Photography seems to be everyone’s hobby. Even a simple avocado can be a work of art on Instagram. It does not surprise us phone makers are very much into putting amazing cameras on phones. In that light, Huawei does an amazing job with the Huawei P30 Pro, but what else can it do?
Design
Huawei P30 is available in amazing colors, like Aurora and Breathing Crystal which have a back that has colors fading into other colors. I reviewed the Breathing Crystal one and you really see it being pearl white if your ceiling is white, while it is blue on a beautiful summer day. That is a very cool effect, as it makes your phone look different every time. It is like a chameleon.
The design is not that different from what we know. Phones are all pretty square these days (this one being 16 x 7 cm) and all pretty much the same thickness (this one is 8,5 mm). And there is much screen with not a lot around it. This one has an OLED screen. Phone makers want to offer you just a screen, but there is still that little selfie camera in the top that creates a notch.
Yep, that is it, cause the speaker at the top is not there on Huawei P30 Pro. You can still have calls with this baby though: the sound travels via acoustic vibrations through the glass. I did notice that other people are able to hear your conversation better than when the speaker is just at the top of the phone, but for me personally, that is not a problem: I always use in-ears for calling anyway.
Back to the design: it is a pretty big phone that is just a bit taller than Huawei Mate 20 Pro. But it is still a very good fit in your hand and it is easy to hold. What helps is that the phone comes with a see through case, so it does not slide off your couch that easily. And you can still look at the beauty that is the back of the phone, with those beautiful colors.
Easy to use
Between my own Huawei (Mate 20 Pro) and P30 Pro there are not that many differences when it comes to how it feels to use. Both phones can switch from one app to another very swiftly and they can do everything you might expect from a modern phone. I have not seen any odd errors or bugs. I really like how Huawei does not tweak Android too much, cause it is still possible to change the look of the menu’s a bit and make the phone look a bit more like you wish.
You can easily unlock the phone with the fingerprint scanner or via your face with the camera (and if they do not work, you can always use your security code). The screen does not light up when you want to unlock it, which is very nice. The fingerprint scanner is shown very subtly on the screen that is just black. That is a plus, cause oh dear, when this screen is on, it is ON. You cannot really have it light up very subtle, so it is just one bright light shining in your face. That is a bit too much when you are laying in bed getting ready to sleep, but during the day it just means you really get a full show of vibrant, beautiful colors.
Camera
Yep, those colors are important cause this phone is all about photography. The biggest difference between Huawei P30 Pro and Mate 20 Pro (that came out 6 months ago) is the zoom. You can zoom 5 times with Huawei Mate 20 Pro, while this device can zoom 10 times. It does not just mean you can see a lot of detail in a photo: you can actually read stuff you couldn’t manage with your own eyes.
That is very special and that is possible thanks to the 40MP, 10MP en 20MP-camera’s. They make amazing wide angle pics, aperture photos and more. Let me show you some examples:
I love using the wide-angle possibilities, as it offers me the opportunity to take photos of things that are actually a bit too close.
Aperture means you can blur a bit in the photo, by just touching the object in the photo you would like to see sharply. That is something this phone can do in a heartbeat.
Macro photos are a bit tricky. Though they offer more detail, they actually look a bit less vibrant than pictures taken further away.
The phones artificial intelligence is an excellent helper, for example when you want to photograph food in a restaurant. It will immediately spot that you are about to take a snapshot of food and helps create the perfect depth.
Night photography still often looks a bit fake to me. Sometimes the night seems to be the day, as the phone adds a bit too much light in my opinion. Look at this photo I took of my cat: I only saw a black creature in the black surroundings:
Okay, let’s get it over with: there is a beauty filter on this phone. But I must say, the difference with none of it on and all of it to the max is not that big, right? Even though you can make your face look smaller, more tan/warm and smoother.
Battery
Okay, enough about camera’s and selfies, let’s talk battery. Huawei is all about quick charging and this battery is nearly full in just half an hour. The battery of 4.200mAh works perfectly for a day.
Price
Huawei P30 Pro is a pricy phone. At this moment it will take you back 1000 euros.
The verdict
This is an amazing phone. The only thing I miss is the audio jack, which is actually available on the cheaper one, the P30. Other than that there is not much to complain about: the design is perfect, it works like a charm and then there is that huge array of photography options. You can take a professional looking pic in just a second. In this article you can just see a few simple pics I shot pretty quickly, can you imagine doing a whole photoshoot with it?
