**** The Official Huawei P40 pro Thread ****

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I have received the P40 Pro to try out for a month, I've had it a few days and apart from the usual Google apps complaint I think it's an awesome phone, but of course different people have different needs and it's not for everyone. Next to my Galaxy Note 10+ the camera is awesome and the selfie camera is too, the OS is very smooth and lag free as you would expect, the phone feels great to hold even though I prefer my Note 10+ size. It comes with a clear case which obviously is not that expensive but it really annoys me when other manufacturers don't include at least a clear case. I have pretty much got all the apps I need and where I need Gmail or YouTube etc I have just added the website shortcut to my home screen. The fingerprint scanner and face unlock are much better/faster than the Note and the IR blaster is a great addition (haven't had that since my Note 4)

I usually try to keep things close to stock as possible so try to use the native phone apps instead of 3rd party, I have found that the SMS app can't be personalised with either a separate message tone for different contacts or personalised wallpaper for the chats etc, which is not a deal breaker but still nice to have on my Note. The 'Private space' feature is great, it's far more advanced than the secure folder found on Samsung devices, it's almost like having a separate phone by just using a separate fingerprint.

So I will test the phone out for a few weeks at stock and not do any adjustments to accommodate google in any way and at the end of it, it will be interesting to see if I can do without google apps, so far its ok though.
 
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Going against the grain is in my character, some would say so is throwing money away ...:D

Anyway, received my official UK P40Pro+ and promotional gear. Also some imports from HK. Very nice phone so far, will put Google apps on it later but so far Petal search is finding my default apps successfully ( banking aside ).

*For the RRP of UK Supercharger ( £119 ) I got two Superchargers plus the 27W car charger from HK, crazy mark up.

*Acutally the U.K Wireless Supercharger also includes a 65w charger whereas the imports don't.

zvUN8Oqm.jpg
 
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Going against the grain is in my character, some would say so is throwing money away ...:D

Anyway, received my official UK P40Pro+ and promotional gear. Also some imports from HK. Very nice phone so far, will put Google apps on it later but so far Petal search is finding my default apps successfully ( banking aside ).

*For the RRP of UK Supercharger ( £119 ) I got two Superchargers plus the 27W car charger from HK, crazy mark up.

*Acutally the U.K Wireless Supercharger also includes a 65w charger whereas the imports don't.

zvUN8Oqm.jpg
How are you getting on with the Pro + after a few weeks?
 
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personally with what is going on with the company would you still recommend someone getting one, i am noticing that a lot of mobile providers are still selling them, just wondering later on will they be blocked of the network to comply with the government not using huawei at all...i am sure i read somewhere that the US mobile providers are not allowing you to use huawei on there network as it could compromising they security.
 
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I have had my P40 since April, I haven't installed any of the Google GMS workarounds, I just use the Huawei HMS, Huawei App gallery and Aurora store to download apps onto the phone. The only downside is I cannot run Android Auto on the P40 so I cannot link Google Maps to my Car via mirror link or Android Auto.

Would I recommend anyone to buy a P40, no I wouldn't. They are great phones but the vast majority of people will just want an easy to use phone, they won't want to think about or the hassle of using non Google apps instead of the apps they are using now.
 
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How are you getting on with the Pro + after a few weeks?

I haven’t been using it regularly, but I’ve used it long enough to form an overall opinion of it, which is a bit conflicted.

If it was only a few hundred above the ‘Pro’ I would recommend it in a heartbeat, but with that coming in at £799 and the plus retailing at £1299 the difference doesn’t justify the enhancements in my opinion even with the promotional extras.

The camera, wireless charging and storage upgrades are just not that important, nice to have , but you won’t miss them if you have the Pro, which is a fantastic phone.

The Plus is also significantly heavier, which makes it a bit of a pain to use one handed.

If I was to buy one today from an official UK retailer, it would be the Pro. Only go for the Plus if you need to have the best.
 
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personally with what is going on with the company would you still recommend someone getting one, i am noticing that a lot of mobile providers are still selling them, just wondering later on will they be blocked of the network to comply with the government not using huawei at all...i am sure i read somewhere that the US mobile providers are not allowing you to use huawei on there network as it could compromising they security.

Generally I install GMS using the workarounds, so the US restriction doesn’t have any negative impact for me.

I agree it’s not for everyone though, and the shear number of Pros on fleabay suggest people who’ve taken the gamble usually end up missing the play store and its apps.

Huawei phones won’t be blocked off any mobile networks, it’s the network equipment that the US has been pressuring a lot of other countries to stop using. Lot of politics involved, trade deals etc and the fact the US is in heavy debt to China that is at the heart of this rather than any genuine security concerns.

The situation doesn’t do Huawei any good though ,and would I recommend a device to your average consumer? .. not when there’s alternatives.
 
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Generally I install GMS using the workarounds, so the US restriction doesn’t have any negative impact for me.

I agree it’s not for everyone though, and the shear number of Pros on fleabay suggest people who’ve taken the gamble usually end up missing the play store and its apps.

Huawei phones won’t be blocked off any mobile networks, it’s the network equipment that the US has been pressuring a lot of other countries to stop using. Lot of politics involved, trade deals etc and the fact the US is in heavy debt to China that is at the heart of this rather than any genuine security concerns.

The situation doesn’t do Huawei any good though ,and would I recommend a device to your average consumer? .. not when there’s alternatives.
I agree, it's hard to recommend a phone when it's in this situation with no google apps or services and is being squeezed in all directions by the US, the only thing that would worry me about buying one is the security patch updates. I had the P40 Pro for a month and while I thought the phone itself was fantastic, the security patch level was at May and no update in the month that I had it.

The overall usability of the phone was great, I had most apps installed and the rest as web shortcuts but I know this wouldn't be ideal for everyone. My biggest dilemma now is do I upgrade my Note 10 plus to the Note 20 Ultra or the P40 pro plus, hmmmm.
 
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Pricewise I expect they'll be into the same bracket, around £1200-1300. Maybe the Plus will get a slight reduction but nothing significant from official UK suppliers. Grey imports can be had for 1K though and may solve your patch dilmea as Chinese updates pushed out sooner, but imports bring their own issues and tend to have a smaller resell market.

Best waiting for the Ultra to be released and reviewed, then judge for yourself if it's a worthy upgrade or just an incremental one. Then keep an eye out for the Mate 40 Pro plus lol.
 
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Best waiting for the Ultra to be released and reviewed, then judge for yourself if it's a worthy upgrade or just an incremental one. Then keep an eye out for the Mate 40 Pro plus lol.
Yeah the Mate 40 Pro could be interesting for sure. I am supposed to be getting the Mate XS this week for review purposes so that should be fun, but at 2 grand a pop its not going to be on the best seller list :)
 
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I had one in my online basket but even my impulsive nature is stalled at 2k lol.

Seen a few videos on the XS and although personally I prefer the fold design I would love to test out the XS myself


Enjoy.
 
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Wow regarding the XS i like the design but the price is what keeping me away for sure, i would just get the pro 40 based on the earlier feedback than the XS specially when the No resale will be hanging specially over the cost of it not like i resell my phones anyway...Lol
 
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I smashed the corner of my S7 Edge a couple weeks ago, suffered several drops in the past and generally it's been quite durable, though now i'm getting sick and tired of it nipping my ear when i'm on calls. Refuse to get another Samsung after their latest stunt with the Exynos chip, so eyeing something different.

The lack of Google services on this phone is the sole reason i'm hesitant to buy into Huwaei right now, though hear it's improving. How are the banking service apps on these? Is Santander compatible?
 
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Can’t comment on individual banking apps sorry, but I believe the gapps installation has become easier. Although there’s still an issue around getting notifications I think, I.e there is none for the majority of gapps.

bottom line -If you’re not bothered about Google apps or comfortable farting about with workarounds then by all means go for it otherwise avoid Huawei for the foreseeable future.
 
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Yep I agree with the above, I didn't even try and google app side loads of any kind, I just tried using the phone using the apps I cloned from my Note 10+ and found most others using Petal search/APK pure and any other I couldn't get I generally used a web shortcut on my home screen.
 
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Small update:

I've found cloning the apps from another phone gives a good success rate, a lot of my banking apps HSBC and Starling work work immediately once cloned. Some apps like eBay won't work as they look for play services . However if you definitely want to install an app like eBay you can install MicroG , which will spoof a Google account . You can also install Aurora store ( basically a mirror of play store ) alongside MicroG to install a comprehensive list of apps.

Still, Obviously not as simply as an official GMS system but it's an avenue to go down if those GMS work arounds are getting on your nerves.
 
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