Just a year ago, at this point, Huawei had in the eye of its periscope peephole with its new flagship mobile, the P30 Series, the first place in the market that Samsung has been holding for a long time. But everything went wrong when the US government declared Huawei as a non grata company , to put it diplomatically, and forced the big American companies such as Google, mainly, to turn off the tap on their operating system.
2019 was a year to forget, despite the tremendous effort of the Chinese manufacturer to build the best mobile processor on the market: Kirin 990 (with permission from Qualcomm launching the Snapdragon 865 series); in addition to showing its new flagship, the Huawei Mate 30 Series, already without Google services.
The bad luck for Huawei is that in addition to Google, although it remains a future ally if the United States lifts its sanctions on the Chinese brand, now another obstacle has emerged just at the time of launching the replacement for the P30 series. The new P40, P40 Pro and P40 Pro + are born with an economic outlook infected by a coronavirus that no one knows when it will open the doors of the markets and the pockets of consumers, but which is presented once again as the device to beat in the photography field by its competitors, be they Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi or the rest of the string of Chinese brands that now flood the market: One Plus, Realme, Vivo, …
The new era of visionary photography
If the previous Huawei flagship phones were already an ode to photography, thanks in part to the successful agreement with Leica, the new Huawei P40s incorporate the largest CMOS sensor to date, which allows them to offer images, photos and videos, with super definition at any time of the day.
The large 1/28-inch sensor has a 2.44μm split pixel size that greatly increases light input for better low-light performance, while the improved periscope design offers true 10x optical zoom (the P40 Pro + model).
HUAWEI P40 Pro and HUAWEI P40 Pro + smartphones are equipped with the HUAWEI Quad-curve Overflow display. Inspired by the art of movement in nature, the display adopts a semi-rounded edge on all four sides, creating a shape reminiscent of water right at the overflow point on the rim of a mug. Narrow bezels and rounded corners provide a near borderless appearance for an immersive viewing experience and ergonomic grip. Enhanced on-screen fingerprint scanning enables 30 percent faster biometric authentication.
Super definition photography
The HUAWEI P40 series devices integrate the advanced Ultra Vision Leica camera system, available in triple camera, quad camera and penta camera configurations. The HUAWEI P40 terminal features ultra-wide, wide-angle, and telephoto lenses. For its part, the HUAWEI P40 Pro smartphone presents an evolution of the Leica Quad camera with the most powerful SuperSensing Cine camera, and a ToF camera along with a 50x SuperSensing Zoom. The new HUAWEI P40 Pro + integrates the SuperZoom Array, which supports true 10x optical zoom and 100x maximum digital zoom.
The HUAWEI Ultra Vision Sensor that includes the entire HUAWEI P40 series is Huawei’s largest CMOS sensor to date. Measuring 1 / 1.28 inches diagonally, it supports pixel binning to achieve 2.44μm pixel size and Octa PD AutoFocus for high-speed focusing at any time of day, while the HUAWEI XD Fusion Array takes advantage of the artificial intelligence (AI) to increase the reproduction of details in all possible lighting conditions. HUAWEI P40 Pro brings far objects closer with 5x optical zoom, 10x hybrid zoom, and 50x digital zoom.
For the first time, the HUAWEI P40 Pro smartphone includes a set of RYYB color filters to increase light input and improve the quality of zoom shots. HUAWEI P40 Pro + has a 10 Super-Zoom matrix with a new periscope design that reflects light five times, extending the light path by 178 percent to support true 10x optical zoom. The optically stabilized Ultra Vision main camera and SuperZoom Array work together with artificial intelligence to perform Triple OIS + AIS for substantially improved photo and video stabilization.
Algorithms and artificial intelligence
Skin tone and texture are faithfully reproduced with a new multi-spectrum color temperature sensor and AWB artificial intelligence algorithm, increasing color accuracy by 45%. Deep learning algorithms provide real-time portrait optimizations that enhance lighting and details. HUAWEI P40, HUAWEI P40 Pro and HUAWEI P40 Pro + feature a 32MP Selfie Camera and IR Depth Camera that enable autofocus and bokeh simulation to deliver the same portrait effects characteristic of Huawei devices, as well as IR Face Unlock for a secure face unlock of the device, regardless of ambient lighting conditions.
The HUAWEI P40 series also introduces HUAWEI Golden Snap, a new Gallery feature that uses artificial intelligence to select the best frames from a movie clip. With the IA Remove Passerby and IA Remove Reflection functions, unwanted elements and reflections can be removed from the frame, allowing users to easily enhance their images after capturing them.
The 40MP SuperSensing Cinema Camera on the HUAWEI P40 Pro and HUAWEI P40 Pro + has an ultra-wide angle lens with a focal length equivalent to 18mm and a 1 / 1.54-inch sensor that supports the same 3: 2 aspect ratio that is popular. among full-frame DSLR cameras. The pixels of this sensor can be individually adjusted to capture with long, short or normal exposure for hardware-based HDR videos. Sedecimpixel Fusion technology is built into this camera to support 16-in-1 pixel binning to produce 4.48 um higher pixels that increase light sensitivity up to ISO1200 and enable Ultra Slow-Motion video capture at 7680fps.
The HUAWEI P40 series enables real-time simulation of bokeh (a blurring technique) for videos . Mimicking the effects of a large aperture lens, this feature adds progressive bokeh to help bring out the main subject of your recording. The telephoto camera can capture high resolution zoom images as well as 4K videos in time lapse format. Directional Audio Zoom, available on HUAWEI P40 Pro and HUAWEI P40 Pro +, allows users to simultaneously zoom in on an audio source and amplify its sound at the same time.
5G and fully connected
The entire HUAWEI P40 series is powered by Kirin 990 5G to offer integrated 5G connectivity, artificial intelligence performance, and energy efficiency. 160MHz Wi-Fi 6 Plus technology offers high-speed connectivity with support for a maximum theoretical transmission of 2,400Mbps. And the HUAWEI SuperCharge 40W wireless charger available in the HUAWEI P40 Pro + makes charging quick and easy.
In the absence of testing the equipment that Huawei has provided me, the P40 Pro, in exceptional confinement conditions for the next few weeks until the state of alarm for COVID-19 ends, I can only count the prices and availability of the diferent models.
In Spain, the HUAWEI P40 and HUAWEI P40 Pro are available from today in the Official Store of Huawei in Spain, while the HUAWEI P40 Pro + will be available from June. Prices range between 799 euros for the P40, 1099 for the P40 Pro, and 1399 for the P40 Pro +.
