Huawei P30 Pro Hands-on, First Impressions

Huawei has just unveiled their new P series smartphone and the hero device is the Huawei P30 series which is what we have now for our hands-on. Huawei certainly focused on the camera system of the P30 series but in terms of internal hardware, we are looking at almost the same chipset as the Mate20 Pro.

So what you get with the Huawei P30 and the P30 Pro is the Kirin 980 octa-core processor, 6GB of RAM for the P30 and 8GB for the P30 Pro — the same one that’s being used in the Mate20 and Mate20 Pro. What’s new with the P30 series is a bigger display with a much smaller notch, larger battery capacity and a triple-camera system for the P30 and quadruple cameras for the P30 Pro.

For our review unit, we have the P30 Pro with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

In terms of design, there is not much that was changed compared to the P20 Pro. Some of the details were inherited from the Mate20 Pro as well, like that curved glass along the sides and tapered edges. The gradient colors at the back remained the same but with new tones this time, and a little more subdued compared to the previous generation.

That vertical outline of the camera system at the back is a signature P-series DNA although we found it odd that the 4th depth-sensing camera not in line with the other 3 but along the column of the dual-LED flash. So yes, that’s a bit of a departure there from the usual layout.

In terms of size, the P30 Pro is a bit taller compared to the P20 Pro and almost the same size as the Mate20 Pro. If it were not for the distinct camera layout at the back, you might have mistaken the P30 Pro as the Mate20 Pro.

The P30 Pro is also a bit larger with a display of almost 6.5 inches although we’re still not convinced about Huawei’s decision to just stick it out with full HD resolution in the time when everyone else is doing 2K to 4K resolution in their smartphones.

Huawei also managed to reduce the size of the notch to a small, almost insignificant, semi-circular hole in the top end of the display. That notch houses the 32-megapixel front-facing cameras, sans the loudspeaker which they’ve incorporated into the display. As usual, you can still hide that notch by covering it completely with a blackened border in the Settings.

The biggest improvement that Huawei has introduced to the P30 Pro is the camera. It’s not surprising since the P-series is really Huawei’s device for showcasing the best camera system they have.

The P30 Pro has a quadruple camera system which is composed of a 40-megapixel primary RYYB sensor with f/1.6 aperture, a secondary 20-megapixel sensor with f/2.2 ultra-wide angle, a 3rd 8-megapixel sensor with f/2.4 aperture and 5x optical zoom and a fourth depth-sensing ‘time-of-flight’ sensor. Suffice it to say, we’re pretty impressed with the 10x zoom and 50x digital zoom.

The zoom camera supports a hybrid zoom of up to 10x and up to 50x digital zoom. That’s completely unheard of in mobile photography and miles ahead of the competition. If not for anything else, this camera system will be the only reason why people will upgrade to the P30 Pro. It’s not a surprise when the Huawei P30 Pro scores 112 points on DxOMark, the highest score in any phone so far.

Huawei P30 Pro specs:
6.47-inch FHD+ OLED display @ 2340 x 1080px, DCI-P3 HDR
HiSilicon Kirin 980 2.6GHz octa-core (Dual NPUs)
2 x Cortex-A76 Based 2.6 GHz+ 2 x Cortex-A76 Based 1.92 GHz + 4 x Cortex-A55 1.8 GHz
8GB DDR4 RAM
128GB/256GB/256GB storage
Dual SIM card w/ NM Card
Dual 4G VoLTE
40MP f/1.6 OIS RYYB (World’s first) + 20MP f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle + 8MP f/2.4 w/ 5x Periscope (5X Optical Zoom, 10X Hybrid Zoom, 50X Digital Zoom) and Time-of-Flight technology
Dual OIS (Main lens OIS + Telephoto OIS)
up to ISO 409600, Professional Night Mode, Huawei AIS, AI HDR+
Dual-View Video (wide-angle and close up view video recording)
32MP front camera
WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz, 5GHz)
Bluetooth 5.0, BLE, SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, LDAC, HWA Audio
GPS/ A-GPS/ Glonass/ BeiDou/ Galileo/ QZSS
NFC
USB Type-C
IP68 water and dust resistance
Dolby Atmos speakers
In-screen fingerprint scanner (New generation)
EMUI 9.1 (Android 9 Pie)
4,200mAh Li-Ion battery
40W SuperCharge technology, 15W Wireless Quick Charge, Wireless Reverse Charge
192 grams (weight)
Breathing Crystal, Amber Sunrise, Pearl White, Classic Black, Aurora

Huawei is expected to release the P30 series in the Philippines sometime this April and though we have not gotten the actual suggested retail price, the global MSRP is a good indication of how much it will end up when it lands in the country.

Huawei P30 6GB + 128GGB – EUR 799PHP 49,223USD 839INR 71,102CNY 6,110 (~PHP 47,453USD 809INR 68,551EUR 770CNY 5,889)
Huawei P30 Pro 8GB + 128GB – EUR 999PHP 61,544USD 1,049INR 88,900CNY 7,640 (~PHP 59,332USD 1,011INR 85,711EUR 963CNY 7,363)
Huawei P30 Pro 8GB + 256GB – EUR 1,099PHP 67,705USD 1,154INR 97,799CNY 8,404 (~PHP 65,271USD 1,112INR 94,290EUR 1,059CNY 8,100)
Huawei P30 Pro 8GB + 512GB – EUR 1,249PHP 76,946USD 1,311INR 111,147CNY 9,551 (~PHP 74,180USD 1,264INR 107,160EUR 1,204CNY 9,206)