Huawei P40 hands-on review
Before we move onto the P40 and its specifics, we should offer a few comments on the overall P40 family design language. Over the years, we have grown accustomed to seeing rather recognizable design from Huawei. Whether it comes in the form of a particular home button or camera module design, the Chinese giant has pretty-much consistently had some little twist of its own.
Honestly, when it comes to the P40, we aren't quite seeing it. Before you get your torches and head over to the comment section - we are definitely not saying that the P40 line has a bad design. That is not true, by any stretch of the imagination. It's just, arguably, not as instantly-recognizable, as some of Huawei's previous work.
And sure, there is only so much variety you can achieve with the standard "glass sandwich" design. Plus, there is the rather stand-out way in which Huawei has curled-up the edges, alongside the aggressive down-curve on the display on all four sides of the P40 Pro and Pro+ models. Still, looking at the regular Huawei P40, in particular, we can't help but get plenty of Samsung vibes. It's just an arguably more generic design, all-around.
Reading through some of Huawei's promo materials for the P40, this seem to be less of an accident and more of a deliberate strive towards simplicity. Sure, looking at the wide, in comparative terms, of course, bezels around the display of the P40 and its visible frame is a lot less-striking that admiring the "Overflow display", "Glass of water" design of the P40 Pro and Pro+. However, there are still those among us that value the ergonomic and productivity benefits of a flat panel. And some curvy glass edges aside, the P40 offers a pretty retro experience in this regard. Proportion-wise, the vanilla Huawei P40 measures 148.9 x 71.06 x 8.5 mm and tips the scale at 175 grams. Not too bad, but it is worth considering that it is packing a 3,800 mAh - on the smaller side.
As far as build quality and bill of materials go, we are still a bit short on details. We do know that where the P40 Pro and Pro+ flaunt an IP68 ingress protection rating, the regular P40 has to settle for IP53. Hardly the end of the world. Also, Huawei didn't really make any fuss about "ceramic powder" and a five day baking process for the P40, like it did for the Pro+. Still, the P40 and P40 Pro might just have it one better, in our mind, in the finish and color options department. For the P40, Huawei has promised a choice of either a glossy finish, in Ice While, Black and Deep Sea Blue, or a matte finish, in Silver Frost and Blush Gold. We got to briefly handle both and we enjoyed the silky feel of the matte surface. We're sure we're not going to be alone on this one. The matt blue unit, we handled, also seems less susceptible to fingerprint and grease accumulation.
We would be remiss if we didn't mention that the P40 fits really snug in the palm, offering a solid feeling, with good ergonomics. It feels compact. Placing the phone on its back on a level surface is less of a glorious experience, due to the fairly large, in all dimensions, camera hump. A case will definitely fix that right up. On the plus side, the camera module is wide and flat enough that there is little wobble.
A more traditional design naturally goes together pretty well with a more conventional control scheme. There are no futuristic virtual volume keys and side swipes and panels on the P40. Instead, you get a set of very well-positioned and "clicky" volume rockers and a power button. Both of these, on the right-hand side of the device.
The power button even comes complete with a nice color accent and indentation, to easily feel-out. Literally no complaints in this department. Well, we were secretly hoping to get a 3.5mm audio jack, seeing how one is present on the P40 lite and P40 lite E. No luck, sadly. No IR blaster either. You only get a single, distinctly bottom-firing speaker on the P40. On the plus side, it does get very loud.
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