Home » Huawei P30 Pro – the best camera on a smartphone!

Huawei P30 Pro – the best camera on a smartphone!

If you’re into mobile phones and like to keep an eye out on what’s out there, then you have probably already heard the news. The Huawei P30 Pro is no doubt, the best camera phone on the market. In this article, we look at some of the samples of what we have managed to do with the phone. Every image has been taken handheld, and no doctoring has been applied to the photos.

If you’re after more than just the camera, read our review for the device, but if you want to know what the camera on this device is capable of, do read on!

Huawei P30 Pro – Features and Specs

Before we go ahead, a quick look at the features.

  • The Leica Quad Camera System accommodates your photography to help see the world in its entirety. This unmatched super camera system includes a SuperZoom Lens, a 40 MP Super Sensing Camera, a 20 MP Ultra Wide Angle Lens, and a HUAWEI TOF Camera, giving you the freedom to capture your incredible moments.
  • Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.0 aperture
  • Double 3D Curved Glass Body
  • 6.47″ OLED Dewdrop display, FHD+ 2340 x 1080 pixels, featuring 16.7 million colours.
  • In screen fingerprint scanner
  • Earphone embedded in speaker, meaning there is no slot or need for top speaker.
  • Featuring Kirin 980 processor, 8GB of RAM and  upto 512 GB of storage. Our review model came with 128GB, which is the lowest it offers.
  • Android 9 and EMUI 9.1
  • 4G connectivity, Dual SIM versions available (our review version is Dual SIM).
  • USB C connector, allowing charging and various peripherals to connect, including headphones via adapter.
  • IP 68 Rated, ready for both water and dust!
  • 4200 mAh battery, featuring fast charge technology allowing 70% charge in 30 minutes and reverse wireless charging.
  • TOF camera brings features such as AI measure to the device
  • OneHop allows you to share images/content quickly with your Huawei Matebook.
  • Dolby Atmos audio
  • Width: 73.4 mm, Height: 158 mm, Depth: 8.41 mm, Weight: Approx. 192 g

A closer look at the actual cameras

  • The four cameras: The Leica Quad Camera System accommodates your photography to help see the world in its entirety. This unmatched super camera system includes a SuperZoom Lens, a 40 MP Super Sensing Camera, a 20 MP Ultra Wide Angle Lens, and a HUAWEI TOF Camera, giving you the freedom to capture your incredible moments.
  • The Superzoom lens: The new periscope telephoto lens allows more optical zooming capabilities to be tucked in a compact body without losing image quality. Together with the colour saturation provided by the 40 MP main camera, and stability of OIS, the SuperZoom Lens offers 10x hybrid zoom1 to see the never-before-seen with great resolution and rich detail. Additionally, it can bring the moon right before your eyes with up to 50x zoom.
  • RYYB: The colour sensing rule has been rewritten by HUAWEI from RGGB to RYYB for more light in all your images. The established cooperation among the HUAWEI SuperSpectrum sensor which contributes 40% increased light, ISP of Kirin 980 and the self-developed algorithm, provides a clear preservation of your memories during the day or night.
  • ISO 409600: See the splendour hidden in the night with up to ISO 409600 on the HUAWEI P30 Pro. Even in extreme dark situations, you are able to discover a vast array of colour.
  • Capture every layer: Powered by the HUAWEI TOF Camera which measures the depth of objects with accuracy and AIS Long Exposure Shot, your portrait will be highlighted and the sharpness will be exuded to perfection. The background is then progressively blurred with different creamy effects to give a professional-level bokeh.
  • Shoot against the sun: Analyzing over hundreds of thousands of backlight and low light photos, AI HDR+ delivers clarity in your shots with the AI evaluating several frames and segmenting different parts of the photo to combine the best features. The light and colour are balanced in different layers to bring your face into focus.
  • The ultrawide lens: The Ultra Wide Angle Lens brings out enchanting beauty in the vastness of the mountainous valley and grandeur of the sky. Discover the magic of natural views from a broader perspective.
  • The SuperMacro Mode: The world is yours to discover from 2.5 cm close. See the finest details in life with a real macro lens. Be surprised by the exquisite detail found in the delicate structure of nature.
  • Take that selfie: The 32MP front camera on the HUAWEI P30 Pro will intelligently recognise you to produce expert selfies by contouring your face with accurate brightness and sharpness. Your selfies will glow with stunning detail, even in overexposed backlight or during a night party.
  • Videos: Bring more vision, more clarity with stabilisation, and more detail with that zoom!

40MP is for… just 40mp

Let me clarify. Basically, the 40MP camera is only there to be used without any of the special features. You do not get zoom at 40MP, or any of the other features. Basically, the 40MP is used to help get more information, but it doesn’t give you a 40MP image.

As soon as you want anything, your phone will have to drop to 10MP.

The night shots

Do you see it too? All the cameras facing that thing being photographed? This is what happens when you give a bunch of tech journalists some new phone to try!

Anyway, the night shot or night mode was one of the features that made the Huawei P20 Pro one of the most exciting photography phones of last year. The P30 Pro take things up a notch. Not only is the night mode even better, but it also doesn’t need you to go into Night Mode. It just takes a good picture thanks to AI. There is also the magical ability to take seriously good shots in almost no light, thanks to its extremely high ISO capabilities. I do not have an impressive shot to share from that, but I am sure you can find one onlline.

Of course, you can make use of the same abilities by heading into any ‘dark’ room, and still enjoy how the phone captures what you really see, rather than a black/bright blob.

The moon shots

When they demoed the phone during its launch, they showed off the ‘Moon’ AI mode. It looked a bit too good to be true. In fact, it felt a bit too good to be true when I was trying to take the image above. Instead, I just shifted to Pro mode on the phone, adjusted a few things and voila. I could see the craters! It was amazing. I could not wait for the next few days, as the moon grew bigger.

As you can see, I was not disappointed. In fact, what was amazing was that a whole bunch of tech journalists were posting pretty much the exact same photo. People were seeing the moon, or seeing people post photos of the moon, and then taking the same image from wherever they were. It was something that brought people together.

We were not done yet, though.

Behold, the full moon!

Oh yes, this is a photo, taken by a smartphone, handheld. No zoom lenses (but zoom settings on the phone), and no tripod. Just simple AI. Not even the need to use Pro mode.

It doesn’t get any more impressive than that.

The zoom

Oh yes, the zoom is definitely one of the more impressive things on the device. Let’s look at some photos.

This is the image at wide angle mode, 1x

This is the same image at 5x.

Same image at 10x, and you can just about read the text up top.

Shift to 50x and you can definitely read the text. Obviously, the last one is a digital zoom, but it just shows you what the phone is capable of.

We did find that the zoom works best in good light conditions, and generally works best outdoors instead of indoors.

Sports shots

And because I play cricket, you can see some cricket shots, with and without zoom:

And here’s a wicket:

Macro shots

The zoom and the Super Macro mode allow you to take some awesome nature shots.

It also allows you to focus on some very narrow depth of field.

Cat shots

And where would we be without a bunch of cat photos!

You can capture all the detail.

The zoom helps you get close.

And take some awesome eye shots.

I would say that the AI does meddle with the photos enough that you don’t get a true eye photo. It either over sharpens it, or oversaturates it, or in some cases fuzzes it up.

A way around it is to use Pro mode and then look at the RAW image if needed.

More information

More information on the Huawei P30 Pro can be found on Huawei’s website.

You can also find various coverage on the device on our website.

The device retails for £900, and can be bought from the likes of Amazon. It is also available from most phone services around the world.

Is there a particular kind of photo you would like us to take, or a particular mode you’d like us to explore or expand on? Do let us know in the comments section below. 

 

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