Product Review Huawei P20 Pro

Huawei has suddenly become a worldwide brand that other companies have to compete with. The Chinese giant has improved its quality year after year and their flagships have gotten even better.

They have now released the brand new P series. It consists of plenty of different models. This time I’m going to review their most powerful flagship model, the P30 Pro!

Design

Compared to the last year model, the P20 Pro, there have been quite a few changes. Most of them are related to hardware but there are also some visual differences.

For example they have completely removed the physical fingerprint sensor/button. The keyword here is physical, as the phone has still got a fingerprint sensor. But just like the new Samsung Models, the P30 Pro has it now built into the screen. It reacts incredibly fast and without any issues. What makes it so good is that you can also use it while the screen is still dark.

They have also increased the size of the screen surface. When the previous version has a screen ratio of 18.7:9, then the P30 Pro now has 19.5:9. So all that they have done is stretch it longer. The new model has also got curved corners, so it gives an impression like the phone isn’t as wide.

Overall the new model has kept the same size. Well apart from the width, which is now a few millimetres smaller. I wouldn’t say that it makes that much of a difference but I definitely somewhat notice it when holding it in one hand. At the same time, they have made the case smoother, which also makes it more slippery. So you should always make sure that you are holding onto it, otherwise it might slip out of your hand.

User Interface

Like all of the new flagship phones, the Huawei P30 Pro comes with the latest Android Pie 9 version. It’s obviously not a completely raw Android. The user interface consists of the latest EMUI version 9.1. It has plenty of new features, some of which are actually useful as well.

The visual side of the user interface has been improved as well. They have not only made it easier to use but also updated the design of icons. Yeah it does make it more user friendly but Huawei still has to keep working on it. Mostly because it simply isn’t as functional and easy to use as most of its competitors interfaces.

Let’s be honest, new themes and a mirror app aren’t exactly features that set you apart from the other brands.

Camera

Well actually user interface has never been the strong point of Huawei. What they have been highly rated for is the camera quality. That’s also the case with the Huawei P30 Pro. There’s no doubt that they have spent the most time upgrading the new camera.

The back of the phone has got 4 different cameras. Wide angle, ultra-wide angle, tele zoom and a camera that measures depth. With all of this technology, it makes sense that Huawei takes excellent photos. This is proven by a camera rating website called DoXMark, which scored it with 112 points. This is the best score out of all the latest smartphones.

So what can these new cameras do now? For example the tele zoom camera can take photos with up to 5x optical zoom. In real life it means that you can zoom into the distance and the photos will be just as sharp as if you took them close up.

There is also a new Time-of-flight sensor, which can measure depth, and create photos with a bokeh filter. As in it gradually blurs the background from the edges. It makes portrait photos look more realistic and doesn’t give the impression like a person has just been pasted onto a blurred background.

Huawei has somehow managed to make the camera take clear photos in the dark as well. It’s so good that it even beats the Google Pixel 3 series. If I didn’t personally take the picture then there’s no way I’d believe that it was taken in the dark.

Battery

Compared to the last year model, the P30 Pro has gotten a bit thicker. The reason for that is most probably the battery. It now has a capacity of 4200 mAh and it supports both fast charging and wireless charging.

When it comes to fast charging, Huawei does not disappoint. And even though it was incredibly fast previously as well, it is now somehow even faster. For example, just half an hour of charging gets the battery from 0% to 70%. With this type of fast charging, it doesn’t even matter how fast the battery lasts.

That said, the battery life is still normal. As in you can get away with charging just once a day. That obviously depends on what and how much you use it. Huawei has also got a trick to make the battery last longer. It limits the processes running in the background. The downside is that some notifications can be delayed. There have been times where I only receive the notification when I open the screen.

Conclusion

As always, every phone has its pros and cons. Sure the Huawei P30 Pro has a couple of negative sides, but the positives definitely outweigh them. It’s an obvious flagship in the best way possible. And if you are looking for the best phone at the moment, then you won’t be disappointed by Huawei. Oh and yes, it has the best camera as well.

Author Bio

Marcus Hagen is a journalism student from Columbia University. He covers the latest tech news and specializes in reviewing smartphones on a blog called Tenpire. In his spare time, he enjoys working out and plans on completing a marathon in the summer.