Huawei P40 initial hands-on review, sample photos

Huawei recently launched the Huawei P40 and the Huawei P40 Pro in a livestream event. The handsets impress with a new Kirin 990 5G processor, a new set of Leica cameras, and an OLED display.

Huawei Philippines sent us a Huawei P40 unit for review. We’re here to give our initial impressions first. We also included some sample photos to give you a sneak peak at what its cameras can do.

So, like always, lets start from the outside looking in. The Huawei P40 comes in the usual clean white box. It is packaged with a clear silicone case, a pair of earbuds, a USB Type-C cable, and a 22.5W fast charger.

The Huawei P40 is designed around its 6.1-inch display. It has a pill shaped punch hole with a 32MP + IR selfie camera on the upper left of the screen. It also features an in-display fingerprint scanner and a full HD resolution.

At the left are the volume rockers and power button with the accent color. You have the SIM tray, a microphone, the USB Type-C port, and the mono speaker at the bottom. There’s a secondary microphone at the top.

Inside, the Huawei P40 is powered by Kirin 990 5G processor with 8GB RAM and 128GB UFS storage. It is different from the Kirin 990 processor found inside the Huawei Mate 30 Pro in that this one uses a 7nm+ EUV process. The phone runs on EMUI 10.1 based on Android 10 with Huawei Mobile Services and the AppGallery. There are new features on-board as well.

Also see: Huawei Y7p review: Compelling budget phone

At the back are one of the P40’s main features, the triple Leica cameras. It is composed of a 50MP main, a 16Mp ultra-wide, and an 8MP telephoto cameras. The setup is housed on a huge rectangular module with a prominent camera hump. Its not flushed, and I like how Huawei made no qualms of making it smaller.

Here are some sample photos. These are resized with quality set to 60 for the web. So far, I very much like what I’m seeing.

Here are some sample photos of the wide-angle lens and the zoom.

That’s it for our initial hands-on review of the Huawei P40. So far, I like what I see. I am especially enjoying its performance and cameras. Stay tuned for our review, which will come out in a week or so.

Also see: Huawei MateBook D 15 review

Huawei P40 specs

• Display: 6.1-inch OLED Display (2340 x 1080, 422ppi)
• Processor: 2.86GHz Octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G Processor
• Graphics: Mali-G76 MC16GPU
• RAM: 8GB RAM
• Storage: 128GB UFS Storage, NanoSD Memory Card Slot
• Rear Cameras: 50MP f/1.9 Main + 16MP f/2.2 Ultra-wide + 8MP f/2.4 Telephoto, 3x Optical Zoom
• Front Camera: 32MP f/2.2, IR
• Network: 5G, 4G, Dual SIM
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, NFC
• Ports: USB Type-C
• Others: In-display Fingerprint Scanner, IP53 Dust and Water Resistant
• OS: EMUI 10.1, Android 10
• Battery: 3800mAh Battery, 22.5W Fast Charging