The Huawei P20 series has been the subject of the smartphone rumor mill for weeks now. Finally, the waiting has come to an end, as the Chinese OEM has lifted the shroud surrounding its mainstream flagship smartphones for 2018.
Say hello to the Huawei P20 Pro and P20. As expected, both improve on their predecessors in terms of hardware and software features, with premium price points to match. And both rely heavily on AI to enhance the user experience.
The Huawei P20 Pro has a triple-camera system.
The Huawei P20, on the other hand, has two rear cameras.
But, if you ask us, we’d say without hesitation that the more interesting model is the Huawei P20 Pro. That triple-camera system — a true market first and still co-designed by German optics firm Leica — is simply impossible to ignore.
READ ALSO: Huawei P20 Lite announced, gets iPhone X-like notch, dual cameras
Notably, you get a 40-megapixel (yup, 40 megapixels!) primary camera with a color sensor, plus a 20-megapixel monochrome camera for extra detail and an 8-megapixel telephoto camera that allows the P20 Pro to magnify up to 3x with optical (read: actual) zoom.
More impressively, Huawei’s unprecedented camera module features low-light ISO of up to 102,400, which is higher than what some modern professional cameras can manage.
The more interesting model is the Huawei P20 Pro. You get a 40-megapixel primary camera with a color sensor, plus a 20-megapixel monochrome camera and an 8-megapixel telephoto camera. More impressively, its camera module features low-light ISO of up to 102,400 — higher than what some modern professional cameras can manage.
During the company’s keynote address earlier, the company proudly showed off what the Huawei P20 Pro’s optical lenses are capable of — and the samples look nothing short of amazing. Shooting at high ISO values, coupled with the color sensor’s f/1.8 aperture and large pixel size, does seem to make a big difference, particularly in difficult lighting conditions. We’ll have more about the P20 Pro’s (and P20’s) camera performance in a separate post.
SEE ALSO: Night shots: Samsung Galaxy S9+ vs Apple iPhone X
But you don’t have to take Huawei’s, or our, word for the claims we make about these new flagships. Because while the company was in the midst of presenting the P20 phones to the world, independent camera-testing website DxOMark has taken the phones for a meaningful spin around Paris, stress-testing both devices in various conditions alongside the Apple iPhone X and the Google Pixel 2.
The shootout ended with the Huawei P20 Pro clinching the photography crown from two of the best-performing camera phones on the market. DxOMark ended up giving the device an overall score of 109 — which is 10 points more than the Samsung Galaxy S9+ and 12 points higher than the Apple iPhone X for the same tests. The Huawei P20, with its dual lenses, was handed 102 points after being put through its paces.
Top 5 smartphone cameras on DxoMark as of end-March 27, 2018. Look at those new Huawei smartphones’ scores.
Elsewhere, the Huawei P20 Pro and standard P20 are fueled by the Kirin 970 system-on-a-chip, which debuted inside the Huawei Mate 10 Pro and Mate 10 with a dedicated AI chip. The P20 Pro has 6GB RAM, while the P20 gets 4GB of RAM. Both arrive with 128GB of storage.
Additionally, the Pro version comes with more exciting features like an OLED panel and IP67 water resistance; the P20 makes do with an LCD display and IP53 splash resistance. The P20 Pro has a higher battery capacity, too.
Huawei P20 Pro and Huawei P20 official product video
Huawei P20 Pro and P20 pricing and availability
Pricing for the Huawei P20 Pro is set at €899 (around P58,425 or $1,115). For the more palatable price of €649 (P42,178 or $804), you can get the Huawei P20 sans the triple-lens camera with the 40-megapixel sensor.
The first units of the Pro will ship from April 6, whereas the P20 is now starting to trickle in stores across Europe and in other countries.
Huawei P20 Pro specs
- 6.1-inch OLED display; 2,244 x 1,080 resolution (18.7:9)
- HiSilicon Kirin 970
- 6GB RAM128GB expandable storage
- Triple rear cameras (40MP color + 20MP monochrome + 8MP telephoto) with dual-tone LED flash
- 24-megapixel front camera
- 4,000mAh battery
- Fingerprint sensor
- Android 8.1 Oreo
Huawei P20 specs
- 5.8-inch LCD display; 2,244 x 1,080 resolution (18.7:9)
- HiSilicon Kirin 970
- 4GB RAM
- 128GB expandable storage
- Dual rear cameras (12MP color + 20MP monochrome) with dual-tone LED flash
- 24-megapixel front camera
- 3,400mAh battery
- Fingerprint sensor
- Android 8.1 Oreo
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