30 days with the Huawei P40 Pro
It’s been a little over a month since I got my Huawei P40 Pro for review and ongoing testing (unboxing and set-up blog) and I wanted to check-in to share my experiences of life with the new device.
In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been talking about this phone a LOT!
I continue to be amazed with the zoom on this thing! @HuaweiMobileCAN #HuaweiP40 #visionaryphotography pic.twitter.com/4kvQKCgEkL
— James R.C. Smith (@jamesrcs) July 5, 2020
HUAWEI OS
Adopting a new operating system, like going from Apple to Android, Windows or Amazon can be a little bit of a process. However, I found the Huawei OS to be super intuitive. It had a walk-through guide in the form of quick tips that showed me exactly what to do and it was all very easy to pick up. I especially like the air-swipes to perform things like ‘next track’ when listening to music.
THE CAMERA
As I’ve mentioned many times before, the camera is astonishing. The range of light and dark it picks up really makes the photos shine. Where as my other phone (Pixel 3XL) tries to balance and exposes for either the bright whites or the deepest shadow, the P40 Pro’s camera software takes the whole scene and merges them into one super sharp image.
THE CAMERA AI
Want to see something really cool? If you’ve got people in the background of your shot, the AI lets you remove them! Here’s a video to explain:
There’s also a function called ‘Best Moment’, where the AI helps you get the perfect shot, every time. Through facial and posture recognitions, it captures moving pictures in 4K to help generate the best moments. So no more “Oh I’m blinking!” or trying to get everyone to smile for just one more picture. I’ve used this feature a lot, especially when trying to chase around my daughter for a quick photo.
DOWNLOADING APPS
There are two ways of getting the apps for the phone. There’s the Huawei AppGallery, which has a lot of the apps I’m used to, and then there’s Petal Search. Petal Search has all my favourites that I got used to while on my old Pixel phone. Everything from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. to Skip the Dishes and all the Canadian car parking apps (although I wish there was just one for all the different parking lots! – sort it out Vancouver!)
THE HUAWEI ECO-SYSTEM
While the phone is awesome, it’s just one part of a whole line-up. Similar to Apple’s Watch, MacBooks, iPads, and iPhones, Huawei has a very swish family of devices that work seamlessly together. (More coming soon on the Huawei Watch GT2 and the Huawei MateBook X Pro).
OVERALL
The Huawei P40 Pro is a beautiful device, and while I miss a couple of the Google Apps, I’m able to access all my emails, Drive, etc. through the browser so I’m not going without.
The camera is very special and the shining star of the device. Huawei has been working with Leica for years and it shows. The photos are crisp and the colours are beautiful. I actually just got one of my photos framed for my office since it looked so good. I’ve never done that with my other phones!
Oh, I almost forgot to mention the fast-charging. When you plug the phone into the power, it charges in minutes. 0-100% in what seems like no time at all and it lasts for a couple of days, as long as you’re not watching too much Netflix!
It’s a great phone and fits my life really well. I especially love it for those moments when I see something and for a moment, wish I had my camera nearby until I remember that I can pull out my P40 Pro and still take a beautiful photo.
No more lost memories or missed scenes.
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