Huaweia P40. Everything I wanted, I installed APK Pure and had no problems with these applications. Even google maps worked for me. And someone can say (and they will be right) that in the case of APK Pure, we are not sure whether the application will disappear in a moment and whether it will be updated. Yes, that's true, but here we come to the last flaw in this list.

Defect no. 4 - you pay full price

This shortcoming comes straight from what I've been talking about throughout this review. Having the Huaweia P40 in your hands, you get the impression that it is a Pro model, from which someone picked out the best functions with a penknife, and we cannot use some of those that are due to American restrictions. And despite this - it is advertised as a flagship and we have to pay for it as a flagship. In other words - there is (real) NFC, wireless charging, waterproofness, stereo speakers and some functions related to applications, and we still have to pay 3,000 for it. zlotys. Ba, the set does not even include an adapter for ordinary headphones or the simplest rubber protector - a procedure understandable only in the case of budget users. What's more, if you count that we pay these 3 thousand. for the processor and camera, it's 50 percent. we will not even be able to use this set, because if we harness it to some more demanding game, there is a risk that we will get burned. Oh no, wait, we won't harness it because Google... Anyway, you know what I mean.

If I were Huaweia, I would now try to stop the outflow of customers with my hands and feet. I would try to offer as much as possible for as little as possible. Meanwhile - it's exactly the opposite, and the P40 is probably the worst priced smartphone on the market right now. In my head, it builds the image of a company that simply doesn't care if someone buys its product or not. If these are the feelings Huawei wants to evoke in its customers - it succeeded.

Is the Huawei P40 a good smartphone?

Yes. But not for everyone. Or rather - for the few.

I rate my experience with this phone as a plus - I enjoyed using it, it looks and feels great in my hand, and since I'm not an avid mobile gamer on a daily basis, the overheating processor didn't bother me. However, if I had to spend 3 thousand. zlotys, then without batting an eye I would lean towards, for example, the Samsung S10, which adds all the functions that the P40 lacks to a similar quality of performance and pours it with Google Mobile Services sauce. So are there people who will appreciate the P40? I think so. This device will be perfect, for example, as a business phone - it is very elegant and has all functions related to communication (including the 5G module) and the employer can at least be sure that the employee will not watch Netflix on it. Otherwise, its price would have to drop very quickly to around 2,000. PLN to make it competitive for ordinary consumers.

Price: PLN 2999

+ great design and build quality + secure face unlock + easy installation of applications from other repositories + beautiful looking image on the OLED screen + top processor + very good camera photos day and night - phenomenal

- no contactless payments - no water resistance - screen refresh rate only 60 Hz - no SD card support - no minijack socket - you won't install applications like Netflix or YouTube - under load throttling appears immediately and the phone heats up instantly - headphones included it's not a funny joke - the fingerprint reader can work as it pleases - price-performance ratio

And you - what do you think about the new Huaweiu?