The Huawei P30 Pro not only convinces with an outstanding quadruple camera, the device is also outstanding in everyday life. The bottom line, there is currently hardly a better smartphone in the trade.
The new Huawei P30 Pro is all about the quadruple camera on the back. With her, the Chinese want to set themselves apart from the competition, they should set new standards in smartphone photography. n-tv.de has tried out whether the device can meet this high standard and was not disappointed. The P30 Pro does not only convince with its outstanding camera.
Simple design, bright colors
At first sight, the device does not look very different from many other top smartphones: slightly curved glass at the front and back, which merges into a narrow aluminum frame, which is completely flat at the top and bottom. The simple design makes Huawei but with exceptional colors, including a bright orange red, made up for.
At almost 6.5 inches, the display is huge. But because its frame is very narrow, the device is still reasonably handy. The screen does not dissolve like other top smartphones with QHD +, but is content with FHD +. But that is still enough for a pixel density of almost 400 ppi, which is absolutely sufficient. At least you can not see the difference. More importantly, the display shows colors very accurately, offers great contrasts and can shine exceptionally bright for an OLED.
Fast fingerprint sensor
Like the Mate 20 Pro , the P30 Pro has a built-in fingerprint sensor. It also works optically, but is much more accurate and jagged and does not have to hide from the excellent ultrasonic sensor of the Samsung Galaxy S10 + . This is also necessary because the P30 Pro Huawei has waived a 3D face recognition in favor of the smallest possible opening for the front camera.
The economical screen is certainly also responsible for the excellent maturity of the smartphone. But this is mainly due to its powerful battery, which takes 4200 mAh. In the test, the level fell even on days with extensive photo safaris by night barely under 40 percent. If necessary, the fast-charging power supply fills the battery up to 70 percent within half an hour. If you have more time, you can also charge the device wirelessly. The P30 Pro, like the Mate 20 Pro, is capable of inductively powering other devices – whether that makes sense is another story.
Performance is right
The performance fits: Under the hood Huawei’s current top chip Kirin 980 , which can access a whopping 8 gigabytes (GB) of RAM. This device breaks no benchmark records, but shows no weaknesses in everyday life and demanding tasks.
The basic equipment can only criticize that the abandonment of a telephony speaker in favor of a vibrating display is a mistake. The sound is okay, but too quiet. In noisy environments, one does not understand conversation partners well.
In the true sense the most outstanding feature of the P30 Pro is the quadruple camera on the back, which is actually a triple camera with additional TOF sensor. The unit stands out so far out of the case that the smartphone tilts annoyingly when it is lying on the table.
The small inconvenience but you like to buy, because the camera is Zungeschnalzen. Huawei has added a high-speed main camera, with a super wide-angle lens and a telephoto camera with five times optical magnification (125 mm). Main camera and telephoto are optically stabilized. There is also a completely new photosensor. For him, no conventional Bayer filter with red, green and blue areas above a black and white sensor produces colors. Huawei has replaced green in his filter with yellow, which should be more translucent.
The less light, the better
The results you can achieve with this camera combination are always good, even outstanding in the telephoto range and in the dark. Photos taken in daylight with the main camera are rich in detail, have very natural colors and beautiful contrasts. This is nothing special, you can expect this with expensive top smartphones today. The weaker the light, the more the P30 Pro sets itself apart from the competition.
Nocturnal long exposures, the device easily with the automatic and takes pictures, which brings so since the P20 Pro no other smartphone. In the night mode, Huawei has now put on an amazing shovel. Because with the P30 Pro you can even take photos in almost complete darkness, where you can still see a lot. That is very impressive. The only question is how often you use this function.
Tele and macro are fun
Almost as impressive is the performance of the telephoto camera. The fivefold magnification brings very close to distant objects, without losing details, as would be the case with a purely digital zoom. Digitally supported the losses hold even at a tenfold magnification in moderation. In addition, the quality decreases visibly, but even at 50x magnification enough details are still visible. However, the pictures are no longer beautiful, the telephoto reaches its limits much faster in low light than the main camera.
The super wide angle works well, but would be the least spectacular look, if it did not offer the super macro function, with which one can approach objects up to 2.5 centimeters. You do not have to go into the settings. If the AI Assistant is activated, the P30 Pro recognizes situations normally independently.
Stable videos
The optically stabilized cameras are also noticeable in videos that are recorded during motion. They are very quiet even with larger vibrations and you can turn easily at five times magnifications out of hand. However, as with the P20 Pro and Mate 20, the camera still only allows 4K shots at 30 frames per second (fps) instead of 60 fps.
The TOF sensor measures the time required for a light beam to be reflected to provide detailed depth information. This should allow the camera in portrait mode to deliver a finely tuned artificial bokeh. This has been confirmed in the test, the focus area fits well and details are taken into account.
Really spectacular are the differences here to other top smartphones but not. Announced updates could make the TOF sensor even more useful, especially in terms of Augmented Reality (AR). Among other things, it will soon be possible to measure objects in real time.
Top, but not necessary
All in all, Huawei has again improved with the P30 Pro. The quadruple camera does not quite as revolutionary better photos than other top smartphone snaps, but the five-time telephoto and the almost magical night mode lift the P30 Pro on the camera throne. Because it is also a very strong and durable device with a great display, you will hardly find a better smartphone at the moment.
The question is, if you really need the new camera features. A cheaper alternative to the 1000 Euro expensive P30 Pro is the Mate 20 Pro, which is already available for 700 Euro. Its camera equipment is hardly worse and the device offers a 3D face recognition. The Samsung Galaxy S10 + is sometimes available for less than 800 euros.