Introduction
What do you know! Apparently, a phone can have a long zoom camera and not brag about it in its model name. And that's exactly the kind of upgrade the Huawei P40 Pro+ offers over the regular P40 Pro - 10x optical zoom instead of 5x.
Huawei P40 Pro+ presents the very best Huawei has to offer to this day - it packs a large and high-res OLED with 90Hz refresh rate, the most powerful Kirin chip complete with 5G modem, the best of Leica-powered cameras, the fastest charging, plus the ceramic overflow design with is the most beautiful one the maker has done so far.
Huawei has had a very fruitful partnership with Leica over the years, and it may as well be the one thing to help it survive in the post-Google era. The maker has been known for its excellent photography skills in a while, but with the P40 series it also focused on improving its video quality.
The penta-camera on the back of the P40 Pro+ is, of course, the star of the show, and it will be the Pro+ key selling feature. It sounds nothing short of amazing. You get a 50MP primary and a 40MP ultrawide shooters, then there is an 8MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom and another 8MP tele with the whooping 10x optical zoom thanks to a periscopic lens. The fifth shooter is a ToF one to help the autofocus, portraits, and some of the more advanced video modes.
The Huawei P40 Pro+ has another major upgrade over the regular Pro version and it is one of the most premium features you can get on a smartphone today. We are talking about the ceramic design - the P40 Pro+ has a ceramic back and a ceramic frame, which makes it much more scratch resistant than the regular Gorilla Glass and the likes options. Making such panels is a complex and costly process and it does add even more sense to the luxurious price tag of the Pro+.
Huawei P40 Pro+ specs
- Body: Glass front, ceramic back, ceramic frame; IP68-rated for dust and water resistance.
- Screen: 6.58" quad-curved OLED, 1,200x2,640px resolution (440ppi); HDR10.
- Chipset: Kirin 990 5G, octa-core processor (2xA76 @2.86GHz + 2xA76 @2.36GHz +4xA55 @1.95GHz), Mali-G76 MP16 GPU, tri-core NPU.
- Memory: 8GB RAM, 256/512 GB UFS3.0 storage (expandable via Nano Memory - hybrid slot).
- OS/Software: Android 10, EMUI 10.1.
- Rear camera: Primary: 50MP (RYYB filter), 1/1.28" sensor size, 23mm f/1.8 lens, OIS, PDAF; Telephoto: 8MP, 1.4µm pixel, 80mm f/2.4 OIS lens, 3x optical zoom, PDAF. Telephoto: 8MP, 1.22µm pixels, with periscope 240mm f/4.4 OIS lens, 10x optical and 100x digital zoom, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 40MP (RGGB filter), 1/1.54", 18mm, f/1.8, PDAF; ToF camera; 4K@60fps video capture, 720@7680fps slow-mo; Leica co-developed.
- Front camera: 32MP, f/2.2, 26mm; ToF camera.
- Battery: 4,200mAh; Super Charge 40W; 40W wireless charging; 27W reverse wireless charging.
- Security: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical), 3D face recognition.
- Connectivity: 5G/4G/3G/GSM; Dual SIM, Wi-Fi 6+, Dual-band GPS, Bluetooth 5.1 + LE, NFC, USB Type-C.
- Misc: IR blaster, acoustic display acts as earpiece, bottom-firing loudspeaker.
There is no perfect smartphone and the P40 Pro+ isn't making history as being flawless, just for its 10x optical zoom in a modern smartphone (remember the Galaxy S4 Zoom? - good times...). The latest Huawei has no Google Mobile Services, obviously, and it has no audio jack. Stereo speakers are no-go as well, because there is no real earpiece to double as a second tweeter.
Still, by having so many cutting-edge features, the Huawei P40 Pro+ is easily the cream of the crop of the smartphones. And now it's time to take a closer look.
Unboxing the Huawei P40 Pro+
The Huawei P40 Pro+ is packed within one of Huawei's white paper boxes - a standard wrapping for most of its smartphones. Looks can be deceiving though, as this box contains a lot of goodies.
Every new P40 Pro+ is bundled with the 40W SuperCharge adapter and the enhanced USB-C cable needed for the fast charging to work. It is a proprietary solution, yes, just like most of its competitors.
Huawei's USB-C headphones are also part of the P40 Pro+ retail package. They are shaped as Huawei's FreeBuds, or shall we say Apple's EarPods. Anyway, these are some of the more comfortable headphones you can have today, complete with mic and volume control, so we appreciate them.
The box may also contain a silicone case in some markets, but our EU package did not offer one.
Design, build, handling
The Huawei P40 Pro+ looks the same as the regular Pro, or any other curved glass smartphone for that matter. Or at least that is what you'd think at first. And it'd be wrong. The Plus version has ceramic back and frame compared to the non-Plus, while its overflow screen gives it an edge over other curved headliners.
Huawei P40 Pro, P40 Pro+, and P40
Huawei is asking a lot for its P40 Pro+ model - priced at €1400 at launch, it is €400 more expensive than the Pro. But you should be happy to know you are not paying just for longer zoom. The ceramic panels are one of the sturdiest on the planet, and this alone has the potential to change our smartphone habits for good.
Still, as far as design goes, the Huawei P40 Pro+ is indeed an exact copy of the P40 Pro - it has the same size and shape, same curves and wavy frame. It has gained 17g more in weight, attributed probably to the extended camera and ceramic materials.
Huawei P40 Pro, P40 Pro+, and P40
Just like the P40 Pro, the Huawei P40 Pro+ is IP68-rated for dust and water-resistance. The ceramic back is said to have a hardness of 8.5 on Mohs scale. For comparison, sapphire is rated at level 9, and diamond is 10.
The overflow screen was one of the P40 Pro best features and it stays the same on the Plus, too. It's a 6.58" OLED with 1200p resolution and 90Hz refresh rate. The elliptical cutout is an eyesore, sure, but it contains a lot of tech to make up for its size - a high-res selfie camera with IR ToF 3D sensor for autofocus and secure face unlock.
Huawei calls the screen overflow and the name suits it perfectly - all four sides are curved towards the frame and just flow within it, while the extra space around the corners allows the frame to raise "waves". It sure is a subtle but beautiful execution and we like it.
The screen is curved, yes, but nowhere near the Motorola Edge's panel. We didn't have any issues with accidental touch registration or worse, losing parts of the picture to those curves.
But bear in mind the screen is protected by a Gorilla Glass-like strengthen glass, meaning it may shatter if you drop the P40 Pro+ on its screen. While the ceramic frame and the back will probably take quite the beating, the front glass won't.
Huawei has stopped using Corning as supplier for the protective glasses, though it says it opts for equally strong pieces to protects its screens.
One more thing that's typical of the most expensive Huaweis lately - the acoustic display and hence the absence of an earpiece. Just like the P30 Pro and P40 Pro, the Pro+ vibrates the screen to produce sounds in voice calls. It's great and cutting-edge, yes, but unfortunately, this technology can't match the loudness of an actual speaker and so the Pro+ has only one of those - at the bottom.
Finally, the P40 Pro+, just like all of the flagships nowadays, has its fingerprint scanner underneath the OLED panel. It is an improved sensor since the P40 Pro with increased size and speed by 30%. It is of the optical kind, and it is among the fastest in the genre.
We said a lot about the front, but the magic happens elsewhere. The back has the first-ever penta-camera by Huawei and Leica, and it sounds great on paper. The 40MP ultrawide snapper accompanies the new 50MP UltraVision camera, then comes an 8MP cam for 3x optical zoom and the superstar - the 8MP shooter for 10x optical magnification made possible by using an even more complex periscope lens design than what they've had before. Around are also a ToF camera, an IR sensor, a multi-spectrum color temperature sensor, a mic for video capturing and its audio zoom feature, and the dual-tone LED flash.
This entire camera kit sits on a volcano-esque rising bulge without any sharp edges. Huawei is very proud of the phone's elaborate design. Design is always a subjective matter, but this one suits the phone well and yes, it looks good. It does make the P40 Pro+ wobble a lot, of course.
You can get the P40 Pro+ in Ceramic Black and Ceramic White. There are no gradients, just uniform color you are seeing on the photos. The Black is more of a dark gray, and it's super reflective (as much as a diamond, Huawei says), but thankfully, it's not the smudge magnet you'd expect. Maybe this has something to do with the ceramic.
Huawei claims the back is made using nano-grade micro-zirconium compound - a first for this industry and as we said, one of the sturdiest materials with 8.5 hardness on Mohs. This thing is baked at 500C for five days to become as refractive as diamonds and nearly as strong.
The ceramic frame is the thickest around the top and bottom. The bottom part is pretty crowded - here you'd see the speaker, the USB-C port, the hybrid-SIM tray and the mouthpiece.
The top of the P40 Pro+ has the IR blaster and a second mic. The third mic is on the back, next to the multi-camera setup.
You bet handling the P40 Pro+ is the ultimate flagship experience you can get these days. Its curves aren't making it the safest phone to handle, though the ceramic back and frame do help for the peace of mind. This is one of the phones we'd use without a case, but a screen protector is still a must.
Anyway, we found the P40 Pro+ to be a premium smartphone through and through. It's well-built and water-resistant, and we liked how it felt in hand.
A great display
Huawei P40 Pro+ has the same screen as the P40 Pro - meaning it is both with high resolution and high refresh rate. We're glad to see Huawei finally jumping on the HRR bandwagon.
The Huawei P40 Pro+ packs a 6.58" OLED screen of 1,200 x 2,640 pixels that make for 441ppi and 19.8:9 aspect ratio. The OLED wraps halfway around all sides of the P40 Pro+, meaning it's even curvier than previous Huawei displays. It supports 90Hz refresh rate, not the fastest in the class, but an improvement that will allow for much smoother picture.
The cutout is large, yes, as it houses the selfie camera, the ToF sensor and the IR flood illuminator, and the ambient light sensor. Its elliptical shape helps lower the impact on the eyes, but the left corner of the display remains largely unusable.
We measured a maximum brightness of 455 nits when adjusting the slider manually, which in line with most of the Samsung OLEDs but is lower than what you could get on a Mate 20 Pro and a P30 Pro. With Auto enabled, though, the P40 Pro+ is lighting up to 760 nits - a great boost for the brightest of summer days.
The minimum brightness we captured on the P40 Pro+ screen was mere 1.6 nits - an excellent one.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, |
White, |
||
| 0 | 455 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 760 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 571 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 605 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 425 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 531 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 398 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 894 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 333 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 538 | ∞ | |
| 0.332 | 437 | 1316:1 | |
| 0 | 525 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 635 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 536 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 871 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 440 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 820 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 538 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 888 | ∞ | |
Now let's talk color accuracy. There are two Display options - Vivid and Normal, each representing a different color space - DCI-P3 and sRGB respectively. Each of these settings offers further color saturation fine tuning if the default one is not your cup of tea.
The default screen mode is Vivid and at its default saturation state the display has an excellent color accuracy to DCI-P3 with an average deltaE of 3.3 and maximum deviation of 4.9. If you switch to Normal (sRGB) mode, you will get a perfect calibration with an average deltaE of 1.3.
The P40 Pro+ display supports HDR10+ and is recognized by apps as HDR-capable. It has Widevine L3 support though, meaning Netflix and Amazon Prime work fine in SD quality but HBO is a No Go (pun intended).
You can run YouTube on the web browser, of course, and you can enjoy the videos in high-resolution. We will talk about a YouTube app alternative in a bit.
Battery life and charging
The Huawei P40 Pro+ packs a 4,200 mAh Li-Po battery - same as P30 Pro and P40 Pro's. It supports Huawei's 40W SuperCharge and the phone is bundled with the said charger. Quite expectedly it does a splendid job - in 30 minutes it will refill 77% of the P40 Pro's empty battery, while a full charge is achieved in about 70 mins.
Huawei P40 Pro+ supports smart battery charging - if you hook the P40 Pro+ for an overnight charge, it will eventually lower the speed and complete the full charge just before sunrise.
The P40 Pro+ is the first smartphone to support 40W wireless charging - it works only with the Huawei SuperCharge Wireless Charging Stand, the one that's bundled with Huawei's 65W adapter (go figure!).
We are happy to report the P40 Pro+ charges wirelessly as fast as it does with the wired charger. Its flat battery went from 0% to 55% in 30mins on the Charging Stand and reached a full charge in 80 mins (10 mins more than on the wired charger).
The phone does get a bit hot, but the charger is TUV Rheinland-certified for charging safety. The stand has an integrated fan for cooling, but Huawei has adjusted the stand to go to ultra-silent mode from 21:00 to 07:00 - it will charge the phone slower thus it won't be needing the fan.
The P40 Pro+ also supports 27W reverse wireless charging and you can fast-charge another flagship Huawei on the back of your P40 Pro+ (because, why not!). After activating the reverse charging from the battery options, you can charge your smartwatch or wireless earbuds off the phone.
We've completed our battery tests and the results are quite good and in line with the P40 Pro, which has the same screen, chipset, and battery. The phone can last almost 14 hours on web surfing, or more than 17 hours on playing videos. These battery times are identical on 60Hz and 90Hz refresh rates, which suggests Huawei is switching between the refresh rates dynamically to save power.
The 3G talk time isn't spectacular, and nor is the standby performance - and these led to a bit lower than expected, but still great endurance rating of 95 hours.
Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSerDevice app. The endurance rating above denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Huawei P40 Pro+ for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so that our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritty. You can check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Speaker
The Huawei P40 Pro+ has a single loudspeaker firing down from the bottom, and it posted a 'Good' result for loudness in our seven-track music test. It lacks a low-frequency thump, but the mids and highs are well represented. Our tool allows for comparing the sound output to any other phone we've tested so far.
Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.
EMUI 10.1 on top of Android 10 core
The Huawei P40 Pro+ runs on the the EMUI 10.1. It's the latest version of Huawei's skin and it's based on Android 10. It has no Google services and as no access to the Play Store, but we guess that's old news already. Huawei does offer its new proprietary Mobile Services complete with Huawei's AppGallery. More options are available, but we'll talk about those in a bit.
Let's start with how you unlock the Huawei P40 Pro+. Both fingerprint and 3D Face Unlock are available and both can work side by side - whichever happens first. The optical fingerprint sensor is the fastest currently available and it's on par with the conventional scanners - it lights up with a white light the moment you touch it, and before you know it, you are on the homescreen.
Thanks to the front ToF camera, secure (read 3D scan) Face Unlock is available a.k.a. Apple's Face ID. It works even in the dark and is often faster than the fingerprint reader as it scans and recognizes your face before you even touch the screen.
By the way, you can use Always-on screen and you can choose from a lot of different clock skins. This will drain your battery faster though.
Always-on screen
Like all EMUI-driven devices, you can set up a magazine lockscreen style that changes the picture every time you wake up the screen. Sliding from the bottom will bring out quick shortcuts to some commonly used utilities.
On the homescreen, you will find all of the installed and system apps, but there's a toggle in the settings menu that lets you choose between the standard layout or a homescreen with an app drawer. It's a personal preference, and it's good to be able to choose.
Lockscreen • Tools • Homescreen • Homescreen style • Some apps
There is a replacement for the Google Feed in this version of EMUI, and it's called Today. On this leftmost page, you will find a Search field, shortcuts to favorite contacts, photos, etc, Smart Care graphic (which is their analog of Google's Digital Wellbeing) and a News Feed filled with local news through a service provided from Huawei.
Today page
The homescreens are business as usual, and you can populate them with apps, folders, and widgets.
You can either embrace the notch, as usual, or you can mask it with a black status bar. It's quite the sizeable notch though and the top black bar may become an even bigger eyesore. We'd like to suggest switching to Dark Mode - it looks great on this OLED screen and the notch melts into everything.
Embrace the notch • Hide the notch • Dark mode • Dark mode
The notification shade in EMUI 10 is the most heavily redesigned UI element with the toggles now adopting a more conventional circular shape and a blue color for the On state, very much like on Samsung's One UI and sort of like Google's own Android 10 design. There's a brightness slider and a row of toggles upon the first pull, and you pull down again for more toggles.
App/contacts search • Notification shade
Multitasking is a familiar affair, and the task switcher allows for split-screen or pop-up mode. Most of the default apps support pop-up view, but only few can get into split-screen and we found that odd.
Recent apps • Pop-up view • Pop-up view
The P40 Pro+ default OS navigation is gesture-based - swipe up for Home, swipe up and stop midway for Task switcher, or swipe from the left or right edge of the screen for Back. You can opt for the classic virtual buttons, of course.
And while we are talking about gestures, here is a blast from the past - Huawei is making the air gestures a thing again. Thanks to the 3D IR camera at the front, the P40 Pro+ is capable of recognizing various gestures such as pinch, grab, wave, swipe and you can operate it pretty much touch-less.
So, you can take screenshots by hand grab, swipe to scroll, among other. Those are cool but they couldn't stick the first time we saw them on the Galaxy Note 3, and we doubt they will stick this time around, too. This is just too gimmicky.
From the phone manager app, which is now called Optimiser, you can access shortcuts to storage cleanup, battery settings, blocked numbers, Virus scan powered by Avast, and mobile data usage.
Huawei's Music app offers a way to listen to stored MP3s, and it also includes Huawei's own music services in compatible regions.
Same goes for the proprietary Video app - it plays your local videos, but it also includes Huawei's video streaming service similar to YouTube. Huawei has partnered with BBC to deliver more interesting content in addition to all funny and creative videos you will find within Huawei's own streaming servers.
Huawei's Health app is pre-installed, and it offers step counting, among many other things. There's a file manager app and a note-taking app.
Huawei is yet to launch its TomTom-based Maps app, but here is hoping this happens soon enough. And since the P40 Pro+ lacks a replacement for Google's location framework, apps like Pokemon Go and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite can't work.
Optimiser • Music Player • Video • Video • Video • Files
The gallery is an entirely custom job, too, but it has the usual chronological and albums views plus an AI-powered highlights selection. As part of EMUI 10.1 is a new powerful image editor integrated within the gallery and it makes use of the additional information left out from the multi-stacking when shooting. You can remove reflections or even people, which are potentially running your shot. Just hit Edit on an image and if the AI didn't do that for you already, it can be done from the Gallery.
Gallery • Edit • Edit
Few and far between phones these days, most of them Huawei's, have IR blasters, and so does the P40 Pro. Thanks to its Smart Remote companion app, you can control all of your legacy non-connected appliances with your phone.
Smart Remote
Sound Booster is a new feature part of EMUI 10.1. It turns your phone into a remote mic and it streams the sound to your Bluetooth headphones or speaker (meaning you have to be in Bluetooth range). This could be great for babyphone purposes, as well as spying.
Sound Booster
Huawei does not provide Google services pre-installed on the Huawei P40 Pro+, as we mentioned a couple of times already, nor have they encouraged or assisted in the side loading of the Google Play Store by the users. You can sideload some of the Gapps like Maps, Gboard, and Chrome, but Gmail and Play Store won't work without Play Services, which you can't get to work easily.
As Google's stuff is gone Huawei is going to launch its own smart assistant called Celia in selected markets - UK, France, Spain, Chile, Mexico, and Columbia. It obviously supports three languages so far - UK English, French, and Spanish.
Celia's capabilities are limited at launch - you can ask to dial a person or a number, or sent a text message. It can add calendar events, reminders, or run translation. Searching for multimedia within Huawei's default apps is also possible. It can tell you what the weather will be like, set an alarm, turn on/off the torch, or some popular setting like Wi-Fi.
Celia
Huawei has also partnered up with Qwant - one of EU's most popular search engine. And while currently Huawei's web browser and search tool are using Google or Bing, they will default at Qwant once the retail units of the P40 Pro+ ship.
A new service called MeeTime is coming to EMUI 10.1 via an OTA update later this year. It's basically a rival to Apple's FaceTime allowing you to make audio and video calls over the internet. It will also support screen sharing feature with markup support. Huawei also wants this service to expand beyond Huawei devices, so it will make it available to third-party developers post launch.
MeeTime was launched with the Mate 30 series in China six months ago and it already has 80+ million active users. Huawei is hopeful it will gain momentum outside China in time.
Finally, with EMUI 10.1 Huawei is expanding the multi-screen collaboration feature available between Huawei smartphones and MateBooks. Now in addition to the screen sharing and file exchange via drag and drop, you can make phone and video calls from your laptop. Opening files doesn't require transferring them to the phone or the laptop anymore - just double click and they will open on whichever device.
Now, let's talk about app stores. The App Gallery's catalog is your primary - the Play Store alternative from Huawei. Some apps are there, while others - aren't.
App Gallery
You can also use the Phone Clone app, which will copy everything from your old phone including all installed apps except for Google's (and some banking apps) on to your new P40 Pro. And that's surely a nice start, but it's not a real deal as you won't get future updates to these apps automatically.
Phone Clone
So, your safest bet is to resort to using third-party app stores though. The Amazon App Store should do a fine job - it has plenty of the popular apps - both free and paid, so you'll manage just fine using Amazon's solution.
Amazon AppStore
Or, if you don't need any paid apps, APKPure is another app repository and it works great for free apps and games. APKPure has a Store page with paid apps, too, but those are just links to the Play Store which obviously won't work on the Huawei P40 Pro.
Both Amazon AppStore and APKPure are great for keeping your apps up to date.
We go in greater detail into which apps work and which don't in another dedicated article, so you might want to check it out.
You can also download AppGallery on your current phone to see the app selection and gauge the general user experience.
APKPure • APKPure • APKPure • APKPure
There is this alternative app depository called F-Droid. In there you can download NewPipe app, which is a free YouTube client. While YouTube works quite well in the browser and you can even watch 4K videos, NewPipe as an app works better.
F-Droid • NewPipe
There is potentially another alternative. It's a more time-consuming approach that requires some extra tinkering, and it's called the microG Project - the XDA-approved open-source framework for getting apps designed for Google Play Services to run on phones without actual Google Play Services. But this goes beyond the scope of this review.
Occasionally a crafty user will find a way to install and run Google Play Services and apps on Huawei P40 and Mate 30 series. But it always come at some price and usually Google will disable the services in a matter of weeks, if not days. So, for all intents and purposes, do not hope to run Google's stuff on Huawei.
Performance and benchmarks
The Huawei P40 Pro+ runs on the Kirin 990 5G chipset - which has a bit faster processor than the regular non-5G Kirin 990 chip we worked with on the Mate 30 Pro.
The Kirin 990 5G has an octa-core processor with a familiar set of Cortex CPUs - 2xA76 + 2xA76 + 4xA55. In this 5G version of the SoC the maximum clock rates at 2.86GHz, 2.36GHz and 1.95GHz for the three respective clusters. The non-5G lowers the mid-cluster to 2.09GHz and the little one to 1.86GHz.
The GPU is a 16-core Mali-G76 - same for both versions of the Kirin 990 chip.
Finally, the neural processing unit (NPU) of the 5G Kirin 990 is made up of two 'big' cores and one 'tiny', whereas the regular Kirin 990's NPU has shelves one 'big' core.
Huawei P40 Pro+ has a Performance mode where it won't be as conservative about heat and battery consumption and will offer, well, higher performance. We found that when active it leads to a minor GPU boost and had no effect on the CPU.
Single-core CPU results of the P40 Pro in GeekBench are good, but a step behind the competition on the face of the new Snapdragon 865 and the Exynos's oversized custom cores.
GeekBench 5.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
910 - Motorola Edge+
910 - Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 5G
905 - Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
904 - OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
902 - Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
900 - Sony Xperia 1 II
897 - Huawei P40 Pro+
781 - Huawei P40 Pro
780 - Realme X3 SuperZoom
756 - Huawei P30 Pro (perf. mode)
694
Under multi-core loads the situation changes significantly. The P40 Pro+ is on par with the latest Qualcomm and Samsung processors.
GeekBench 5.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
3374 - Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 5G
3331 - Sony Xperia 1 II
3318 - Motorola Edge+
3295 - Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
3269 - Huawei P40 Pro+
3203 - Huawei P40 Pro
3197 - Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
2728 - Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
2697 - Realme X3 SuperZoom
2579 - Huawei P30 Pro (perf. mode)
2521
The raw graphic performance is flagship-worthy even if it not chart-topping. For all intents and purposes you will experience top-notch gaming performance on all of the current flagships.
GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Motorola Edge+
52 - Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
51 - Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
51 - Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
51 - Sony Xperia 1 II
51 - OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
51 - Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 5G
50 - Huawei P40 Pro
44 - Huawei P40 Pro+
44 - Realme X3 SuperZoom
41 - Huawei P30 Pro (perf. mode)
33
The P40 Pro+ scores a bit lower on the onscreen tests as its screen has higher resolution than most Mi 10 Pro, Motorola Edge+ and Realme X3 Super Zoom. The Galaxy S20 Ultra running on 1080p is champ, obviously.
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
101 - Motorola Edge+
89 - Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 5G
88 - Realme X3 SuperZoom
82 - Huawei P40 Pro+
67 - Huawei P30 Pro (perf. mode)
60 - Sony Xperia 1 II
60 - Huawei P40 Pro
59 - Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
58 - OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
58 - Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
57
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Motorola Edge+
48 - Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
43 - Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 5G
42 - Sony Xperia 1 II
39 - Realme X3 SuperZoom
35 - Huawei P40 Pro
31 - Huawei P40 Pro+
31 - Huawei P30 Pro (perf. mode)
29 - Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
25 - Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
25 - OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
24
Finally, the compound AnTuTu 8 test says all phones are fast, but the P40 Pro+ and its Kirin 990 5G is equal to the Galaxy S20 Ultra (Exynos 990) and the Xperia 1 II (S865) offer. Other Snapdragon 865 phones score a bit higher, though.
AnTuTu 8
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 5G
595246 - Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
593717 - Motorola Edge+
574155 - OnePlus 8 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
573276 - Sony Xperia 1 II
534701 - Huawei P40 Pro+
529687 - Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (60Hz, 1440p)
528631 - Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (120Hz, 1080p)
514485 - Huawei P40 Pro
496356 - Realme X3 SuperZoom
477905 - Huawei P30 Pro (perf. mode)
401208
The Huawei P40 Pro+ excels in the synthetic benchmarks even if it doesn't top them and it can be a showoff in real life, too. Its thermal management is turned out pretty good, too, so you can keep doing what you are doing throttling-free for a long time.
The 90Hz screen and the fluidness that come with it further enhances the impression of speed and flagship-greatness, so it can't really get better than that.
Ultra Vision Leica Penta Camera
The Huawei P40 Pro+ features the so-called Ultra Vision Leica Penta Camera, the fancy name behind the improved photography gear on the back. It's quite similar to the P40 Pro in terms of experience, but instead of one telephoto, the P40 Pro+ offers two of those. So, there is a regular wide camera, an ultra-wide snapper, a 3x zoom shooter, a 10x telephoto with periscope lens, and a ToF sensor.
This year, Huawei has worked on improving the overall quality, and each of the three cameras has an updated higher-resolution sensor featuring new color filters and improved lenses.
The main 'Ultra Vision' camera employs a new large 1/1.28" 50MP Quad Bayer sensor, with a RYYB filter. The sensor is physically bigger than the Galaxy S20 Ultra's 1/1.33" 108MP imager. The same applies to the binned pixel size - 2.44µm vs. 2.4µm. The lens has a 23mm equivalent focal length and an f/1.9 aperture and it is optically stabilized.
The RYYB color filter has the green sub-pixels replaced by yellow ones. Huawei says yellow allows the sensor to collect up to 40% more light than the regular RGGB filters and this change should translate into better image quality in low-light.
This camera has improved autofocus over the P30 series - now it's an all pixel omnidirectional phase detection autofocus. This means that not only are there autofocus detectors on each pixel but they are 8 of them per pixel. As a result, the camera's autofocus sensing has improved response to horizontal details whereas conventional dual pixel autofocus systems have a hard time with those. This also means autofocusing should also be generally improved in low-light.
By default, this camera outputs 12.5MP shots with a reported focal length of 27mm, which is different compared to the advertised nominal 23mm focal length that the camera is supposed to have. When you switch between 50MP and 12.5MP (default) mode, 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.
The ultra-wide camera is an upgrade compared to the P30 Pro as it was introduced on the Mate 30 Pro. It's a 1/1.54" 40MP imager with a Quad-Bayer RGGB filter. And because of the Quad-Bayer nature, this snapper outputs 10MP images. And just like on the Mate 30 Pro, the photos are in a classic 3:2 aspect ratio as opposed to the usual 4:3 found in phone cameras. Huawei markets this camera as a Cine camera for its wider aspect ratio.
There are two telephoto cameras on the P40 Pro+ for short- and long-range zoom. Both are 8MP.
Zooming on Huawei P40 Pro and P40 Pro+
The first telephoto camera uses an 8MP sensor with large 1.4µm pixels. It sits behind 81mm f/2.4 lens with OIS and provides 3x optical zoom over the main camera. The 8MP images are upscaled do 12.5MP, because why not.
The second telephoto camera has an 8MP sensor with smaller 1.22µm pixels. You can see only the end of its periscope lens on the back. The refracted light passes through a set of additional optical elements inside until it reaches the sensor, which sits perpendicular to the phone's plane. The system also provides optical image stabilization. The 8MP images are upscaled do 12.5MP, as Huawei just loves to do for no logical reason.
The periscope lens on the P40 Pro+ is 240mm with f/4.4 aperture, and it should offer 10x optical zoom (240mm) over the 23mm main camera. Well, if you do the math, the optical zoom isn't exactly 10x but more as 240/23 equals 10.43. So far, so good. But because of the 27mm crop default mode (remember that?) of the main camera, Huawei needed to adjust its 10x option to correspond to 270mm crop.
Here comes the tricky part. The zoom slider offers fixed 1x, 3x and 10x positions, but the 1x and 10x correspond to 27mm and 270mm crops - meaning both of them are the result of crop and upscale process. The upscale on the main camera is negligible. But it is another thing when done on the 8MP 10x tele photos - the algorithm first crops about 5.8MP and then upscales it to 12.5MP - that's a lot.
Long story short, the 10x is real no matter if we consider it over 23mm or 27mm. If you want the uncropped 240mm photo, you need to position the slider to 8.5x and you will get it. Upscaled, sure, but not cropped.
And while we are on it, if you want the 23mm uncropped photo from the main camera, drag the slider to 0.85x.
Here is hoping you are still with us and we didn't lose you in the crazy math the Huawei had to come up.
The fifth and final camera is a ToF one. The ToF (time of flight) camera speeds up the autofocus, and it also improves the subject separation and provides a more convincing background defocusing in portrait mode.
And speaking about portraits, the Huawei P40 Pro+ also features an upgraded multi-spectrum color temperature sensor with support for 8 channels (up from 3) and it has AI AWB (white balance) algorithm for even more accurate color balance when taking portrait shots.
The selfie setup has been upgraded since the P30 series, too, and it now features two cameras and autofocus!
The primary camera uses a 32MP sensor behind an f/2.2 26mm lens. Autofocus is available for the first time - an improvement that is way overdue. Second, comes another ToF camera, which will help for superb bokeh selfies.
Huawei's camera app is pretty functional. You have a Mode selector on the bottom which you can swipe left or right to change modes.
Camera app • Night Mode • Video • Pro mode • All other modes • Settings
Zooming is the other less-than-ideal bit about the P40 Pro+ camera UI. While the selector is reasonably accessible with the right thumb when holding the phone in portrait, operating it in landscape requires both hands. So, effectively, it's neither equally well suited to left-hand and right-hand use in portrait, nor is it usable single-handedly in the landscape. None of its competitors has these issues so Huawei can work more on improving the UI.
The camera app is enhanced by Huawei's AI just as before. There is an improved Master AI, which recognizes and tunes settings for up to 1,500 different scenes. There's a toggle in the viewfinder for turning it off and on, so you don't have to go into settings for that. We tend to keep it off, although the recent implementations are nowhere as aggressive as they used to be with phones in the past.
There's a Pro mode too where you can adjust parameters yourself - ISO (50 to 409,600), shutter speed (1/4000s to 30s), exposure compensation (-4 to +4EV in 1/3 stop increments), and white balance (presets and specific light temperature). You can also choose the metering mode (matrix, center-weighted, and spot), and the focus mode (single, continuous, and manual). If the phone thinks you messed up the exposure, an icon will pop up to warn you. Mind you, Pro mode is available on all three cameras, which isn't usually the case with competing phones.
By the way, Pro mode is available for video as well, and the maximum ISO there is 21,500 (on ultrawide camera). Unfortunately, you can't set a desired shutter speed.
For years now, Huawei phones have had both a Portrait mode and an Aperture mode. In Aperture, you can choose the simulated aperture in the range from f/0.95 to f/16. Post shot, you can change the aperture and the desired focus point within the Gallery.
In Portrait mode, you can enable and disable the background blur, but you can also choose the bokeh shapes - circles, hearts, swirl, or discs. You can also opt for simulated lighting, and you can add some beautification on a scale from 0 to 10.
Super Moon Shot has made it on the new P40 Pro+, too. It is now supported on both 10x and beyond zoom modes, but for the first time - you can now use Moon Shot on video, too.
Finally, there is this new feature called Golden Snap. It works when you enable Live Photo shooting and is basically an AI suggestion in the gallery for when your main photo isn't perfect (say there is a reflection or a blurry passerby), but the Live Photo did manage to capture info that will help improve it (remove said reflections or passerby).
The information from the Live Photo can be used later in the Photo Editor, which offers manual options for improving and/or removing reflections and passerby.
Image quality, daylight
Let's look at some daylight photos. The ones we took with the main camera are saved in 4,096 x 3,072 pixels or 12.5MP and turned out of excellent quality. There is plenty of resolved detail even in areas of high complexity, the dynamic range is great boosted by the multi-stacking, there is no visible noise, and the colors are lively even if somewhat warmer than reality.
Huawei has worked a bit on its algorithm and the photos from the main camera are now sharpened just right.
While Huawei offers a dedicated HDR shooting mode, you will not use it, ever. The camera of the P40 Pro+ works with improved Huawei XD Fusion Engine - the PR name behind the multi-stacking process - and Huawei already has a master's degree in this - the photos always excel in dynamic range.
Main camera, default mode, 12.5MP
You can out-zoom to 0.85x and get the complete field of view from the main camera. As we mentioned earlier - the algorithm crops a bit to achieve the view through the equivalent of 27mm lens. The uncropped images are sometimes a tiny bit sharper as they are less processed, but they have soft corners - probably one of the reasons Huawei does what it does.
Main camera, no crop, 12.5MP
The portraits are shot with the primary camera of the Huawei P40 Pro+ and you can choose between many different blur effects. The important part is that thanks to the ToF camera, the subject separation is very proficient and then the blur - quite professional-looking.
Indeed, these are among the best portrait shots we've seen to date - with very balanced tone, sharpness, and good transition between person and background.
Main camera, portraits, 12.5MP
High-res mode is available, and it shoots in full 50MP with the main camera. It does not take more than second and saves a high-res photo with a bit wider field-of-view than the default 12MP mode.
The high-res images present more than expected detail and have wider field of view than the default mode. Downscaling such photo to 12.5MP may give you a bit more resolved detail - probably because it wasn't processed as the regular ones and thus no detail was lost because of noise-reduction and/or other adjustments.
In our experience, it's not worth shooting in 50MP and then go through the hassle of manual editing, but the option is there, so we appreciate it.
Main camera, 50MP
If you need wider FoV, then you just switch to the ultrawide camera. Granted, it's not as wide as on many of the P40 Pro+ competitors - the new iPhones and Galaxies have 13mm lenses, while the P40 Pro+ offers 18mm.
Still, the 10MP ultrawide photos are simply brilliant. The resolved detail is impressive, the dynamic range is as wide as it can get, there are no soft corners or wrapped buildings, and the colors here are very accurate.
The sharpening is a bit excessive sharpening, but despite that - those are still among the best wide photos we've seen from a smartphone.
Ultrawide camera, 10MP
We also snapped some close-up shots with the ultrawide camera for you to enjoy. The minimum focus difference is about 8-10cm, not 4cm like on some competitors, so don't expect to capture invisible to the naked eye peculiarities such as the legs of a fly. Still, those are some good closeups.
Closeups, 10MP
Now, it's time to zoom in!
The 3x zoomed photos from the 8MP camera are saved in 12.5MP and turned out very good - they are detailed, with accurate colors, just the right sharpness, great contrast and nice dynamic range. The pixel peepers of you should be able to tell those images are upscaled, and yet - it's a well-done job thanks to Huawei's multi-stacking magic.
3x zoom, 12.5MP
The 12.5MP 10x zoomed images are excellent even if traces of upscaling are noticeable (the oil-painting like artefacts here and there). The detail is enough, the colors - accurate, the dynamic range is really good, and Huawei didn't try to mask the upscaling with excessive sharpening.
You will be able to see and capture things that were previously impossible to shoot with a modern smartphone, with a commendable quality at that.
10x zoom (270mm), 12.5MP
If you are not a fan of the cropping and upscaling thing Huawei does, you can still get the native field of view of this long-range tele camera by out-zooming to 8.5x. The images are a bit sharper, quite expectedly, and do fit more in the frame.
Cropped 10x (270mm) • Native 10x (240mm) • Cropped 10x (270mm) • Native 10x (240mm)
You can use digital zoom all the way up to 100x. But do you want to?
100x zoom
The 100x zoom option was not made for shooting, as you can see. It is really tough to simply focus on a subject, let alone get a usable photo. You can use the 100x and the viewfinder as a binocular though. And it's good PR, no doubt.
Image quality, low-light
It is time we move to low-light performance.
The photos taken at nighttime with the main camera are stunning. They have great level of detail, balanced exposure, good colors, very low noise, and the perfect sharpness. They look like taken with the Night Mode of any competitor that comes to mind.
Main camera, default mode, 12.5MP
If you turn the Night Mode on, the main benefit is that more detail is revealed in the shadows but there is no change in the already excellent highlights. There is no benefit to be had in terms of detail or noise - we even had some photos come out softer, so we think the 5-6 second wait for Night mode is hardly worth it.
Main camera, Night Mode, 12.5MP
The 10MP snaps from the ultrawide camera are simply great - detailed and noise-free, even if the noise reduction is a bit aggressive. The colors aren't washed out and we really liked all samples we shot.
Ultrawide camera, default mode, 10MP
Night Mode is available on the ultrawide camera, but you should stay away from it. First, it crops the image to 4:3 aspect and in then upscales it to 12.5MP (Huawei, stop!) - meaning it makes photos that are the same as the primary's, but with the wrong camera and for the wrong reasons. And it requires up to 8 seconds of steady holding the phone just to get photos that are lacking in detail big time.
For the ultrawide Night shots the tradeoff in quality is even pricier than on the regular camera and best-case scenario - you'd get a bit brighter sky, grass, or pavement. Not worth it.
Ultrawide camera, Night Mode, 12.5MP
Most of the 3x zoomed images we took at night turned out to be cropped and upscaled from the main camera. They do look good, but you should not expect much. Even if the actual camera triggers (1,2,3,7 photos), it will render a darker photo with similar or lesser detail. Still, you can see what's happening and that's the whole point zooming in at night, isn't it?
3x zoom, default mode, 12.5MP
Night Mode is available, too. When it's done with the main camera, it's pretty much pointless and much of the detail is lost. If it triggers over the actual 3x telephoto camera (pictures 1,2,3,5) - it will save a well-lit photo even if quite noisy.
3x zoom, Night Mode, 12.5MP
The phone will automatically decide when to use the 10x zoom camera in low-light, but it does way more often than the 3x one - say 9 out of 10 times. If there is some light, the shots are quite usable. Sure, they are pretty dark, but it's clearly visible what's at their center, quite detailed at that.
10x zoom, default mode, 12.5MP
The Night Mode works wonders on the telephoto camera. Sure, it takes about 8 seconds and a steady hand, but it brightens up the whole picture and improves the detail by a lot.
We recommend the Night Mode over the regular mode for zoomed photos, though not too often, as your hand might start aching from the pressure to stay still for a total of 10 seconds.
10x zoom, Night Mode, 12.5MP
And here is a scene, where all four cameras were used in both the regular and the night mode.
Ultrawide • Normal • 3x zoom • 10x zoom
This is the same scene but shot with Night Mode on.
Ultrawide • Normal • 3x zoom • 10x zoom
You can shoot the Moon and Huawei likes to brag with this mode. Indeed, once you point the phone towards our satellite and hit the 10x switch, the AI triggers the automatic Super Moon Shot. You will see a drastic change in exposure and suddenly - the Moon's texture will appear. It has been proven that Huawei enhances these photos artificially, but we looked through a pair of binoculars - the texture corresponds to what we really saw.
Normal • 10x Moon Shot • Normal • 10x Moon Shot
You can go beyond 10x zoom and try to shoot the flags the astronauts left, but don't get your hopes up. Even Huawei's magic can't do that with digital zoom.
40x Moon Shot • 100x Moon Shot
Now that you're done with the real world samples, head over to our Photo compare tool to see how the Huawei P40 Pro+ stacks up against other smartphones.
Huawei P40 Pro+ against the Huawei P30 Pro and the Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G in our Photo compare tool
Selfie camera
The main selfie camera on Huawei P40 Pro+ probably has the same 32MP sensor we already met on the P30 Pro and Mate 30 Pro. It is now sitting behind f/2.2 26mm lens and for the first time in a Huawei flagship - autofocus is available. Finally!
The P40 Pro also packs a ToF setup next to the selfie shooter, which should be of massive help in subject separation.
So, the quality of the selfies is very good even if the resolution is too high. We suspect this is a Quad Bayer imager and we would have been plenty satisfied with 8MP snaps, but it is what it is.
There is enough detail in the selfies, while the contrast and colors are excellent. The dynamic range is wide, too, and the color rendition nice. 32MP or 8MP - everyone will be happy with the photos, and thanks to the autofocus - no more sweet spot hunting. Yay!
32MP selfies
The ToF setup is indeed helping a lot when shooting portraits and the separation is excellent, one of the best you can squeeze from a selfie snapper. You can use various blur effects for selfies, too, so there are plenty of options to express yourself.
32MP selfie portraits
Video recording
The Huawei P40 Pro+ records video up to 4K at 60fps with both the ultrawide and the regular camera. The telephoto snappers are capped at 30fps in both 4K and 1080p. The P40 Pro+ has 3 microphones and in addition to the stereo sound capturing (192kbps), the camcorder also supports audio zoom - when you zoom in the video, the audio also intensifies.
You get a choice of the h.264 and h.265 codecs and we stuck with the h.264. 4K60 footage gets a lowly bit rate around 26-27Mbps, while 4K30 is treated to a more generous, yet slightly lower than usual 39-40Mbps - that's right - the 4K30 has some 50% more bits per second than 4K60.
The 1080p videos make slightly more sense, and the numbers are in line with competitors, too - 30fps bit rate is 17Mbps and 60fps gets 30Mbps.
When shooting in 1080p resolution with the main camera, the P40 Pro+ bins 16 into one pixels (4.48µm size of the fused pixel) making for very sharp footage and as wide as possible field of view. Other makers just crop 1080p image from the middle of the sensor and this results into much narrower FoV in 1080p resolution.
The Huawei P40 Pro+ supports a ton of video shooting modes - real-time bokeh video, various Leica color filters, 4K HDR time-lapse, 7680fps slow-mo, dual-video with two cameras at once, and in the Manual video mode you can shoot at ISO 25,600 for super low-light quality. Now, you can even use directional audio zoom when you are zooming in or out when capturing a video.
The main camera captures very good video with excellent contrast. 4K footage has very good detail in 30fps but a noticeable drop in sharpness at 60fps. There's virtually no difference between the 1080p modes and 60fps is as sharp as 30fps, both a match for the best in class.
Dynamic range is also nice and wide and colors are mostly accurate, save for a slight reddish tint visible when comparing side by side with other phones or the ultrawide camera (so not really that big of a deal).
The 4K and 1080p videos from the ultrawide camera videos are not as detail no matter the frame rate. The contrast and the dynamic range are still great though.
The clips from the telephoto cameras are pretty great. The 4Ks are soft probably due to some upscaling as 8MP sensor does not have enough pixels to shoot native 4K videos. The 1080p clips do excel in detail though. The footage is contrasty no matter the resolution and dynamic range is wide. The colors are a bit warmer than they should be for the 10x videos.
The Huawei P40 Pro+ takes great nighttime videos with its main camera. The exposure is even and the highlights are well preserved. There is no visible noise and the footage is quite sharp.
The clips from the ultrawide camera are not so impressive, especially when you consider it's marketed for its video capabilities. The output is still nice, for an ultrawide shooter that is.
Finally, the 4K footage from the selfie snapper is quite good, too. The clips are pretty detailed, the colors and contrast are good, the dynamic range is great in 4K30 but limited in the 4K60 footage.
Huawei's AIS video stabilization, whether it's just EIS for selfies and ultrawide, or EIS+OIS for primary and tele shooters, is available at all times in all modes, including 4K60. There is no toggle to turn the AIS off, which isn't ideal, but we do appreciate the enhanced stabilization everywhere - it's still a rarity even on flagships.
The P40 Pro+ also supports crazy 7680fps slow motion recording at 720p resolution, though from what we gather the actual recording takes place at 1920fps (still mighty impressive) and the in-between frames are extrapolated through the magic of AI. The resulting video is saved at 30fps, with reality slowed down 256 times. Here's an impromptu sample (from the Mate 30 Pro) to give show you what you should expect.
Here's a glimpse of how the Huawei P40 Pro+ compares to rivals in our Video compare tool. Head over there for the complete comparison.
2160p: Huawei P40 Pro+ against the Huawei P30 Pro and the Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G in our Video compare tool
Wrap-up
The Huawei P40 Pro 10x Super Zoom Ultra 5G, or as Huawei likes to call it - the P40 Pro+, will be going down in history for its standout feature - the 10x optical zoom.
It is not the first smartphone to offer such thing - the Galaxy S4 Zoom and its K Zoom sequel were the pioneers, but they were more like a bulky camera with a taped smartphone on the back. In contrast, the the P40 Pro+ is not only about the camera - it also comes with a ton of other cutting-edge tech - the high-res, high-refresh rate screen that vibrates for sound, an impossible-to-scratch ceramic back, excellent performance, 5G connectivity with a built-in modem, and extraordinary fast battery charging options.
The P40 Pro+ is the pinnacle of Huawei and Leica's photography partnership and it is nearly flawless when it comes to photography and video capturing. It is the most versatile cameraphone on the market right now, and no other competitor can match either its hardware or shooting modes.
The P40 Pro+ is also great for gaming thanks to some great thermal management and promising sustained performance. The 90Hz screen, high-res at that, will allow for a smooth experience, no doubt.
And the 40W wired and wireless charging work like a charm and rapidly refill the battery. It's just that you have to buy the specific wireless charger if you want to enjoy the full-speed 40W wireless option.
The elephant in the room - or more like the elephant void - is the absence of Google's services. We've said a couple of times that everyone can do just fine even without Google's stuff, but some parts like location services are still in development, and it could take some time for you to get used to using several app stores instead of just one.
Well, it is what it is, but if you are into long-range zoom on the go, many phones will go to 10x with digital zooming but the Huawei P40 Pro+ can provide the best quality possible via optical zooming. On top of that, you will also get one of the most premium smartphones the market has to offer today.
But all that doesn't come cheap with a price of €1399 or £1299, so let's look at what else the market has to offer in this segment.
Alternatives
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra has been on the market for a while now and it is already cheaper than the Huawei P40 Pro+. Its optical zoom is 4x even if the camera defaults at 5x hybrid zoom. And you get Gorilla Glass instead of ceramic. But its Dynamic AMOLED 2X is quite the treat with that high-resolution and the 120Hz refresh, pity those two can't work together though. And it offers a better screen and performance, stereo speakers, and Google apps and services. Food for thought.
The Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro isn't water-resistant and is not made of ceramic, but it has a 90Hz OLED, the latest Snapdragon 865, and Google-fied MIUI 11. What's more important is that its quad-camera is similar to Huawei's even if it tops at 3.7x optical and 5x hybrid zoom (the default one). The Mi 10 Pro rapidly both wired and wirelessly, so that's covered too. The Mi 10 Pro 5G is one of the most expensive Mi phones but it is still cheaper than the P40 Pro+.
Finally, one particularly good alternative is the Huawei P30 Pro, whether it is the New Edition, or not. The phone does have an equally versatile camera experience with a true 5x optical zoom thanks to a similar periscopic lens, but it also offers Google Mobile Services and is certified to play high-res HDR content on all platforms. It still offers great performance for its price, and the battery life is brilliant. The New Edition costs half the P40 Pro+ price, while the regular P30 Pro costs as low as €500 or so.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G • Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro 5G • Huawei P30 Pro • Huawei P30 Pro New Edition
The verdict
The Huawei P40 Pro+ is unique because of its telephoto camera and if that's your thing, the choice would be quite easy - you just go ahead and buy the best option. In fact, as far as photography on the go is your primary interest, you will not find a better skilled and more versatile cameraphone.
There is also the case, where you simply cannot and will not live without Google's apps and services. Then you either opt for an older Huawei, or a recent flagship from a different brand.
At the end of this review we find ourselves liking the Huawei P40 Pro+ a lot. And it is not because of one feature, but for the whole package. Its ceramic design is something easily likable for the added sturdiness and premium touch, the OLED screen is great, and the camera has so much to offer that we keep discovering new modes or ideas for photoshoots every day. And they usually are saved at top quality. Our point is, the P40 Pro+ will not disappoint, you just need to be ready to let go of Google.
Pros
- Eye-pleasing curved design, sturdy ceramic material, water-proof body.
- Top-notch high-res 90Hz OLED screen.
- Flagship-grade sustained performance.
- Dependable battery life, blazing-fast wired and wireless charging.
- Remarkable photo quality day and night across all cameras.
- 10x zoom is quite the treat.
- Great selfies.
- Excellent video quality at 30fps across the board, superb stabilization.
- All-round connectivity, though no 3.5mm jack.
Cons
- Only takes NV cards for memory expansion.
- No stereo speakers
- Lack of Google Mobile Services means some apps and games will never work no matter what.
- 4K60 videos are disappointing.
- If you'd be okay with a 5x optical zoom, you can get the P40 Pro, which is otehrwise the same phone.
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