HUAWEI P40 Pro tops DxOMark charts, 'blows competition out of the water'

The HUAWEI P series stands out thanks to its camera credentials, offering class-leading low-light photos and great zoom capabilities. HUAWEI’s P40 series continues the camera focus in terms of pure specs, and now camera testing firm DxOMark says the P40 Pro is at the top of the pile.

DxOMark tested the HUAWEI P40 Pro and gave it a score of 128 points, beating the OPPO Find X2 Pro by four points to claim the number one spot in the firm’s rankings. The company gave HUAWEI’s flagship a photo score of 140 and a video score of 105, with both scores being new records.

In terms of photography, the testing firm said the P40 Pro delivered very wide dynamic range, good levels of detail at medium and long range, and good detail in bokeh shots. DxOMark also heaped praise on the autofocus performance and the exposure at night, with the firm saying the night shots in particular were better than other tested devices.

It wasn’t all good here though, as the testing company criticized the phone for having chroma noise and lacking fine detail in faces for night mode shots. DxOMark also noted occasional issues with underexposure in bright light as well as inaccurate color rendering and white balance at times.

It’s also worth noting that HUAWEI is still using image fusion technology for intermediate zoom ranges, before switching to its periscope camera for native 5x zoom. This technology essentially uses info from the periscope camera for the center of a picture at intermediate zoom ranges, while the main camera is used to fill in detail on the edges. Check out these zoomed shots from the P40 Pro (left) and Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro — you can also click/tap them for a closer look.

DxOMark’s testing shows that while the center of the P40 Pro image above is sharp in the situations, detail on the edges is still lacking compared to the Mi 10 Pro. For what it’s worth, the P40 Pro Plus has a second zoom camera for short-range zoom. Nevertheless, you can check out a crop of the two images below to see the differences (we’ve resized the Mi 10 Pro shot to more closely match the P40 Pro’s perspective).

Switching to the video side of things, the HUAWEI P40 Pro was praised for its stabilization, vivid colors in all situations, wide dynamic range, and its autofocus performance. But it also received criticism for noise in low light, differences in sharpness from frame to frame, and white balance issues with tungsten lights.

“In sum, the HUAWEI P40 Pro’s camera blows the competition out of the water. If you want the best camera in a smartphone, there is currently no better alternative,” DxOMark concluded.

Do you agree with the company’s assessment of the HUAWEI P40 Pro? Sound off in the comments section below!