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.

News

Power Mac Center SM Aura is now an Apple Premium Partner store

With a new protection plan dubbed as “1Protect” for your precious new iPhones

Published

September 23, 2026

Vincenz

Photos and graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Power Mac Center has upgraded its SM Aura branch into an Apple Premium Partner (APP) store. The “APP” designation is the highest tier for reseller stores worldwide.

Originally opened in 2014, the redesigned store now houses its retail space, training center, and a service center in one.

The new space also puts more emphasis on learning. Free group demos will be held every Friday to Sunday. These will cover topics such as iPad creativity, or camera features, personalization, and Continuity for the latest iPhone series.

To celebrate the opening, customers can also score discounts on select Apple devices and accessories until September 27, 2026.

Deals include up to:

₱PhP 36,000 off MacBook Pros
PhP 19,500 off iPads
PhP 3000 off Apple Watches; and
PhP 11,000 off iPhone models

There are also service discounts until September 25. Plus, new iPhones purchases here are also covered with 1Protect coverage options.

ICYMI, it’s a partnership between PMC and Bolttech. It’s basically a new way to protect your precious new iPhones.

Your regular one-year warranty does not cover accidental drops and water damage. Purchasing this new coverage plan (good for one year) gives you an unlimited dose of that.

Parts are guaranteed original and is an official part of AppleCare Services.

This protection program also covers one-time unwarranted exchanges (or change of mind returns) from micro scratches to color options. It will even replace your iPhone (of the same model and configuration) if it was stolen once.

There’s also the 1 Infinite loyalty program. Members can earn points from purchases and redeem them for devices, accessories, services, and training.

The Power Mac Center SM Aura APP store is located on Level 2 and is open daily from 10AM to 10PM.

News

MediaTek launches the Dimensity 9600 Pro

Smartphones are scheduled to launch later this year.

Published

September 23, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

The stage is set for next year’s smartphones. Both MediaTek and Qualcomm have unleased their upcoming flagship chipsets for the coming generation. If you’re looking for the Qualcomm side of things, go here. But if you’re looking for MediaTek, then you’re in the right place.

The Dimensity 9600 Pro adopts the 2nm process mode, which makes MediaTek one of the first companies to use it. The chip itself features a 2+3+3 All Big Core CPU. Specifically, it has two C2-Ultra cores going up to 4.55GHz, three C2-Pro cores going up to 4.35GHz, and three C2-Pro ones going up to 3.1GHz. This configuration can reportedly achieve 17 percent better single-core performance and 15 percent higher multi-core performance.

Besides all that power inherently built in, the chipset also has the G2-Ultra NX GPU. This GPU can deliver 27 percent higher peak performance, 24 percent lower power consumption, 18 percent faster raytracing, and gaming at up to 185 frames per second.

Finally, the chipset has the Imagiq 1290 ISP. With this engine, the processor can handle 60fps motion capture and 4K240 direct-output ultra-slow-motion video.

Alongside the Dimensity 9600 Pro, MediaTek is also launching the Dimensity 9600M, a slightly more lightweight option of the Pro that deliver flagship level performance to more users outside of that price point.

Smartphones that will come with the Dimensity 9600 Pro and 9600M will launch sometime in the fourth quarter.

News

Qualcomm unveils the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 series

This time, there are two models.

Published

September 23, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

The end of the year always heralds the next step of processors for next year’s smartphones. Besides the oodles of phone rumors we’ll have before the year ends, these new processors give us a powerful hint of what the new machinery can do. Today, Qualcomm has unveiled that next generation, announcing the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6.

Yes, this time, the Snapdragon flagship chipset will come in two flavors. Let’s start with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6.

The “base” model of the duo has an octa-core Oryon CPU with two prime cores going up to 5GHz. It also has an Adreno GPU that touts 35 percent faster performance compared to the previous generation. Additionally, the chipset has a 16MB Flex Cache which can supposedly leverage the cache better to deliver better single-threaded performance.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 will also have a new Spectra ISP. The engine can support single image capturing at 320 megapixels, or 64 megapixels with a triple rear camera combo. It also supports 8K video capturing at 30fps. Further, Intelligent Pixel Control features better contextualization skills so the camera can more accurately detect what you’re taking a photo or video of.

Finally, the X105 5G modem offers the usual array of 5G connectivity options but also goes up to supporting Bluetooth 6 and Wi-Fi 8.

Meanwhile, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 offers much of the same as the duo’s regular model. However, it features 18MB of high performance memory, video recording that goes up to 60fps at 8K resolution, and new Matrix Cores that boost frame generation for gaming.

As expected, both models will appear in new smartphones from later this year to next year.