Huawei P30 Pro review

review
Huawei P30 Pro review

There are times when the Huawei P30 Pros camera is so staggeringly good, it defies belief. I’ve questioned whether I’m mistaken, and what I’m seeing is an error, or that my eyes are playing tricks. Whether it’s taking a seemingly impossible photo in the dark, or zooming right in on a subject far away, the P30 Pro’s camera is a bit like being Superman.

That’s before talking about the P30 pro’s battery, build, and design, all of which are of a very high standard. Excelling in several areas doesn’t make the P30 Pro the perfect smartphone though, and the camera sometimes falls frustratingly short elsewhere — but mostly because we demand a lot from it — and some will dislike the software.

Additionally, and you may already know this, but the P30 Pro is a phone you won’t be able to buy at a store if you live in the U.S., and more than ever before, you’re missing out on something very, very special indeed. How good is it? It deserves to be the benchmark against which all other cameras taking specialized photos should be judged.

STUNNING COLORS

The Huawei P30 Pro’s design is a blend of the P20 Po and the Mate 20 Pro that came before it, and it benefits greatly from being kept in a case. The sides are less sharp than the Mate 20 Pro but are still tapered enough that it’s noticeable in the palm. A transparent silicone case is included in the box, and we’ve kept it inside after a day or so, as it makes the phone more comfortable and less slippery to hold. Transparency is important, as Huawei has spent considerable time making two of its most stunning colors on a phone, yet.

There are times when the Huawei P30 Pro’s camera is so staggeringly good, it defies belief. I’ve questioned whether I’m mistaken, and what I’m seeing is an error, or that my eyes are playing tricks. Whether it’s taking a seemingly impossible photo in the dark, or zooming right in on a subject far away, the P30 Pro’s camera is a bit like being Superman.

That’s before talking about the s battery, build, and design, all of which are of a very high standard. Excelling in several a P30 Pro’reas doesn’t make the P30 Pro the perfect smartphone though, and the camera sometimes falls frustratingly short elsewhere — but mostly because we demand a lot from it — and some will dislike the software.

Additionally, and you may already know this, but the P30 Pro is a phone you won’t be able to buy at a store if you live in the U.S., and more than ever before, you’re missing out on something very, very special indeed. How good is it? It deserves to be the benchmark against which all other cameras taking specialized photos should be judged.

STUNNING COLORS

The Huawei P30 Pro’s design is a blend of the P20 Pro and the Mate 20 Pro that came before it, and it benefits greatly from being kept in a case. The sides are less sharp than the Mate 20 Pro but are still tapered enough that it’s noticeable in the palm. A transparent silicone case is included in the box, and we’ve kept it inside after a day or so, as it makes the phone more comfortable and less slippery to hold. Transparency is important, as Huawei has spent considerable time making two of its most stunning colors on a phone, yet.

At first, the glowing orange/red version — called “amber sunrise” — will be the one you want; but don’t dismiss the stupidly named “breathing crystal,” a stunning blue-to-silver, with shades of pink and green (an oyster shell-style gradient), which will become the connoisseurs choice. A black and an “Aurora” (Huawei’s trademark blue hue) model are also available. All finishes are smooth, lustrous, and beautifully reflective. The amber sunrise model seems to attract fewer fingerprints than the more glossy breathing crystal version.

Coming from the Mate 20 Pro, the P30 Pro does feel slightly heavier in the hand, despite there being only a few grams difference between them. It’s likely due to a more top-heavy weighting on the P30 Pro, which is almost certainly caused by the additional camera technology. This leads us to one of the P30 Pro’s design flourishes —  The ends of the phone are flat, and yes with careful balancing, you can stand it up.

The colors really give the P30 Pro its character. Choose the black version at your peril.

The notch in the screen is tiny and contains only the selfie camera. This is a major benefit over the Mate 20 Pro’s all-dominating notch, as you get more notification space along the top of the screen, at the expense of secure face unlocking the hardware. The bezels are also tiny, and there’s no fingerprint sensor under the screen like the P20 Pro. It’s more modern-looking than its predecessor, and larger and heavier than the Mate 20 Pro. The camera bump on the back contains all three lenses, consolidating them into one rather than the messier array on the P20 Pro.

Examining the P30 Pro closely for the first time, it came across as a little faceless compared to the highly recognizable P20 Pro and Mate 20 Pro, both of which have individual styles. The design has grown on me since then, its simplicity coming as a shock after the challenging visual elements of its sibling phones, but it’s the colors that really give the P30 Pro its character. Choose the black version at your peril.

A NEW CAMERA STANDARD

Created with Leica, the P30 Pro’s camera has three lenses: A 40-megapixel f/1.6 aperture lens, a 20-megapixel f/2.2 aperture lens, and an 8-megapixel f/3.4 aperture lens. These are paired with a time-of-flight sensor for depth sensing. The main and telephoto camera lenses have optical image stabilization (OIS), and Huawei’s own artificial intelligence stabilization system called AIS. The camera has two main, special features — a periscope zoom feature, and an ability to take bright low-light images.

How long will it last?

The Huawei P30 Pro has an IP68 water resistance rating, so is reasonably resilient to the wet stuff, but the glass body is definitely a smash risk, so a case is advisable. The camera is cutting-edge, the processor is the latest from Huawei, and there is plenty of internal storage space. The hybrid SIM tray takes two SIMs, or a single SIM and one of Huawei’s own proprietary storage cards. There is no reason the phone will not remain capable and high performing for three to four years at least.

Should you buy one?

Yes. The periscope zoom and incredible low-light performance makes it unique among top camera smartphones today, and are serious, genuine reasons to buy the P30 Pro. The battery life is also superb, and the additional list of features — from the capable in-display fingerprint sensor to the sleek design — cement the P30 Pro’s place as one of the most desirable smartphones released in 2019 so far.