Huawei P50 Pro review: unboxing and first impression
A TEST REPORT from Fabian Menzel 
on September 13, 2021, 6:00 am | Write a comment
A few weeks ago Huawei presented, among other things, the new P50 Pro officially for the Chinese market and since then things have been rather quiet about the smartphone. The reasons for this are, on the one hand, that Huawei due to the Proproblems with the USA no 5GProcessors, which is an important issue in China in particular, and also because a market launch in Europe is still considered fairly unlikely.
We now have a Huawei P50 Pro from China with the Kirin 9000 4G, unpack it, see what is (not) included and then report on our first impressions after a few days of use.
Unboxing
The box of the Huawei P50 Pro is actually very different from last year's P-Series packaging. It is white and has the on the front Product name, the lettering "Powered by Harmony OS" and two large circles, which are of course intended to refer to the new "Dual-Matrix" camera design. After removing the cover, the first thing you see is the smartphone, which is still in a foil for protection. A film to protect the display is also attached ex works, which can definitely be put to good use. In addition to the smartphone itself, the Chinese manufacturer also supplies the usual paperwork, a SIM needle for the dual SIM slot and a transparent protective cover that makes a solid impression. Unfortunately, after Apple and Samsung, Huawei now also does without a power supply unit and a suitable USB-C cable in the scope of delivery, which is also the reason why the box, similar to the S21Ultrais so small.
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- The box is very small, but I think it's pretty chic. (Image: TechnikNews)
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- For a flagship smartphone from 2021, the scope of delivery is very disappointing. After Apple and Samsung, Huawei is now also dispensing with a power supply unit. (Image: TechnikNews)
Huawei P50 Pro in the first impression
Starting with the design, which is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the Huawei P50 Pro is. It measures 158,8 mm in height and 72,8 mm in width, which means that the smartphone can still be operated quite well with one hand. In addition, there is a display that is slightly rounded on both sides, which the P50 Pro makes it look a little narrower in the hand. The weight of 195 grams and the thickness of 8,5 mm fit the design perfectly. The frame is made of metal with a high-gloss finish and glossy glass is used on the back, which feels extremely high-quality in the hand. Fingerprints are unavoidable, but with the color I tested Pearl Whitethat I find beautiful, these don't stand out too much. In addition to the color, the new camera design should also immediately catch the eye, something I have never seen in this way on any other smartphone. Huawei speaks of the so-called Dual matrix Camera design: At the top left there is space for a total of four sensors, which are housed in two huge, black circles, which in my opinion looks really good and I am glad that the manufacturer has dared to do something new here.
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- Picture: TechnikNews
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- Picture: TechnikNews
Next, let's focus on the display, which I've really liked so far. It's a 6,6-inch OLED display, which has an extremely sharp resolution of 2.700 x 1.228 pixels, but for a flagship in 2021, Huawei would have liked to have chosen QHD + as the resolution. Colors are displayed beautifully, the brightness is sufficient even on sunny days and the black value is excellent as usual. The viewing angle stability is also good; the screen only turns a little yellowish at extreme viewing angles. My personal highlight and the biggest difference in terms of display compared to its predecessor concerns the refresh rate. While that P40 Pro from the previous year was one of the few flagships with only 90 Hertz, the successor finally comes with a smooth refresh rate of 120 Hertz. Paired with the Kirin 9000 4G under the hood and the extremely smooth animations of Harmony OS, the Huawei P50 belongs Pro currently one of the fastest and smoothest smartphones that I have ever used.
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- Picture: TechnikNews
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- Picture: TechnikNews
The biggest criticisms and the reason why I can hardly recommend the smartphone are the missing Google services and the non-existent 5G connectivity. Personally, it doesn't bother me too much, but I know that most people value it, which of course I do 100% Procent can understand.
Last but not least, I would like to tell a little about the cameras that are loud DXO mark are currently the best in a smartphone. I can't confirm if that's the case yet, I need a little more time for that, but so far the cameras are a lot of fun, especially the zoom. Although on paper we are dealing with a step backwards compared to its predecessor - the P40 Pro still had a 5x and the successor only a 3,5x optical zoom - makes the P50 Pro better shots in everyday life and even comes up to the 10x optical zoom of the P40 Pro+ approach. That's pretty impressive. The first impression of the main camera also takes very good pictures, which are characterized above all by a significantly better color rendering than the predecessor. The ultra-wide-angle camera is unfortunately quite a downgrade in terms of sharpness, but it is now noticeably wider and colors are displayed more accurately.
A detailed test report with several camera comparisons can be found here:
