Huawei P20 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S9+

GSMArena team, 27 April 2018.

Introduction

1x, 2x... 5x. Zooming smartphone cameras are no longer a novelty - in fact a numbers race is forming. Asus' Zenfone Zoom couldn't make waves, but Huawei appears on the right track to do so with the P20 Pro and its 3x zoom camera. We figured we'd pit it against the Galaxy S9+ - the latest phone to come out with what's become the standard 2x zoom.

Huawei P20 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S9+ shootout

Zoom is only going to be part of it all, though. We'll be looking at how the two compare over a variety of shooting scenarios - day, night, portraits, selfies, portrait selfies. The P20 Pro appears to have the upper hand - higher resolution, more reach, an extra monochrome camera. The S9+ does stand out with the changeable f/1.5-f/2.4 aperture on its main cam.

We'll also examine video - the Galaxy's specsheet reads better in this department with a 4K/60fps mode and stabilized 4K/30fps, while the P20 Pro can only stabilize 1080p/30fps footage. Samsung's slow-mo implementation is also miles ahead, if you're into that sort of thing.

If you need to brush up on the numbers, this handy table below will help you, though a a quick trip to our comparison tool couldn't hurt either.

Huawei P20 Pro Samsung Galaxy S9+
Main (wide-angle) camera 40MP, 7296 x 5472px, downscales to 10MP, 3648 x 2736px 12MP, 4032 x 3024px
Sensor 4:3 aspect, 1/1.7" sensor size, 1.0µm pixel size, Quad Bayer array 4:3 aspect, 1/2.55" sensor size, 1.4µm pixel size
Lens f/1.8, 27mm f/1.5-2.4, 26mm, OIS
Telephoto camera 8MP, upscales to 10MP, 3648 x 2736px 12MP, 4032 x 3024px
Sensor 4:3 aspect, 1/4" sensor size 4:3 aspect, 1/3.6" sensor size, 1.0µm pixel size
Lens f/2.4, 80mm, OIS; 3x zoom f/2.4, 52mm, OIS; 2x zoom
Monochrome camera 20MP, 5120x3840px, 1/2.7" sensor size; f/1.6, 27mm lens N/A
Flash Single LED Flash Single LED Flash
Video recording 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60/30fps 2160p@60/30fps, 1440p@30fps, 1080p@60/30fps
Slow motion 1080p@120fps, 720p@960fps 1080p@240fps, 720p@960fps
Video IS EIS (only in 1080p/30fps) OIS+EIS (except 2160p/60fps)
Video features Stereo audio Stereo audio
Front camera 24MP, f/2.0, 26mm, 1080p@30fps 8 MP, 1/3.6", 1.22µm, f/1.7, 25mm, 1440p@30fps

That's the basics dealt with, but we'll go a little deeper on the next page, comparing the camera architecture, hardware and app UI.

Reader comments

Samsung for me

What is the connection between the camera and the display, exactly?

  • Min
  • 31 Jul 2020
  • mE0

definitely s9+ Dont be fooled by the camera MegaPixels , have a look in display resolution with is JUST (407 PPI) While s9+ comes with (530 PPI) +dual appeture camera sensor My opinion would be 100% for s9+