News

Huawei P40 series price and availability in the Philippines

‘Visionary Photography’ coming to the archipelago

Published

March 26, 2020

Rodneil Quiteles

For the first time ever, the Huawei P-series has three phones — the Huawei P40, Huawei P40 Pro, and the Huawei P40 Pro+. All three are coming to the Philippines.

The focus of the P40 series, much like the rest of the P-series phones, is photography. As such, all P40 phones are equipped with the 50MP f/1.9 RYYB Ultra Vision Wide lens — the largest sensor on a smartphone camera in the market today.

But the setup for each one is different.

Huawei P40	Huawei P40 Pro	Huawei P40 Pro+
50MP f/1.9 RYYB Ultra Vision (Wide)	50MP f/1.9 RYYB Ultra Vision (Wide)	50MP f/1.9 RYYB Ultra Vision (Wide)
8MP f/2/4 Telephoto (3x Optical)	40MP f/1.8 Cine Lens (Ultra-wide)	40MP f/1.8 Cine Lens (Ultra-wide)
16MP f.2.2 Ultra-wide	12MP f/3.4 Periscope (5x Optical)	8MP f/4.4 Super Periscope (10x Optical)
	Huawei ToF Lens	8MP f/2.4 Telephoto 3x Optical
		Huawei ToF Lens

Huawei also has a brand new focusing tech. They say the P40 series phones have eight focus points per pixel. This makes it easier for the phone to quickly focus on the subject even if it’s moving.

The optical zoom that was one of the main highlights of the P30 series is still here with optical zoom differing from each phone. The P40 has up to 3x zoom, the P40 Pro up to 5x, and the P40 Pro+ up to 10x.

Powering all phones is the company’s proprietary Kirin 990 5G processor. Other carry over features that have been improved are as follows:

In-display fingerprint sensor — Now 30 percent larger and is supposed to be faster with new unlock patterns to choose from.
40W wireless charging — The wireless charger doesn’t come with the device but this should be one of the fastest wireless charging tech available right now.
Face unlock — Again supposed to be faster and now with an IR sensor on the pro models

More apps on the AppGallery

The Huawei P40 series is still running Android 10 with EMUI 10 on top. If you’ve been following the news at all, Huawei is in a bit of a pickle against the US government, as such they are going all in on Huawei Mobile Services or HMS.

If you’re worried about the app situation, the AppGallery is slowly but surely adding apps that most of us use. The company is also working on AppSearch inside AppGallery to bring more apps to Huawei phones.

Curved with more subtle colors

Huawei has also kept its curved displays. Even doubling down on it by adding curves at the top and bottom. We’re still unsure how that helps in day-to-day use, but it’s there and hey, it looks good.

The P40 and P40 Pro are still made with glass but now with a matte finish. However, for the P40 Pro+, the company opted to go with ceramic just to mix things up. Here’s everything else that’s different.

	Huawei P40	Huawei P40 Pro	Huawei P40 Pro+
Display	6.1”	6.58”	6.58”
Battery	3800mAh	4200mAh	4200mAh

Pricing and availability

The Huawei P40 and P40 Pro will come in three colors: Silver Frost, Deep Sea Blue, and Blush Gold. The P40 will retail for PhP 36,990 while the P40 Pro will retail for PhP 50,990.

Since we’re all under enhanced community quarantine due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Huawei partnered with Lazada, Shopee, and MemoXpress for the pre-order period. And you’d really want to take advantage of this. The pre-order period is from March 27 to April 24 and these are the freebies waiting for you.

Strap in and read carefully. There’s a lot going on here.

Avail the new P40 and P40 Pro in the Lazada Flagship Store and MemoXpress and enjoy freebies worth PhP 12,285. This includes:

Huawei Freebuds at PhP 8,990
Band 4 at PhP 1,890
50GB cloud storage for 1 year at PhP 588
GCash voucher at PhP 70,
PhP 50 worth of Paymaya credits
PhP 100 discount in GMovies
Booky Prime membership for for 3 months at PhP 597.

Final payment for purchases via Lazada must be settled from April 22 to 24.

Pre-order may also be done via Shopee Flagship Store as they offer freebies with total worth of PhP 10,395. These are:

Huawei Freebuds at Php 8,990
50GB cloud storage for 1 year at PhP 588
GCash voucher at Php 70
Php 50 worth of Paymaya credits
PhP 100 discount in GMovies
Booky Prime membership for for 3 months at PhP 597.

Cashback rewards are also offered during the pre-order period. The 100th, 500th, and 1000th customer in Lazada and Shopee will receive 100 percent voucher back valid from May 1 to 31, 2020.

Customers who will leave good quality product reviews (with 5 stars review) in Shopee and Lazada will also be entitled to PhP 100 voucher valid from May 1 to 31, 2020.

Finally, all these three partner stores will offer flash pre-order activity for the first customers who will order during these exact hours: 00:00, 10:00, 14:00, 18:00, and 22:00 from March 27 to April 3. Lucky customers will enjoy a new Gentle Monster worth PhP 20,990.

Watch our Hands-On video.

Apps

EU wages war against doomscrolling

Brussels is asking TikTok to change its addictive design.

Published

February 16, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Doomscrolling is the greatest enemy to everyone’s productivity today. The temptation to keep on scrolling for hours is an ever-present temptation. Taking a very strong stance against the phenomenon, the European Commission is now investigating TikTok for having an addictive interface.

Via Politico, Brussels is now prodding TikTok to change its interface. Very technically, the European Commission is not out to get doomscrolling, specifically. However, the major changes that they want to introduce “disabling infinite scrolling, setting strict screen time breaks, and changing its recommender systems.”

App addiction is a persistent problem today. Besides concerned parents, governments around the world have been trying to regulate addiction, especially when it comes to children. The European Commission, as is apparent from this new initiative, is at the forefront of preventing addiction.

Though the target is explicitly TikTok right now, changing addictive interfaces will also affect other social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and X. Most platforms nowadays thrive on encouraging users to keep scrolling through more content.

Right now, TikTok isn’t set to change just yet. However, the report states that the European Commission is willing to work with platforms for a better, non-addictive interface. It’s less abrasive than the region’s recent privacy initiatives, which requires users to verify their age before accessing mature content.

Laptops

Are you ready for a more colorful MacBook?

Apple is experimenting with quirkier colorway options for the MacBook.

Published

February 16, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

In recent years, Apple has relented on limiting the colors of its devices to only the more premium-looking options. Users can now pick quirkier colors for their iPhones, highlighted currently by the Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro Max. Soon, the same splashes of color might make its way to the MacBook lineup.

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple has been testing different colorway options for its upcoming entry-level MacBook. The unannounced lineup might come in pink, light yellow, light green, and blue.

It’s a big change for MacBooks. Currently, the only “quirky” option that users can get is the MacBook Air’s Sky Blue, which honestly looks more silvery than blue. Other than that, the MacBook simply seesaws from different shades of gold, silver, and black.

To be fair, the upcoming MacBook will still have the traditional colorways of the current lineup. Additionally, it’s unclear whether Apple will ultimately include all its experimental colors into the final lineup.

Reportedly, the new lineup will cost somewhere between US$ 699 to US$ 799. Of course, the lower price tag will come at the expense of some specs. Although, it should still be good if we’re talking about an entry-level laptop.

It’s even more interesting if it’s hinting at the return of truly colorful options but for the notebook. The iMac already got a similar renaissance back in 2024, which mimics the classic computer’s colorful history.

SEE ALSO: M5 MacBook Pro review

Laptops

ASUS, Acer PCs are banned in Germany

And it’s all because of Nokia.

Published

February 16, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Brands getting banned are commonplace in today’s tech landscape. These usually happen because of geopolitical reasons, especially if it’s in the United States. In Europe, brands sometimes get banned for anticompetition reasons. Today, however, a commonly used codec, HEVC, is at the center of a controversy that has led to the banning of ASUS and Acer in Germany. Even crazier, Nokia is involved.

For context, Nokia owns several patents for video codecs. One of those codecs, HEVC (or High-Efficiency Video Coding) is ubiquitous in every PC, which means that every PC maker must purchase a license to include the codec in their machines. It’s an essential these days, so it’s unusual for ASUS and Acer to miss it.

In Germany, where licensing is stricter, both companies were found guilty of infringing the patent, as reported by German outlet Hardwareluxx. As a result, ASUS and Acer must stop selling PC and laptop sales until they obtain a license from Nokia.

To be clear, this doesn’t mean that the two brands have disappeared from the country. Third-party retailers can still sell their remaining stock. However, the companies cannot import or sell any new stock, pending a conclusion to the issue.

Naturally, the easiest fix is to just buy the license. Hisense, another company that found itself in the same mire, bought a license last month. Either ASUS and Acer are running into more technical issues, or they just didn’t feel the license was worth it for a single market.