Huawei P20 Pro: a photo walk around Paris

Zoom

And speaking of the trio of cameras, the telephoto has some tricks to offer as well. Huawei's new setup allows for 3x optical zoom and up to 5x hybrid zoom. Real life results are quite impressive - with 2x optical zoom cameras being the norm these days the extra reach really stands out and lets you produce photos no other phone can deliver.

Huawei P20 Pro: 1x • 3x • 5x • 1x • 3x • 5x

While some interpolation is clearly involved at the 5x zoom and we wouldn't call it lossless, 3x shots seem to be almost identical in sharpness and detail to their regular counterparts.

Huawei P20 Pro: 1x • 3x • 5x • 1x • 3x • 5x

Selfies

To top the stills section off, we have selfies. While the P20 Pro clearly shines in the resolution department, we were very surprised to find out Huawei somehow managed to source a 24MP fixed-focus camera. The focus distance is also set a bit near, which explains a few initial batches of mostly unusable selfies. People with longer arms will need to remember to keep the phone closer or else they'll have their faces smeared out.

Once we got used to the specifics, however, there was ample detail to enjoy, as well as Apple-like lighting effects the P20 Pro has to offer.

Huawei P20 Pro selfie samples

Video

Lastly, we also captured a few sample videos with the P20 Pro for you to check out. These include a 720p@960fps slow-motion clip, as well as a 720p time-lapse.

Here is a regular 4K@30fps sample as well.

We are already hard at work putting the Huawei P20 Pro through our typical review procedure. This includes thorough camera tests, with our usual samples and controlled-environment poster shots. Any further, in-depth judgement on quality and overall camera performance will just have to wait until then. You can also look forward to some interesting camera shoot-outs, involving Huawei's new flagship in the future.