The restrictions that the U.S. Government placed on Chinese tech giant Huawei this year has caused a lot of confusion over the viability of Huawei’s smartphones and even lead to panic sales from early adopters (much to their lost).
That’s actually a real pity, because both the Huawei P30 and the uber-zoom P30 Pro are probably the best smartphones on the market right now. The P30 Pro has not only won NXT’s most recent smartphone supertest, but it continues to amaze us by delivering incredible imagery, making spectacular shots from everyday scenes like these.
Here’s a series of pictures we took to test out the P30 Pro’s 50x hybrid zoom capabilities. From a distance of around 280 metres. We were able to zoom into a window of People’s Park Complex and you can even make out someone’s laundry.
The P30 Pro’s zoom also works for macro-photography, which can be very handy when you need to check if there’s any damage to the connectors in your MiniDisplay cable.
Unlike many other smartphone camera sensors, the P30 Pro has high ISO sensitivity for excellent low light photography and its AI image processing capabilities, enables you to take shots of mundane night scenes and capture fantastic details.
In honesty, using the superb Huawei P30 and P30 Pro over the last couple of months has been an ultra-smooth experience for us we aren’t hesitant to recommend them to anyone looking for a new premium smartphone with unique imaging capabilities.
Now we do understand that the problems Huawei has faced over the last month or so with the U.S. restrictions has caused many to have second thoughts about buying a P30 or P30 Pro, but in the month since the restrictions were first announced there’s been a lot of clarity over the situation, and these are five facts that you should consider before buying a new Huawei P30 or P30 Pro:
1. Google Supports Current Huawei devices
Huawei’s current difficulties stem from an Executive Order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump that essentially stops American businesses from dealing with Huawei. While no timeline was issued by the Order, subsequently Google confirmed that Google Services such as Google Play and Google Play Protect will still be available as normal. This means that there will be no issues for users if you purchase a Huawei P30 now and use it for a number of years.
2. Huawei’s speedy EMUI
The Android issue has not stopped Huawei from continuing to improve their devices via OS updates. The latest, EMUI 9.1, added a host of new features including up to 20% faster reading speeds, more optimisation for games with GPU Turbo 3.0, easier video and image sharing, improved AI for Assistant and AR, and improved IoT connectivity including HUAWEI CarKey for keyless car entry and syncing with smart fitness devices like treadmills and exercise bikes.
3. The Kirin 980 is the Best Processor for Android Devices
Both the Huawei P30 and P30 Pro are powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 980 processor, a bespoke processor manufactured by Huawei’s own processor manufacturer (Huawei are only the third smartphone maker to make their own processors, following Apple’s A-series, and Samsung’s Exynos that is used in some markets). Like Apple’s recent A12 Bionix, the Kirin 980 has an integrated dual-neural processor (NPU) for AI acceleration and a powerful GPU. Using their own processor has enabled Huawei to achieve better device optimisation while reducing chances of a security exploit from using a ‘common’ processor, like the recent security flaws found on Intel chips, for example.
4. The Best Smartphone Camera Gets Better with Frequent Updates
The Huawei P30 and P30 Pro are currently the undisputed kings of the smartphone world – a near perfect blend of cutting-edge technology and elegant design, but most consumers are of course attracted to the P30 Pro for its stellar Leica photographic capabilities. Huawei has in fact recently updated its camera firmware to improve the colour temperature and contrast of the camera system to deliver a more realistic look.
5. Leica comes from Germany
Huawei’s collaboration with legendary German optics and camera maker Leica began in 2014, and the first Leica-badged Huawei smartphone released was the Huawei P9 in 2016, and this coincides with Huawei’s rapid smartphone growth in the last few years. The collaboration is, however, not a simple case of badge-marketing – both Huawei and Leica have teams of engineers working on their collaboration, and every Huawei smartphone that bears Leica’s badge, like the P30, uses sensors, lenses and image processors tuned to match Leica high imaging standards across a wide range of subjects and styles.
When reviewers rave about the photographic qualities of the P30 Pro, they are referring to the results of a unique and absolutely exclusive collaboration between Huawei and Leica.
