Are you thinking of buying a Huawei P40 Pro? Read this first

Huawei P40 series, which includes the base P40, P40 Pro and P40 Pro Plusare on sale now in Europe and the UK and we look forward to bringing the fight to the tastes of iPhone 11 Pro, Galaxy S20 and OnePlus 8. I’ve been using the P40 Pro, the middle child of the three, and I’ve been testing it. The phone is available for £ 900 (around $ 1,120 or AU $ 1,770), but due to the US ban on Huawei products, is not officially for sale in the US USA

That ban also means it doesn’t use Google apps, including access to the Google Play Store, but the phone has 5G and a good camera. That said, its older brother, the P40 Pro Plus, is even more focused on photography, with the first 10x optical zoom seen on a phone. Photography enthusiasts should consider waiting until that phone lands in June, or at least until we give it our review treatment.

If you’re in one of Huawei’s consumer markets and curious about the phone, here are five things you should know about this phone before considering spending your money.

Read more: Top 10 phones under $ 500

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First impressions of Huawei P40 Pro and Plus: CNET editors …

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There are no Google apps.

Due to the company’s ongoing difficulties with the US government. In the USA, Huawei phones do not use Google services. That means there is no Google Play Store for apps or support for services like Gmail, YouTube, Maps or the Chrome browser. For many of you, this will be a deciding factor, especially if you trust Google’s suite of apps for your work.

But that doesn’t mean there are no apps at all. Huawei has its own email client, browser and calendar on board and also has its own app store. There are already many renowned apps available, such as Amazon, TikTok, Adidas Running, SnapChat, PicsArt and the ever popular Fortnite. However, there are many more, including Instagram or editing apps like Adobe Lightroom that are simply not available in the Huawei store.

Although Facebook and WhatsApp are not available directly through the store, the store will take you to the web pages of those applications, where you can download and install the application (in an .apk file) through the browser. The applications will appear on the phone and work normally.

It is important, then, to check and see if the applications you trust are available right now. Huawei says it’s working closely with developers around the world to try to bring many more apps to its store, so we’re likely to see bigger names pop up over time.

It has 5G

No worthwhile flagship phone in 2020 would launch without 5G connectivity and the P40 Pro is no exception. You will need to be in an area that has 5G and have a 5G enabled phone plan to take advantage of the next generation network. If you hope to get those blazing fast speeds right away, be sure to check what availability you have in your area before upgrading to any 5G phone.

The camera is good, but needs improvement.

Huawei has a history of equipping its phones with incredible cameras. The P40 Pro includes four lenses: a standard zoom, a super wide-angle lens, a 5x optical zoom lens, and a depth sensor lens. While the phone’s camera skills are certainly the best, it needs some tweaking in the software before it can take the crown as the best of the best.

My main problem is with the white balance, or overall color temperature, of photos captured by cameras. Often times, it seems to tint the images with a more magenta hue than present in real life, making multiple test shots from the phone seem less natural than the same shots on the iPhone 11 Pro or Galaxy S20 Ultra. It’s just a slight change, and if you’re not making direct comparisons to other phones, you might not notice it. Huawei says there will be an update available in May that fixes the problem. Then I will test the phone to see how the update helps.

On top of that, the phone takes great pictures, with even exposures and lovely contrast. Its 5x zoom produces sharp shots of distant subjects, and images taken in low light and at night are easily the best.

If you like photography, you must wait for the P40 Pro Plus

If you’re tempted to get the P40 Pro instead of the standard P40, it may be due to camera upgrades to the base model like 5x optical zoom.

But the P40 Pro Plus includes an incredible 10x optical zoom, which promises incredible magnification without loss of quality. It is the highest optical zoom ever seen on a phone and I am really excited to give it a try. But that phone doesn’t go on sale until sometime in June, so we haven’t yet seen how it actually accumulates.

It might not be a massive update on the P40 Pro and it’s not worth it unless it’s really in your close-ups. But if you’re interested in photography, at least it’s worth waiting to see what the phone looks like before potentially investing too early and being disappointed.

Don’t buy the black version

Huawei’s latest releases, including the P30 and P20 series, came with some vibrant color options that looked amazing. While the P40 Pro did show up in some lovely looking shades, the review model that landed on my desk was black and, like all black phones, it looks boring and forgettable.

No one wants boring and forgettable, not when you could be happy, vibrant and exciting. So if you plan to spend the cash for the P40 Pro, at least take it in its deep blue, bright pink, or soft gold varieties.