1. Huawei P40 Pro Plus

In Huawei’s P40 lineup, if you decide to go with the P40 Pro Plus, it will be for the camera, the 10x zoom to be specific. Everything else is almost identical to the P40 Pro, the significantly cheaper model, from the great design, display, main camera, to the software limitations.

Launched in April 2020 the P40 Pro Plus from Huawei is truly a solid flagship phone of this year. It is significantly heavier than the Huawei P30 Pro. At 226g, it is as heavy as the iPhone 11 Pro Max, the heaviest iPhone.

It is also hundreds more expensive than the Huawei P40 Pro. For that extra money, you have new rear construction. The Pro Plus also comes with more storage at 512GB and the 10x optical zoom lens.

But there is a limitation. Because of the US’s ban, Huawei’s devices don’t come with Google Services, including Google Play Store.

2. Display

Both the Pro and Pro Plus variant of the Huawei P40 have a “Quad-curve Overflow display.” This essentially means that all four edges of the phones are curved glass. On the market, there have already been some smartphones with curved sides like the Galaxy S7 Edge from Samsung. But both the top and bottom edges of the Huawei P40 Pro are curved.

However, the display curves only at the sides while at the top and the bottom, the curved part is the glass on top. The handset has a unique feel and the look of the screen doesn’t change all that much.

The thing that distinguishes the P40 Pro and The P40 Pro Plus is the material around the back. While a glossy ceramic is used for the more expensive Pro Plus, traditional glass is used for the P40 Pro.

On paper, the display of the Huawei P40 Pro is far behind from the best out there. It has a lower resolution as well as refresh rate than the Galaxy S20 Ultra from Samsung, and even the much cheaper OnePlus 8 Pro. However, in reality, it is a beauty.

The resolution of the P40 Pro Plus display is 1200x2640 pixels, resulting in a 441-pixels-per-inch pixel density. It is sharp and the OLED screen tech offers deep blacks, zingy colors, and customizable display and color temperature options.

HDR10 is supported. Viewing angles and outdoor viewability are great. The only downside is the hefty selfie-camera at the top. The cut-out is so big since it is packed with multiple sensors for secure face unlocking and excellent selfies.

3. Chip

You can expect that the P40 Pro and Pro Plus have identical performance since they are both powered by Kirin 990 chipsets and 8GB of RAM. However, the Pro Plus comes with 512GB of storage, which is double that of the Pro.

The Huawei P40 Pro Plus is just as fast as other top-end smartphones like the Galaxy S20 from Samsung and the iPhone 11 from Apple when it comes to using apps and games. In its Geekbench 5 benchmark tests, the Pro Plus scored 2,924, a similar score to the Galaxy S20 Plus.

The Pro Plus, like the P40 Pro, also supports Nano Memory cards, with which you can expand the phone’s storage to 256GB.  

4. RAM – Internal Storage

 The Huawei P40 Pro offers 8GB of RAM and there isn’t an option with higher RAM. For internal storage, you can choose between 256GB or 512GB. You can expand the storage with microSD cards. The 256GB model, for typical usage, is more than enough.

5. Battery Life

Inside the Huawei P40 Pro Plus is a 4,200mAh battery. And its performance is phenomenally well. At the end of a busy day, the phone still has 20 to 30% of its battery left.

It seems like Huawei has well optimized the processor of the P40 Pro for power management, to make sure that it can last the whole day with average use.

To be able to use the phone in two days with a single charge, you will have to use the smartphone pretty lightly.

40W fast-charging is available with the charger comes in the box. Users can also charge the phone wirelessly. Fast reverse-wireless charging is supported as well. This means you can share the battery of your phone with other devices like another phone or headphones.

6. Camera

The Huawei P40 Pro Plus is definitely the best camera phone ever made. Its Ultra Vision main camera with 50MP is accommodated by a wide-angle f.1.9 lens as well as OIS. It is basically identical to the P40 Pro. By default, the main camera produces 12MP shots that are crisp, full of details with rich and natural colors.

The 40MP ultra-wide camera is accommodated with an f/1.8 aperture lens with autofocus. This is the main camera used to record videos.

Unlike other camera phones, the Huawei P40 Pro Plus has two telephoto snappers with 8MP resolution each. The first one has an f/2.4 lens and a 3x zoom. The second camera has an f/4.4 aperture and a 10x optical zoom. Both have OIS. There is a time-of-flight sensor to create bokeh effects for portrait mode shots.

The quality of all the cameras vary. But the primary lens is the best all-rounder. For a smartphone, its sensor is enormous, both in physical size and resolution. The camera can take on any environment exceptionally, even in low-light conditions.

The ultra-wide camera is impressive as well. It can take up close, personal macro photography as well as expansive landscapes across lighting conditions. On the other hand, it is the telephoto lens that lacks some power in low-light environments when shooting handheld, especially the 10x zoom module.

In well-lit environments, it is a dream to use. But when there isn’t enough light, the photos shot by the 10x zoom camera look significantly better when you steady the P40 Pro Plus on a surface. With a shaky hand in this situation, the Pro is outperformed by the S20 Ultra.

In terms of video recording capabilities, the Pro Plus is identical to that of the P40 Pro. The smartphone supports 4K resolution at 60fps maximum.

The front camera with 32MP is among the best selfie cameras.