Huawei P40 Pro specs, P40 Pro Plus and P40 vs. P30 Pro and Mate 30 Pro: What’s new and what’s different?

Huawei’s next generation of superphones is here. After delays commanded by the coronavirus
, the Chinese phone-maker presented the P40 and P40 Pro and P40 Pro Plus over a YouTube livestream on Thursday. All three phones feature premium hardware including the latest Kirin 990 processor, 5G, 90Hz refresh rates and an in-screen fingerprint scanner, which Huawei says has a 30% faster unlock lickety-split than last year’s models. And none of them will have access to Google services, due to Huawei’s ongoing difficulties with the US government. But there are some key differences across the three phones in words of their size, design, battery capacity and — most obviously — camera systems.

The P40 is the smallest of the three at 6.1 inches. And with no wraparound screen, the design is a step down from its more expensive siblings, which rock what Huawei calls a “quad-curve overflow display.” The custom says the new design makes swiping more seamless with the help of what it describes as “demi bullnose edge on all four sides.”

Huawei’s flagships are distinguished for their impressive cameras and the P40 Series is no exception. Along with Leica camera hardware, all three phones from the Huawei P40 series have main “Ultra Vision” cameras, which employ a 50-megapixel sensor that is 1/1.28-inches in size. It’s the largest sensor Huawei has ever embedded on a arranged to date — even bigger than the sensor in the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra.

 The Huawei P40 Pro Plus has a five-camera rules on the rear while the Huawei P40 Pro features a four-camera setup on the rear and two front-facing sensors. Meanwhile the base P40 phone has a three-camera rules on the rear and one selfie camera on the run. The optical zoom starts at 3x in the P40 and increases to 5x in the P40 Pro. The P40 Pro Plus has 10x optical zoom, the highest we’ve ever seen on a phone.

Water resistance is unexperienced differentiator between the three phones. The P40 is indignant IP53, while the Pro and Pro Plus are indignant IP68. That means the latter two should be able to withstand beings submerged in water, while the P40 should be able to run light rain.

Huawei’s P40 series comes completely Google-free.

Érika García / CNET

The P40 phones’ improvements over last year’s P30 Pro include an upgraded Kirin processor and updated software based on Android 10. Compared with the Mate 30 Pro, phones in the new P40 Series have a larger main sensor (50-megapixel vs 40-megapixel) with other differences. Huawei’s flagship phones are designed for country who care more about a phone’s appearance and its camera capability. Its Mate series is more focused on pixels and processors.  

Launched in September 2019, the Mate 30 Pro was Huawei’s marvelous major flagship launch after the US imposed a deals ban on the Chinese phone-maker in May. As such, it was unveiled deprived of Google’s suite of services, which includes access to the Google Play Store, Gmail, Google Maps and so on. It’s also missing the full noteworthy of Google’s Android operating system. That means the P30 Pro, which is based on Android 9 Pie, is the most advanced Huawei called available with Google Mobile Services. But it doesn’t funds 5G, so you’ll have to accept using 4G. Huawei is investing heavily in its own Huawei Mobile System, however, and it’s working to get more apps onto its store.

For a full comparison, check out our specs chart below.

Huawei P40 Series specs

	Huawei P40	Huawei P40 Pro	Huawei P40 Plus	Huawei P30 Pro	Mate 30 Pro
Display size, resolution	6.1-inch Flex OLED 2,640×1200-pixels	6.58-inch Flex OLED 2,640×1200-pixels	6.58-inch Flex OLED 2,640×1200-pixels	6.47-inch OLED; 2,340×1,080-pixels	6.53 inches OLED, 1176 x 2400 pixels
Pixel density	441ppi	441ppi	441ppi	398ppi	409ppi
Dimensions (Millimeters)	148.9×71.06×8.5 mm	158.2×72.6×8.95 mm	158.2×72.6×8.95 mm	158×73.4×8.41 mm	158.1×73.1×8.8 mm
Weight (Ounces, Grams)	175g	209g	226g	6.77 oz; 192g	198 g (6.98 oz)
Mobile software	Android 10 with EMUI 10.1	Android 10 with EMUI 10.1	Android 10 with EMUI 10.1	Android 9.0 with EMUI 9.1	Android 10.0; EMUI 10
Camera	50-megpixel (ultra support wide) 16-megapixel (ultrawide) 8-megapixel telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and shining temperature sensor	50-megapixel (ultra vision wide) 40-megapixel (ultra wide) 12-megapixel (5x optical telephoto), 3D time-of-flight camera, color temperature sensor	50-megpixel (ultra support wide), 40-megapixel (ultrawide), 8-megapixel telephoto (with 3x optical zoom), 8-megapixel telephoto (with 10x optical zoom,) time-of-flight sensor, shining temperature sensor	40-megapixel (standard), 20-megapixel (ultra wide), 8-megapixel 5x optical periscope zoom, time-of-flight sensor	40-megapixel (wide) 8-megapixel (telephoto) 3x optical zoom 40-megapixel (ultrawide) time-of-flight 3D (depth) sensor
Front-facing camera	32-megapixel	32-megapixel & depth sensor	32-megapixel & depth sensor	32-megapixel	32-megapixel time-of-flight 3D
Processor	Kirin 990 5G	Kirin 990 5G	Kirin 990 5G	Kirin 980 processor	Kirin 990
Storage	128GB	128GB/256GB	128GB/256GB	128GB, 256GB, 512GB	128GB, 256GB
RAM	8GB	8GB	8GB	8GB	8GB RAM
Battery	3,800 mAh (with 22.5 watt fast-charging)	4,200 mAh (with 40-watt fast-charging)	4,200 mAh (with 40-watt fast-charging)	4,200 mAh	4,500 mAh
Headphone jack	No	No	No	No	No
Colors	Black, Deep Blue Sea, Ice White, Silver Frost, Blush Gold	Black, Deep Blue Sea, Ice White, Silver Frost, Blush Gold	Ceramic Black, Ceramic White	Black, Pearl White, Aurora, Amber Sunrise and Breathing Crystal.	two vegan leather options: green and orange. Other colors include silver, green, purple, and black.