Huawei P20 Pro long-term review

19 July 2018
It was an exciting flagship season this spring, yes, but once the dust has settled, there was only a handful of devices that left lasting impressions. On top of that shortlist is the tri-eyed beast that is the Huawei P20 Pro and it was high time we do a long-term review of this one while using it as a daily driver.

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It's great unless you use Android Auto in your car... then good luck, Huawei I would pay $1000 if you would just fix this issue with all your phones...

    • T
    • TheTruth
    • PFt
    • 21 Jul 2018

    Yet P20 pro 960fps is fake. haha

      MA21, 21 Jul 2018Exactly. Others justify it as okay as long as you aren't pi... more"Others justify it as okay as long as you aren't pixel-peeping"
      ...? Photos from P20 Pro's using its Portrait Mode are all very natural with almost no noise reduction or sharpening applied. I think you're confused with those from selfie camera which can look soft when you're using the default shooting mode (which is also called Portrait Mode, oddly enough).

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • PGq
        • 21 Jul 2018

        Lu, 20 Jul 2018Yes, it seems that the "long-term" review is written by som... moreAgree with you here :D

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • PGq
          • 21 Jul 2018

          Gandalfdenvite, 20 Jul 2018"Same for the audio jack - we've migrated to mostly wireles... moreAgree with you here.

            • K
            • Kobresia
            • gDL
            • 21 Jul 2018

            Xz2 premium destroy P20 pro in camera test.

              • F
              • Foundation
              • uFk
              • 21 Jul 2018

              MA21, 21 Jul 2018Exactly. Others justify it as okay as long as you aren't pi... morePortrait Mode on P20 Pro is excellent though, with all the preserved details and textures, much better than crappy ones from iPhone. For slow-mo it has its upside (like it's usable in low-light unlike the slow-mo on XZ2/S9) though I agree that use of a DRAM-integrated sensor would've been nicer.

                • M
                • MA21
                • sxs
                • 21 Jul 2018

                Anonymous, 20 Jul 2018Personally, I thought the dxo shots, particularly bokeh, we... moreExactly. Others justify it as okay as long as you aren't pixel-peeping. Aside from the painting-like photos, there's also the fake super-slowmo that is obviously just software processing compared to the hardware solution used by Sony and Samsung. There's a video that compares the Huawei super-slowmo to Sony and Samsung, and it's particularly awful to look at the blades looking disintegrated in the super-slowmo of the P20 pro.

                  The Huwaei is very active in mobile industry nowadays and launching amazing smartphones these days. No doubt, the company stand toughs in the competition with Xiaomi, Samsung and other brands that comes into this price segment. If you look towards to sell your old phone, this brand gives you a high resale price.

                    Huawei did this thing great, but I'm still going for Sony if they do the same.
                    Look how much better Sony made the monochrome sensor to work than Huawei has ever did. It didn't make that much sense until Sony showed its effectivity.
                    And with the 40MP 1/1.7" sensor of the P20 Pro being a Sony IMX one, I'm definitely sure Sony would also make their own, maybe an even better one, 'cause there's no reason for them to sell better sensors to other OEMs than the ones that they use on their own products

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • pp}
                      • 21 Jul 2018

                      For cool kids Samsung.....for smart one Huawei.

                        Anonymous, 19 Jul 2018Hi GSMA, You need to update Messages app. It's from goog... moreGreat points. I also wanted to add that there is an option in face unlock for "direct unlock"
                        or the two step unlock where it will unlock the screen an require you to swipe to see the home page. My honor 9 has that option.

                          • S
                          • Skg
                          • pVP
                          • 20 Jul 2018

                          Lu, 20 Jul 2018Yes, it seems that the "long-term" review is written by som... moreYou said well. Samsung features are far better than huaweii p20 pro. I was using samsung note 3 settings better than this. No call function on lock screen. If you want take photo. The full screen not coming.its fault. Ok. Video is on full screen. The software need to update simple like samsung settings so easy and user friendly.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • myM
                            • 20 Jul 2018

                            PeterThePanda, 20 Jul 2018Most overhyped and overated phone of 2018. And this is comi... morePersonally, I thought the dxo shots, particularly bokeh, were awful.the skin tones looked like clay models. This is quite a well priced device, in UK though. Considered buying my son one.

                              • G
                              • Gandalfdenvite
                              • 38E
                              • 20 Jul 2018

                              "Same for the audio jack - we've migrated to mostly wireless earbuds, so we had no beef with Huawei and its decision to drop the analogue port.", YOU are the ones that make Apple/Samsung/Huawei... think it is ok to remove the 3.5 mm headphone jack!

                                • L
                                • Lu
                                • 0uV
                                • 20 Jul 2018

                                J-K, 20 Jul 2018Read just about every review on this phone and I don't thin... moreYes, it seems that the "long-term" review is written by somebody who simulated the "long-term" by using it for a few days. There are a 100 things that are ruining this phone and it's all software. I switched to this phone from an S8+, and I regret that decision when we consider the all-around experience. Samsung is by far better and more mature phone, listening to the users. The camere software on this device is really full of bugs and unpredictable phenomenons. Switching to tele is also unpredictable, sometimes the view is just zoomed from the standard camera to simulate the tele, so when you take the shot is misaligned compare to the view... I really have no time to write infinitely about all the problems this phone has, I'm not even able to turn off the "do not cover the top of the screen" because they suddenly decided to put training-wheels on users, it's an assault on users intellect.

                                They removed the headphone jack only because they are mimicking what apple does, and apple does all that it's possible to reduce the production price of the device. The removal of the headphone jack is only to make things easier for them, and harder for us. Also, the audio output of the P20 Pro with the included type-c converter is nothing short of a joke. It's dull, muddy, linear with not a single spark of expression. It's 3 lightyears behind Samsung and 4 lightyears behind LG flagships with DAC

                                And one more thing: whoever thinks that wast internal memory can replace the comfort of an SD card, you are all wrong and shortsighted. I really do not want EVER to deliver my possibly broken or damaged phone to the service center with my photos and videos, or any kind of files inside... like EVER. Also, if I completely wreck my phone I can pull out the SD and it's all there. It's not a matter of memory size, it's a matter of privacy and safety. Encrypted SD is the best.

                                  • J
                                  • J-K
                                  • 3{N
                                  • 20 Jul 2018

                                  Read just about every review on this phone and I don't think I've read any that truly brings up the frankly horrific camera software. The hardware is great, but it's ruined by the software. A few examples:
                                  EVERY photo except in monochrome is over noise reduced and over sharpened.
                                  Even after turning the "master AI" off (which is an absolute must) the phone decides if there should be an hdr effect kinda overly processed photo, which absolutely ruines the photo for any use. I took two photos in Photo mode after each other (portrait with window behind), first came out as expected and the other one in the exact same composition was horrible like an early poorly made hdr pic. This could be avoided if I'd used the manual mode, but then I can't use the telelens (for some reason, the UI is very unintuitive to say the least).
                                  I took another picture at dusk where the phone decided the sky should have a gradient with yellow, purple, blue and grey in it (it was just blue IRL).
                                  And the switching to the telelens when you choose 3x or 5x... Argh! It has nothing to do with distance or available light, sometimes the phone just refuses to switch cameras and you simply have to skip taking the photo.
                                  Have anyone really tried the 960fps video? Have Huawei? I took a video of a propeller and all you see are dots jumping around instead of a propeller.
                                  In this review I read the selfie camera has hdr. Where? Is it a manual setting? Because of I choose hdr under Moore I can't switch cameras to the front and there is definitely not an automatic one (unless it only works with Master ai on, which would be the same as if there were no hdr).
                                  Then the beatification... I don't need my pictures smudged thank you. And I don't need any red lipstick added either (really, with beatification set to 0 I get both smudging and very red lips with the front camera).
                                  You can capture some good photos with the phone but it's a lottery (and you always get the heavy nr and sharpening in color photos).

                                  There also seems to be a theme with ruining good hardware with bad software (or decisions) since the screen over sharpened text. Any black text on white background has a bright line around it. Very annoying. I also suspect there is beatification/face smudging going on since when watching ex YouTube the faces are detail less. Third issue with the screen is probably hardware related and I haven't seen anyone mention it: at low brightness the ghosting in dark areas is horrific. Just try the dark theme and lower the brightness, now go into the settings and scroll...

                                  Hopefully some, if not all, that can be fixed with software will be fixed in an update.

                                  PS. I'm very happy with the stabilization in FHD, much better than any distortion frenzy you get with OIS on phones.
                                  Also don't miss the headphone jack, why would anyone not use bt?!
                                  Battery life is ok I guess and great if you don't use the phone.
                                  Durability wise I have no idea, but best not to drop it since it's covered in glass...

                                    Jamesschwarz987, 20 Jul 2018I hope there's a phone with 5" (or lower) compact 16:9 scre... moreNot gonna happen.

                                      I've said it, i say it again.

                                      A rebranded "Lossless zooming" from a plain digital zoom (or maybe an ordinary upscaler) takes the second places for The Worst Cameraphone Marketing Gimmick Ever, after the "AI" for the Auto-mode rebranding.

                                        I hope there's a phone with 5" (or lower) compact 16:9 screen, single monstrous 1/1.7" back camera, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a Snapdragon flagship SoC so we can get the Google Camera working with HDR+.