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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fab, 20 Jul 2018I think there's something very wrong with reviewers and thi... more"the 3x zoom has less details than the 10x digital zoom of the Pixel 2 XL"
I'm pretty darn sure you're not fully comprehending what you're writing. This kind of BS needs to stop.

    • J
    • Josh
    • CDF
    • 20 Jul 2018

    AnonD-122899, 20 Jul 2018I read that the gaming performance on this phone is bad. It... morePlease go through the review again. , this beast never lags at anything you throw at it!!

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      • Advert Watcher
      • F4m
      • 20 Jul 2018

      What is it with americans and their favouristism with apple products? lots of hype and even trashy products gets hyped and loved. The iPhoneX is not a great phone. it is merely a good phone. The IOS is junk in terms of TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) when you factor in the fact that throughout the lifetime of using the iPhone, all those things you cannot do (or not allowed to) because IOS is such a closed eco system. This extends to also the hardware. Lost a cable? Too bad, go buy that expensive, proprietary cable from apple - which costs a lot more than what they are actually needed to manufacture. So, it peeves me whenever a great phone such as the P20 Pro here, is compared with a "meh" phone which is the iPhoneX. Stop the favouritism already. The iPhone is just hype. It's not practical in today's technological advancement (unless you force yourself to be forever stuck in the apple ecosystem, fanboy?). Reviewers should not practise favouristism or bias.

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        • Josh
        • CDF
        • 20 Jul 2018

        Anonymous, 20 Jul 2018No true. In cases where iphone, samsung, sony, etc will giv... moreBro it's pointless to educate such people, their problem is because Huawei is a Chinese company so its really hard for the them to accept P20 pro blows their prefered brand like the sammys, iPhones and pixels

          • J
          • Josh
          • CDF
          • 20 Jul 2018

          deadworms1620, 20 Jul 2018The night mode is over-hyped and overrated, all the reviewe... morePlease do get yourself a p20 pro and enjoy the moment!! Don't act like you know much and you don't actually own the device. If something is good, it's good no two ways about it and by the way I own the device.

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            • Anonymous
            • Mkc
            • 20 Jul 2018

            deadworms1620, 20 Jul 2018The night mode is over-hyped and overrated, all the reviewe... moreNo true. In cases where iphone, samsung, sony, etc will give you a black mess, p20 pro will actually show what is there.

              you are wrong when you say during the article that apple was the first to cut a notch. it was actually essential that first had a notch.

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                • David
                • wra
                • 20 Jul 2018

                I've been using P20 pro for more than 2 months and it still amazes me every day on picturing and battery lasting same as the first time get it on my hand. Even i like and have been using iPhone for last 5 years but i still feel no regretting to buy P20 pro. I really like it!

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                  • bard
                  • Kg%
                  • 20 Jul 2018

                  deadworms1620, 20 Jul 2018The night mode is over-hyped and overrated, all the reviewe... morei agree

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                    • fab
                    • FuZ
                    • 20 Jul 2018

                    I think there's something very wrong with reviewers and this smartphone. the night mode is absurd. oil paintings have more details. the 3x zoom has less details than the 10x digital zoom of the Pixel 2 XL. i don't get what is going on here with reviewers. Unless they are all sponsored, i don't see why they tell such rubbish

                      The night mode is over-hyped and overrated, all the reviewers I've seen and heard praises this night mode and all forgot to mention the worse detail preservation from a camera. Everything looks like water color painting, even worse than the iPhone X in low light. How can reviewers be so blind about this.

                        • S
                        • Shui8
                        • KZ8
                        • 20 Jul 2018

                        Tyrone1, 20 Jul 2018Nop, XZ2 camera destroy p20 camera en video And stabilitati... moreOn video yes, XZ2 triumph. But why people still buying P20 Pro over XZ2? I think they prefer more on photography rather than videography. As for me, i take pictures (especially low lights) daily while video maybe once in a month.

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                          • Shui8
                          • KZ8
                          • 20 Jul 2018

                          ravs, 20 Jul 2018Hello , I feel P20 pro over marketed , again this revie... moreThats your opinion, not professional reviewer opinion.

                            • r
                            • ravs
                            • n}n
                            • 20 Jul 2018

                            Hello ,

                            I feel P20 pro over marketed , again this review as well covered more or less same stuff other.
                            As a GSM reviewer pass on genuine review , Check the phone and review for closeup and macro photography and you get the answer (pixelete and oversampled shot -- good for bin).

                            user putting high $$ at least expect thesse stuffs.

                              Rolleyeball, 20 Jul 2018Ugh..rolleyeball We all know its not iphone but when oth... moreLol, facts say otherwise. So who is in denial?

                                Nick Tagataka, 20 Jul 2018I don't think Sony can do any better than Huawei considerin... moreNop, XZ2 camera destroy p20 camera en video And stabilitation, stop dreaming

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                                  • NickF
                                  • nw}
                                  • 20 Jul 2018

                                  NickF, 20 Jul 2018Hi Chris Tldr; durability is mixed. The paint, on the bl... moreJust wanted to mention a couple of other things. I change my phones often, buying them sim free between contract upgrades. I had an iPhone 7 in black from last August, a Keyone Black edition since March - both good phones with solid if not exceptional cameras. I can say the paint jobs and durability of those phones are better than the p20 pro.

                                  The p20 pro has better cameras, better performance and better battery life. The android experience on the p20 is a bit weak though.

                                  In the UK at least the p20 pro is around £620 sim free now and you can get fantastic contract deals.

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                                    • NickF
                                    • nw}
                                    • 20 Jul 2018

                                    Iron Mike, 19 Jul 2018Hi GSMArena team. That is a great long-term review of th... moreHi Chris

                                    Tldr; durability is mixed. The paint, on the black version, doesn't seem very thick or well applied. Might be a better story with the twighlight and blue versions.

                                    I've had the P20 Pro for just over a month. Got it on a fantastic upgrade deal on Vodafone business.

                                    Overall the phone is pretty great in all areas. A recent OTA update I installed (128 to 131) has really degraded the camera zoom quality which shouldn't happen so I need to revert the firmware if that's possible.

                                    Durability is a bit hit and miss. I got the black version and immediately put it in the supplied gel case. However within a couple of days there was a small bit of paint chipped off near the sim tray which was annoying. In the second week of owning it I whipped the phone out of my jacket pocket but lost my grip when doing so causing it to fly through the air and go cartwheeling onto concrete. The case saved the phone and the friends I was with were amazed the screen wasn't smashed. The screen protector was chipped up and the edges of the case were slightly damaged. But inexplicably there was a huge gouge near the usb socket. So the paint job on the phone isn't that great which is a shame.

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                                      • Shui8
                                      • KZ8
                                      • 20 Jul 2018

                                      Shanti Dope, 20 Jul 2018Great idea, poor execution. Waiting for Sony to do this id... moreHuawei execution the idea since Huawei P9 (its very good), where at that time Sony flagship camera are just mediacore....until XZ2 arrive. While i agree Sony upgrade their game from Huawei's idea, they took a very long time to execute it, when huawei already add another third sensor, for zooming capabilities. And theres a upcoming Huawei Mate 20 that definitely will upgrade their camera system more to next level.

                                        Shanti Dope, 20 Jul 2018Great idea, poor execution. Waiting for Sony to do this id... moreI don't think Sony can do any better than Huawei considering how they have been always behind others when it comes to camera... XZ2 Premium's dual cameras are plagued with limitations related to AUBE. P20 Pro's issues (Master AI going overboard, complicated camera UI) can be mostly resolved via future updates and it is very likely that Mate 20 will have a stabilisation in 4K/4K recording in 60fps, while XZ3 will be stuck with the same camera hardware and SoC which mean it might not bring any new features. Huawei has a lot more experience when it comes to handling monochrome sensor as well.

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