Huawei P40 Pro Review & Comments

[David Phelan]

The P40 Pro offers a new design, four cameras, a screen which slopes down in four directions and other new features. Does it miss Google Mobile Services though?
Read the review.

Write your own review for Huawei P40 Pro

 

[SunnyIntervals]

It's refreshing to read a review that doesn't write a phone off just because Google is missing.

It's a great looking phone with some camera features I wish my P30 Pro had!

I'm still unsure whether it, like the new S20 series, can record video with HDR. It looks like only the 4k time lapse can do that, and if that's the case, it's a shame. Recording video with HDR should be in all flagship phone from 2020 onward.

I hope the US ban will be history by the time the P50 series arrives

 

[RoadsterUK]

I hope the ban on GApps & GMS is lifted by the time the Mate 40 Series arrives......wishful thinking I know !

 

[Badger0-0]

The camera and all that other posh stuff doesn't bother me.
I won't pay silly amounts of money for a phone and if I wanted a camera, I'd buy one.

I totally agree about Google though.
It needs someone who can at least offer some opposition to them, as they're far too dominant.

I like Huawei phones and have just bought the missus one. Their UI is good, as is the price/performance ratio.

 

[aVdub]

See the iphone references slipping in again.

Was a phone I was considering and would have bought if the S20 Ultra hadn't have come along first.

 

[Kotatsu Neko]

A phone with no access to Google Maps, YouTube or GMail? Good luck with that one.

 

[Badger0-0]

A phone with no access to Google Maps, YouTube or GMail? Good luck with that one.

So you can't live without Google?
I'm not sure what to think about that.
Well, I am, but won't say it.

Each to their own, I guess
Probably easy for me to say though, as none of those apps are any sort of priority for me.

 

[Kotatsu Neko]

So you can't live without Google?
I'm not sure what to think about that.
Well, I am, but won't say it.

Each to their own, I guess
Probably easy for me to say though, as none of those apps are any sort of priority for me.

I'm an iPhone guy but I wouldn't touch a phone which didn't have Google services on it. Google Maps in particular is simply in a league of its own. It's indispensable.

 

[Badger0-0]

I prefer Waze, fwiw, but I think that's Google owned too. Or at least they use Waze's mapping (if I'm right and I believe I am).
There's always an alternative and I use my car's Satnav.

Fwiw, I detest Apple more than Google, but I'm moving away from the subject.
Suffice to say, I'm all for competition and Huawei are big enough to provide it.
Importantly, at a better price

 

[1080 jawbreaker]

"Many DSLR cameras have sensors not much bigger."

bit of a stretch, which dslrs? micro 4/3rds?

people upgrade there fones year after year because of the camera specs?

 

[Kotatsu Neko]

I prefer Waze, fwiw, but I think that's Google owned too. Or at least they use Waze's mapping (if I'm right and I believe I am).
There's always an alternative and I use my car's Satnav.

Fwiw, I detest Apple more than Google, but I'm moving away from the subject.
Suffice to say, I'm all for competition and Huawei are big enough to provide it.
Importantly, at a better price

You detest Apple? Blimey, they're a company which makes telephones, they're not Exxon you know.

 

[aVdub]

You detest Apple? Blimey, they're a company which makes telephones, they're not Exxon you know.

Make that two

 

[Ruffuz]

Make that two

Keep those counts coming!

 

[Bl4ckGryph0n]

I would never hand over my life, my comms my everything to that company. Even less so when also having to use their App Store. The propaganda is strong and ingrained with that company. They even go as far as paying for actors to stage a protest when their executives are in jail.

No thank you, regardless off the nice hardware. I just don’t trust the software.

 

[dts197]

I don't get why people are critical of those who don't want devices that can't use Google apps. If I was paying £900 for a phone, I'd want access to all the apps as well. It doesn't mean I'm a slave to Google, I just happen to like their procucts/apps. Viewing YouTube on a phone browser isn't as good as on an app. Too many people harshly judge others based on their own preferences.

The fact is, Huawei won't sell anywhere as well in the West without full access to Google.

As for the phone itself, no doubt it's got some great hardware. A lot of people do upgrade their phones every year largely based on the camera, because its something you almost always have in your pocket.

I didn't see a mention in the review about how the larger camera sensor means it has a shallow depth of field and like the S20 Ultra, can struggle keeping everything in focus and sometimes blurs out too much (and I don't mean portrait mode). A few reviews out there have mentioned this.

I know lots of companies love getting hold of your data for their own gain. But of them all, Huawei would surely be the least trustworthy.

 

[finbaar]

I don't get why people are critical of those who don't want devices that can't use Google apps. If I was paying £900 for a phone, I'd want access to all the apps as well. It doesn't mean I'm a slave to Google, I just happen to like their procucts/apps. Viewing YouTube on a phone browser isn't as good as on an app. Too many people harshly judge others based on their own preferences.

The fact is, Huawei won't sell anywhere as well in the West without full access to Google.

As for the phone itself, no doubt it's got some great hardware. A lot of people do upgrade their phones every year largely based on the camera, because its something you almost always have in your pocket.

I didn't see a mention in the review about how the larger camera sensor means it has a shallow depth of field and like the S20 Ultra, can struggle keeping everything in focus and sometimes blurs out too much (and I don't mean portrait mode). A few reviews out there have mentioned this.

I know lots of companies love getting hold of your data for their own gain. But of them all, Huawei would surely be the least trustworthy.

I would take Huawei ANY day over Apple.

 

[dts197]

I would take Huawei ANY day over Apple.

Can't see why. But that's a discussion for another thread.

 

[Kotatsu Neko]

I would take Huawei ANY day over Apple.

Okay, well enjoy. I like a broad choice of apps myself, so I can move freely between Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze, or any other mapping service I like.

I also like iTunes' super cheap 4K Dolby Vision library which spans a range of devices I own from phone to tablet to streaming box.

But hey ho, enjoy your Huawei app store.

 

[Stuart Wright]

I had a Huawei P20 Pro for a while and it's a nice phone with really excellent photography.
But it was bought in China and had the Chinese firmware.
I could get the play store on it and install all the Google stuff, but I discovered that having been used to Waze and being able to talk to my phone with instructions (neither of which worked properly), I was not prepared to do without these, and sold the P20 and got another iPhone.
I absolutely would not get a phone without YouTube, Gmail, Waze or Chrome.

 

[mike7]

It's ridiculous that we cannot have a phone that runs Google services because Donald Trump doesn't like the idea of an American company supporting a Chinese product. Yet, mysteriously, despite his anti-China rhetoric Apple are still manufacturing the bulk of their output there and import to the USA and worldwide without restrictions or any intervention from Trump. For, apparently, being in Trump's pocket it's another good reason for me not to buy an Apple device. Huawei make good products, I have a tablet which is faultless. They deserve better treatment.

 

[Kotatsu Neko]

It's ridiculous that we cannot have a phone that runs Google services because Donald Trump doesn't like the idea of an American company supporting a Chinese product. Yet, mysteriously, despite his anti-China rhetoric Apple are still manufacturing the bulk of their output there and import to the USA and worldwide without restrictions or any intervention from Trump. For, apparently, being in Trump's pocket it's another good reason for me not to buy an Apple device. Huawei make good products, I have a tablet which is faultless. They deserve better treatment.

If you seriously believe Apple is a fan of Trump you need to do some more reading. Apple is as West Coast liberal as its possible to be.

 

[RoadsterUK]

I don't get why people are critical of those who don't want devices that can't use Google apps. If I was paying £900 for a phone, I'd want access to all the apps as well. It doesn't mean I'm a slave to Google, I just happen to like their procucts/apps. Viewing YouTube on a phone browser isn't as good as on an app. Too many people harshly judge others based on their own preferences.

The fact is, Huawei won't sell anywhere as well in the West without full access to Google.

As for the phone itself, no doubt it's got some great hardware. A lot of people do upgrade their phones every year largely based on the camera, because its something you almost always have in your pocket.

I didn't see a mention in the review about how the larger camera sensor means it has a shallow depth of field and like the S20 Ultra, can struggle keeping everything in focus and sometimes blurs out too much (and I don't mean portrait mode). A few reviews out there have mentioned this.

I know lots of companies love getting hold of your data for their own gain. But of them all, Huawei would surely be the least trustworthy.

With respect to the Galaxy S20 Ultra this maybe of interest:

 

[Steven]

people upgrade there fones year after year because of the camera specs?

I do not know anyone outside of YouTube tech reviewers who get every new phone going

This is a good video comparing photos taken by a smartphone camera versus a DSLR

 

[chopples]

A phone with no access to Google Maps, YouTube or GMail? Good luck with that one.

I can live without YouTube, and I am not to fond of gmail either, can give or take google maps. But what I cannot live without is my finance apps, these require a google certified device to run. So for that reason I could not buy a phone such as this, which is a pity as it looks like a good device

 

[dts197]

With respect to the Galaxy S20 Ultra this maybe of interest:

Not sure what you mean? Watched the camera part of the video, but no mention of the out of focus parts of pics at certain times.