Intro
So it’s been just over a week now since I got back from Paris, and more importantly the Huawei P30 Pro launch I was invited along too with Huawei and some other journalists/bloggers.
Having been using a Mate 20 Pro since the launch event at the end of least year, I was interested to see what the company had in store for this new upgrade, especially in the camera department where Huawei have always impressed and set new benchmarks.
This is my hands on thoughts for my first week with the Aurara Blue colour of the P30 Pro I was able to take away on the day.
For a full review, Garry will be covering this in more details once he gets hands on the device again and the software updates come out to run at its best.
Design
Huawei phones have become some of the best looking in the industry, not only with design, but colour choices which really stand out from the competition.
Whilst Twilight colour my no longer be an option, the new colours more than make up for this and they are
- Aurora Blue
- Breathing Crystal
- Pearl White
- Black
- Amber Sunrise
It would seem the Amber Sunrise has been reserved as the larger 512GB storage option, with all others being set at 128GB storage.
The large 6.47 inch display takes up all the front area with the little dewdrop notch area just housing the camera, it is much smaller than what we saw on the P20 Pro, which considering the advancement in technology was to be expected, especially when we saw this new notch in the recent P Smart device.
Over on the back is the biggest change with now featuring FOUR cameras, each as important as the other to a achieve what this camera is really capable of.
The edges of the device are more squared off now, and this actually feels much nicer than the P20 Pro did, and even in a case it feels and looks like an improvement in design.
The fingerprint reader has now been embedded in the display like we saw on the Mate 20 Pro, this now works even faster than before, and has done away with the need for a physical home button on the last generation phone.
The headset port has been lost which is a shame, especially when competition from Samsung still has this, however Huawei are not alone here, flagships from Apple and OnePlus now lack a headset port, instead using the new USB-C headset or needing to invest in a good Bluetooth set.
Software
Software is another area that Huawei have been working on improving with new services and features being added all the time.
EMUI 9.1 comes out of the box and beings even faster app loading thanks to the new files management system, you also get GPU Turbo 3 which improves battery performance in graphic heavy games so you have enough battery to make that late night phone call to get picked up when stranded for example.
Other improvements are pressing the power button for a second to load the Google Assistant, and with AR Measure you can now check the distance between two points, very handy if you are building something or need to check the height of a person for example.
A few days after being given the device in Paris there was a software update rollout out (142) which improved performance as well as some aspects of the camera.
Camera
It’s great!
I could just leave there and you see the sample photos for yourself to know what I mean, however there is a lot of details in what Huawei have done with the P30 Pro camera setup.
Over on the back you have the main 40MP camera with improved 1.6 aperture for even better low light photos, you have the 20MP super wide angle camera for getting in even more detail into the shot.
Also on the back is the 8MP telephoto camera which helps with that impressive zoom I will cover in a bit.
The fourth camera is a ToF lens which allows for the depth information so you get even better bokeh photos than ever before.
The new periscope telephoto lens now allows for an impressive 10x hybrid zoom, and a whopping 50x digital zoom allowing you to see details your eye cannot see, in the sample photos we saw of the Eiffel Tower, you could even read the writing on the side, incredible when you see how far away the photo was taken from.
It’s not all about the zoom though, the power of AI really improves the overall photography experience with different scenes being recognised as well as hand held Night Mode letting you capture daytime like photos in evening conditions.
The other trick of the P30 Pro camera thanks to the crazy 400000+ ISO is being able to take a photo in pitch black conditions, yet have the photo come out as clear as anything.
This is thanks to the new SuperSpectrum lens using RYYB instead of RGGB found on other devices, this change allows even more light to be captured for improved lowlight shots.
There is so much to enjoy with the camera on this device you really need to get hands on and see for yourself.
By far the best camera in a smartphone to date, and by some way.
Video has also been improved with OIS and AIS helping keep your footage steady, and AI helping things look the best it has ever done, and with an built in video editor you can edit your clips and publish on the move.
Over on the front you have a new and improved 32MP selfie camera which is great for anyone into their social media apps such as Instagram and Snapchat, it also improves quality for video calling and great for anyone who is into their vlogging.
Performance
Performance is another area that Huawei really push to it’s potential, they have included their latest 7nm Kirin 980 processor taken from the Mate 20 Pro and this allows for all the fancy AI the company like to promote as a waycof improving your performance overall, not just the camera.
It would have been great for Huawei to include a 5G modem in the Pro model, especially considering g 5G is starting to roll out this year here in the UK, however the space that would have required would have made the device even larger and more expensive, hopefully we see a 5G version appear sometime in the future.
Not all is lost though as the CAT21 4G speeds are already capable of 1.4Gbps so there is more than enough speed for using on your network of choice.
The battery is also one of the key selling points with some handy tricks on offer.
The 4200mAh battery is more than enough for even the most dedicated mobile photography fan to enjoy getting the most out of, but if you are worried then you have 40w supercharging to boost the battery in a matter of minutes, you also have fast wireless charging if you are away from a USB-C cable.
One key selling point of the Mate 20 Pro was reverse wireless charging which allowed you to charge other devices using your phone, and the good news is the P30 Pro has this feature built in too.
Memory comes in at 128GB with 6GB RAM and if you really really want that stunning Amber colour then you will get 8GB RAM and 512GB of storage, with the extra cost involved of course.
This was just my first week with the device, as mentioned earlier on, Garry will have a full review coming once he get his hands on the device so keep a look out for that.