Since the amalgamation of the smartphone with a digital camera, consumers have been transformed into photographers capturing life. However, many have wondered if smartphone cameras can be as good as a DSLR.
Spurred by the convenience of being able to share our life stories, social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, WeChat, WhatsApp, Tiktok and Snapchat, have experienced an explosion in popularity in recent years. Huawei is hoping the introduction of the P40 Pro smartphone will help the approximate 3.4 billion social media users worldwide take their next steps on their photographic journey.
Huawei’s P40 Pro is the company’s latest high-end smartphone. The P40 Pro smartphone is packed with 8 GB RAM + 256 GB ROM internal storage. It is powered by a Kirin 990 5G Octa-core processor running over an Android-based custom user interface Emotion UI 10.1 Operating system (Based on Android 10). However, the Huawei’s P40 Pro is more than just a high-end Android phone because it has so many features, performances that can match any leading phone and a gorgeous a 6.58-inch full-HD+ OLED touchscreen display with rounded edges, and 1440 x 3160 pixel resolution.
Digital camera technology that is an echelon above the others
Having unboxed and taken the P40 Pro for a drive, we soon realized what truly distinguishes this phone from the competition is the underneath the case. The P40 Pro is top notch say no more. The Leica lens is impressive taking portraits comparable to most consumers DSLR cameras but in a more portable frame. Partnering with Leica, the P40 Pro combines the Huawei technology ingenuity along with the traditional Leica photographic brilliance to create an Ultra Vision Quad Leica Camera designed for consumers that what capture and share their life. At 128 points, the Huawei’s P40 Pro achieves an impressive new top score in the DXOMARK camera ranking.
The Huawei’s P40 Pro features the Ultra Vision Leica Quad camera. That means within this slim phone you will have 4 distinct next generation cameras. The front camera on the P40 Pro comes with a 32 MP Front Camera + Depth Sensor providing high quality selfies with HDR and accurate background blur.
The main camera is a f/1.9 Ultra Vision Camera with a large 1/1.28” 50MP Quad Bayer sensor, with a RYYB filter. In comparison to the Galaxy S20, the sensor is physically bigger. The RYYB colour filter has green sub pixels replaced by the yellow ones which allows the sensors to collect up to 40% more light than traditional RGGB filters. For consumers this will translate int o crisper image quality in low light settings. Within the ultra-wide camera Huawei deploys a high-resolution image 40MP 1/1.54″ sensor with a fast f/1.8 lens.
10x Super Zoom
The Telephoto is a 12MP f/3.4 Super Zoom camera and leverages software to employ field-of-view (FOV) with AI RAW (algorithm-powered with optical digital zooming). This provides 5x magnification, a 10x hybrid zoom and 50x digital zoom. Truly the zoom capability distinguishes this camera from anything else on the market. You can easily zoom 5x and 10x zoom in normal light situations and get exceptional photos. Traditionally photographers had to worry about stabilization issues. However this is not the case with Huawei’s AI that addresses this challenge.
Enhanced bokeh
Bokeh comes from the Japanese word boke-aji, ボケ味, which means “blur” or “haze”. For photographers it is “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light“. Basically, bokeh is the quality of the blurry parts of the image rendered by a camera lens. Bokeh is important because it makes the background appear separate from sharp foreground subjects. For photos it would create a sense of depth in the background. As confirmed in the DXOMARK the P40 Pro defines the best bokeh and video effects in the industry.
To control or not to control?
Part of the challenges in the past of camera phones’ is that the photo’s never looked as professional as pictures taken by DSLR cameras. A photograph’s exposure determines how light or dark an image will appear when it’s been captured by your camera by controlling the aperture, ISO and shutter speed.
However for novices who are not comfortable, you may want initially for your camera to take over this complexity. The advantage of the P40 Pro is that it can help both spectrums. The aperture mode: lets you control the aperture and zoom. While pro mode lets you control almost everything except the aperture. There is a camera mode called light painting can be used to take long exposer shots.
Downloading Your Favourite Apps Became a Lot Easier
Initially looking at the P40 Pro, we had questions about what apps are available? How we would install apps on the phone. Many consumers are aware due to the challenges with the US government, Huawei phones do not use Google services. However, there are plenty of big-name apps already available, such as TikTok, Amazon, Twitter, WeChat and Snapchat. For this and many other apps, Huawei has made the transition seamless for consumers with providing four different ways to download.
Phone Clone
Phone Clone is the fastest method to transfer your top apps and data from your previous device. You don’t need Wi-Fi or data stream, just scan the QR code or connect a local hotspot of the new phone. Using Phone Clone is easy:
- Launch Phone Clone on both devices.
- Select the old and new phone.
- Scan the QR code and establish a connection.
- Select the data you wish to transfer and start the migration.
- Please note some apps and data cannot be transferred, depending on OS.
AppGallery
AppGallery is the official app delivery platform for Huawei devices. Find the majority of your favourite apps here, with new apps being added regularly by the local ecosystem team. AppGallery is preloaded on all P40 Series devices.
Petal Search – Find Apps
Easily search and update your apps from other sources using Petal Search. Simply install Petal Search to download apps, news, images and more.
You can also add the Petal Search widget to your home screen to find apps faster:
- Pinch the bottom of your home screen with two fingers and tap “Widgets.”
- Search for “Petal Search” and drag the widget onto an empty part of your home screen.
Petal Search will bring back results for multiple methods of accessing the app – including AppGallery. If the app is not found in the form of an apk it will suggest using the mobile web version or a native app version. If the app is found as an apk it will suggest the app either from apkpure or other market place where the app is available. After this, installation is a breeze.
Add Bookmark
You can add web version bookmarks to your home screen for apps that aren’t available yet:
- Launch Browser and navigate to the web version of the app
- Press the menu icon on the bottom right.
- Select “Add Page To” and tap, “Phone home screen.”
The Rise of Smartphone Photography
Creating professional-looking photos has never been easier. Up to now it has been only marketing hype that smartphone cameras were capable of being a good replacement for a DSLR. However, the release of the Huawei’s P40 Pro has transformed the smartphone into a serious camera.
Features and Specifications
- Dimensions: 72.6 mm x 158.2 mm x 8.95 mm
- Weight: Approx. 209 g (including the battery)
- Colours: Silver Frost
- Processor:
- Kirin 990 5G Chipset
- CPU:
- Octa core
- 2 x Cortex-A76 Based 2.86 GHz + 2 x Cortex-A76 Based 2.36 GHz + 4 x Cortex-A55 1.95 GHz
- GPU: Mali-G76
- NPU: Dual Big Core + Tiny Core NPUs (Neural-network Processing Unit)
- Display:
- OLED, up to 90 Hz frame refresh rate
- 2640 x 1200 Pixels
- 58” Quad Curve Overflow Display
- Memory: 8 GB RAM + 256 GB ROM
- Connectivity:
- Wi-Fi: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax, 2 x 2 MIMO, HE160, 1024 QAM, 8 Spatial-stream Sounding MU-MIMO
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth5.1, Support BLE, SBC, AAC, LDAC
- Data Cable Port: USB Type-C, USB 3.1 GEN1
- Earjack: USB Type-C earjack
- Others: PC Data Synchronisation
- Power:
- Battery: 40 W HUAWEI SuperCharge 4200 mAh Battery;
- 0 to 70% charge in 30 minutes
- Charge: 27 W Wireless Huawei SuperCharge / Reverse Charge
- Faster wireless charging, ability to charge other devices
- Camera:
- 50 MP Ultra Vision Camera: 1/1.28’ RYYB Ultra Vision Sensor
- 3D Depth Sensing Camera: DSLR-like apture depth with Bokeh effect
- 40 MP Ultra Wide Cine Camera: 4K 60 FPS Ultra low light, Ultra slo-mo
- 12 MP Telephoto Camera: 5x Optical zoom, up to 50x SuperZoom
- 32 MP Front Camera + Depth Sensor: High quality selfies with HDR and accurate background blur
- Other: IP68
For more information about or to buy the: Huawei’s P40 Pro
