For two weeks I tested the new Galaxy A41 Galaxy A41 released by Samsung on May 22. While, about Huawei P40 Lite Huawei P40 Lite I managed to form my opinion after some interactions in Media Galaxy. That's right, after so many years in which dozens of phone models have passed through my hands, I don't need much time to form an opinion about a product. Next, I leave you with my opinion on the question: "Galaxy A41 or Huawei P40 Lite?"
Normally, I would have chosen to talk only about the Galaxy A41 that I tested for two weeks. But, because the Huawei P40 Lite is the direct competitor and I received questions from many of you about which of the two is worth the money, I said to go for a comparative analysis and draw your own conclusions.
Galaxy A41 or Huawei P40 Lite – pros and cons for each
In the end, you choose what you put your money into. If we were talking about the A40 and P30 lite launched by Samsung and Huawei last year, my recommendation would definitely have been the P30 lite.
That's because it was, from my point of view, the best value for money phone in the mid-range smartphone niche of 2019. Although, according to official reports, the A40 sold the best.
However, because 2019 also brought bad luck for Huawei, which continued in 2020, this year's recommendations have changed radically. Of course, alternatives to the A41 and P40 lite also exist from Xiaomi or Oppo. So far I have only had the chance to test a Mi 10 from Xiomi. So I don't go into recommendations for the two brands yet.
On the other hand, smartphones from Oppo will soon come to the test, we will also receive other models from Xiaomi, and then we will definitely be able to discuss alternatives on time. For now, I'm just talking about the products I got my hands on: the Galaxy A41 and the Huawei P40 Lite.
Galaxy A41 vs P40 Lite design
Samsung Galaxy A41 keeps the same design line that we see in the case of A51 and A71. I tested the two mid-ranges during my vacation in Europe between February and March 2020. And you can find more about them both on the Noobz YouTube channel and on Noobz.ro.
Unfortunately, Samsung chose not to bring the glass design to any mid-range models in 2020. If in 2019 we had the glass Galaxy A80 with that rotating camera module, in 2020 all mid-range phones have the design made of plastic. In appearance, they are similar to each other, and the differences come in sizes, cameras and what is under the case.
From this point of view, I have to admit that I want something more from Samsung and Huawei.
Other manufacturers chose glass for mid-range design
In the context in which in 2019 we tested the X20 Pro model from Cubot, a mid-range with a glass design that now costs 1000 lei, reduced from 1700 lei, I expected to see at least one glass construction in the mid-ranges from the world's largest phone manufacturers.
Indeed, the Cubot X20 Pro does not have the camera we find on the A41 and P40 Lite. Instead, I think a formula could be found to not see the back of layers of plastic with multiple layers of colors and polish. Indeed, a plastic design means a phone with less weight and gives the manufacturer a lot of freedom to play with colors. But, even so, glass design is glass design and I think we have reached the year when a mid-range from 1000 lei and up should no longer have a plastic construction.
And speaking of weight, there is a difference of 31 grams between the A41 and the P40 lite. The A41 is lighter, and the weight of the P40 lite really surprises me, in the context in which we are still talking about a phone that has a plastic design, not glass. Yes, it's 0.3 inches larger diagonally, but it's an imperceptible difference at first glance.
Galaxy A41 or Huawei P40 Lite – both look great
The camera module on the Galaxy A41 looks like the one on the Galaxy S20, while the module on the P40 Lite reminds me of the iPhone . The colors are a bit more attractive on the Huawei options, because we have that lollipop pink or emerald green. Whereas, on the Galaxy A41, Samsung stayed in a safer area in terms of colors. If you want crazy colors from Samsung, I think the pink S20 breaks everything.
But if you hide under the protective case, which I recommend to all users, the beauty of the phone, I think you'd better focus on what you have inside and the overall user experience.
Galaxy A41 comes with a Super AMOLED display that has a diagonal of 6.1 inches. I mean, the perfect size for portability. You have a display small enough to fit in any pocket and big enough to even watch movies if you want.
P40 lite has a fairly bright, contrasting display, but I didn't find many details about it. The diagonal is a bit larger, 6.4 inches, something that can make a difference both positively and negatively, depending on which angle you look at things.
Galaxy A41 or Huawei P40 Lite – Positioning and shape of the selfie camera
Galaxy A41 has the selfie camera placed in the center of the screen in a teardrop shape. Whereas, the P40 lite has a punch-hole in the upper-left. Now, I noticed this Huawei punch-hole on the company's tablets as well.
I don't understand who came up with this concept and how they imagined the user would look into the camera when taking pictures or having a video conference. But if you ask me personally, the camera in the middle is much better thought out than the camera on the left or the top right.
But again, it depends on your usage preferences. If you are left-handed, right-handed, what kind of consumption you have, what phone you used before and many other aspects. What I like, you might not like. So everything I say, I say from my user perspective, and you decide what's best for you.
The placement of the power and volume buttons are similar to the 2 and are positioned on the same side of the phone. So let's move on to the interior, that things are more interesting here and only from now on we have differences that should be weighed well by users.
Both Galaxy A41 and P40 lite come with Android 10 operating system
However, we know that each manufacturer has its own interface, Samsung has One UI and Huawei has EMUI. Here, again, it comes down to habit and the power to adapt to a certain way of interacting with the phone. Personally, I prefer Samsung because I have been using Galaxy S or Note on a daily basis for years. However, there are many people who did not find it difficult to switch to EMUI from Huawei.
And I'm going to go in a bit now to explain Google services or the lack of Google services. Because the Galaxy A41 comes with Google services, while the P40 lite does not have Google services due to the US ban. What does it mean to buy a phone without Google services? Well, you don't have access to the full suite of Google apps like Gmail, Maps, YouTube, Hangouts, and the list goes on, or the benefits of the Google Play Store.
The most used app store in the world is the Play Store, followed by the App Store and the rest. But in the Android app store market, Google Play Store has yet to be matched by anyone.
Huawei tries to make up for the lack of Google services through the App Gallery
But even so, it is not enough. The manufacturer still had to look for some kind of artifice to still offer the chance to Huawei phone users from the P30 onwards to install Google services or at least social media applications such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram or Messenger.
This is because, although Facebook applications are not part of Google services, they do not come pre-installed on Huawei phones either, and the versions you can find to install through Aptoide or other alternatives to the Play Store are not really the latest versions or may not be the most up-to-date ones.
So, the taller that I think must weigh the most when deciding between the Galaxy A41 and the P40 lite is the one related to Google services. You have to decide for yourself how much you want to bother with manually installing applications, searching for the most recent and up-to-date security versions.
You have to decide for yourself whether the App Gallery is enough for you and take the risk of installing third-party apps, although Google has warned that it does not recommend this for user safety.
You already know my position if you have been following me for a while
From my point of view, if you don't have Google services, you don't exist outside of China. You're just kidding yourself that you're an alternative, because users will always look to install Gmail on their phone somehow, they'll still look to use a version of YouTube, and they'll be concerned about the security of their data.
I'm not saying App Gallery isn't a safe store. It certainly is, and Huawei has taken every step to take care of its customers. But, I can't say the same about open source app stores or app stores that no one comes forward to offer guarantees for. How can I not say that I trust cloning the phones of other users who publish their files on the Internet. Pay close attention to which app installation alternatives you run.
Find solutions, no one says no
But if you are careful, avoid installing everything you find on the Internet. Document yourself well and 3x check before installing anything from untrusted and unrecommended sources. You can't find all the apps you want in the App Gallery. Contrary to those promoted by influencers, stars and celebrities, App Gallery is an early stage app store where developers add apps at a fairly slow pace.
Yes, you have alternatives like More Apps and Aptoide. But from the official Huawei solution, the manufacturer's official app store, don't expect milk and honey. The ads sound good, the campaigns are flowing, but you try to rely more on information from several sources.
In the case of the Galaxy A41, everything is as we know it on any Samsung phone with Google services. All applications work normally. If you move your applications from an old phone to the A41, everything is solved in 10 minutes, after which, depending on the version of the applications, you already receive a recommendation to update. I did the same for Netflix and YouTube when I set up the phone.
You can also clone P40 lite with Phone Clone
Nobody says you can't do it. However, it is debatable which apps will work properly, since Google services require a connection to Google servers. Then, since many apps can't be found in Huawei's App Gallery, you most likely won't be advised to keep your apps up to date.
For this to happen, you have to manually search for them in the other available app stores, from Amazon, More App or Aptoide, and update from there, with what update versions those app stores recommend.
And let's be honest now, we often find it hard to update an app when our phone notifies us, let alone go into the app store to see if an update is available.
If you're going to look for P40 lite user reviews
You'll see that although they say they use APKPure and other workarounds to get to some apps, they warn you not to update via APKPure. No big harm is done, they just crash your apps and cause yourself a lot of trouble. I understand that you can't have the best experience with games either, if we're talking about games you get from somewhere other than the App Gallery.
I told you, it's up to you how much you want to mess with phones without Google services. If Google apps aren't that important and you don't use your Gmail account for multiple platforms like I and other users do, you may end up deciding that the P40 lite is the phone for you.
Galaxy A41 or Huawei P40 Lite – Moving on to security
Galaxy A41 has a fingerprint sensor in the display. Whereas, the P40 lite has the fingerprint sensor on the side integrated into the power button. I loved the side sensor on the Galaxy Z Flip and from this point of view I also prefer the sensor on the P40 lite. I don't generally agree with the sensor in the display.
It's never been my favorite, and no matter how fast it is, I sometimes prefer face, iris, or pattern scanning, if the phone supports it, over the fingerprint sensor. Again, something to do with preference and habit, so everyone chooses for themselves.
Neither the processor on the Galaxy A41 nor the one on the P40 lite seem to me to be buzzing
However, for a mid-range they are acceptable. For a game like Clash Royale, the Galaxy A41 performs well. It doesn't get hot, it doesn't freeze, and the battery consumption is well optimized. I didn't play on the P40 lite, because I didn't have time, but I pressed the phone twice and it didn't seem to hang or heat up.
Anyway, it's hard to talk about weak phones in 2020, even in the mid-range. Now we have for 1100 – 1400 lei the functionalities that we had on high-end phones from 2016 – 2017. So, we know very well that the devices of that time were quite appreciated by the public.
Galaxy A41 or Huawei P40 Lite – Prices
Galaxy A41 costs approximately 1400 lei, and P40 lite costs 1100 lei. At first glance you could say that the second one is worth buying. However, don't forget that the 300 lei price difference is reflected in the Google services that the P40 lite does not have. Regarding the cameras, I say that the phones are shoulder to shoulder, this from the pictures I managed to take. You will notice that the Galaxy A41 reproduces the colors specific to Samsung cameras. They are closer to reality, they are contrasting but not exaggerated and they are brighter.
Whereas, the P40 lite comes with AI and uses that software manipulation specific to Huawei. It is no longer difficult for us to distinguish Huawei cameras from the rest of the cameras because they have those contrasts and processing that you recognize out of a thousand. With both phones you take pretty good pictures, but what I noticed with both is that the camera applications don't quite take it to a quarter.
I mean, don't expect to experience what you experience on a high-end camera phone. You get pretty good pictures for the money you pay on phones, but don't expect the camera apps to always keep up with you and respond instantly to commands. You have a little patience.
This also depends on the processor and the camera sensor, it depends on several aspects. But, for a 1100-1400 lei phone, I say that both are what you need.
Then, I think the P40 lite has an advantage over the Galaxy A41 when we talk about the battery
4200 mAh with 40W charging versus 3500 mAh with 15W, I say it's a noticeable difference. However, Huawei did very well with the battery on the P30 lite as well, so we expected that this year. The Galaxy A41 battery charges in one hour and 10 minutes to 100% from 3%. Whereas, the P40 lite charges in an hour from 20 to 100% with 40W, as we saw from the reviews of users who bought from eMAG.
The Galaxy A41 has 4GB of RAM, and the P40 lite offers 6GB of RAM. In terms of internal storage, the A41 has 64GB, but offers microSD expansion up to 512GB. On the other hand, the P40 lite does not offer memory expansion, but it has 128GB of internal storage. Personally, I have a Note9 with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage and have never used a memory card. So, I'd go for the P40 lite if it had Google services.
Galaxy A41 or Huawei P40 Lite – Conclusion
If Google services do not weigh too much for you. You choose P40 lite and you have many benefits that we have listed and we cannot neglect them. But, choose A41 if you can't give up Google services and you don't like to beat your head too much with the details.
Neither are perfect phones. But, it's those phones in the budget category where most people look to fit in when buying a new phone. I'm sure I'll often hear the question "what do you recommend I buy between the A41 and the P40 lite?". That's why I made this material that I will refer you all to.
When to buy the P40 Lite
Buy the Huawei P40 lite if Google services don't matter to you. If you have a budget of 1100 lei and you don't want to exceed it. If you want a good camera, a good display, generous memory and a 2-day battery. But also if EMUI is an interface that you consider ok for your style of use.
Or buy the Galaxy A41 if you want Google services out of the box. You want your phone to recommend when to update your apps to their latest version, both for security and bug-free operation. You want a phone that offers all-day battery life. Fit easily in your pocket. Be easy and give you the possibility to use a memory expansion card for pictures, videos, documents, movies or games.
I hope you found this back-to-back breakdown of the two directly competing products helpful. If you have any other questions, feel free to write me in the comments.