Huawei P30 Pro in review: The smartphone with an ace up its sleeve
A TEST REPORT from David Wurm 
on July 29, 2019, 9:30 am | 🔥 popular | 2 comments
A few weeks ago we got up here TechnikNews already ours First impression about the Huawei P30 Pro. I was able to test the device for you for a few weeks. Now it's time for our detailed review.
In March of this year, the Huawei P30 Pro officially presentedWhat is striking is that people don't really talk about the functions of this smartphone, but rather the camera is mentioned over and over again. To put it bluntly, there has almost been a hype about it. But why? Does the Huawei P30 Pro really have an ace up its sleeve when it comes to the camera? In the following review, we'll take a closer look.
Jump to section
- 1 Unboxing: as always
- 2 Workmanship and design: well done
- 3 Display: with integrated loudspeaker
- 4 Performance: unchanged good
- 5 Camera: the ace up your sleeve
- 6 Battery: charge others easily throughout the day
- 7 The icing on the cake: waterproof and a fingerprint sensor in the display
- 8 Conclusion: too much hype about too much camera?
Unboxing: as always
As is typical for a Huawei smartphone, you will find a small box here too. The contents consist, as usual, of the smartphone itself, a USB-C charger, USB headphones and a few sheets of paper. Unfortunately, there is no longer a USB-to-jack adapter. So you either have to get USB-C headphones or use Bluetooth headphones. This also means that there is no jack connection on the Huawei P30 Pro either. But that is the case with most smartphones these days.
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- Lid open ... (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
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- ... here comes the Huawei P30 Pro. (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
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- The packaging: yes, as always. (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
Workmanship and design: well done
In my test report on the Huawei P20 Pro I said it a year ago: the workmanship is top-notch. I can't say the same about the successor a year later. Nevertheless, the design has changed quite a bit compared to the P20. The biggest change is probably the back, which now consists of a color gradient instead of colored glass. What has remained the same, however, is that the glass is quite reflective. So if you hold it up to the sun, you can clearly see the fingerprints - and you can see yourself. So the Huawei P30 Pro is also suitable as a mirror - why not?
The color of the Huawei P30 Pro is very pretty. (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
One "problem" has not changed: the fact that it slips a lot. If it is lying on the table, it can happen that it comes loose and tries to find its way to the floor. I already complained about that last year. But with the glass back, which now looks very nice, that will not change. Otherwise, the buttons are well integrated into the casing and do not wobble around. The edges are also perfectly round - no defects in the workmanship at all.
Display: with integrated loudspeaker
The display of the Huawei P30 Pro has a special feature compared to other smartphones: it has an integrated speaker. This means that you only find the teardrop notch, which is necessary for the selfie camera. The earpiece above it is therefore completely missing - the sound is transmitted using special vibrations. However, this also means that it is quite quiet when making calls, even at the highest volume.
The "droplet notch" saves space. And quite inconspicuous: there is still a loudspeaker under the time. (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
In addition, you have to hold your ear directly to the marked area when making a phone call so that you can understand the person you are talking to as best as possible. Nevertheless, everything is very quiet, as mentioned above. Oh yes: briefly on the display data. Overall, the OLED panel has a full HD + resolution and measures 6,47 inches diagonally. If that's too hot for you or if you're afraid of a short battery life, you can switch back to HD + in the settings. After that, everything looks clearly out of focus. The standard setting "Smart Resolution" even regulates this on its own and is, in my opinion, the best option.
Performance: unchanged good
There is nothing to complain about in terms of performance with the successor either. Inside is a Kirin 980 processor with AI chip (more of a marketing argument than something that is really noticeable). This is supported by 8 GB of RAM and 128 or 256 GB of internal storage. The processor does its job very well for all the tasks that can be done on the smartphone. I only noticed a slight build-up of heat when using the phone while it was charging. Of course, for all the benchmark fans among you, there are our typical test points here again:
- Antutu: 290.184 points
Otherwise, the whole smartphone is responsive, multitasking and fast switching between apps proeasily possible.
Camera: the ace up your sleeve
The Huawei P30 Pro is highly advertised for its camera. You could almost say that it is a bit "overhyped". But there is a reason for that. In total, the Huawei P30 Pro has three camera lenses on the back, one for color, the other for wide angle and the third for zoom. This also enables a maximum zoom of 50x. If you jump over the 10x range when zooming, you will even notice that the "zoom lens" is now activated. The disadvantage, however, is that it is almost impossible to take pictures of close objects with this lens. Then you have to go back below the 10x range to get the image sharp again.
The camera zooms up to 50x without any problems. (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
These are the resolutions of the three lenses: 40 MP Huawei SuperSpectrum (f / 1.6), 20 MP wide-angle sensor (f / 2.4) and an 8 MP telephoto sensor (f / 3.4). There is also a fourth ToF camera, which is supposed to recognize objects and adjust the depth of field. The front camera has a resolution of 32 MP. Videos are possible in 4K at 30 fps.
The following pictures are completely unedited. Due to the sometimes very large file size and the resulting long loading times, it is somewhat compressed - losslessly.
Camera: the test images
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- Zoom to 1x. (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
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- A little closer to the crane ... 10x zoom. (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
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- Would you like a little insight? 50x zoom active. (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
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- The pictures during the day are flawless. (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
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- ... direct sunlight, on the other hand, has never been good for a camera. (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
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- First ice cream 2019 - very colorful pictures. (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
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- Without night mode. (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
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- Night mode deactivated ... (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
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- ... immediately brighter with activated night mode. (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
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- This is what the coming picture looks like with the naked eye ... (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
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- ... so with night mode - more than you can see for yourself. (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
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- Oh yes, the colors with activated AI are too strong. (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
In general, one can say that the photos are sensational even at night. Night mode can make pictures brighter than you can see them for yourself. This is very astonishing and I don't know of any other smartphone. I expected a lot from the camera - it met my expectations. However, you should deactivate the AI mode, as this often causes the images to get too much color. But if you want some “unnatural” pictures, you can leave it like that - then the colors will be even stronger.
Battery: charge others easily throughout the day
Battery: The P30 Pro has a 4200 mAh battery with a quick-charge function. This is full in just under an hour thanks to Huawei's Quick Charge and can charge the smartphone to 1 percent in 30 minutes. During my test, I achieved a SOT (Screen on Time - the time the display was switched on) of 60 to 8 hours on several days. In addition, the smartphone lasted almost 9 1/1 days review. This means that you have to charge the P2 Pro again by noon on the second day at the latest, unless you are a really frugal user.
Then there is the exciting "reverse charge" feature, which you can use to charge other smartphones. This way you can share the battery with your date - provided the other person's smartphone supports wireless charging. And yes, you can also charge supported iPhones with the Huawei P30 Pro! This means you can save yourself the sentence "Do you want my number?" in the future and replace it with "Do you want something from my battery?" Oh dear, that was really bad - better move on.
The icing on the cake: waterproof and a fingerprint sensor in the display
Before we round off this review with a conclusion, Huawei has also made the Huawei P30 Pro a good complete package with two features. On top of that, there is an IP68 certification and a fingerprint sensor under the display. This seemed a lot faster to me than on comparable models. Unfortunately, there is no longer a 3,5 mm jack connection, but that is unfortunately now the fashion for smartphones from 2019. The jack-to-USB-C adapter is also no longer included in the scope of delivery. What a pity.
The best position for a fingerprint sensor is and remains for me on the front. (Image: © 2019 TechnikNews)
The speaker is not the icing on the cake, however. In the past, stereo sound was possible with two speakers (one is now under the display). Now the whole thing sounds more like a boring can. Sorry Huawei, but the Huawei P30 Pro is a real bore when it comes to music. You need a Bluetooth speaker to be able to deliver properly at a party.
Conclusion: too much hype about too much camera?
Let's put it this way - yes, there was a bit too much hype about the Huawei P30 Pro. Even if you consider that it is the first smartphone with a 50x zoom, that is quickly forgotten after a while. What you notice is the good performance, good camera quality and the good battery. Whether the camera zooms up to 50x... OK. Functions such as reverse charging or the speaker in the display are more of a nice-to-have than an absolute necessity.
Image: © 2019 TechnikNews
In general, the Huawei P30 Pro makes good leaps into the future, but these leaps are a little too small. Except for the camera, we have the same test results here as with the Huawei P20 Pro last year. Nevertheless, for the price of 999 euros (RRP), absolutely top-quality hardware is installed. Except for the rickety loudspeaker, I honestly can't find any other points of criticism here.
The price has fallen significantly, not least because of the trade dispute with the USA. The smartphone is currently available for a price of 695 euros on Amazon.
We would like to thank you for providing the Huawei P30 Pro.
The camera has a serious problem with white balance when it comes to morning red, red cheeks and the like. I sometimes manually set it to very warm and it still isn't as red as it is in nature.
The normal camera has a problem focusing on close objects. Now you could say, then use the macro camera. But unfortunately the app that I want to use to scan the mini QR code on the fitness device doesn't know anything about the macro camera.
Otherwise the camera is great. And superior to any other smartphone... if we talk about photos.
I don't know why, but apparently not many editors have thought of filming. If the lighting is not perfect, the zoom has problems, the image is grainy like with analog ISO400 films, you get the impression that the optical zoom is not being used at all because everything looks blurry and blocky. On the poorly lit stage that was far away, I understood this - even the laws of physics can be overridden. But in the well-lit church just a few meters away from the subject, I didn't understand it. Although the camera has filmed really well in very similar conditions before.
It is also difficult not to cover a microphone while filming and then to zoom ;-).
It is also easy to change the programs unintentionally. If the camera does not work as expected, just check to see if you have not changed anything. Because with the portrait setting it will look bad if you actually wanted to take a panoramic photo.
My P30 Pro doesn't charge to 100% with all quick charge chargers. As long as I don't have my USB C measuring device yet, I can't say anything specific about it.
Hello Chilli,
First of all, thank you for your detailed comment, which I would like to briefly address. 🙂
Of course, we try to test as objectively and precisely as possible, but I didn't actually notice the white balance and that's why I didn't mention it review. In addition, I last had the device in my hand during my test in the summer and the camera may have been "improved" in some points through updates - such as the white balance.
I am also so familiar with focusing on nearby objects that, as an emergency solution, I always moved away from the object and then used the zoom. It's a shame that it hasn't been fixed yet.
Oh yes: Unfortunately, not only we, but also many colleagues forget to include films in smartphone test reports. There is either a lack of time, a suitable motif or the lack of optimal test conditions (you should be able to somehow compare the videos of other smartphones). My colleagues on YouTube are often better placed, I have to admit. It is therefore best to always browse through several test reports and videos. 🙂
Regarding covering the microphone and changing programs: I always held the phone by the side edges, otherwise this happens with almost every smartphone 😉
Strange, I didn't notice that. This always happens with my chargers from Huawei and Anker proworks flawlessly - which one do you use?
Hopefully our test report could still help you and give you a good purchase decision!
Best regards,
David from TechnikNews