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The P40 Pro is the first smartphone from Huawei to launch this year and the firm is already making some pretty bold claims about its camera system. In fact, the Chinese tech giant is going

so far as to say the handset will deliver a "new era of smartphone photography." Huawei’s P-series has always been about the cameras and it seems the P40 Pro will be no different.

Express.co.uk recently went hands-on (although unfortunately not eyes-on) with the handset and can confirm it’ll boast a sizeable camera bump on its rear. While not quite as humongous as the

Galaxy S20 Ultra’s module, the P40 Pro’s camera bump is large enough that we’d expect some exciting new tech to be stuffed inside. In particular, the flagship is rumoured to boast a new

range of sensors, one of which could offer an astonishing 10x optical zoom via a periscope-style telephoto which, if true, would double the optical magnification offered by last year’s P30

Pro. Periscope-style telephoto lenses certainly aren’t new – the P30 Pro, Oppo Reno 10x Zoom, Oppo Find X2 Pro and Galaxy S20 Ultra all have them. However, they’ve all highlighted a pretty

noticeable problem in that if you’re zooming anywhere from 1.1x to 4.9, you’re only taking an image that’s cropping in digitally. It’s only once you get to the 5x sweet spot that the

telephoto lens actually kicks into gear. That could be a little different on the P40 Pro though as the handset has been tipped by tipster RODENT950 to boast both a 10x optical periscope

camera and a 3x optical telephoto. If true, that would allow the handset to take crisp images at a wider variety of ranges than anything that has come before. The P40 Pro might not be just

about cameras though. The device will also boast a new display with curves on its sides, top and bottom – this is something Express.co.uk was able to confirm during our short time with it

earlier this month. This has since been corroborated by alleged images of the P40 Pro unearthed by leakster Evan Blass, the most recent of which suggests the Huawei handset could offer an

almost entirely borderless experience because of its curvature. READ MORE: HUAWEI MATE 30 PRO REVIEW: INFINITELY BETTER THAN IT HAS ANY RIGHT TO BE The P40 Pro is expected to come with a

pill-shaped cutout within its display à la Galaxy S10+ housing at least two cameras. It’s unclear if the P40 Pro will offer a time-of-flight sensor in addition to a main selfie snapper or if

Huawei will opt to add an ultra wide-angle like that seen on 2018’s Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. In terms of actual display quality, the P40 Pro could be Huawei’s best yet. The phone is

anticipated to come with a higher refresh rate, meaning it could offer 90Hz or 120Hz for a much smoother experience. If you haven’t used a high refresh rate display, you won’t know what all

the fuss is about. Essentially, the higher the refresh rate on a device, the smoother and faster it’ll feel to use. Trust us, once you’ve used a 90Hz or 120Hz panel, you’ll never want to go

back to 60Hz. Elsewhere, the P40 Pro is expected to come fitted with Huawei’s in-house Kirin 990 chipset – the same that powers the Mate 30 Pro – and feature a generous amount of RAM and

fast internal storage. READ MORE: OVER A MILLION VIRGIN MEDIA CUSTOMERS UNLOCKED A MASSIVE SPEED BOOST THIS WEEK Of course, the phone is all but confirmed to have 5G support, too. However,

it’s unclear if there will be a standalone version of the P40 Pro that supports the next-generation network, like the Mate 30 Pro. The biggest hindrance to the P40 Pro is expected to be its

software – the phone won’t come with Google apps and services because of a US trade ban on Huawei. That means Huawei is likely to make a big push with its own mobile services offering which,

while growing and improving at a rapid pace, still doesn’t hold a candle to Google’s software. Of course, it’s likely you’ll be able to sideload Google apps and services onto the device,

however this is not endorsed by the American tech giant or Huawei. Express.co.uk will bring you all the announcements from Huawei’s hardware live stream on Thursday. So stay tuned!