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

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.

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.