Phone Comparisons: Huawei P40 vs Xiaomi Mi 10

It’s time to compare two flagship-grade phones, but not the most powerful offerings from their respective OEMs, the Huawei P40 vs Xiaomi Mi 10. The Huawei P40 Pro+ and Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro are more powerful than these two phones, but the Huawei P40 and Xiaomi Mi 10 are not far behind.

First and foremost, it’s worth noting that both phones support 5G connectivity. The Huawei P40 does come without Google services, which is something we’ll notice later on as well. These two phones are not exactly comparable in size, despite being the most affordable new flagship phones from these two companies.

We’ll talk more about their size and everything else soon. As usual, we’ll start this comparison by listing the spec sheets of these two phones. Following that, we’ll move to the design comparison, and then to display, performance, battery, and so on. Let’s kick off the Huawei P40 vs Xiaomi Mi 10 comparison, shall we.

Specs

Huawei P40 vs Xiaomi Mi 10: Design

These two phones are considerably different when it comes to the design. The Huawei P40 is much smaller than the Xiaomi Mi 10, while it also looks quite a bit different. Both phones are made out of metal and glass, though, and both are quite slippery because of it. Both devices do feature curved backplate, well, they’re curved towards the edges.

The Huawei P40 is much easier to use in one hand, mainly due to its size. It’s considerably shorter, and narrower than the Mi 10, and it’s even thinner as well. The Huawei P40 is also lighter than Xiaomi’s handset, over 30 grams lighter. Both phones offer extremely thin bezels and both feature display camera holes.

The Huawei P40 opted for a pill-shaped camera hole that hosts two cameras. The Xiaomi Mi 10, on the other hand, went for a single camera cutout. The Mi 10’s looks more aesthetically appealing, while Huawei’s is more functional. It offers advanced facial scanning, which is something Xiaomi’s does not.

The Huawei P40’s rear camera module is considerably larger than the one on the Xiaomi Mi 10. They are placed in the same spot, though, in the top-left corner of their backs. Both of these phones look nice, and offer quality build. Which one you’ll choose is a matter of preference, mainly if you prefer smaller or larger phones, as these two are quite different in that regard.

Huawei P40 vs Xiaomi Mi 10: Display

The Huawei P40 features a 6.1-inch fullHD+ (2340 x 1080) display with a 60Hz refresh rate. The Xiaomi Mi 10, on the other hand, comes with a 6.67-inch fullHD+ (2340 x 1080) display with 90Hz refresh rate. Both of these are OLED displays, by the way. The one on the Xiaomi Mi 10 also supports HDR10+ content, by the way.

There is one more rather significant difference between these two panels. The Huawei P40 features a flat display, while the panel on the Xiaomi Mi 10 is curved. These two panels are quite different, and the Xiaomi Mi 10 wins on paper. In practice, however, both of these displays are great, that’s for sure.

Both panels offer really vibrant colors, great viewing angles, and both are a joy to use. The resolution is more than sharp enough on both panels, though due to its size, the Huawei P40 offers higher PPI. That 90Hz refresh rate is noticeable on the Xiaomi Mi 10’s panel, though, and using it feels a bit smoother because of it. As already mentioned, though, both are great, and Huawei’s 60Hz panel does drain less battery… so, that’s the upside, for sure.

Huawei P40 vs Xiaomi Mi 10: Performance

In terms of performance, both of these phones are second to none. You wouldn’t expect less from flagship-grade phones, would you? The Huawei P40 is fueled by Huawei’s very own Kirin 990 64-bit octa-core processor. The Xiaomi Mi 10, on the other hand, ships with the Snapdragon 865 SoC.

Now, both of those processors are extremely powerful, amongst the most powerful in the market at the moment. On top of that, both phones ship with Android 10 out of the box. The Huawei P40 does not include Google services, though, so keep that in mind. Software is well-optimized on both phones, and in combination with such powerful hardware, it does wonders when it comes to performance.

You’ll struggle to make either of these two phones lag, no matter what you do. Switching apps, browsing, consuming multimedia, opening / closing apps… it’s all a breeze. The same goes for gaming as well. Running graphically-intensive games on these phones is not a problem, at all. Both phones will satisfy even the most demanding users when it comes to performance, that’s for sure.

Huawei P40 vs Xiaomi Mi 10: Battery

The Xiaomi Mi 10 has a considerably larger battery than the Huawei P40. Does that mean it offers considerably better battery life? Well, no, not necessarily. The Huawei P40 is considerably smaller, and has a smaller display as well. On top of that, its display refreshes at 60Hz, not 90Hz, so that helps with battery life as well.

The Huawei P40 can even beat the Xiaomi Mi 10 when it comes to battery life, though it all depends on your usage. The Huawei P40 features a 3,800mAh battery, while the Xiaomi Mi 10 includes a 4,780mAh battery pack. Both phones can get you over 5.5 hours of screen on time, as long as you’re not heavy on gaming.

Your mileage may vary, of course, as usage impacts battery life quite a bit. The point is, battery life is comparable when it comes to these two phones. Both of them offer fast charging. The Huawei P40 sports 22.5W fast wired charging, while the Xiaomi Mi 10 comes with 30W fast wired charging.

The Xiaomi Mi 10 also offers 30W fast wireless charging, unlike the Huawei P40. The P40 does not offer wireless charging as well. If you need to top off your truly wireless earbuds, or something, and they support wireless charging, you can do that with the Xiaomi Mi 10. The phone also offers 5W reverse wireless charging.

Huawei P40 vs Xiaomi Mi 10: Cameras

The Huawei P40 and Xiaomi Mi 10 have considerably different camera setups. The Huawei P40 relies on a 50-megapixel main camera, and it also includes 8 and 16-megapixel telephoto and ultrawide cameras, respectively. The Xiaomi Mi 10 sports a 108-megapixel main camera, along with a 13-megapixel ultrawide unit. It also packs a 2-megapixel macro camera, and a 2-megapixel depth camera.

So, the Huawei P40 has one less camera on the back, but that doesn’t mean much, to be quite honest. You may find its telephoto camera more useful than the macro and depth perception cameras on the Xiaomi Mi 10. The thing is, both phones are quite capable when it comes to taking pictures.

The Huawei P40 and Xiaomi Mi 10 can both take excellent-looking images in good conditions. They both offer great dynamic range, nicely-tuned white balance, and plenty of details. Colors also pop on both smartphones, though the Huawei P40 is closer to real-life colors than the Mi 10. The Mi 10 tends to tune it up a bit when it comes to saturation.

In nighttime conditions, the Huawei P40 can take a better photo more often than the Xiaomi Mi 10. Don’t get us wrong, though, as the Mi 10 is quite capable in that regard as well. The phone tends to struggle with street lights more of then than not, plus the Huawei P40 dark mode is more capable as it offers you complete control when taking a photo. The Huawei P40 also tends to capture more detail in the dark, but the Mi 10 is not far behind. Front-facing cameras on both phones are excellent.

Huawei P40 vs Xiaomi Mi 10: Audio

What about audio? Well, the Xiaomi Mi 10 has proven to be a real beast in this regard during our testing. The Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro are completely identical in that regard, and do deliver excellent stereo speakers, and well-balanced audio through headphones as well. Xiaomi did a great job with those two phones.

The Huawei P40, on the other hand, offers a single speaker only. That speaker is truly great, but you won’t get stereo sound here, as there’s no second speaker. In terms of audio through headphones, well, it’s really good. We preferred what the Xiaomi Mi 10 had to offer, but the Huawei P40 is right up there when it comes to audio.