Huawei P40 review

8 April 2020


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Aierlan, 09 Apr 2020Hard to say which is best without having and using all the ... moreSo true

    I very suprised with the work they did on camera. I kind of tested it in the local operater store. Pictures are really detailed. If u like taking photo then this is the phone u should buy.

      In review you state that 4k video quality is good, but then you list it as a Con at the end.
      "4K videos are underwhelming."

      Also, you don't list as a Pro the option of expandable storage, but only list it as a Con.

        • S
        • Starkfrost
        • HB{
        • 07 May 2020

        Images, taken with "3x" zoom camera lack real resolution a lot. Many jagged edges, sometimes it looks almost like "nearest neighbour" (lowest quality) interpolation after upscaling. Looking at samples, I just can't agree that "the images are sharp and detailed". Please guys, don't follow the way of DxO, don't call black white.

          • S
          • Starkfrost
          • HB{
          • 07 May 2020

          Images, taken with "3x" zoom camera lack real resolution a lot. Many jagged edges, sometimes it looks almost like "nearest neighbour" (lowest quality) interpolation after upscaling. Looking at samples, I just can't agree that "the images are sharp and detailed". Please guys, don't follow the way of DxO, don't call black white.

            • R
            • Ryan
            • 7XX
            • 27 Apr 2020

            I am starting to feel terrible choosing this device for my plan renewal in our country with the same plan I had since P20 last 2018 or my Gr5 since 2016.
            I guess it lured me with the freebies 3 giveaway promo. It's just so sad reading about this phone's verdict - not getting recommended and all. The phone's not even gonna be on my experience by June 19th, or not at least during COVID-19's situation. I hope you're gonna give a heads up about it.

              Anonymous, 17 Apr 2020The question is whether it uses the edges from the ultra wi... moreI don't see any reason for going through the former process when the latter is so much less taxing for CPU/ISP and yet still produces more consistent looking images.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • gBV
                • 18 Apr 2020

                "Something seems to be terribly wrong with the P40's Night Mode as it offers far inferior photos"
                Huawei's night mode was maybe never really good. I remember when they introduced the night mode with the P20 Pro. Many people were excited, but when I looked at sample images, the auto mode images were often much sharper and had great dynamic range.
                At the presentation of the P40 Pro Huawei indicated that they don't combine multiple exposures in low light conditions, if night mode isn't used. I don't know whether that's really true, but if yes, it would indicate that Huawei can't handle multiple exposures well, but has a good algorithm (or machine learning?) in order to get good single exposure results in low-light conditions.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • gBV
                  • 17 Apr 2020

                  Nick Tagataka, 17 Apr 2020So P40 Pro series CAN actually shoot at 23mm equiv. field o... moreThe question is whether it uses the edges from the ultra wide angle camera (image fusion) or whether it uses the total field of view of the main camera. One would need to cover the ultra wide angle camera.

                    • F
                    • Fred Jay
                    • 3g5
                    • 17 Apr 2020

                    Kaloyan, 14 Apr 2020The P30 Pro has an 8MP tele camera and its photos are then ... moreYes there is a clear difference between 5x P40 and 5x P40 pro (read 5x P40 pro is definitely doing better).
                    But P40 vs P30 pro 5x : quite the same :)

                      Kaloyan, 16 Apr 2020Hey, sorry for misleading you. Tested this again very caref... moreSo P40 Pro series CAN actually shoot at 23mm equiv. field of view without any problem, but crops in by default? That sounds interesting but also must be frustrating at the same time. Probably they do that to bridge the gap between UWA and the main cameras and prevent the quality loss, but they should've still made full use of the wider angle lens for the main camera at 1x magnification nonetheless.

                      Anyway I really appreciate your additional information, you should probably update the review to reflect your finding.

                        Anonymous, 15 Apr 2020"Zooming out below 1x uses the ultrawide camera." Any sour... moreHey, sorry for misleading you. Tested this again very carefully on the P40, indeed outzooming until 0.8x uses the main camera and you can actually get the full field of view. The corners are a bit soft though - maybe one of the reasons for the crop.

                          Anonymous, 15 Apr 2020"Zooming out below 1x uses the ultrawide camera." Any sour... moreKaloyan IS THE GSMArena member you're asking for.

                            Anonymous, 15 Apr 2020"Zooming out below 1x uses the ultrawide camera." Any sour... moreHe means images at 0.5x (Ultrawide camera)
                            Images at 1x(main sensor)
                            And images at 2x,3x,5x (telephoto sensor)

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • gBV
                              • 15 Apr 2020

                              Kaloyan, 15 Apr 2020There is no such mode. It's either default 12.5MP (cropped)... more"Zooming out below 1x uses the ultrawide camera."
                              Any source? That's why I am asking gsmarena.

                                Anonymous, 15 Apr 2020"you can indeed notice that the high-res photos offer wider... moreThere is no such mode. It's either default 12.5MP (cropped) or High-res 50MP (full). That's it.

                                Zooming out below 1x uses the ultrawide camera.

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • gBV
                                  • 15 Apr 2020

                                  "you can indeed notice that the high-res photos offer wider field-of-view, meaning some cropping is happening before we get those 12-megapixel photos"
                                  Gsmarena, show us some sample images at 23mm in the low resolution mode (should be at approximately 0.85x) , it would be interesting whether it uses the full field of view of the main camera or whether it crops the ultra wide angle camera

                                    Fred Jay, 13 Apr 2020About the 5x hybrid zoom, GSMA, you write "Sure, those aren... moreThe P30 Pro has an 8MP tele camera and its photos are then upscaled to 10MP - hense the not so sharp look. Compare those to P40 Pro instead :)

                                      • g
                                      • gab
                                      • I@H
                                      • 13 Apr 2020

                                      good thing Huawei did a big price cut for this in our country. they're selling this for about $720.

                                        • F
                                        • Fred Jay
                                        • 3g5
                                        • 13 Apr 2020

                                        About the 5x hybrid zoom, GSMA, you write "Sure, those aren't a match in detail to a real 5x tele, but quite close".
                                        Well when I compare the details and textures of the P40 review pics with the P30 pro review pics (for instance the snail), I hardly see a difference! Somehow the P40 5x hybrid produces the same quality as the P30 pro 5x optical zoom.

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