Huawei P20 Pro review

12 April 2018
Huawei was among the front-runners in the dual-camera race with the P9 and then the Mate 10, so who better to take things to the next level? The Huawei P20 Pro one-ups all current major players and comes with three cameras on its back, each unique in its own right.

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  • Jman
  • nGR
  • 13 Apr 2018

Anonymous, 13 Apr 2018Not putting a notch on s9 is questionable not the other way... moreBut you're putting an INDENT into a display! That's screen real estate WASTED on a couple of notifications that are easily hidden on notchless phones when playing video!

    • J
    • Jman
    • nGR
    • 13 Apr 2018

    I like the camera setup, but everything else is unimpressive. YES I know we're riding the wave of the Chinese upstarts here, but no SD card slot on a flagship?

    That's the deal breaker right there.

      AnonD-145316, 13 Apr 2018So many reviewers and users that have highly rated the came... moreNo, but they have rather kept their bar pretty low. 40Mpx sensor that makes 10Mpx photos that look ok as 1.5 Mpx unzoomed photos.
      And for them Snapseed is considered as a "pro" tool.

        LG Superfan, 13 Apr 2018For some reason gsmarena does not say anything about p20 pr... moreDownload sample, its 10mp, "main" resolution.

          vrvly, 13 Apr 2018Sorry, v30 got smaller fov could be wrong about that...xz2 ... moreFor some reason gsmarena does not say anything about p20 pro low light resolution, I think its 40mp sample, p20 real strenght is 10mp samples. P20 Pro samples are abit better as you can see the grass before the building and near the tree which is black out on sony samples

            • S
            • Shui8
            • KZK
            • 13 Apr 2018

            Yup its been confirm, 10mp supersampling resolution with AI turned off produce a very good image, and that night mod shot is jaw-dropping - https://forum.xda-developers.com/huawei-p20-pro/help/camera-t3769720/page11

              • N
              • Nick
              • vmF
              • 13 Apr 2018

              MAX, 13 Apr 2018WHAT ?? Which part of my comment didn't you understand?

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                • Nick
                • vmF
                • 13 Apr 2018

                vrvly, 13 Apr 2018Sorry, v30 got smaller fov could be wrong about that...xz2 ... moreI'm actually very surprised by how well XZ2 performs against P20 Pro despite its inferior optics.Sony definitely has upped their game with XZ2, apparently. However, there are things which have to be said here: First of all XZ2's shot seems to have much worse dynamic range, and you can tell that by looking at highlights and shadows on both phones, XZ2 is clearly overexposing light sources while grass is too dark compared to P20 Pro. And even though it is a fact that XZ2 is capturing more details (20MP vs 10MP image, so it'd better have better details), it also comes at a cost - a lot of noises mixed with heavy sharpening artifacts. Also green glowing letters on the hotel looks better on P20 Pro, despite obvious oversharpening - XZ2 is just not too great at hiding noises and artifacts without messing up with details.
                As for daylight shot - I don't consider a comparing normal photos and AI-assisted oversaturated instagram-ready photos as a good idea. I'm not sure if it is going to happen, but I'll wait for GSMArena to publish couple of 10MP shot with Master AI turned off so that a fair comparison can be made. As far as I have seen, AI-assisted shots look far worse than the normal shots not only in terms of dynamic range, but also for details, let alone completely messed up colors and white balance.

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                  • AnonD-145316
                  • CDJ
                  • 13 Apr 2018

                  AnonD-751738, 13 Apr 2018Camera quality looks absolutely horrible even in daylight. ... moreSo many reviewers and users that have highly rated the camera high are blind??!!

                    LG Superfan, 12 Apr 2018How about you share the linkSorry, v30 got smaller fov could be wrong about that...xz2 is about the same though. daylight: https://www.gsmarena.com/huawei_p20_pro-review-1747p7.php#image16 , https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_xz2_compact-review-1737p5.php#image9 .
                    lowlight: https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_xz2_compact-review-1737p5.php#image20 , https://www.gsmarena.com/huawei_p20_pro-review-1747p7.php#image51 , https://www.gsmarena.com/huawei_p20_pro-review-1747p7.php#image47 .
                    Difference is more visible in lowlight, thats 20mp vs. 40mp(or 10mp). Also make sure you see b&w shot, which is better than color output out of both phones.

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • niV
                      • 13 Apr 2018

                      Not putting a notch on s9 is questionable not the other way around.

                      Do you enjoy having much of the upper side of the fron face of your phone being lost to a side by side bezel whilst you could comfortably put a "smart bezel" there (notificaition bar that is flash with the notch by virtue of being black as well)?

                      Never understood the popular opinion on this (that tech sites never fail to reiterate). It downright lacks imagination and is trite and self destructive (it may lead to the return of upper bezel which is frankly useless).

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                        • MAX
                        • ft$
                        • 13 Apr 2018

                        Nick, 13 Apr 2018P20 Pro's strength over other phones is not the absolute ph... moreWHAT ??

                          • D
                          • AnonD-751738
                          • 0V5
                          • 13 Apr 2018

                          Camera quality looks absolutely horrible even in daylight. No details at all.

                            your review states fix focus on selfie but ur specs sheets that its an autofocus selfie one...sooooo????

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • jS3
                              • 13 Apr 2018

                              unfortunately the review begins and ends at 1700 single core

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                                • AnonD-145316
                                • CDE
                                • 13 Apr 2018

                                Imperator Neubaticus, 13 Apr 2018All that hype over 3 cameras that aren't even significantly... moreA joke of 4000mah endurance rating???!! Are you high?? You are the joker here! Do you have any idea how much power the p20 pro requires to complement all that camera tech??? And yet it beats other flagships hands down in battery department only the mate 10 pro is superior interms of battery but with not that big margin against p20 pro.

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                                  • Nick
                                  • vmF
                                  • 13 Apr 2018

                                  Imperator Neubaticus, 13 Apr 2018All that hype over 3 cameras that aren't even significantly... moreP20 Pro's strength over other phones is not the absolute photo quality, but its amount of features. Tell me one phone which is not Huawei P20 Pro that can shoot in all of:
                                  1. Monochrome
                                  2. Lag-free HDR
                                  3. 3x optical zoom which remains usable even under low-light
                                  4. Night Mode
                                  5. Portrait Mode
                                  6. RAW with 40MP in resolution
                                  7. Super Slow-mo

                                  in addition to the ability to take photos as good as or even better than those from Galaxy S9+ or Pixel 2 in many situations.

                                    • N
                                    • Nick
                                    • vmF
                                    • 13 Apr 2018

                                    AnonD-751679, 13 Apr 2018It's quite incredible that DxOMark gave this phone 109 mark... moreMaster AI boosts saturation of blue whenever it detects the sky and applies strong vignette, and if plants are detected in the frame it increases the contrast and lifts up green. You can disable it you prefer more natural looking photos.

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                                      • AnonD-751689
                                      • YPe
                                      • 13 Apr 2018

                                      AnonD-751689, 13 Apr 2018Does anyone have a screen gradient issue when the brightnes... moreI mean *noticeable* in the dark.

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                                        • AnonD-751689
                                        • YPe
                                        • 13 Apr 2018

                                        Does anyone have a screen gradient issue when the brightness is set to lowest and observed in the dark? I seem to notice that I'm facing that issue. It's not obvious in a bright room with full screen brightness but nouvelle in the dark. Anyone???

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