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Behold: This is our first look at one of the most exciting Android phones of 2020

Published Jan 22nd, 2020 1:53PM EST
Huawei P40 Pro vs. Galaxy S20
Image: Huawei

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Samsung will unveil the Galaxy S20 series on February 11th, and the phone will likely hit stores a few weeks later. In March, however, another new flagship phone will be unveiled that will not only be the S20’s most prominent rival of the first half of the year, but one of the most exciting new Android phones of 2020. That’s the Huawei P40 Pro, of course, which is already confirmed to be announced in Paris, France in March. The P40 Pro will be the best phone in the P40 series, and the device that will compete directly against Samsung’s best S20, the S20 Ultra 5G.

The P40 Pro was featured in a few leaks already, so we know what to expect from it. But a brand new leak shows us a P40 Pro test device in use in China, and it’s our first look ever at a real-life image of the phone. Separately, a leaker posted the press render of the regular P40, which is going to be Huawei’s direct competitor to the Galaxy S20+.

The P40 Pro is supposed to feature a unique design with all four sides of the screen wrapping around the edges. This would be a first for the industry, and a way to further reduce the size of the phone’s bezels. As a result, the phone will use a hole-punch design for the selfie camera, and we’re going to have two front-facing lenses as shown here:

Image source: Evan Blass, Twitter

The photos below were posted on Weibo (via SparrowsNews), and they appear to show a device that looks a lot like the P40 Pro. The dual-lens hole-punch camera is present, and the phone’s edges are clearly curved.

The handset is hidden in a bulky case that makes it impossible to tell whether the top edge is also curved. On the back, meanwhile, the camera system is also covered to obscure the handset while it’s being tested in public.

This brings us to Evan Blass, the leaker who provided the P40 Pro render above. He’s back with a brand new P40 render that shows the mint green version of the P40. This can’t be the P40 Pro because the phone features only four camera lenses on the back, while the P40 Pro is supposed to feature an extra lens, as seen above.

Image source: Twitter

What is interesting about this press render is that it suggests the P40 will feature a periscope camera just like the P40 Pro. The Galaxy S20+, meanwhile, will not have a periscope zoom camera, which will be an S20 Ultra exclusive. As exciting as these P40 versions might seem, the P40 series will have a huge flaw, at least in the eyes of Western consumers who use Android products: They’ll ship without Google apps on board since Huawei is currently banned from using them.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.