The Huawei P40 series is finally here. The Chinese giant unveiled its latest flagship phone virtually, and it comes with a huge focus on the multi-sensor camera.
Another phone that focuses heavily on the camera is the iPhone 11 and its pricier iPhone 11 Pro counterpart. These are Apple’s current flagship phones and some of our favourite devices you can buy right now.
Alternatively, if you’re curious about how the P40 compare to another flagship, make sure to jump over to one of our other versus guides.
- Huawei P40 vs Galaxy S20
- Huawei P40 vs Huawei P40 Pro
- Huawei P40 vs Huawei P30
- Huawei P40 vs Huawei P40 Pro Plus
Huawei P40 vs iPhone 11 – Design and screen
The iPhone 11 very much resembles the previous iPhone XR, while the iPhone 11 Pro (and it larger Max version) match up to the iPhone XS. These phones have flat glass backs, IP68 water ratings and notched displays on the front. They all lack a headphone jack and have fairly noticeable camera housing on the rear.
The iPhone 11 Pro has the smallest screen at 5.7-inches, while the iPhone 11 Pro Max ups that to 6.5-inches. Both of those phones have OLED panels with loads of brightness and plenty of detail. The iPhone 11 sits in the middle with a 6.1-inch display. However, it’s a lower resolution and LCD rather than OLED.
iPhone 11 Pro (left) 5.8-inches vs iPhone 11 Pro Max (right) 6.5-inches
The P40 series, on the other hand, looks quite a lot different from the P30. First off there are three models: the P40, P40 Pro and P40 Pro Plus. The Pro Plus, for instance, comes with a ceramic back, while the Pro can be configured with a matte finish.
An interesting design quirk is its curved display, which curves on both sides and the top and bottom. We’ll have to spend more time with the phones to see whether or not this helps, or hinders, use.
All the Huawei P40 phones lack a headphone jack, with the IP68 waterproofing restricted to the Pro and Pro Plus models.
P40 Pro
In terms of the display, both the Pro and Pro Plus have a 6.58-inch display with a 90Hz refresh rate, an increase over the 60Hz screen on the iPhone 11 series and the regular P40.
Huawei P40 vs iPhone 11 – Specs and camera
We know all the about the specs of the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro. We’ve fully reviewed them and know how well the A13 Bionic chipset performs. It’s a seriously fast phone, even it does lack 5G.
We’re also pretty confident we know how well the P40 will perform, as it boasts the same Kirin 990 chipset as the Mate 30 Pro and we were very impressed with the speeds of that phone. All versions of the P40 appear to be 5G enabled too, which is becoming more and more common in 2020.
On the back of the iPhone 11 you’ve got a 12MP wide and 12MP ultra-wide, while the Pro models add in an extra 12MP tele sensor 2x zooming and better portrait photography. These are excellent cameras, with 4K 60 video recording and consistently impressive photos.
The P40 series is a little more complicated, and each model has a lot more going on than the iPhone. This doesn’t really mean you’ll get better snaps though – we’ll have to test that for our full review.
- Huawei P40 Pro review: hands on
All three phones have a 50-megapixel main sensor with an f1.9 aperture, OIS and the same custom RYYB colour capture arrangement as Huawei’s 2019 flagships. This should improve low light by getting the sensor to capture yellow pixels.
The P40 and P40 Pro have similar camera setups combine that main 50-megapixel sensor with a 40-megapixel ultrawide and 12-megapixel hybrid periscope/telephoto lens. The obvious between the regular P40 and the Pro is that the latter features a ToF sensor that should help with portrait photography.
The Plus takes things further by pairing the main 50-megapixel sensor with custom made 8-megapixel “super-telephoto/periscope”, 8-megapixel optical telephoto parts and the same 40-megapixel ultrawide seen on its cheaper siblings.
Huawei P40 vs iPhone 11 – Battery life
In our reviews, we found battery life on all the iPhone 11s to be a marked improvement over their predecessors. The iPhone 11 Pro Max especially is an endurance beast. Those Pro iPhones comes with an 18w fast charging (a full charge can still take over 100 minutes) while the iPhone 11 comes with a very slow 5w plug. Wireless charging is here too, supporting speeds up to 7.5w.
We’re yet to properly test the Huawei P40. However, we do know the P40 has a 3800mAh cell and the other two models up that to 4200mAh.
You’ll also get faster charging with the Pro and Pro Plus, both of which support both 40w wired and 40w (27w for the Pro). The regular P40 lacks the wireless charging and has 22.5w fast charging – still fast, but not as fast.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
