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With a superb camera, Huawei’s app store, affordable pricing, and a massive 6.4-inch high-quality display, the HUAWEI P40 Lite is a stylishly powerful smartphone – even without Google’s services.

The Huawei brand has been experiencing quite a hindrance to their sales owing to the current political distress between the US and China. However, this hasn’t stopped them from coming up with a spectacular new smartphone. What surprised me the most about HUAWEI P40 Lite is that even without Google support, the smartphone is incredibly powerful and capable.

Instead of the Play Store, the HUAWEI P40 Lite has AppGallery, which is Huawei’s app store. Having used and tested this phone for quite a few weeks now, I truly believe there is a strong possibility of advancements in smartphones without Google support!

While this smartphone did manage to blow my mind very easily, there were still a few areas that I wish Huawei had paid attention to. Nevertheless, these drawbacks haven’t been able to stop me from considering the HUAWEI P40 Lite to be a great new smartphone in the marketplace. Let’s have a closer look at everything I loved about the HUAWEI P40 Lite and a few things that could use some improvement.

Unboxing this smartphone was quite a delight

Huawei took a big risk launching the HUAWEI P40 Lite without Google support; however, this might have been for the best. At ZAR 6,999, this smartphone is available to purchase on most online e-commerce stores. Out of the three brilliant colors – black, emerald green, and light pink – the attractive Sakura pink color appealed to me the most. It’s different, out-of-the-box, and superbly stylish. Additionally, the color gradient gives it quite an elegant look.

159.2 x 76.3 x 8.7 mm in dimensions, the smartphone features a very slim bezel (which I love!). The HUAWEI P40 Lite also has a plastic back along with an aluminium frame. This adds sturdiness to this mid-range model. 

Unboxing my new HUAWEI P40 Lite did take some time owing to the number of standard items present in it – USB charger, Type-C cable, and USB-C earphones set. What made me happy was that the 3.5mm headphone jack was retained in the HUAWEI P40 Lite. I usually tend to use wired earphones, and the presence of this jack makes my life quite easy.

Elegant design with a high resolution visual experience

The HUAWEI P40 Lite comes with Full HD+ resolution (1080 x 2310 pixels). It has a 48mp rear camera and a 16mp front camera. The HUAWEI P40 Lite also has an 8mp ultra-wide camera angle sensor, along with other sensors, including a 2mp depth of field and a 2mp macro sensor. This not only made my video streaming experience superb but also let me click some gorgeous photos, even in low light. 

Plus, instead of a glaringly obvious placement of the selfie camera, the HUAWEI P40 Lite features a subtle and well-blended selfie camera in the top left-hand side corner of the screen itself. This step by Huawei to correct a design flaw so annoying is something I appreciate. The brightness level on the HUAWEI P40 Lite is also well-calibrated. 

Powerful software and processor

The HUAWEI P40 Lite comes with the latest Android 10 which is a big plus. It is also powered by quite a capable processor – Kirin 810 SoC – which prevents any lags. The dark mode is good, sensitivity to touch is great, and the smartphone works superbly when multitasking. However, it is a bit of a downer for heavy gamers considering this is only a mid-range phone. I also found getting used to the gestures a bit hard at first, but it does work like butter now. 

Absence of Google Support

I have never been a big user of Google services; however, millions are using the HUAWEI P40 Lite is certainly tough for them in the beginning. You would lose your saved favorites, auto-fill suggestions, and more. Plus, getting used to the Huawei environment can take some time in the beginning. If you can get past that, the absence of Google support shouldn’t be a big downer moving forward. 

The final verdict

No Google support can be quite unnerving in the beginning; however, the HUAWEI P40 Lite has so much to offer that this gets overlooked in the long run. Well, that’s what happened to me anyway. If you are looking for an entry or mid-range phone which offers a sleek design, excellent camera, and good processing speed, the HUAWEI P40 Lite is the way to go!