We’re going to be looking at the key differences between the brand new Huawei P40 Pro, and the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, So ideally we will be doing this comparison between the S20 Ultra and the P40 Pro Plus, but that device is still some time away, it could be a month, maybe more. So for the time being, let’s look at the best from Huawei versus the best from Samsung.
| S20 Ultra | P40 Pro |
| Blazing-fast performance | Gorgeous, refined design |
| Zooming up to 10x is fantastic | OLED with a fast refresh rate |
| Gorgeous 120Hz display | Support wireless charging |
| No headphone jack | Bloatware is present on the phone |
| A bit heavyweight | No Google Play Services |
Key Specification
| S20 Ultra | P40 Pro | |
| Released | 2020, Feb | 2020, April |
| Chipset | Exynos 990 (7 nm+) – Global | Kirin 990 5G (7 nm+) |
| Display Size | 6.9 inches | 6.58 inches |
| Memory | 12 GB | 8 GB |
| Storage | 128 GB | 256 GB |
| Camera | 108MP + 48MP + 12MP | 50MP + 40MP + 12MP |
| Fingerprint Sensor Position | On-screen | On-screen |
Design
| S20 Ultra | P40 Pro | |
| Dimensions | 166.9 x 76 x 8.8 mm | 158.2 x 72.6 x 9 mm |
| Weight | 222 grams | 209 grams |
| Screen Resolution | 1440 x 3200 pixels | 1200 x 2640 pixels |
| Color | Cosmic Grey, Cosmic Black | Black, Deep Sea Blue, Ice White, Silver Frost, Blush Gold |
| Display Type | Dynamic AMOLED | OLED |
| Build Material | Glass front (Gorilla Glass 6), glass back (Gorilla Glass 6), aluminum frame | Glass front, glass back, aluminum frame |
So initially, let’s talk about the design and the build. Both of these are very premium. They’re both using a metal frame with curved glass panels on the front and the back, and they both also have a rectangular camera module on the left-hand side of the back. The S20 Ultra does have a larger camera module, and it’s also a larger overall device. So, we would say that the P40 Pro is more comfortable overall it’s also a little bit lighter. Both devices are IP68 water and dust resistance.
But, we do like the look of the P40 Pro overall from the back, the camera module is smaller and you also have more color options. Quite nice-looking color options actually whereas the S20 Ultra is pretty plain You’ve just got the gray and the black. We do prefer the look of the front of the S20 Ultra, versus that of the Huawei P40 Pro. Now let’s talk a little bit about these displays. So both displays are all the displays, you do get a larger display on the S20 Ultra. One of the reasons why it’s a bigger device, and you also have a higher resolution on the S20 Ultra with a higher 120-hertz refresh rate.
Performance
| S20 Ultra | P40 Pro | |
| Processor | Octa-core (2×2.73 GHz Mongoose M5 & 2×2.50 GHz Cortex-A76 & 4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55) | HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G |
| GPU | Mali-G77 MP11 | Mali-G76 MP16 |
| RAM | 12 GB | 8 GB |
| Internal storage | 128 GB | 256 GB |
| Storage expansion | Yes Up to 1 TB | Up to 256 GB |
| OS | Android v10 (Q) | Android v10 (Q) |
Now let’s talk about the internals. So both of these are powered by the latest and greatest. The S20 Ultra, you can either have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset, or the Exynos 990 series. The Kirin 995 chipset is what we’ve got on the P40 Pro, which is also very, very fast.
We think in terms of speed and performance, both of these are right up there. The S20 Ultra does come with more RAM. You’ve got 12 gigabytes as a base with an option for 16 gigabytes, whereas the P40 Pro just comes with 8 gigabytes of RAM. And for storage, the P40 Pro does come with a larger base storage version of 256 gigabytes.
The S20 Ultra comes with a base of 128 gigabytes and you can get a 512-gigabyte option. Both devices do have expandable storage. However, the P40 Pro is a proprietary nano memory card which is from Huawei. On the S20 Ultra, you do have a standard micro SD card so that’s going to be much cheaper and much more easily accessible to expand the storage on the S20 Ultra.
Camera
| S20 Ultra | P40 Pro | |
| Rear | 108 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide) 48 MP, f/3.5, 103mm (periscope telephoto) 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide) | 50 MP, f/1.9, 23mm (wide) 12 MP, f/3.4, 125mm 40 MP, f/1.8, 18mm (ultrawide) |
| Front | 40 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide) | 32 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide) |
| Video recording | 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+, stereo sound rec., gyro-EIS & OIS | 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, 720@7680fps, 1080p@960fps, HDR; gyro-EIS |
Now let’s break these cameras down. So for the primary cameras, the S20 Ultra does have a high resolution, but remember pixels on everything and realistically speaking on both of these devices you are going to be shooting up, roughly around 12 megapixels, that’s when you’re going to be able to get the most out of these cameras and the sensors. And the P40 Pro does have a slightly larger sensor size. Now both of these have very large sensors which will be great for low light.
The Huawei P40 Pro does take things a little bit differently and it does have a red-yellow on a blue sense rather than the traditional red, green and blue, and while we see this allows it to capture more light. And this is also the case with the periscope zoom camera, a red-yellow on a blue sensor versus the red green and blue, 12 megapixels versus 48 megapixels but once again, you’re going to be pretty much shooting at 12 megapixels.
You’ve got roughly about five times optical zoom on both of these with a higher zoom lens for hybrid zoom and as it says on here on the S20 Ultra, you do have up to 100 times digital zoom. For the ultra-wide cameras, the P40 Pro does have a higher overall resolution, but the S20 Ultra does have a wider field of view. So you’re going to be able to capture more into your shot with that. And then of course there is the time of flight sensor. P40 performs better than S20 in the field of auto-focus. The auto-focus in P40 is really fast and responsive.
when it comes to video, the S20 Ultra can film at up to 8K, so it does get that advantage here. Now, 8K footage is very, very sharp it is impressive to have 8K video recording on a smartphone. This is something that you don’t have on the P40 Pro. You’ve got 4K up to 60 frames a second on both devices and for the front-facing cameras, the S20 Ultra has a high resolution but as mentioned, the P40 Pro does have that additional depth sensor.
Multimedia
| S20 Ultra | P40 Pro | |
| Headphone jack | No | USB Type-C |
| Loudspeaker | Yes | Yes |
| FM Radio | Yes | No |
Now, let’s talk a little bit about the audio. So neither of these of course has a 3.5 mm jack. But the S20 Ultra does have series speakers. There’s one bottom-firing and there’s one in the APS. The P40 Pro only has a single bottom-firing speaker. So the S20 Ultra when it does come to the overall audio experience, We do prefer it compared to the P40 Pro.
Battery Life
| S20 Ultra | P40 Pro | |
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 4200 mAh |
| Type | Li-ion | Li-ion |
| Quick Charging | Fast charging 45W | Fast charging 40W |
| User Replaceable | No | No |
When it comes to the batteries, the S20 Ultra also has a larger battery. You’ve got a 5,000 mAh battery versus the 4,200 mAh battery. But there are some advantages that the P40 Pro does have over the S20 Ultra when it comes to charging. Firstly, you’ve got 40-watt charging out of the box. So that’s included, you’re not going to have to buy that separately. The S20 Ultra comes with a 25-watt charger out of the box, although you can get a 45-watt charger. You do have to buy that separately, however.
On the P40 Pro also has passed the wireless charging, 27-watt fast wireless charging. Now the P40 Pro Plus does have up to 40-watt wireless charging, but this is unfortunately not the case here on the P40 Pro. I say unfortunately but 27 watts wireless charging is faster than most wireless charging out there on lots of other devices. Both devices also have reverse wireless charging, so you can charge other devices using these devices.
Connectivity
|  | S20 Ultra | P40 Pro |
| SIM | Dual SIM, GSM+GSM | Dual SIM, GSM+GSM |
| Network Support | 4G: Available (supports Indian bands), 3G: Available, 2G: Available | 5G, 4G , 3G, 2G |
| Bluetooth | v5.0 | v5.1 |
| Wifi | Wi-Fi 802.11, a/ac/ax/b/n/n 5GHz, MIMO | Wi-Fi 802.11, a/ac/ax/b/g/n, MIMO |
| GPS | Yes with A-GPS, Glonass | Yes with A-GPS, Glonass |
| Sensors | Light sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Barometer, Compass, Gyroscope | Light sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Compass, Gyroscope |
Which is better!
The S20 Ultra, Android 10 comes with One UI on top. Works really well, the software’s absolutely fine. The P40 Pro, unfortunately, does not come with Google Play services. So it’s got Android 10 with EMUI 10.1, and there are easy ways to get most of your apps. However, you won’t be able to get Google Play services here on the P40 Pro, not for now anyway. And that unfortunately does mean things like YouTube, Google Drive, all of the other Google apps are only going to work within a browser. So they’ll still work.
You can still view YouTube on here, but it’s not going to have that in-app experience. And that is something that makes things complicated here on the P40 Pro. So, it really depends. Are you willing to take those extra steps and use your Google apps via a browser? Then you know the P40 Pro, because of all of the other features that it’s got might be something that you’re willing to go with, and it also comes in at a cheaper price.
