MediaTek recorded an impressive set of numbers for Q1 2022 with revenues growing 32% YoY and 10.2% QoQ to reach $4.8 billion. The company’s mobile phone segment achieved a revenue of $2.7 billion, growing 29% YoY. According to Counterpoint Research’sSmartphone, AP/SOC Shipment Tracker, the addition of the Dimensity 9000 to the premium segment has added meaningfully to the overall revenues that have also been driven by 5G AP/SOCs in the mid-tier segment. LTE AP/SOCs are still attracting high demand and will be in tight supply throughout 2022. Based on our data, LTE AP/SOCs contributed to one-third of the total AP shipments in Q1 2022.
MediaTek Revenue by segment
The smart edge segment contributed 39% to MediaTek’s Q1 2022 revenues. This segment is mainly driven by the Wi-Fi 6/6E migration and higher-end solutions for smart TVs and tablets. Technology migration trends in smart edge platforms have led to a higher blended ASP in this segment.
The power IC segment accounted for 8% of the total revenues, growing 52% YoY and 21% QoQ. A large part of the PMIC segment’s revenue is coming from displays and smartphones. Automotive and industrial applications contribute to 10% of the PMIC revenue and will drive growth for this segment in 2022.
MediaTek guided revenues to be in the range of $5-$5.3 billion in Q2 2022, up 3~10% QoQ and 17~25% YoY. The mobile phone segment will show the strongest growth due to the shifting of demand from LTE to 5G AP/SOCs. As the China market is slowing, the revenue growth will come from other regions like India and Europe. Also, the Dimensity 9000 and 8000 series will continue to add to the revenues in Q2 2022. However, due to the slowdown in China and deteriorating macroeconomic conditions, we have reduced our H2 2022 forecast for the Dimensity 9000.
Revenues from Wi-Fi 6, 5G SIM modem, 5G tablet, 10G-PON and 4K smart TV are also expected to grow strongly in H2 2022. Also, MediaTek’s mmWave SOC is on schedule to ship in the second half of 2022. It will pave the way for MediaTek’s further expansion in the global market.
According to Counterpoint Research’s Smartphone AP/SOC Shipment Tracker, MediaTek will continue to lead the smartphone AP SOC market with a volume share of 41% in Q2 2022, followed by Qualcomm with 27%. The company’s strategy of 5G, Wi-Fi 6, focused product migration, geographic expansion with global customers, and penetration into high-end and flagship segments will allow MediaTek to retain and even improve its strong market position.
China slowdown, COVID-19 lockdowns and macroeconomic conditions will affect the global smartphone market. MediaTek guides flat growth for the smartphone market in 2022 and 5G penetration (660-680 million units) reaching 50%. Further, 5G penetration is expected to reach 70% in the next two years.
Smartphone OEMs like OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi currently have inventories with distributors and also for components like AP/SOCs, PMICs and DDICs. This has led to a drop in AP/SOC orders for MediaTek for H2 2022. But MediaTek is keeping a high inventory reserve this quarter to sustain its OEM and ODM partners during the worsening COVID-19 situation. MediaTek normally runs with around 90 days of inventory. But it has now raised this to around 100 days to manage potential supply constraints.
MediaTek sought to reassure investors that it would not follow a low pricing strategy to counter slowing demand. Instead, it will invest in future growth. Its pricing strategy will also leverage its high capacity and will manage profitability by maintaining similar pricing as the previous quarter. We expect overall 5G AP/SOC ASPs to be flat compared to last year. If the competition reduces the prices, it will be challenging for MediaTek to maintain growth in H2 2022. Due to the strong demand for LTE AP/SOCs, the ASPs will not decline this year. Overall, 5G AP/SOCs will have a premium pricing over LTE. The company is now focusing on developing 5G AP/SOCs for low-end phones priced less than $150. We believe this will happen two years down the line. However, based on our estimates, LTE is going to dominate the less than $100 smartphones, driven by regions like LATAM, Africa and APAC.
Presently, MediaTek is not a big player in the PC business, having only a few Chromebook-type devices in the market. The company played down its expectations for substantial growth in the PC sector while confirming that it was interested in the potential of the Arm-based PC market.
Smartphones still contribute 53% of the revenues for MediaTek. For longer-term growth, MediaTek has to reduce dependence on smartphones and expand into areas like the smart edge, automotive, connected PCs and AR/VR.
The global Android smartphone AP (Application Processor)/SoC (System on Chip) sales grew 3.6% YoY in 2021, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Global Handset Model Sales Tracker. MediaTek led the Android smartphone SoC market in 2021 with a 46% share, followed by Qualcomm with 35%. Most of the market share growth for MediaTek in 2021 came from the low-mid tier wholesale price segment (sub-$299), driven by strong demand for the Dimensity 700/800 series chipsets.
Qualcomm struggled with a tight supply throughout the year for its mid-tier solutions. The shift in focus away from 4G SoCs also didn’t help. However, in the high value $300+ segment, Qualcomm continued to dominate with its Snapdragon 7 and 8 series. The number of design wins for Qualcomm in the $399+ Android smartphones continued to climb not only for chipsets (AP/SoC) but also for RFFE (RF Front End) components, allowing it to capture a higher BoM (Bill of Materials) share and boost both its top and bottom lines.
AP Chipset Share for Android Smartphones by Price Band (%) in 2021
Qualcomm
With a supply crunch since the previous year, Qualcomm prioritized focus on ramping up supply for its 7 and 8 series Snapdragon chipsets, driving higher revenue and profitability.
Qualcomm is also in a very unique position to further make inroads into the premium Android smartphone market by supplying a leading-edge RFFE portfolio and other components such as ultrasonic fingerprint sensor and quick charge.
Qualcomm continued its domination of the mid-high ($300-$499) smartphone segment in 2021 with a 65% share, up from 53% in 2020. The Snapdragon 870, 720G, 750G and 778G were the key volume-driver chipsets for Qualcomm in this segment.
Qualcomm’s share in smartphones priced above $500 increased from 41% in 2020 to 55% in 2021 owing to the launch of flagships Snapdragon 888 and 8Gen 1.
The Snapdragon 8 series sets an industry benchmark when it comes to delivering premium flagship-grade smartphone experiences. It is the default choice for any smartphone OEM’s flagship series.
Qualcomm is generations ahead of its competition when it comes to premium experiences in a chipset, whether it is compute (CPU, DSP, GPU), AI (NPU), connectivity (4G, 5G sub-6GHz, 5G mmWave, Wi-Fi6/6E), security, or gaming capabilities. Besides, the highly optimized RFFE components are key to delivering advanced connectivity experiences, making it a system-level opportunity for Qualcomm.
Moving forward, dual sourcing of premium solutions from foundry will be the key to alleviating +any concerns over chipset shortages.
MediaTek
MediaTek’s growth came from smartphones priced less than $299 (wholesale price). MediaTek’s growth was driven by both LTE and 5G SoCs across this price band.
The volume in the ≤$99 price band was driven by LTE smartphones, where MediaTek captured a 62% share. LTE SoCs were most affected by the shortages in 2021, both for MediaTek and Qualcomm.
In Android smartphones in the $100-$299 price band, MediaTek dominated the market with a 52% share. This is where the Dimensity 700 and 800 drove the mass-market adoption of 5G smartphones in markets such as China, India and parts of the US and Europe. This allowed brands such as realme, Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo to launch 5G phones at price points below the $200 retail price.
The Dimensity 1100/1200 helped MediaTek increase share in the $300-$499 price band, where it captured a 24% volume share in 2021, compared to 6% in 2020.
Further, with the launch of the Dimensity 8100/8000, it is looking to strengthen its position in the $300-$499 price band. These chipsets support the R16 baseband with power efficiency and performance improvements. With the Dimensity 9000, MediaTek is looking to enter the premium segment ($500+) in 2022. Almost all Chinese smartphone OEMs, like OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi and HONOR, will launch phones with this chipset. According to our chipset tracker forecast, MediaTek is likely to capture around 10% of the premium smartphone segment.
Samsung
Samsung SOCs witnessed a decline in all smartphone price segments in 2021 compared to the previous year.
Drastic changes were seen in the low-mid segment ($100-$299), where its share decreased from 17% to 7%, and in the mid-high segment, where its share decreased from 13% in 2020 to 6% in 2021, as Samsung Mobile outsourced many of its models (A, F and M series) to ODMs which integrated mostly Qualcomm, MediaTek or Unisoc solutions in different models depending on target price bands. The lack of refreshes in the Exynos series SoCs for the mid-to-high tiers was a trigger for the ODM move. The absence of the Note series and Qualcomm’s design wins across the popular Samsung foldables led to further decline of the Exynos chipsets.
With the Galaxy S22 series, Qualcomm has a greater proportion of design wins across markets than before, thanks to its industry-leading offerings and also the low yields of the new premium Exynos chipsets.
UNISOC
UNISOC showed exciting growth in 2021 in smartphones priced less than $200. In 2020, UNISOC chipsets only catered to phones priced under $100. In 2021, realme, HONOR, Motorola and Samsung launched phones with the Tiger series SoC. UNISOC has expanded its customer base with design wins at ZTE and TECNO, and entry into the Samsung Galaxy A series.
UNISOC captured a 26% share in the ≤$99 band in 2021, followed by a 4% share in the $100-$199 price band.
For 2022, we expect UNISOC to maintain the momentum with its portfolio catering to LTE smartphones as MediaTek struggles with supply issues for 4G chipsets and Qualcomm focuses just on 5G solutions. Also, a few design wins with 5G chipsets will add to the overall volumes.
HiSilicon
HiSilicon’s SoCs had a 16% share in phones costing $500 and above in 2021, which was a decline from the 30% share in the previous year, due to the US trade ban. It is running on the inventory it added before the ban.
For 2022, we expect its volumes to drop as the inventory gets depleted. Huawei has already started using Qualcomm SoCs in its new launches, but they are limited to 4G.
The new 7-series Snapdragon 778G SoC is built on TSMC’s 6nm node.
The SoC supports Sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G connectivity.
It supports a triple-camera ISP and a display refresh rate of up to 144Hz.
It aims to build upon the success of Snapdragon 765G.
Even as the global smartphone market continues to recover from COVID-19, the global chip shortagehas been tightening its grip. But despite this, the demand for 5G smartphones is on the rise. To address this demand, Qualcomm has been expanding its portfolio of Snapdragon SoCs, from the premium 8-series to all the way down to 4-series. At its virtual 5G Summit 2021, Qualcomm announced the latest Snapdragon 778G 5G mobile platform to accelerate 5G adoption in the mainstream mid-tier to high-tier segment.
Snapdragon 778G Launch Builds on 765’s Stellar Success
Qualcomm continues to lead the fast-growing 5G smartphone SoC market. The Snapdragon 765G, the first 7-series 5G SoC launched last year, was the best-selling integrated 5G SoC in Q4 2020, powering one in five Android smartphones globally. It is also the first 7-series platform to bring flagship features to mid-tier and high-tier smartphones.
Building on the platform’s success, Qualcomm continues to push advanced AI and gaming features, along with premium camera experiences, to the 7-series with the new Snapdragon 778G. Qualcomm would look to widen the gap with competition, especially given MediaTek’s strong recent growth thanks to Huawei, broader portfolio of mid-tier to high-tier 5G Dimensity SoCs and less foundry-side and supply issues compared to Qualcomm. We expect the Snapdragon 778G to be an even bigger success than its predecessor.
Source – Qualcomm
Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 5G SoC: Key Specifications and Features
Qualcomm is positioning this chipset to offer advanced multimedia, camera, gaming and AI experiences to mainstream users, with decent gains over the previous generation.
Powerful CPU: The Snapdragon 778G 5G mobile platform is built on TSMC’s 6nm node. The chipset features a 64-bit octa-core Kryo 670 CPU with four Cortex-A78 performance cores clocked at 2.4GHz, and four Cortex-A55-based efficiency cores clocked at 1.8GHz.
Better Visuals: On the graphics side, the SoC comes with the Adreno 642L GPU. Qualcomm says the “L” here sees a minor performance difference compared to the Adreno 642 GPU on the Snapdragon 780G SoC. However, it brings performance gains over the Adreno 620 on the Snapdragon 765G 5G platform. The 778G 5G chipset also brings support for Vulkan 1.1, OpenGL® ES 3.2 and OpenCL 2.0 FP APIs, along with HDR gaming (10-bit color depth, Rec. 2020 color gamut), HDR10+, HDR10, and more.
Faster Display Refresh Rate: Smartphones with a refresh rate higher than 90Hz are becoming more popular as they offer smooth scrolling, and a better video and gaming experience. The new chipset supports FHD+ displays with a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz, an external display up to 4K resolution, and a 60Hz refresh rate.
Advanced Connectivity: The Snapdragon X53 5G Modem-RF System enables Sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G connectivity with peak download speeds up to 7Gbps. There is support for Dynamic Spectrum Sharing as well. Moreover, the FastConnect 6700 system brings Wi-Fi 6E connectivity with peak download speeds up to 2.9Gbps. Lastly, the chipset also supports Bluetooth 5.2, aptX codec, and Snapdragon Sound with 24-bit 96-kHz music-streaming capabilities.
Triple ISP for Enhanced Photo and Videography Experiences
With lockdowns still in place in several countries, a lot of smartphone users are trying their hands at content creation. As a result, demand for short video apps has seen a rise. The Spectra 570L ISP (Image Signal Processor) unlocks new possibilities, allowing users to capture three photos or video streams simultaneously. This means users can now record from wide, ultra-wide and zoom lenses at the same time, and effortlessly switch between them.
Source – Qualcomm
A small preview of this viewfinder is always seen on one side of the screen, giving you a better idea of what each lens is recording, including the front camera. The feature is already available in some Snapdragon 888-powered devices such as the Galaxy S21 series, where this mode is called Director’s View.
On the sensor side, there is support for up to 192MP camera sensor for still photos, 4K HDR video capture with bokeh mode, and HD slow-motion video capture at 240fps. HDR10+ video format support also means you can capture over a billion shades of color with punchy colors and sharp details.
Source – Qualcomm
There is also support for Multi-Frame Noise Reduction (MFNR) and Zero Shutter Lag (ZSL). The ISP supports up to 22MP triple cameras, up to 36+22MP dual cameras, and up to 64MP single camera at 30fps video-recording with Zero Shutter Lag for blur-free recording. Lastly, there is also AI-based auto-focus and auto-exposure to help you click sharper and brighter photos, even in low light.
Advanced AI for Richer Experiences
The Hexagon 770 processor with 6th gen Qualcomm AI engine enables improved imaging, video and audio capabilities. It can deliver 12TOPS (trillion operations per second), a big improvement over the Hexagon 696 delivering 5.5TOPS on the Snapdragon 765G 5G SoC.
Source – Qualcomm
In these times of lockdowns, audio and video calling has become an important tool to keep in touch, learn and collaborate on work. But unlike the office environment, there are quite a few distractions at home, like dogs barking, kids running around and, if you stay closer to the road, vehicles passing by.
The AI noise suppression can reduce background noise, thus enabling the callers to hear your voice clearly. The triple ISP with AI can also come in handy when on video calls. It can detect the subject and automatically blur the background so that the caller does not get distracted by the objects around you. The ISP also works on rear cameras while recording videos. The AI-based EIS (electronic image stabilization) greatly helps to reduce the jerks and offers smooth footage.
Snapdragon Elite Gaming: Be on Top of Your Game
Besides audio and video calling, and binge watching, gaming has also increased during the pandemic. With things getting competitive in Battle Royale games like PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile and Fortnite, the Snapdragon Elite Gaming features enable better experiences.
Gamers can enjoy up to 40% faster graphics rendering and 40% faster CPU performance for a smooth experience, even during long gaming hours. Key features include Game Quick Touch which optimizes the touch response by increasing the speed of touch to display by 20% while decreasing the latency. This comes quite handy when playing Battle Royale games, where even a millisecond difference can make you win or lose the match.
Variable Rate Shading is another key feature that increases the rendering performance and quality by varying the shade rate across different regions in a frame. Apart from allowing games to run faster, it offers richer graphics at higher resolution while consuming lower power. Other features include a jank reducer and game network latency manager to optimize network settings and make online gaming more fluid.
Snapdragon 778G 5G vs 765G 5G and Competition
Qualcomm’s high-tier Snapdragon 778G chipset competes with MediaTek’s flagship Dimensity 1200 5G. The support for mmWave 5G, Wi-Fi 6E and Hexagon 770 DSP with 12TOPS for AI and ML related tasks differentiates the Qualcomm chipset from MediaTek’s offering. Below is a comparison table, which also highlights the key upgrades the new chipset brings over the Snapdragon 765G.
Snapdragon 778G 5G-powered Smartphones Coming in Q2 2021
Chinese smartphone maker HONOR is set to launch the HONOR 50 series, powered by the new Snapdragon 778G 5G mobile platform. Other smartphone vendors such as iQOO, Motorola, Xiaomi, OPPO and realme are also planning to release smartphones powered by the new chipset.
The HONOR V40 flaunts a 6.72-inch curved OLED screen.
Under the hood is a 7nm MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ SoC with support for 5G connectivity.
The smartphone supports 66W wired fast-charging and 50W wireless charging speeds.
Global smartphone brand HONOR, which gained full independence from Huawei in November 2020, successfully launched the V40 smartphone in China in January. The HONOR V40 is offered in two SKUs – with 128GB and 256GB onboard storage. Unlike its predecessor that uses Huawei’s HiSilicon Kirin 990 SoC, the new smartphone is powered by a Dimensity 1000+ from MediaTek. It offers a well-balanced combination of connectivity, multimedia, AI and imaging performances for premium smartphone design.
Despite marginally lower pricing compared to the V30, HONOR has managed to bring new features and improvements to the V40. These include display and imaging, faster connectivity with 5G and Wi-Fi 6, and wireless charging, among others. I have been using the HONOR V40 for a while and it has impressed me in three key aspects.
The HONOR V40 sports a stylish design consisting of a flashy glass shell at the back and a vibrant 6.72-inch waterfall screen on the front. Leveraging the MediaTek HyperEngine 2.0, the gaming experience is also good on the V40. Lastly, the main camera is enhanced with a large pixel 50MP RYYB sensor (1/1.56-inch optical format). I will discuss these and other features in detail in my review below.
New HONOR Strategy: Expand Presence in High End, Build a Global Leading Brand
The HONOR V40 starts at around $560 (3,599 RMB), within a price range which is targeted by other Chinese brands as the best springboard to expand presence in the premium battlefield. During the launch event in January 2021, HONOR Device CEO George Zhao sent a clear message that the independent brand will extend its high-end product lines while aiming to restore its market share in China and gain greater popularity overseas.
Though it would be challenging for the new company to differentiate its products without access to HiSilicon chips and other distinct Huawei technologies, HONOR is looking to focus on innovation, quality and service to maintain its competitiveness.
Commenting on the strategy of new HONOR, Counterpoint Research Analyst Flora Tang said, “HONOR smartphones had achieved great success in China and managed to build a strong presence in the overseas markets, including Europe, MEA and Latin America. Since the spinoff, the company seeks to resume its ties with the global supply chain. HONOR has inked new deals with key component vendors such as MediaTek, Sony, Samsung and Micron Technology. Meanwhile, HONOR is actively expanding its offline retail footprint across the Chinese cities. With a broad recognition and expertise in smartphones, we expect HONOR to recapture its lost market share in China in 2021. As an independent company, the youth-centric brand will further enrich its smartphone portfolio, catering to consumers from different income and age groups.”
Design: Combination of Light and Matte Finish Translates into Striking Appearance
HONOR attempts to blend richer fashion and technology elements into the external design of V40. The glass shell at the back features a meticulous layout, and the so-called 1:3:9:27 partition aims to create a feeling of harmony. This is coupled with a sophisticated coating process by combining the effects of light and matte finish, which enables color gradients across the surface. Depending on the angle from which you look at, the “Magic Night Black color” variant presents colorful rays consisting of violet, blue, green and purple, among others.
The rectangular camera array sits on the top left corner, incorporating a triple camera matrix, an LED flash and a laser auto-focus sensor. It does have a larger camera bump, which is well blended with the overall design style. However, the camera bump does make the phone wobble when placed back down on a flat surface like a table.
Display: Vivid Screen, Fluid Scrolling Experience
One of the highlights of the HONOR V40 is the curved 6.72-inch OLED screen with a resolution of 2676×1236 pixels (400ppi). It enables an immersive visual experience while offering rich details. The screen also supports 10-bit color depth and HDR10, which allows it to display over one billion colors and cover the entire DCI-P3 color space. The screen is indeed impressive when watching videos and playing games.
Thanks to the curves at both sides, the smartphone fits in my hand quite nicely. Although it is over 163 mm in length, it can be a plus when opening a secondary window for multi-tasking. Moreover, I think HONOR has an ideal solution to avoid accidentally touching the curved edges, which has never happened during my usage.
Another key feature of the advanced screen is the support for up to 120Hz refresh rate and up to 300Hz touch response, which provides smoother experiences paired with rich animation effects introduced in the latest Magic UI 4.0 skin on top of Android 10.
Even without upgrades to the newer Android 11, Magic UI 4.0 still delivers much enhanced interaction and navigation experience. The various animation elements have been further optimized, with parameters like duration, speed and direction being fine-tuned for smooth and comfortable switching. For productivity, Magic UI 4.0 has improved the multi-window display, including the support for scalable floating window size. It also supports real-time multi-language translation and quick note creation by scanning texts and pictures. With richer AOD (always on display) elements from clock interfaces to artistic patterns, Magic UI 4.0 gives the V40 an impressive look even in standby.
Gaming: Lag-free Experience with Rich Enhancements
In addition to the powerful screen, the V40 continues pursuing the gaming experience with deep integration of software and hardware resources. The 7nm Dimensity 1000+ SoC features an octa-core architecture. There are four Cortex-A77 cores clocked at 2.6GHz to take care of the heavy lifting tasks. The chipset also includes four Cortex-A55 efficiency cores clocked at 1.8GHz. It offers a good balance between power and efficiency.
The upgraded GPU Turbo X technology can unleash the full power of the Mali-G77 GPU, and the performance boost provides much-improved experiences in playing graphically demanding games.
The smartphone also supports the all-new Hunter Boost engine with rich features such as display enhancement, RAM cleaning, prevention of inadvertent touching, and distraction-free use which keeps those annoying notifications, calls and messages away when you are focusing on the game. Besides, it is also equipped with dual speaker and dual linear vibrator, enabling more immersive audio experience and better haptic response.
During my usage, the smartphone ran smoothly and did not show any signs of lag, even when playing heavy-duty game titles like Game for Peace. The V40 raises the bar for gaming experiences in its segment, with good optimization towards graphics processing, display, interaction, connection and power consumption.
Photography: 50MP Super-sensing Camera Lets you Click Pro Grade Photos
Rear Cameras
Camera has always been a focus point in HONOR smartphones, and the V40 is no different. This time, HONOR has implemented a triple camera setup, featuring a 50MP 1.0µm-pixel-sized main sensor of f/1.9 aperture, paired with an 8MP ultrawide camera and a 2MP sensor with a macro lens. Besides, a laser sensor is mounted right next to the flash LED for high-speed autofocus, particularly in dark light conditions.
Building on the customized RYYB-style color array from image sensor leader Sony, the 50MP primary camera delivers good results in daylight and low-light scenarios. When triggering the snapshot in the night mode, the camera can capture multiple photos within seven seconds at different exposure settings. By combining them intelligently, it provides a photo with good clarity and rich details. Below are some samples.
The primary camera can also click detailed photos in daylight conditions with a high dynamic range, even when shooting against the sunlight. Below are some samples shot in the default mode, all retaining good details in the shadow areas. But like most smartphone cameras, the V40 has a bit of trouble in eliminating glare.
With the AI function on, the camera can automatically detect objects in the scene, such as the sky, flowers, trees, food and buildings, before applying specific parameters tailored to them to beautify the pictures, or intelligently blur the background scenes to highlight the object. The results look quite natural at most times.
For taking detailed portraits, the V40 features an “AI RAW Super Portrait Engine”. This enables comprehensive optimization from exposure, white balance, edge detection and landscape segmentation to skin, facial and body beautification. This allows the smartphone to capture studio-like figure photos.
The camera app also features rich filter effects. The B/W filter works perfectly well for distinctive architectures. You can further enable the Super-high Pixel option to capture much more details and finer texture.
As the phone does not have a dedicated telephoto lens, the primary camera is being used to crop photos, which can offer up to 3X digital zoom. As you can see, there is no or little loss of quality. However, adding a long-focus lens can be a better choice for getting a clearer view of distant subjects, especially in low-light conditions.
For small objects, the 2MP macro camera is a good addition, allowing you to click nice macro photos from a distance of 4 cm.
The 8MP sensor with an ultrawide lens is also fine-tuned. There is no noticeable color difference when switching between the wide and ultrawide lenses. But the camera can further improve in reducing the distortion around the corners.
Front Cameras
Moving on to the selfie camera, the 16MP image sensor goes with a color temperature sensor. This enables a more realistic color reproduction in different light environments. With the beautification effect on, the camera supports features such as face smoothing, like speckle and wrinkle removal, and skin whitening. With the V40, you can click good selfies to share on media platforms.
The camera app also includes a Pro Mode for photography enthusiasts who want to take more control. There are even more camera features for you to explore.
Video Performance
The V40 also supports up to 60 frame-per-second (fps) 4K video recording. It also features a dual-view video-shooting function – by making the rear and front cameras work simultaneously, you can have two perspectives within the same frame in videos. The video quality is good to record memorable moments.
Multi-gigabit 5G Speeds and Superfast Charging Tech
During the launch event, HONOR showcased the V40’s Sub-6GHz 5G test results with a downlink speed exceeding 2Gbps. It also supports dual 5G SIM and can intelligently select 5G network operators. By combining multiple connection technologies right from 5G to 4G and dual-band Wi-Fi, the smartphone is capable of providing uninterrupted streaming experience.
Finally, we come to battery life. The smartphone comes with a 4,000mAh battery. It can last more than a day with moderate usage. My usage included one hour of gaming and about three hours of video and music streaming, and a couple of calls. Net surfing, Wechat and camera usage were also a part of the routine.
With the single-cell triple-electrode battery design, the smartphone supports 66W fast-charging and 50W wireless charging. Based on my experience, the 66W USB charging feature charges up to 20% in just 5 minutes, which can provide up to 3 hours of video steaming. A full charge takes as little as 35 minutes.
Conclusion: Honor V40 Brings Premium Features and Flagship Experience at a Reasonable Price
HONOR has done a good job with the V40 in terms of exterior design, display and gaming performances. Primary camera and fast-charging experiences are good too. It also features a multi-gigabit 5G and Wi-Fi connection, which offers lag-free video steaming and gameplay.
However, there are still subtle details like the photo-videography experience for the smartphone to further improve. It could have been a better idea to have a dedicated telephoto lens instead of a macro lens, which could have made the HONOR V40 an even more attractive option.
Also Read: Strategic Reviews and Insights on Latest Smartphones
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