Can't go out, so the Huawei P40 excels in snapping pictures of my pets and my home interior

The thing about the new batch of post-Google Huawei phones is that it’s such a shame.

These phones are packed to the brim with flagship hardware, premium displays and gorgeous design. The only thing missing from putting them on par (or even above) the likes of Samsung or Apple devices is Google. Like it or not, Google apps and services are crucial in getting things done in this day and age. 

The thing about living this new reality in 2020, however, is that I can’t go out to properly test-drive the newfangled mobile camera system in Huawei’s latest and greatest. 

So, what can we do? We adapt, of course. Huawei’s P40 series embodies that same spirit of self-evolution nearly a year on since the Chinese company’s unprecedented split from Google — and barring some disorienting limitations, one can actually have a Huawei phone as a daily driver. 

Alas, the review unit I got was the vanilla P40 ($1,048), the basic bro version of the superior P40 Pro ($1,448) and P40 Pro+ (price TBA), both of which you should be getting if you’re already going all-in on a mobile ecosystem without Google. But despite the lower specs and size, the P40 is no slouch. It’s pretty much got the same internal processing prowess as its bigger brothers, equipped with the latest Kirin 990 processor, 8GB ram and 5G capability. 

The P40 has the smallest screen size of the pack with a 6.1-inch OLED display compared to the P40 Pro and Pro+ 6.58-inch version. What’s missing from the non-Pro model is what Huawei calls an Overflow Display, i.e. the screen curves down to the sides, giving the illusion that there aren’t any bezels. It’s a design trend I’d appreciate for television sets, but it’s kinda eh for handheld devices (curved edges are easier to touch by accident), so the P40 isn’t missing out that much. Unless you’re all about the flagship aesthetics. 

But the raison d'etre of Huawei’s P series has always been about next-level mobile photography, and even for a vanilla model, P40 outshines its rivals. Across the board for the series, the company wired in a custom-designed 50-megapixel main camera sensor that Huawei touts to be better at capturing different light frequencies, thus better low-light performance. 

Instead of the Pro model’s quad and penta camera setup, the P40 only gets a triple camera system, which is... fine. So on top of the 50-megapixel main camera, there’s an 8-megapixel telephoto cam with 3x optical zoom and a 16-megapixel ultra-wide lens. 

Again, it’s a weird time to be reviewing what’s supposed to be an amazing phone camera when everyone has to stay cooped up indoors. But I suppose now’s a good time as any to start getting into home interior photography.

The detailing and sharpness were particularly impressive, with the camera optimising light levels and contrast to churn out the best picture possible. 

Alongside Google for their own Pixel phones, Huawei is one of the pioneers of AI-infused mobile photography. The company’s latest take on it managed to recognise subjects instantly, even in low lighting conditions.

Speaking of low-light photography, I’ll just let you be the judge of who did it better when it comes to nighttime shots. 

When shooting outdoors, the colours turned out accurate and pretty vibrant, despite the rather post-apocalyptic situation. 

Huawei also has something called the AI Golden Snap, which uses the phone’s AI engine to recommend the best photo after a rapid-burst shot (much like Pixel’s Top Shot feature). But what it can do as well is removing passersby and reflection from pictures. It has its uses I suppose, but it proved to be rather finicky in real-life usage. 

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Going Google-less

Now with all that being said, what are the trade-offs when deciding to go with Huawei? For one, if you use Google for literally everything, the P40 might not cut it for you, chief. 

One tends to forget, however, that not all smartphone apps run on Google software. By using Huawei’s data transferring app Phone Clone, basic smartphone apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, Spotify, Slack run perfectly on the P40. Navigating through it all would have been buttery smooth too if Huawei hadn’t decided to offer a 90Hz refresh rate only for their P40 Pro models. 

In lieu of the Google Play Store, there’s the Huawei AppGallery, which is far from great but decent enough in terms of app options — especially when you consider that the company suddenly had to double down on it after the US trade ban. To be fair, the Huawei AppGallery has improved quite a bit since last year, and does have things like Microsoft Office, Lazada, Snapchat, TikTok, and even a couple of local news apps (including ours).  

Even Google-owned apps and services can appear on the phone, but through a workaround called pinning the browser page. A rudimentary solution, I know, but at least you can instantly get access to YouTube or Gmail right from the home screen. Alternatives are perfectly fine too, like using Waze instead of Google Maps or using Blue Mail as your email client instead of the native Gmail app.

Limitations? Still plenty, for sure. You still can’t book a ride using Grab because the app uses Google services, so you’ll have to make do with Tada — both of which won’t be used much anyway these days. But what you do need at home is Netflix, and the P40 can’t run that too. Me, I’m a VSCO subscriber, and as good as the phone’s camera system is, the fact that I can’t use my go-to content editing tool on the phone is a genuine dealbreaker. 

And yet, Huawei persists. It’s a bit of a leap of faith right now to jump on board, but objectively, things are looking to get a lot better, especially with Huawei’s billion-dollar strategy to attract developers for its AppGallery. 

Even so, that future isn’t now, and the present doesn’t look that great either. If you don’t want to make an already worrying time more troublesome than it already is, there are new flagship and budget phones to consider right now. But if mobile camera quality outweighs everything else, the P40 series is the device you’ll want as you sharpen your skills in home interior photography and pet photoshoots during the circuit breaker period. 

ilyas@asiaone.com