Honor V30 Pro review

Competition

It’s a hard sell this one. The V30 Pro doesn’t have Google Services limiting its availability to China only. Of course, this might change in the future if the device gets certified by Google so for the sake of the argument, let’s assume the V30 Pro has Google Services. Also, the Chinese launch price of the V30 Pro is about €500 and if the phone hits Europe and the rest of the world, the asking price would go up making the phone an even harder sell. And here’s why.

Let’s start with one of the biggest flagship killers from last year - the Realme X2 Pro. This guy undercuts the pricing and even when you match the 128GB storage variant with the 128GB base V30 Pro model, you can get Realme’s device for around €50 less. Sure, they both offer top of the line chipsets, long battery life and incredibly fast charging solutions but it’s hard to ignore the 90Hz OLED panel on the Realme X2 Pro. The latter, however, falls behind in terms of camera performance so it’s up to you to decide whether screen quality or camera performance are on the top of your priority list.

Realme X2 Pro • Xiaomi Mi Note 10

If you are in the market for a competent camera phone, you are bound to come across Xiaomi’s recently introduced Mi Note 10 handset. It’s one of the pricey devices from the Chinese maker as it sports a mid-range SoC but offers a nice, curved OLED screen, long battery life and capable camera setup. In fact, the Mi Note 10 boasts a 5x optical zoom beating pretty much any competition in this price segment in terms of versatility. The ultra-wide cam is also wider than the one here and lastly, you get the wow factor with the under-screen fingerprint reader.

OnePlus 7T • Huawei P30 Pro

Going back to the strictly upper mid-range price category, we find OnePlus’ 7T to be one of the main competitors. The device is slightly more expensive than the V30 Pro but offers comparable (maybe arguably worse picture quality) and superior viewing experience - tall OLED with 90Hz refresh rate. There’s also the argument of the polished, nearly stock Android experience the 7T offers. And even though OnePlus’ contender has long battery life and fast charging, the Honor V30 Pro’s endurance and charging speeds are better.

With the Huawei P40 Pro just around the corner, recommending the Huawei P30 Pro is a bit tricky but price-wise, the P30 Pro and the Honor V30 Pro are almost in the same ballpark. Of course, the P30 Pro is a bit more expensive sitting at €570 but has a lot more to offer in return - a curved OLED, a superior camera experience albeit with an older Kirin 980 chipset, which wouldn’t be an issue if you are in a country with no 5G coverage anyway. After all, one of the key features of the V30 Pro is the integrated 5G modem.

Verdict

Once again, if you are living outside of China, the Honor V30 Pro is a no-go as of the time of writing this. But even if it had the necessary Google certification, the handset feels like it’s out of touch with the recent smartphone trends. Instead of offering a competitive OLED panel, even if it’s not 90Hz, Honor's 16:9 Cine Lens camera is something no one asked for. Not to mention the main camera shoots better videos than this video-oriented ultra-wide camera.

Previous Honor flagships were lucrative alternatives to the expensive high-tier offerings from the big smartphone makers giving you all the performance and camera advancements Huawei has in a more affordable package. But with the sudden rise of “flagship killers” and premium all-rounders in 2019, the Honor V30 Pro has to fight off fierce competition like the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro, Realme X2 Pro and the OnePlus 7T. Which, by the way, all have Google Services.

Nevertheless, the Honor V30 Pro does excel in several areas like photography (mainly thanks to its primary 40MP camera), battery endurance, fast charging (wired and wireless), great raw performance and feature-packed software. It’s one of those good phones you can’t really get right now. We hope that changes in the near future before the handset becomes irrelevant.

Pros

• Top-tier performance on the cheap
• Excellent battery life
• Versatile charging - fast wired (40W) and wireless charging (27W), reverse wireless charging
• Good overall camera performance with a few caveats
• Improved, fast and snappy software

Cons

• IPS LCD panel while the competition is already adopting high-refresh-rate OLEDs
• The Cine Lens isn't particularly impressive in neither videos nor photos
• No Google Services for now