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Huawei's new P40 Pro rumored to have 10x optical zoom

The new phone will reportedly have a periscope telephoto lens.

Corinne Reichert Senior Editor
Corinne Reichert (she/her) grew up in Sydney, Australia and moved to California in 2019. She holds degrees in law and communications, and currently writes news, analysis and features for CNET across the topics of electric vehicles, broadband networks, mobile devices, big tech, artificial intelligence, home technology and entertainment. In her spare time, she watches soccer games and F1 races, and goes to Disneyland as often as possible.
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Corinne Reichert
2 min read
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Update, March 26: The Huawei P40, P40 Pro and the P40 Pro Plus​ have now officially been launched. Read our first take here​.


Huawei will be upgrading its next line of flagship smartphones with a 10x optical zoom, according to a report Friday. There will be a periscope telephoto lens on the back of the device, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a research note seen by MacRumors. Kuo predicted better optical zoom will appear on multiple high-end devices in 2020.

The previous model of the phone, the Huawei P30 Pro, came with a 5x optical, 10x hybrid and 50x digital zoom.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Huawei's P40 and P40 Pro will be announced at an event in Paris in March 2020. The Chinese tech giant's consumer group CEO Richard Yu gave the details to French press, saying the phone will be released without Google support thanks to being blacklisted by the US government earlier this year.

Watch this: Huawei P30 review: Is there any reason to go Pro?

Huawei will still be able to use the open-source Android operating system, but not Google licensed apps like Google Maps, Uber and Google Podcasts.

Huawei was blacklisted in May when it was added to the United States' "entity list" (PDF). In addition to adding Huawei to the list, US President Donald Trump at the same time signed an executive order essentially banning the company in light of national security concerns that Huawei had close ties with the Chinese government. Huawei has repeatedly denied that charge.

Huawei didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

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