Huawei launches P40 Series smartphones with updated cameras – but still no Google services

Huawei has unveiled its new flagship smartphones – the P40 and the P40 Pro – which includes innovative new camera systems to lift your photography and video standards.

But Huawei still faces a challenge in the market as their devices won’t include the Google Play Store and other Google services and need some work to get them on the device.

Huawei will offer a complimentary service to help customers set up the device.

The Huawei P40 smartphones are 5G devices and also support the latest wi-fi standard – Wi-Fi 6.

But it’s the camera that will get your attention with a large 1/1.28-inch sensor with enhanced low-light performance and up to 10x optical zoom.

On the design side, the Huawei P40 and P40 Pro has curved edges on all four sides. Huawei describes it as looking like water that’s just about to overflow the rim of a filled cup.

The Huawei P40 has a 6.1-inch OLED display (2340 x 1080) and 422ppi (pixels per inch) and the P40 Pro has a 6.58-inch OLED screen (2640 x 1200) with 441ppi.

The camera onboard is the Ultra Vision Leica system with a 50-megapixel ultra-vision wide-angle camera, 16-megapixel ultra-wide and 8-megapixel telephoto camera on the P40.

The P40 Pro takes your camera game to another level with a 50-megapixel ultra-vision wide-angle camera, 40-megapixel cine camera ultra-wide angle and 12-megapixel super sensing depth camera.

The P40 has 5x and 10x optical zoom and up to 50x digital zoom while the P40 Pro is capable of up to 100x zoom with its 100x SuperZoom Array that utilises a new periscope lens.

The P40 and P40 Pro also have 32-megapixel front camera while the P40 Pro has an additional front-facing depth camera.

A handy new feature is Best Moment which can choose the best frames from a video while other features can remove unwanted subjects in your photo and also remove glare and reflection.

The Huawei P40 and P40 Pro are powered by the Kirin 990 5G processor and includes the EMUI 10.1 operating system.

While the device doesn’t include the Google Play Store, there is the Huawei App Gallery – a growing market place that’s already used by more than 540 million people across more than 170 countries.

Huawei has also launched the new Watch GT 2e which has a 1.39-inch AMOLED display which includes 100 workout modes and improved health tracking technology. Pricing and availability is yet to be announced.

The Huawei P40 and P40 Pro will be priced at $1,099 and $1,599 respectively and are available to pre-order from today. They will go on sale on April 16.

The P40 will be available from Huawei’s authorised store in Chatswood, Mobileciti and Harvey Norman while the P40 Pro will be available from Huawei’s authorised store in Chatswood, Mobileciti, Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi and Officeworks.