Smartphone Huawei P20 Pro — specifications and detailed review of the phone

Mr. Yu personally introduced two smartphones Huawei P20 and P20 Pro, continuing the P10 and P10 Plus line. Read about the flagship of the Huawei mobile fleet, the unsurpassed master of mobile photography in our review.

Content

Information about Huawei P20 Pro

Specifications

Class	Flagship
Start of sales	April 14, 2019
Start price	from 540$
Modifications	6/128 GB
Body colors	Twilight, black, blue, gold
Dimensions (L×W×T)	155 x 73.9 x 7.8mm
The weight	180 g
Battery	4000 mAh Li-Pol, non-removable
Screen
Diagonal	6.1 inches
Display Resolution	1080 x 2240 Full HD+
Aspect Ratio	18.7:9
Display type	AMOLED
Pixel Density	408 ppi
Protective glass	scratch resistant
graphics accelerator	Mali-G72 MP12
CPU	Hisilicon Kirin 970
Frequency and number of cores	4×2.4GHz Cortex-A73, 4×1.8GHz Cortex-A53
RAM	6 GB
Built-in memory	128 GB
Operating system	Android 8.1 Oreo
Memory card slot	Not
Main camera	40 MP, f/1.8, 27mm, 1/1.7, OIS, PDAF/Laser AF; 20 MP B/W, f/1.6, 27mm, 1/2.7, OIS, PDAF/Laser AF; 8 MP, f/2.4, 80mm, 1/4
Video	2160p, 30 fps
Front-camera	24 MP, f/2.0, 26mm, Leica optics
FM radio	Not
SIM type and number	2 Nano-SIMs
networks	GSM: 900, 1800, 1900; LTE: 2600, 1800, 800, 900; HSDPA: 850, 900, 1900, 2100
Navigation	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo
WiFi	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth	4.2, A2DP, LE, EDR, aptX HD
NFC	There is
Charging port	USB Type-C
Protection against moisture and dust	IP67
Sensors/Sensors	Accelerometer, Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Hall Sensor, Barometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Fingerprint Scanner
Points on AnTuTu	211123
Benchmark Battery Scores	3610
Benchmark Multi-Core Score	6695
Benchmark OpenCL Score	13446
Benchmark RenderScript Score	8542
Benchmark Single Core Score	1898

Design — glass in metal — rounded and slippery

The Huawei P20 Pro bundle corresponds to the status, at least you won’t have to run to the kiosk or surf on Ali in search of the right accessory. Carefully packed in a white box: a smartphone, a proprietary SuperCharge charger, a USB to USB Type-C cable, an adapter from USB Type-C to a 3.5 mm mini-jack, a transparent bumper case, pieces of paper and a SIM clip. Also included is a headset with a Type-C connector.

 

In its design, Huawei P20 Pro follows the current fashion of 2019 and leaves an ambiguous impression. A shiny metal frame is sandwiched between two pieces of glass. And the glass, and the body, all this is round, shiny and slippery, like soap — a bumper is required. The mirror iridescent back panel intensively collects prints and instantly looks like a barbecue plate. The kit clearly lacks a cleaning cloth, as cleaning will become the daily ritual of the owner. Lenses will surely gather dust, and crumbs will gather around the bezel.

 

The front side is almost completely occupied by the screen, there is a small bang, but it is almost not annoying (plus, it can be turned off in the settings). On the surface, engineers managed to place a round speaker, a camera, sensors, and even an indicator of missed messages. The frames are very small, engineers placed a multi-purpose sensor on the lower free centimeter. It works like a fingerprint, like a button with feedback and understands the swipe gesture, completely replacing the virtual keys.

On the rear panel, the cameras are shifted to the left side (hello, Apple!). Two are combined into a block, the eye of the third is separate, even lower is a flash. The Leica and Huawei logos are applied vertically along the same line.

 

Apart from the desire of the smartphone to escape from the hands, the ergonomics of the body is excellent thanks to the proportions of 18:9. The camera block slightly protrudes from the plane, the device lying on the table will sway if you do not place it in a case.

It should be noted that the gadget is certified according to the IP67 standard. This means that it can be briefly and shallowly lowered into the water (but it’s better not to risk it).

Iron is not the newest, but very fast

Last year’s Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 970 processor is responsible for the operation of the flagship hardware. It has eight cores in two clusters operating at a frequency of 2.63 GHz and 1.84 GHz, the latest Mali G72 graphics coprocessor is assembled from 12 cores. The company says the heart is optimized for artificial intelligence.

The memory is distributed as follows — operational 6 GB, permanent 128 GB (high-speed UFS 2.1), while expansion cards are not supported. No way. Huawei believes that the volume available on board should be enough for everyone. Maybe this is true in the medium term, but still, a little insulting.

 

The HiSilicon Kirin 970 chipset is already behind the Dragons of 2019 in synthetic tests, but the system performance does not cause any complaints, the term “gaming” is quite applicable to the gadget. «Tanks» consistently keep 60 fps at maximum speed, «Asphalt Extreme» in flight generates scenes with maximum detail.

In terms of external connections, progressors should be happy. The obsolete 3.5 mm mini-jack has been eliminated, replaced by a single USB Type-C version 3.1.

Two nano-SIM cards in one tray are responsible for cellular communication. Similar to Xiaomi smartphones, there is an infrared port to control home appliances.

The display is large and very bright AMOLED

The display of visual information is entrusted to an AMOLED matrix with a diagonal of 6.1 inches. The resolution chosen is non-standard — 2244 × 1080 (ratio 18.7: 9), the pixel density is 408 ppi — these are very good indicators, even small fonts are well read.

The maximum brightness can be turned up to a huge 770 cd / m2 — the screen wins direct sunlight. The image does not lose colors even with a large tilt of the case.

 

By default, the color scheme is set to bright modes to catch the eye. If desired, the colors can be softened in the settings.

The capacious battery gives up to three days of autonomy

To power a powerful processor and a large display, engineers used a 4000 mAh battery in the Huawei P20 Pro, not so much, but putting less on a flagship is simply indecent.

As a result, autonomy indicators turned out to be good. In the “on the plane” mode, the series plays continuously for 18 hours, enough for a flight across the Atlantic, in working condition with calls and instant messengers it easily pulls out two or even three days.

The charge time from a 5V / 2A source is usually about 2.5 hours. If you use a proprietary unit, the SuperCharge fast charging mode, implemented on the basis of the Texas Instruments BQ25895 controller, is activated. In this case, full filling takes 2 hours, in the first hour the capacity reaches 50%.

Cameras have earned the highest praise from professionals

Particular attention at the presentation of Huawei P20 Pro was paid to photography, special rooms with different lighting were equipped for test shots, where journalists could verify the power of the novelty as a camera phone — the results impressed everyone.

For the first time in the history of mobile technology, three front cameras were used: a 40 MP color camera is responsible for the scene, a 20 MP black and white camera expands the dynamic range, an 8 MP with 3X optical zoom stabilizes the frame and brings what is far away closer.

All lenses are controlled by automation, which connects the desired eye or setting, a professional mode is also available, where the photographer can manually adjust everything.

Artificial intelligence itself determines the subject and environment, choosing the profile for the best shot, and the results are clearly visible. No wonder the popular photography resource DxOMark awarded the Huawei P20 Pro the highest score for image quality.

A trio of sensors played under the control of an AI conductor works wonders. The white balance is perfect, the autofocus is accurate, the colors are natural, the detail is on top. But a special sacrament begins when it gets dark. Twilight, candles, diffused light, vintage incandescent lamps — no other smartphone in the world except the P20 can accurately reproduce such landscapes or still lifes.

Compared to the chord of front cameras, the selfie camera seems quite simple — it has “only” 24 MP. Self-portraits are of high quality, there is software background blur. But this selfie machine is definitely not specialized (for example, there are no animated emoji so popular in China). But there is an unlock on the face of the owner.

 

Huawei P20 Pro is trained to record videos, FullHD 30 fps, FullHD 60 fps and 4K 30 fps resolutions. In the current firmware version, stabilization is available only in the first one. Also available is a short slow motion recording (slo-mo 960 fps) at 1280x 720 pixels.

Software: new «Android» with a proprietary shell

A fresh Android 8.1 (Oreo) is installed on the Huawei P20 Pro hardware platform, with the Huawei EMUI proprietary software shell stretched over it. Together with new smartphones, the shell received an update to version 8.1. Thanks to good optimization, the launcher works very quickly and does not cause a desire to demolish it.

 

Conclusion

In 2019, Huawei made a qualitative leap in the smartphone industry. The new flagship Huawei P20 Pro showed what the smartphone of the future could be like, focusing on photographic abilities in this model. The design of the device is controversial, reminds Apple, but now it is impossible otherwise, the dudes will not understand. Otherwise, you can only find fault with trifles or fixable software bugs, the company has made a worthy gadget with a fast processor, normal memory and stable software. We especially liked the universal fingerprint scanner button. Recommended for anyone who needs a standout expensive smartphone with a photography flair.

Comparison with competitors

pros

• Unique photography abilities, including at dusk
• Large, bright and clear display handles even in direct sunlight
• Modern USB Type-C port and fast charging
• Energy optimization, good autonomy

Minuses

• The glass body is slippery and picks up fingerprints
• No permanent memory expansion at all
• No 3.5 mm mini-jack
• Video shooting has not been improved, stabilization is only in FullHD 30 fps