Huawei's P40 Pro 5G is shown in this photo. ABS-CBN News

Huawei's P40 Pro 5G is shown in this photo. ABS-CBN News

Huawei's P40 Pro 5G is shown in this photo. ABS-CBN News

Huawei's P40 Pro 5G is shown in this photo. ABS-CBN News

Huawei's P40 Pro 5G is shown in this photo. ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- Huawei makes it clear on the box of the P40 Pro: the 2020 upgrade to its Leica-powered camera beast runs App Gallery, its own marketplace of Android apps.

It sets the tone for the P40 Pro experience. The photo enthusiast's smartphone that adds features and hardware every year is now all out on Huawei Mobile Services as the App Gallery adds more user favorites. It is also 5G-ready.

The biggest improvements on the P40 series compared to the P30 are the screen, design, and of course, the cameras.

The P40 Pro and P40 Pro+ have nearly 6.6-inch OLED screens that refresh at 90hz, compared to 60hz on last year's flagships. A high refresh rate makes animations and games appear smoother.

The displays on the P40 Pro and P40 Pro+ also curve on the top, bottom and sides giving the illusion of a borderless screen. Huawei is the first to market with this screen technology, which it calls "overflow display."

Huawei provided a Matte Gray P40 Pro for us to review and the matte finish makes it less slippery and more resistant to fingerprints. It's a sophisticated turn for the P series, which for two generations sported gradient, iridescent colors.

If Huawei attempted to bottle the northern lights for the P20 series, it went for sleek power suit with the P40.

The P40 Pro has 4 rear shooters: a 50 megapixel main lens; a 12MP telephoto with 5x optical zoom, 10x hybrid zoom and 50x maximum zoom; a 40MP ultra wide with low light and slow-motion video, telephoto video and time lapse; and a 3D depth sensing camera.

The cameras are housed in a large rectangular module that is bigger than the iPhone 11 Pro Max and rivals the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra.

The front-facing cameras on the P40 Pro are housed in a pill-shaped cutout that is bigger than that on the Galaxy S20+ from 2019. The module includes a 32MP camera and an IR depth camera to deliver natural bokeh effects and detailed selfies.

This year, Huawei added quirky yet useful AI camera tweaks: Golden Snap selects the best shot (sounds like Top Shot on the Google Pixel 4) and allows users to take out bystanders and reflections on mirrors.

Here are some text shots:

The P40 Pro runs on Huawei's Kirin 990 chip, the same brains on the Mate 30 Pro from late 2019. Our review unit came with 8GB RAM and 256 GB internal storage.

The 4,200 mAh batter charges at 40W with the bundled super charger and 27W on wireless. Huawei phones are usually battery champs, but we'll need to run further tests on the P40 Pro since the 90hz screen consumes more power.

For perspective, the P30 Pro with a 6.5-inch 60hz screen also has a 4,200 mAh cell. While the P40 Pro's screen appears to be more power intensive on paper, that doesn't take into account optimizations with the newer Kirin 990 chip.

Needless to say, the P40 Pro was blazing fast out of the box and comfortable lasted an entire day of working from home.

We will be coming up with a full review soon.

In the Philippines, pre-orders will run from April 22 to 24. Customers on Lazada and MemoXpress will get P12,285 in freebies including Huawei wireless Freebuds (P8,990), Band 4 fitness tracker (P1,890), 50GB cloud storage for 1 year (P588), GCash voucher(P70), Paymaya credits (P50), P100 discount in GMovies and a 3-month Booky Prime membership.

Lazada pre-orders for the P40 can be accessed here, while P40 Pro pre-orders are accessible on this link. MemoXpress pre-orders are available on their website. Final payment for purchases via Lazada must be settled from April 22 to 24.

From the Shoppee Flagship Store, pre-order customers will get P10,395 in freebies including Huawei Freebuds (P8,990), 50GB cloud storage for 1 year at (P588), GCash voucher (P70), Paymaya credits (P50), P100 discount in GMovies and a 3-month Booky Prime membership for for 3 months (P597).

For the P40, Shoppee customers can pre-order here while P40 Pro customers can click here.