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Huawei switches it up, unveils three new flagship devices

Simnikiwe Mzekandaba
By Simnikiwe Mzekandaba, IT in government editor
Johannesburg, 27 Mar 2020
Side-by-side images of the Huawei P40 Pro and Huawei P40 .
Side-by-side images of the Huawei P40 Pro and Huawei P40 .

Huawei has unveiled its latest high-end P-series smartphones, which it claims will elevate mobile photography to new heights.

This was the word from Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, speaking during the company’s global online launch of its latest flagships.

Unlike previous years, Huawei launched three new devices – the P40, P40 Pro and P40 Pro+.

Yu said: “When we look back, the past year has been an incredible journey for Huawei. No matter in good or difficult times, we have always strived to innovate, challenge and build a vision of what the future technology will look like.

“We could never have done it alone; together with our partners, customers and developers – we make it possible. I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved together. The year 2020 is going to be an even more exciting year.”

P-series line-up

First in the P-series line-up is the top-level range P40 Pro+.

The smartphone features seamless curvature, a nanotech ceramic surface with five days of kilning, which makes it “highly” scratch-resistant and durable, said Yu. “It has a diamond-like shine but sapphire-like toughness.

“The layout of the back is horizontal, so that the camera lens and Huawei logo are all horizontally laid out, to bring the art of balanced rhythm. Furthermore, it features a quad-curve overflow display.”

According to the consumer group CEO, the P40 Pro and P40 Pro+ push boundaries, giving consumers an immersive experience.

With a 6.5-inch display screen, the P40 Pro features four rear-facing cameras: the 50MP ultra-vision Leica camera, 40 ultra-wide cine camera, 12MP telephoto camera and TOF camera. There is also the 32MP front camera.

The smartphone is powered by the Kirin 990 5G chipset and features a quad-curve overflow display. It is expected to sell at a recommended retail price of €999 (around R19 000).

The P40 Pro will be available in five colours: classic black, deep sea blue, ice white, silver fox and blush gold.

The P40, which is also powered by the Kirin 990 5G chipset, features a 6.1-inch display screen and ultra-vision Leica triple camera with upgraded artificial intelligence (AI) capability.

The camera set-up consists of a 50MP main back camera, 16MP ultra-wide angle camera and 8MP telephoto camera. The selfie camera has a 32MP sensor.

Like the P40 Pro, the P40 will be available in the same five colours, while the P40 Pro+ will be available only in ceramic black and white. The P40 will start selling at €799 (around R15 000).

Devices are expected to go on sale globally from 7 April; however, local availability is unknown as the country continues to deal with spread of the deadly coronavirus.

New chapter

At the event, the Chinese technology giant also introduced its AI assistant called “Hey Celia”.

“In more and more countries we will be introducing the Huawei AI assistant, Hey Celia. With Hey Celia, we are bringing you more convenience."

The P40, P40 Pro and P40 Pro+ join the Huawei Y7p as the company’s latest smartphones to launch sans Google apps and the Play Store.

The devices will run on Huawei Mobile Services (HMS), the company’s alternative ecosystem to Google Mobile Service (GMS).

Yu explained that for the last 10 years, Huawei had a partnership with Google to provide GMS.

Despite the good partnership with Google, Huawei phones can no longer use GMS because of the US ban, he said.

“We launched HMS as our alternative solution,” said Yu. “We want to continue to cooperate with Google, to bring the best service to the global customer, but we had to provide an alternative solution.

“HMS is in over 170 countries and with the Huawei App Gallery, we have already achieved over 400 million monthly active users. We have over 1.3 million developers and partners globally.”

These figures are increasing as time goes by, he stated. “We warmly welcome every developer worldwide to join the HMS ecosystem, to bring the best smartphone experience to Huawei users.”

To view the full list of device specifications, click here.

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