When Huawei launches the Huawei Mate20 Series in London last October, I wonder what their next flagship phone would have. Fast-forward to today, 26th March 2019, the HUAWEI P30 Series has arrived.
In this post, I will be talking on both the HUAWEI P30 Pro and HUAWEI P30.
From Left: HUAWEI P30 (Aurora), P30 Pro (Breathing Crystal) and P30 Pro (Black)
As I spent more time with Huawei P30 Pro, I will be sharing a lot more information than P30. Do bear with me. I have created links so that you can easily jump to the topic that you like.
Main Menu
- HUAWEI P30 Pro
- HUAWEI P30
- HUAWEI P30 Pro and P30 Highlights
- Pricing and Availability
- Singapore Promotion
HUAWEI P30 Pro
Thanks to Huawei, I have a chance to test out the HUAWEI P30 Pro before writing this post. However, the time with it is very short – less than 24 hours.
First Look
Here is a video on my first impression of the phone. And do check out the 50x zoom at the moon in some part of the video.
The biggest highlight for the P30 Pro is the camera.
It is now a quad camera system. Check them out. On the top is the 20MPX Ultra Wide Angle Camera. In the middle is the 40 MPX Wide Angle Camera. On the bottom is the 8 MPX Telephoto camera.
On the top right is the flash unit and below it is the 4th camera – the TOF (Time of Flight) camera. Its main function is to capture depth/distance details and the software will do the “hard work” to show the results (bokeh-like).
And so, how far is the zoom? It is 5x Optical, 10x Hybrid and
On the writings next to the lenses, it shows an aperture range of F/1.6 to F/3.4 and lens equivalent of 16mm to 125mm.
The HUAWEI P30 Pro has a small notch and curve screen on the edge. Huawei calls it the DewDrop display. It feels like it is almost bezel-less, thanks to the curve screen although some might hate the curve.
Check out the notch.
Did you see something different? There is no speaker hole. It is all screen (except for the little notch). It is using HUAWEI Acoustic Display Technology, introducing an in-screen maglev (Magnetic Levitation) speaker. In layman term, it means it uses vibration to transmit sound to the ear.
Not having a speaker and using vibration is not new technology. Other brands have tried, and in my opinion, doesn’t really work well. However, for the HUAWEI P30 Series, it just works. In fact, I was surprised it works so well.
On the bottom, the chin seems to be similar to the Mate20 Pro.
Here is a closer look at that curve screen and the chin.
And here is something that you cannot see but it is built inside – the in-screen fingerprint sensor. It is faster and better now.
On the bottom, you can see the (from left) SIM Card slot, a microphone, the USB-C port and the speaker grille.
I did not have the chance to test out the sound from the speaker but it is quite loud.
On the top side, Huawei still retains the Infra-red port. And next to the IR port is the microphone.
On one of the sides, it has a rocker volume switch and the power on/off switch.
And on the other side, it does not have any buttons.
Here is the Black Color if you are interested.
What’s New?
Comparing the HUAWEI Mate20 Pro with HUAWEI P30 Pro, Huawei has: –
- Upgraded the cameras to the Leica Quad Camera system.
- Upgraded the sensor to a SuperSpectrum Sensor (RYBY) that is very sensitive to light (good for low-light photography)
- Improved the Zoom to 5x optical and 10x hybrid. Combined with digital zoom, it zoom up to 50x, thanks to the first periscope zoom design
- Removed the speaker from the top and replaced it with a Magnetic levitation acoustic display
- Upgrade the GPU to GPU Turbo 2.1
- Upgrade the in-screen fingerprint sensor with a more sensitive one
- Upgrade the front-facing camera (or selfie camera) to 32 MPX.
- Reduce the screen size to 6.47-inch.
- It has reduced the notch to DewDrop type.
- Set minimum storage to 256GB.
- Improved software.
- Adding new colors like Breathing Crystal and Aurora
What’s Not?
- It is still using Kirin 980 chipset
- It is still using 40W SuperCharging although HUAWEI Mate X, the first Huawei Foldable phone, is using a 55W type.
Comparison with HUAWEI P20 Pro
I happened to have my HUAWEI P20 Pro. Check out some comparison pictures. With the time on the phone, I am unable to provide more details on the differences.
In the box
This is what is inside the HUAWEI P30 Pro box. Do note that this is NOT a retail set and there are no manuals inside. However, I do believe most of the items will make it to the retail version.
This is the silicon casing that comes with the phone.
40W Power Charger
USB-C Cable
Earphones
Specification
Initial Usage and Experience
As mentioned earlier, I had only less than 24 hours to try out the HUAWEI P30 Pro. This initial report is very limited and as I am using a pre-production unit, some of the experiences might already change by the time you get hold of the retail unit. I just hope that Huawei can have a look at some of my claims/findings.
I will be focusing primarily on the camera experience. All pictures are NOT edited but resolution reduced to fit into this post.
Shooting with Optical, Hybrid and Digital Zoom
One of the most anticipated features is the zoom. Prior to the official launch, I have been sharing leaked images or even images that I think were from P30 Pro with the zoom feature. Check HERE and HERE
Here is my attempt to shoot the moon.
As you can see above, it is amazing to see the results using the HUAWEI P30 Pro.
Now, here is the problem, digital zoom is really bad. The quality is bad. The shake is real. At 50 times zoom, any minor shake will be amplified. Make sure that you have something to stabilize your movement before shooting.
However, if you need that shot with mobile phone, the results will be priceless.
Here is another attempt in on zoom in bright daylight. In this case, you can really see the digital effect on the zoom. Again, I have to say that the result is amazing despite the fact that it is using
Here is another more artistic attempt to make use of the zoom. It was taken during a sun rise.
Overall, I think the zoom is really useful if you need that shot. Hope to see more optical than digital zoom.
Shooting at Low Light Condition
As the main camera (40 MPX Wide Angle) has an aperture of F/1.6, it is a joy to shoot at low light condition.
Here is a shot at very low light but the picture turns out well.
Low light at full resolution at 40MPX
Here is a full resolution picture (40 MPX) from HUAWEI P30 Pro. There is a lot of noise. I don’t think this mode is suitable for night shot.
Portrait Mode (Front (selfie) and Rear Camera)
Here are two pictures were taken using the portrait mode function using the front and rear camera.
PS: Please ignore the mirror effect.
Front-facing camera
Rear Camera
On the camera, I think that the hybrid zoom (up to 10x) is still usable. However, using the 50x zoom will be a stretch and you will need steady hands to shoot it.
On the software, I believe this is not the final retail software as there are some questionable issues. Hope that they can release an improved version.
Overall, a solid phone that really disrupt the mobile phone market with its powerful camera zoom. In terms of design, the new colors are interesting and eye catching. With the base storage upgraded to 256GB and price remains at S$1,398, this will be a sweet point for consumers.
Will update again with a more thorough experience.
HUAWEI P30
First Look
Here is a short video on my hands-on.
Had a quick preview of the HUAWEI P30. It is lighter (165g) and smaller than I expected (6.1-inch screen).
It is a triple lens setup, similar to Mate20 Pro. However, like other P series, the lenses are line up vertically as shown below.
- Top Lens: Wide Angle (40 MPX)
- Centre Lens: ULTRA Wide Angle (16 MPX)
- Bottom Lens: Telephoto (8 MPX)
It has an aperture range of F/1.8 to F/2.4 with the lens equivalent of 17mm to 80mm.
This is the front view.
A closer look at the notch and the speaker grille.
Zoom in on the speaker grille. It is very small and almost invisible to most people.
If you hate curve screen, you might want to know tha the P30 has flat screen.
Here is a close up. When touching it, it does not have a sharp edge. It is quite smooth on the edge.
On the side, it has the standard volume rocker switch on the power on/off button.
On this side, it has the SIM card slot.
On the top, it has a microphone.
On the bottom, it has the speaker grille, USB-C port, microphone and the 3.5mm jack port.
PS: Please ignore the mud on the picture below.
Specifications
HUAWEI P30 Pro and P30 Highlights
Here are the highlights of the HUAWEI P30 and P30 Pro.
Pricing and Availability
The new HUAWEI P30 and P30 Pro will be available in Singapore from Saturday, April 6 at the recommended retail price of S$998 and S$1,398 respectively. Customers can head down to VivoCity, Central Court Level 1, from 10am to 10pm over the weekend and receive a premium gift set worth up to S$470 with every purchase of the HUAWEI P30 or P30 Pro, while stocks last.
Customers are also invited to experience the new features of the P30 Series in the different interactive zones and meet local celebrities like Rebecca Lim, Romeo Tan, Sonia Chew and Jean Danker.
Preorders will be made available online to customers from Wednesday, March 27, 12:00am SGT, through local telecommunication operators and at Huawei Official Store with Lazada. What’s more, an upsized variant of the HUAWEI P30 Pro with 512GB storage will be made exclusive online only on Lazada. Limited quantities available.
Singapore Promotion
Premium gift set includes:
Additional Notes
- The HUAWEI P30 Series will be available islandwide from 6 April 2019 at all Huawei Concept Stores, local telecommunication operators, selected consumer electronic stores,
authorised - Purchasers of the HUAWEI P30 series* will also enjoy premium services under the HICARE PRESTIGE package which includes:
- One year door-to-door repair pick-up and delivery service
- Two years warranty
- Three months screen insurance*
*Terms and conditions apply. Refer tohttps://consumer.huawei.com/sg/support/hicareservice/ for more information.