Huawei P50 Pro in review: Much better than you think

Am 29 July The Chinese manufacturer officially presented the new Huawei P50 Pro for the Chinese market, among other things. A market launch here in Europe is still considered quite unlikely, as Huawei is gradually running out of its own Kirin 9000 processors and, secondly, because 5G is not possible due to the problems with the USA and, on top of that, Google services are still not supported. These things are now particularly essential in Europe, which is why the smartphone is hardly recommended to anyone here, which I find extremely unfortunate, because the Huawei P50 Pro actually has a lot to offer in terms of hardware.

Above all, the new quad camera on the back, which was also developed this time in cooperation with the camera manufacturer Leica, is intended to be one of the highlights of the new flagship from Huawei. According to DXO mark, the smartphones, lenses and full-fledged cameras on "proprofessional” basis, the cameras of the P50 Pro proved to be the currently best in a smartphone. Even the Mi 11 Ultra from Xiaomi couldn't quite keep up, which is why it is in the Rankings slipped to second place. The smartphone ranking at DXO Mark is a nice reference point, but it should be ignored because the rankings often made no sense in the past. For example, the cameras of the Galaxy S2 Ultra are rated better than the cameras of the S20 Ultra, which some tests on YouTube and our test report clearly refute. Not only with the cameras, but also with the 21-inch 6,6 Hertz OLED display, the 120 mAh battery, 4.360 watt fast charge and the powerful Kirin 66 9000G under the hood, the Huawei P4 Pro is completely convincing on paper. Whether this is also the case in everyday use, whether the new Leica quad camera is really that good and surpasses all other competitors, you will now find out in detail in the following lines.

Haptics and design

With dimensions of 158,8 mm in height and 72,8 mm in width, the Huawei P50 Pro is one of the larger smartphones, but surprisingly it is still relatively easy to use, which is also due to the comparatively low weight of 195 grams. In addition, the thickness of only 8,5 mm makes the smartphone more comfortable to hold. Overall, I really enjoyed using the P50 Pro, as it feels great in the hand thanks to the perfectly rounded front and back. It never gives a sharp-edged feeling. Huawei has done a great job here, although I also liked the predecessors very much in this regard.

The frame is made of aluminum with a high-gloss finish and therefore feels extremely high-quality and pleasant. In the color I tested Pearl White the frame is made of silver, which, paired with the completely black front, looks extremely beautiful and classy. The disadvantage, however, is that the frame is very susceptible to fingerprints due to its high-gloss finish and will also have minor scratches after some time of use. The back is made of glass, which looks extremely high quality. Unlike its predecessor, the glass is unfortunately no longer matt, but glossy, which makes fingerprints almost magical. With Golden Black, Cocao gold, Charm pink, Blue and Pearl White you have five colors to choose from. I tested the latter, which I really like because it always shimmers a little differently depending on the incidence of light. Every now and then it looks like a light blue, sometimes it shimmers slightly gold and when the light shines directly on the back, a rainbow appears.

Standalone camera design

In addition to the beautiful color, the new camera design immediately catches the eye. The manufacturer comes up with new designs year after year, which in my opinion are beautifully implemented and stand out from the competition. With the new P50 Pro, Huawei speaks of the so-called Dual matrix camera designwhich I have never seen in this way on any other smartphone:

There is space for a total of four sensors in the top left, which are housed in two huge black circles, which I think looks really good and I'm glad that the manufacturer dared to try something new here. This makes the device extremely recognizable and anyone who knows a little about smartphones will be able to tell that this is the Huawei P50 Pro even from a distance. The camera bump protrudes a little from the casing, which causes the smartphone to wobble slightly when it is lying on the table.

No more independent front, but ...

Last year, Huawei led the way with the P40 Pro Series, the so-called "quad edge design" is used, where the glass on the front is slightly rounded on all four sides. On the one hand, this looks extremely impressive, but on the other hand it also feels extremely high-quality and pleasant, especially when the gesture control is activated and you close an app by swiping from the bottom edge of the screen. With the P50 Pro, however, the manufacturer decided to go back to a normal edge design, which I think is a shame, as the front no longer really stands out from the competition. Only on the left and right is the glass rounded towards the frame, but not nearly as much as with the Mate 40 Pro, but a bit stronger than its predecessor, which in my opinion has both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it feels a little smoother when swiping from the left or right edge, but on the other hand, reflections are more visible than on the predecessor. Since the upper and lower glass are no longer rounded, it looks as if the display edges have become a bit thicker than on the predecessor, but that's actually not true. If you compare the two smartphones with each other, you can hardly see a difference on closer inspection. The bezels are still extremely thin, but the differences to the competition are no longer as obvious as they were last year.

Another innovation concerns the recess for the front camera. The predecessor had a very large recess with several sensors in the left corner and the predecessor had this recess in the form of a small hole for the front camera, which looks much more modern and is less annoying.

Overall, the front leaves me with mixed feelings. Since Huawei has decided not to use a quad-edge design, which was an absolute unique selling point last year, this is now somewhat lost on the P50 Pro, but nonetheless the front still looks modern and beautiful.

Outstanding workmanship

I have absolutely no reason to criticize the workmanship. The smartphone makes a well-made, stable impression, the keys have an impeccable pressure point, sit firmly in the case and are still reasonably easy to reach with one hand.

Display - one of the best OLED panels

With a diagonal of 6,6 inches, the OLED panel has a resolution of 19,8 x 9 pixels in the elongated 2.700:1.228 aspect ratio, which gives us 450 pixels pro inches and brings about a pleasantly sharp display of the content. In everyday life, individual pixels can never be seen and even compared to one Galaxy s21 ultra or OnePlus 9 Pro with an even higher resolution, hardly any significant differences can be found.

One of my biggest criticisms of last year's predecessor was the 90 Hertz refresh rate, which displayed content much more smoothly than smartphones with only 60 Hertz, but for a flagship in 2020 I simply expected 120 Hertz like Samsung, OPPO and OnePlus. Thankfully, this criticism has now finally been eliminated, as the P50 Pro's screen supports a smooth refresh rate of 120 Hertz, which means that the panel can display 120 frames per second. This makes all animations and scrolling appear buttery smooth, which makes for a great user experience.

The display is also convincing across the board in the remaining points, such as brightness and color reproduction. Thanks to the OLED technology, we are dealing with perfect black and contrast values ​​and even the white value is excellent, even if the S21 Ultra leaves all the others behind in this respect. However, the difference is not big. Colors are reproduced extremely faithfully in the "Natural" mode, which is pretty much my favorite of all the flagships so far. Samsung and OPPO can't quite keep up here. On the other hand, if you like it a little more colourful, you can adjust the color rendering in the settings under "Display & Brightness". proeasily adapt to your own taste.

The brightness is also first class, which is what you can expect for the price offered. In manual mode it is even visibly brighter than the S21 Ultra, My 11 Ultra or its predecessor. If you switch to automatic mode, however, both Samsung and Xiaomi visibly outperform the P50 Pro. Nevertheless, I never had any problems with readability in direct sunlight and compared to the P40 Pro + it is also slightly brighter in automatic mode, which is extremely commendable. The viewing angle stability is completely okay, even if there is still a bit of room for improvement here. When tilted to the side, the display turns yellow - especially with white content - which is not the case with the predecessor. To be fair, however, it must also be said that Samsung, Sony and OnePlus also have slight weaknesses in this regard, but these are almost never noticeable in everyday life.

Software - not Android, but HarmonyOS

The software has a big special feature, because what at first glance looks very similar to Android turns out to be the Chinese manufacturer's own operating system, HarmonyOS, on closer inspection. The biggest difference compared to EMUI is the modified control panel and the notification bar. They were probably inspired a little by Apple here, because the idea is very similar to IOS. If you swipe down from the top right, you get to the so-called "control panel", which is called the "control center" in IOS. All the necessary controls are displayed here, such as WiFi, Bluetooth and the flashlight, and you can also control your music and display smart devices. If you swipe down from the left, on the other hand, you get to the notification bar, where all incoming notifications are displayed. Personally, I like this solution visually because it makes everything look a little tidier than before, but I don't find it very practical because I constantly have to reach around or use my second hand if I want to swipe down from the top left to see my notifications. The P50 Pro is simply a bit too big to be able to operate it properly with one hand.

Otherwise everything is actually like EMUI. The software is nicely clear, decorated with beautiful animations and equipped with some useful additional functions. For example, you can change the animation when unlocking using the fingerprint sensor integrated in the display, adapt the app symbols to your own taste and much more. There is also an excellent night mode and a first-class always-on display, which only appears when you look at the display, which works great and is an ingenious feature.

As you may have noticed, the current Huawei smartphones since the Mate 30 Pro have an unavoidable disadvantage, as they are delivered without pre-installed Google services. Most applications, apart from those from Google, can be downloaded via alternative app stores, the AppGallery or Petal Search. However, there are problems with banking apps and push notifications in apps such as eBay or Twitter, among others.

Performance - lightning fast, fluid and constant

The Huawei P50 Pro is available in two versions, each with a different processor. Under the hood of my test device is the in-house Kirin 9000 4G, which is manufactured using the energy-saving 5-nanometer process and is without question one of the most powerful processors in a smartphone. This SoC was already used in the Mate 40 Pro at the end of last year, but still with 5G. The Kirin 9000 in the P50 Pro no longer supports 5G because Huawei has no other option due to the problems with the USA. The version with the Snapdragon 888, which will not be available in China until December, also does not support 5G. Together with the lack of Google services, the lack of 5G connectivity is the biggest point of criticism and the reason why this actually great smartphone is of little interest to anyone in Europe, which I can absolutely understand.

The Kirin 9000 is available with either 8 or 12 GB of RAM and 256 or 512 GB of internal memory, which can be expanded using an in-house NM card. A version with 128 GB is also available, but only with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888. The RAM management is at a very high level.

One of the greatest strengths of the last high-end smartphones from Huawei was the extremely good performance, which now ensures an even better user experience with 120 Hertz. The animations in gesture control in particular run as smoothly and consistently on hardly any other smartphone. Apps start extremely quickly and you will look in vain for major stutters or delays. Even complex games do not cause any problems for the smartphone, and the good cooling is particularly noticeable here, which, with the efficient Kirin 9000, ensures that the P50 Pro gets below average warm.

Battery - satisfactory

A few years ago, Huawei was known for installing the largest possible batteries in its smartphones and thus ensuring outstanding battery life. The P40 series also offered really good battery life, but the capacity of only 4.200 mAh left a little to be desired, especially compared to Samsung, which installed batteries of up to 5.000 mAh. A few months later, the Mate 40 Pro was released, which unfortunately delivered a noticeably worse battery life in our test report despite the larger battery and more efficient Kirin 9000.

The P50 Pro even has a much smaller battery at 4.360 mAh, which delivers similarly decent runtimes. With 120 Hertz activated, I always got through a day easily, and even 1,5 days were often no problem. At the end of the day, with a screen-on time of 4 to 6 hours, I usually had 10 to 40 percent of battery left, which is better than expected for the capacity and the power-hungry 120 Hertz display. A OnePlus 9 Pro, for example, needs to be charged much sooner despite its larger battery. The P50 Pro is by no means a long-distance runner and heavy users will definitely drain it in a day, but for most people the battery life is more than enough to proeasily get through a day without a charge.

If the P50 Pro does run out of power in the evening, it can fortunately be recharged very quickly. Wireless charging is possible with up to 50 watts and wired charging is supported with up to 66 watts. It only takes just under 50 minutes for the smartphone to be fully charged. OnePlus and OPPO charge a little faster with 65 watts, however, because the battery is split in two and both halves of the battery are charged with 32,5 watts each. Nevertheless, the charging time of the P50 Pro is absolutely satisfactory. What is quite disappointing, however, is the lack of a power adapter in the scope of delivery, which is ridiculous for a flagship in my opinion. At least the device can be charged quite quickly with my 40 watt power adapter from the predecessor.

Camera - much better than expected

Huawei's P series has been characterized for years by its impressive camera innovations. The P20 Pro was the first smartphone with a triple camera, a 5x hybrid zoom, a high-resolution camera with an enormous sensor size and an innovative night mode that can be seen on all of the competition today. A year later, the P30 Pro followed, which took the zoom even further and provided even better results in low light with the innovative RYYB technology. With the P40 series, the manufacturer introduced the first 10x optical zoom in a smartphone as well as the largest main sensor at the time.

Huawei therefore focused on installing the best possible hardware year after year in order to beat the competition. They had the largest sensor, the widest zoom and new innovations such as RYYB technology. With the P50 Pro, however, Huawei is taking a slightly different path, because on paper you have to make some steps backwards compared to the predecessor, which is first and foremost noticeable in the main camera. Although it still has a resolution of 50 megapixels, it does not have RYYB and at 1/1.56 inches is significantly smaller than its predecessor, which had a 1/1.28 inch sensor. The biggest compromises on paper, however, have to be made in the ultra-wide-angle camera. While the predecessor was still equipped with a 1/1.54 inch 40 megapixel sensor, the P50 Pro comes with a 13 megapixel camera that is only 1/3 inch in size. You also have to accept steps backwards in terms of zoom. Objects can only be optically magnified 64 times with the 3,5 megapixel telephoto camera. At least the sensor has become larger at 1/2 inch. This setup is complemented by a monochrome camera with a resolution of 40 megapixels and a size of 1/1.74 inches. A 13 megapixel front camera is responsible for selfies.

The Leica quad camera of the Huawei P50 Pro. (Image: TechnikNews)

Has the final image quality also gotten worse? In short: No, not really. Starting with the main camera, which delivers extremely detailed photos with excellent dynamic range. These two points in particular are among the ones I like best of the current flagships. Only the Mi 11 Ultra and P40 Pro+ can still keep up well in these points, but a Galaxy S21 Ultra takes visibly blurrier photos despite the higher resolution. In addition, colors are now finally reproduced more naturally than in the predecessor, which makes me extremely happy. Every now and then images still look a bit unnatural, but Huawei has definitely taken a significant step forward here. The absolute highlight, however, is the performance in poor lighting conditions. Huawei smartphones have been leading the way here for years and I had great doubts as to whether the P50 Pro could continue on this path due to the smaller sensor and yes, it can. I wouldn't have thought it, but the Huawei P50 Pro currently delivers the best results in poor lighting conditions, even if the difference to a Mi 11 Ultra and its predecessor is not huge. But I like it best in terms of sharpness and the colors are also very beautiful and mostly natural. A Galaxy S21 Ultra can't really keep up in these areas. When there is almost no light left, proThe P50 Pro even reduces without night mode by far the best results, which is extremely impressive. The monochrome camera helps here, so to speak, in order to be able to record enough light.

In conclusion, I can say that this is, in my opinion, the best main camera in a smartphone. The difference to a Mi 11 Ultra is not huge, but it is definitely there. I just wonder why Huawei installed a smaller and, on paper, worse sensor. With the sensor of the P40 Pro, even more could have been possible.

Compared to its predecessor, the ultra-wide-angle camera unfortunately takes visibly blurred pictures, which I think is a shame. Nevertheless, the sharpness is perfectly fine. An S21 Ultra, Mi 11 Ultra and, surprisingly, one too OPPO Find X3 are no better here. The dynamic range is at the usual high level and colors are now visibly more realistic than in the predecessor. Even in low light, the P50 Pro still delivers quite passable images. Although I see the OnePlus 9 Pro, Find X3 and the predecessor a little further ahead here, it certainly doesn't have to hide from Samsung, Apple and Xiaomi. The sharpness is fine and the brightness and color reproduction are at flagship level, which I would never have expected from such a small sensor. Nevertheless, I still don't understand why Huawei didn't install the same sensor as in the Mate 40 Pro, because it would have been possible to achieve a lot more with it.

Zoom shots from 3,5x to 9,9x magnification are unparalleled. No other smartphone proThis results in sharp images. There are also beautiful colors that are no longer as yellow as their predecessor. Now and then there is a lack of contrast, but Huawei has nevertheless improved a lot compared to the P40 Pro. From 10x magnification, both the S21 Ultra and the P40 Pro+ can keep up very well in good lighting conditions and are perhaps even slightly better in some situations, but every now and then the P50 Pro also wins, especially in terms of color reproduction. In poor lighting conditions, however, no other smartphone can keep up. The stabilization has also improved significantly and is almost on a par with the S21 Ultra. Is this the best zoom camera in a smartphone? Yes and no. I would say that together with the one in the P40 Pro+ and S21 Ultra, it is currently the best, as each of these zoom cameras has strengths: the P50 Pro wins in low light/artificial light and color reproduction, while the P40 Pro+ wins in sharpness and the S21 Ultra scores with the best stabilization.

Both the 40 megapixel monochrome and the 50 megapixel main camera work together for black and white recordings. So if you keep one of the two sensors covered with your finger, no more sensible photos are possible. The final image quality is characterized by very good sharpness and good dynamic range. To be fair, however, it must also be clearly stated that even smartphones without a dedicated monochrome camera deliver similarly good results.

Selfies turn out great with great sharpness, good color reproduction and an excellent dynamic range. Thanks to the wide field of view, group selfies are no problem at all.

Videos can be recorded in 4K with up to 60 FPS and look really good. However, the quality does not come close to the current iPhones.

Camera comparison

Next, we want to compare the P50 Pro's cameras in various situations with similarly priced competitors. The Huawei P40 Pro, P40 Pro+, Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra and the OPPO Find X3 are in the running.

Picture: TechnikNews

main camera

Let's start with the main camera. On paper, Xiaomi is clearly ahead here due to the largest sensor. The P50 Pro even has the smallest sensor.

Comparison with the S21 Ultra, Mi 11 Ultra & P40 Pro

In good lighting conditions, all four smartphones take beautiful pictures that only differ in nuances. The Galaxy S21 Ultra tends towards stronger colors, the Mi 11 Ultra towards warmer ones, and the P50 Pro towards mostly natural colors. In terms of sharpness, Samsung can no longer really keep up and has to admit defeat to the Mi 11 Ultra and P50 Pro in particular. The differences are greater in low light, however. Here, the HarmonyOS smartphone delivers the sharpest photos with great color reproduction, which was still a problem with the predecessor. However, Xiaomi can keep up very well, where the S21 Ultra can no longer keep up.

Ultra wide angle camera

Now let's take a closer look at the ultra-wide-angle camera. The differences here are huge on paper, because Huawei unfortunately only uses a very small sensor from OmniVision in the new P50 Pro, which with a sensor size of 1/3 inch is even significantly smaller than the 1/1.54 inch sensor in the P40 Pro+. The S21 Ultra uses a 12 megapixel sensor, which is averagely large at 1/2.55 inches, and the Mi 11 Ultra uses the IMX586 with a sensor size of 1/2.0 inches. The Find X3 has the IMX766 as an ultra-wide-angle sensor, which the P50 Pro uses as its main sensor. At 1/1.56 inches, it is larger than average and is described by OPPO as the best ultra-wide-angle camera in a smartphone.

Comparison with the S21 Ultra, Mi 11 Ultra, Find X3 & P40 Pro+

The comparison shows quite well that Huawei can keep up very well with the current high-end competition despite poor hardware. In good lighting conditions, there are almost no differences in terms of sharpness between the P50 Pro, Find X3, S21 Ultra and Mi 11 Ultra, which is remarkable. I would have expected a lot more from OPPO and Xiaomi here. As soon as it gets darker, the Find X3 is usually convincing across the board and delivers the sharpest results. Close behind is the P40 Pro+, which has problems with color reproduction but still delivers sharp results. I see the P50 Pro in third place. I like the color reproduction and brightness best, but you have to make slight compromises when it comes to sharpness, but for such a small sensor I find the low-light performance much better than expected. The S3 Ultra is still reasonably OK and I am a little disappointed with the Mi 21 Ultra.

Zoom

Last but not least, we want to take a closer look at the zoom. First, we'll look at last year's predecessors, followed by the S21 Ultra and the Mi 11 Ultra. In these tests, it's important to mention that the P50 Pro has the shortest focal length with a 3,5x optical zoom. The P40 Pro and Mi 11 Ultra can optically magnify objects up to 5x, and the S21 Ultra and the P40 Pro+ go one step further with a 10x optical magnification.

Comparison with the P40 Pro & P40 Pro+

Although the P50 Pro "only" uses a 3,5x optical zoom, it can keep up with the P40 Pro+ in terms of sharpness and I even like it much better, especially in poor lighting conditions. Huawei has also managed to get the colors better in most cases. They are reproduced a little warmer and no longer appear as pale as on the P40 Pro+, although there is a slight lack of contrast now and then. The regular P40 Pro can no longer really keep up in terms of sharpness, but it usually displays colors attractively.

Comparison with the S21 Ultra & Mi 11 Ultra

It is extremely impressive how well the Huawei P50 Pro can keep up with the S21 Ultra. Although the latter has a slight edge, especially at higher zoom levels, the P3,5 Pro wins from 9,9 to 50x magnification, and in low light and indoor shots the difference is greater than expected. The Mi 11 Ultra can still keep up relatively well, but has to admit defeat to the other smartphones from 10x magnification. The differences in color reproduction, on the other hand, are smaller. In good lighting conditions, there is no clear winner for me, but as soon as you take photos indoors or with less light, Samsung can no longer keep up.

Comparison with the Apple iPhone 13 Pro

I also compared the cameras of the Huawei P50 Pro in detail on the HUAWEI.Blog against the cameras of the Apple iPhone 13 Pro. If you are interested, feel free to take a look:

• HUAWEI P50 Pro vs. iPhone 13 Pro – Camera Battle

Others - great speakers, top notch vibration motor, and more

The symmetrical stereo speakers are extraordinarily loud and sound really good. They provide a very full, balanced sound with nice depths. Together with the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra and iPhone 13 Pro Max, we are currently dealing with the best speakers of this year's flagships.

The built-in vibration motor is also one of the best on the market, as it gives a high-quality feel in the hand and never sounds annoying. I like the Mi 11 Ultra and OnePlus 9 Pro a little better due to better optimization, but that doesn't stop the P50 Pro from positioning itself clearly ahead of an S21 Ultra, OPPO Find X3 Pro or Huawei P40 Pro with clean, short vibrations.

Huawei installs a fingerprint sensor in the display, which is positioned a little too far down for my taste. In terms of reliability and speed, however, it is at a high level. Often just a quick tap is enough to unlock the device. 2D face recognition is also on board, which works extremely quickly, but not too safely.

In addition, the Huawei P50 Pro naturally supports the latest standards, such as IP68 certification against the ingress of water and dust, a USB-C 3.1 port for fast transfer speeds and WiFi 6+. Although this is a Chinese smartphone that is not intended for the European market, I actually had better mobile reception with the P50 Pro than with other devices.

Conclusion

The Huawei P50 Pro is an excellent smartphone that has no major weaknesses in terms of hardware. The feel, the high-quality design, the great 120 Hertz display, the impressive performance, the satisfactory battery life including great charging times, the powerful cameras, the first-class speakers and the vibration motor are all at an extremely high level. In terms of cameras, I actually like the P50 Pro the best overall, even if a few steps backwards have been made on paper.

Unfortunately, the smartphone does not come with Google Play Services, which is why Google apps and some other apps, such as Twitter or eBay, do not work at all or only partially. Added to this is the very poor availability and the lack of 5G connectivity, which is becoming increasingly relevant even in Germany. Due to all these drawbacks, I can unfortunately not recommend the Huawei P50 Pro to anyone, not even those who place great value on an excellent camera, because even if the P50 Pro is the leader here in my opinion, there are great alternatives with a Mi 11 Ultra, iPhone 13 Pro, S21 Ultra and P40 Pro+.

However, if you can do without Google apps, are a Huawei fan and have no problem importing a smartphone from China, you can very well go for the Huawei P50 Pro and will certainly be very happy with it, but unfortunately this smartphone is not an option for the general public.

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