In recent years, you can see the camera innovations coming from a mile away. Because the megapixel race has run its course, manufacturers have begun a pissing contest on who can fit more camera to the back of a phone. It started with the LG Optimus 3D which already employed the current popular implementation. This means it had one sensor for the camera and another one strictly for a depth sensor. But, as always, it wasn't until Apple adopted it that it was turned into a true industry standard. After that, the rear-facing dual-camera set-up has become the norm.
Recently, in a bid to gain their consumer’s money, manufacturers have added more sensors to the equation. The Galaxy S10, for example, just launched with a three-camera configuration on its rear. It adds an ultrawide and a zoom lens to the normal main shooter. Coupled with the excellent camera software, this makes the phone a veritable mobile photography device that could rival a few dedicated camera set-ups.
Huawei, however, has found more ways to stand out as a smartphone camera contender than just adding another camera. If the new Google Pixel 4 doesn’t innovate, then Huawei would most likely take the crown as the smartphone camera king.
Build Quality & Design
Flagship-level Huawei phones always came in with flagship-level build quality. The P30 Pro is no exception. Like a lot of the top of the line products these days it sports a glass-sandwich design with rounded out by an aluminium frame. As such, it can be slippery to hold especially in dry climates. But you don’t have to worry too much because both front and back are protected by Gorilla Glass.
Battery Life Champion
It comes with a massive 4,200 mAh which should result in up to 2 days’ worth of use even if it’s by a power user.
A.I. Power Management Software that learns your usage patterns and optimizes battery consumption by diverting power to the app that you’re most likely to use at any given time. This lets the smartphone step on the breaks a little bit on the other apps that don’t require power. The result is an uncompromising yet power-sipping experience when navigating through your phone on a normal basis.
To add on that cool feature, the Huawei P30 Pro is also capable of being charged at 40W. This means it shouldn’t take long at all to charge the 4,200 mAh battery. If we do the math, it should charge up around 70% in just half an hour.
Rear Cameras Worthy of the Leica Name
SuperSpectrum
The main sensor is a 40-megapixel beast of a smartphone camera. But don't let the numbers fool you. It's not the biggest change that Huawei has applied to this device. Rather, in what it calls SuperSpectrum sensor, they used RYYB pixel-configuration instead of the typical RGB. This, they say, lets the sensor bring in around 40% more light. Furthermore, it allows for the sensors to go up to 409,600 ISO. Even in the darkest rooms, shots are almost never grainy.
If the camera hardware alone can handle shots in the dark this well, just imagine what it can do with Night Mode A.I. trickery on. It’s something that most Android devices on Snapdragon chips are capable of these days. It results in something that can see better in the dark than the naked eye.
The problem with this set-up though is that when you’re shooting in warm lighting conditions, shots can have a greenish tint to it. That’s the compromise that you have to pay for having the extra yellow pixel.
Undisputed King of Smartphone Zoom Lenses
But this isn’t all that Huawei has in store for camera innovation. The P30 Pro also comes with something that no other smartphone company has ever tried before. They put a periscope lens that’s more similar than ever to how traditional zoom lenses work. This means you can have up to 5X optical zoom, 10X hybrid zoom, and up to 50X digital zoom.
The sensor, however, is not as impressive as the 40-megapixel behemoth in the main camera. It’s just an 8-megapixel shooter. But, that’s not something to scoff at because that’s plenty of pixels even if you’re going to look at it on a 27-inch screen.
An Ultrawide and a TOF Sensor
Rounding out the camera goodness is an Ultrawide sensor. It’s a 16 mm focal length sensor that gives you some interesting shots. But, unlike the other two cameras, there isn’t some new revolutionary design here. It’s a good old-fashioned lens that gives you an extra angle from which to see your subject.
The 20-megapixel resolution ensures that images will be crisp as well. However, due to the smaller resolution, don’t expect the SuperSpectrum magic to work here. You’re going to have to turn on the Night Mode if you’re going to shoot in low-light.
Lastly, the Huawei P30 Pro also has the TOF sensor giving it the grand total of 4 rear-facing sensors. It doesn’t really capture images though. Rather, it determines the distance of the background to optimize the blur effect of the portrait mode. This enables the camera to have different levels of blur depending on how far the background is.
High Resolution but Unremarkable Front-Facing Camera
It seems that Huawei poured all their attention on the rear-facing cameras. The 32-megapixel selfie-shooter may have a huge resolution; but other than that, they’re doing nothing new about it. It’s still the same A.I. processing as the P20 Pro.
Snappy UX But EMUI Needs to Be Improved
Overall, the experience of using the P30 Pro should be comparable to the rest of the flagships of 2019. It's rocking, as always, the new in-house 7nm Kirin 970 processor that's plenty fast for literally anything you'd want to do with a smartphone. It comes with a minimum of 128GB of storage that you can bump up to 256GB. If you wish, you can even extend that even more with a memory card. The minimum RAM is 6GB and the maximum is 8GB.
All of these ensure that navigating through the OS is smooth and snappy. However, Huawei’s Android flavour of EMUI can be a bit distracting. But, as always, that’s a matter of taste. The beauty of Android is that you always have the choice to change up the flavour of your OS through third-party skins.
Overall, the Huawei P30 Pro is a budding smartphone camera champion. It has the Galaxy S10 and the iPhone XS already beat. It’s plainly the most versatile, best quality, camera set-up currently in the market.
Recently, in a bid to gain their consumer’s money, manufacturers have added more sensors to the equation. The Galaxy S10, for example, just launched with a three-camera configuration on its rear. It adds an ultrawide and a zoom lens to the normal main shooter. Coupled with the excellent camera software, this makes the phone a veritable mobile photography device that could rival a few dedicated camera set-ups.
Huawei, however, has found more ways to stand out as a smartphone camera contender than just adding another camera. If the new Google Pixel 4 doesn’t innovate, then Huawei would most likely take the crown as the smartphone camera king.
Build Quality & Design
Flagship-level Huawei phones always came in with flagship-level build quality. The P30 Pro is no exception. Like a lot of the top of the line products these days it sports a glass-sandwich design with rounded out by an aluminium frame. As such, it can be slippery to hold especially in dry climates. But you don’t have to worry too much because both front and back are protected by Gorilla Glass.
Battery Life Champion
It comes with a massive 4,200 mAh which should result in up to 2 days’ worth of use even if it’s by a power user.
A.I. Power Management Software that learns your usage patterns and optimizes battery consumption by diverting power to the app that you’re most likely to use at any given time. This lets the smartphone step on the breaks a little bit on the other apps that don’t require power. The result is an uncompromising yet power-sipping experience when navigating through your phone on a normal basis.
To add on that cool feature, the Huawei P30 Pro is also capable of being charged at 40W. This means it shouldn’t take long at all to charge the 4,200 mAh battery. If we do the math, it should charge up around 70% in just half an hour.
Rear Cameras Worthy of the Leica Name
SuperSpectrum
The main sensor is a 40-megapixel beast of a smartphone camera. But don't let the numbers fool you. It's not the biggest change that Huawei has applied to this device. Rather, in what it calls SuperSpectrum sensor, they used RYYB pixel-configuration instead of the typical RGB. This, they say, lets the sensor bring in around 40% more light. Furthermore, it allows for the sensors to go up to 409,600 ISO. Even in the darkest rooms, shots are almost never grainy.
If the camera hardware alone can handle shots in the dark this well, just imagine what it can do with Night Mode A.I. trickery on. It’s something that most Android devices on Snapdragon chips are capable of these days. It results in something that can see better in the dark than the naked eye.
The problem with this set-up though is that when you’re shooting in warm lighting conditions, shots can have a greenish tint to it. That’s the compromise that you have to pay for having the extra yellow pixel.
Undisputed King of Smartphone Zoom Lenses
But this isn’t all that Huawei has in store for camera innovation. The P30 Pro also comes with something that no other smartphone company has ever tried before. They put a periscope lens that’s more similar than ever to how traditional zoom lenses work. This means you can have up to 5X optical zoom, 10X hybrid zoom, and up to 50X digital zoom.
The sensor, however, is not as impressive as the 40-megapixel behemoth in the main camera. It’s just an 8-megapixel shooter. But, that’s not something to scoff at because that’s plenty of pixels even if you’re going to look at it on a 27-inch screen.
An Ultrawide and a TOF Sensor
Rounding out the camera goodness is an Ultrawide sensor. It’s a 16 mm focal length sensor that gives you some interesting shots. But, unlike the other two cameras, there isn’t some new revolutionary design here. It’s a good old-fashioned lens that gives you an extra angle from which to see your subject.
The 20-megapixel resolution ensures that images will be crisp as well. However, due to the smaller resolution, don’t expect the SuperSpectrum magic to work here. You’re going to have to turn on the Night Mode if you’re going to shoot in low-light.
Lastly, the Huawei P30 Pro also has the TOF sensor giving it the grand total of 4 rear-facing sensors. It doesn’t really capture images though. Rather, it determines the distance of the background to optimize the blur effect of the portrait mode. This enables the camera to have different levels of blur depending on how far the background is.
High Resolution but Unremarkable Front-Facing Camera
It seems that Huawei poured all their attention on the rear-facing cameras. The 32-megapixel selfie-shooter may have a huge resolution; but other than that, they’re doing nothing new about it. It’s still the same A.I. processing as the P20 Pro.
Snappy UX But EMUI Needs to Be Improved
Overall, the experience of using the P30 Pro should be comparable to the rest of the flagships of 2019. It's rocking, as always, the new in-house 7nm Kirin 970 processor that's plenty fast for literally anything you'd want to do with a smartphone. It comes with a minimum of 128GB of storage that you can bump up to 256GB. If you wish, you can even extend that even more with a memory card. The minimum RAM is 6GB and the maximum is 8GB.
All of these ensure that navigating through the OS is smooth and snappy. However, Huawei’s Android flavour of EMUI can be a bit distracting. But, as always, that’s a matter of taste. The beauty of Android is that you always have the choice to change up the flavour of your OS through third-party skins.
Overall, the Huawei P30 Pro is a budding smartphone camera champion. It has the Galaxy S10 and the iPhone XS already beat. It’s plainly the most versatile, best quality, camera set-up currently in the market.