- Forced to dispense with the services of Google and the Google PlayStore following the American embargo in force against its manufacturer, the new Huawei P40 Pro smartphone wants to stand out in the photo.
- Setting the bar very high technically, the device rose to the rank of the best photophone in early 2020 with its four rear sensors, including one of 50 megapixels.
- But sold for 1099 euros, it is undoubtedly too expensive as soon as the software part is cut off from essential applications.
This is the new star smartphone that you may not have seen pass during confinement. Launched in the middle of the coronavirus crisis, like the iPhone SE, the Huawei P40 Pro is also the victim of the absence on board of Google Services (Gmail, Drive, Maps…). This is the consequence of the American embargo which has hit the Chinese manufacturer for many months. However, Huawei has set the bar very high to seduce. But will the technique suffice to convince buyers to pay 1099 euros?
An impressive technical sheet
It is beautiful, necessarily. As much as a smartphone can be. Frosted glass back on which is planted an impressive photo module; 6.58 '' / 16.71 cm Full HD + OLED screen (2640 x 1200 pixels), chrome metallic outline as a bumper to avoid everyday addicts ... the P40 Pro is an aesthetic success. Let's get rid of the other specifics, because inside, nothing seems to be missing. 256 GB of expandable memory with 8 GB of Ram, state-of-the-art 5G processor Kirin 990, 4200 mAh battery with 40-watt charger, IP68 standard for waterproofing ... the technical data sheet is impressive. It is even more so in the photo.
Huawei's survival depends on the photo
And this is where Huawei plays big. Photo champion (since its partnership with Leica in 2016), grilling politeness to its competitors in the field of shooting with its P30 Pro, the manufacturer has outdone itself with its P40 Pro. This new smartphone thus integrates four rear sensors * and two front **. This armada offers a range of visual possibilities that few smartphones can claim to approach.
Let's face it: most of the photos taken with the P40 Pro during our confinement are excellent. The details swarm to the eye, the photos offer a beautiful dynamic and the colorimetry is fairly faithful (even if blue dominates a little).
The ultra wide angle is a particularly appreciable contribution. Note the presence of different filters, including the one called "Impact" which offers fans of black and white photos enough to let their creativity speak. The contrasts, finally, are well marked.
A 5x optical zoom that defends itself
Once again after the Huawei P30 Pro, it is also the zoom of the P40 Pro that stands out. If it is possible to reach 50x in digital (with results which remain mediocre however), the optical zoom 5x does, him, feats of prowess. He manages to maintain an incredible level of information for a smartphone like with these cat photos…
Night shots are also a success and can compete with those of Google Pixel smartphones. Sometimes, a simple snapshot is better than a snapshot taken with the Night mode as it is the case below. Still, the P40 Pro manages to reveal details that one would not necessarily suspect.
As for Portrait mode, the photos taken display a beautiful bokeh effect (blurring the back of the subject) while taking care of the clipping of the hair. Same observation with selfies, here operated in 32 megapixels.
The P40 Pro manages to isolate small rebellious hair without drowning it in a pseudo-artistic blur like so many smartphones do.
The new photo champion
So yes, the P40 Pro will be unanimous around its photo functions because apart from the Samsung Galaxy S20 which can compete with it, no other smartphone arrives at the ankle in the matter. We are waiting for the reply from Apple… which will deconfigure its iPhone 12 next September if all goes well. In the end, it must be admitted, there is hardly any criticism to be made against the last flagship of the Huawei fleet. We could just regret the presence of a single speaker, a bit tight for viewing without headphones, or a screen refresh rate of 90 Hz where others, like the new OnePlus 8, have crossed the 120 Hz mark.
Disabling absences
Oh yes. There is also this Google story… And there it is the drama. If Huawei develops its AppGalery as a store of alternative applications, the shop remains for the moment as busy as a ray of hydroalcoholic gel at the start of confinement. Because if Google services - including YouTube - are absent, Facebook, Netflix or Instagram are not there any more. You have to search, dig, rely on the websites of the coveted applications, get non-optimized versions, not automatically updated ... If TikTok, Snapchat, Amazon, Deezer or Snapchat are there, our uses are completely turned upside down.
So who is Huawei's P40 Pro for? For die-hard geeks who will be able to live with it, no doubt. For hatters who may be happy to slam the door in the face of Google. But certainly not for the general public who, having to pay 1099 euros, will have in hand a flanged product, not to say incomplete. If one cannot blame Huawei for the consequences of the American embargo on its new smartphones, the manufacturer's error is to want to keep their prices at the level of those of its competitors while its own are weighed down by the concessions that they impose.
* A main 50 megapixel photo sensor (f / 1.9); a second of 40 megapixels (ultra-wide-angle, f / 1.8); a third of 12 megapixels (periscopic, f / 3.4); as well as a depth of field sensor.
** A 32 megapixel (f / 2.2) sensor; a depth of field sensor.
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Attention, innovations
Named Dynamic Image, an option (to activate, at the top left of the Photo screen) allows the P40 Pro to record countless information with one click, the camera taking nine shots (before, during and after the shutter release) ). And there ... magic! When editing, it is possible to choose the best photo (the smartphone preselects them for you), delete a reflection, or even eliminate a passerby altogether. By dint of artificial intelligence and algorithms, the result is quite surprising. Image optimization is also made possible with a single click thanks to the information (depth, light, clarity, etc.) stored by the smartphone.
- Apple
- Smartphone
- Huawei
- High-Tech