Last month when I interviewed Huawei’s consumer business head Richard Yu at the Mobile World Congress, the famously outspoken Yu randomly — completely unprovoked — declared that the Huawei Mate 20 Pro would be “much better” than the iPhone X.
Like most Asian-American boys, I grew up obsessed with the NBA and basketball culture, so I subscribe to the belief that if you talk trash, you best be able to back it up. And so when I was given an opportunity to test the P20 Pro ahead of the device’s launch in New York last week, the very first thing I did was pit it against the iPhone X. And considering that the P20 Pro’s main draw is its world first triple camera set-up, I naturally went for the camera test.
First, let’s go over the P20 Pro’s hardware, since the phone has literally just been unveiled to the public seconds before this article’s publication: the three cameras on the back consists of a 20-megapixel monochrome lens, a 40-megapixel RGB lens, and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens. If you’re familiar with Huawei phones, you know the company has used a dual RGB+monochrome set-up (to pull in more light information) since the P9, so the new third camera here is the telephoto camera, which is what Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi use for its secondary cameras. The main use of a telephoto lens is to offer lossless zoom via a higher focal length. Huawei says the P20 Pro’s telephoto lens offers up to 3X optical zoom.
But, of course, Huawei being Huawei, there’s more than meets the eye. The RGB lens in the P20 Pro has been bumped up to a jaw-dropping 40-megapixel (the same sensor on the P10 was “just” 12-megapixel), which is used to feed additional image information to the phone’s software algorithms to produce a “hybrid” 5X zoom. So the main reason for needing three cameras is for a 5X zoom, with other benefits going towards a brighter image that can take in more light.
The rest of the phone is about what you’d expect from a top flagship from a big company or if you’ve been keeping up with the leaks and rumors. The P20 Pro runs on the same Kirin 970 chipset on the Mate 10 Pro, meaning that neural processing unit returns here, and yes, there’s that iPhone X-like notch at the top of the 6.2-inch OLED panel at 18.7:9 aspect ratio (I’ll elaborate on my feelings of the P20 Pro’s design more in my review). The P20 Pro has an impressively large 4,000 mAh battery and is also rated IP67 for water resistant.
The standard P20 has a 5.8-inch LCD panel, a 3,400 mAh battery, and is rated IP53 (splash proof). I didn’t test that device much because with such limited hands-on time, I focused entirely on the Pro.
The P20 Pro comes in a very eye-catching new color that Huawei has dubbed “Twilight.” It has this gradient finish that shift and changes color depending on the angle of light reflecting off it. Huawei’s designers says the color scheme was inspired by Monet’s painting Twilight, Venice.
I only had about 30 minutes with the phone, in a controlled environment indoors, so I wasn’t able to really test the cameras in a wide variety of situations, but I made do with what I could. I’ll definitely do another photo shootout when I get my hands on a review unit of the P20 Pro.
Let’s begin the photo comparisons. We’ll start with something simple.
Both of these shots captured the details of the sky and clouds, along with the buildings and reflections very well — though Apple’s image has an overall cool tone that doesn’t feel quite right. But look closely at the lower right corner, down on the streets. You’ll notice that the P20 Pro’s image captured more details and lighting down below. Have a look for yourself.
Next we’ll check out if Huawei’s claims of that hybrid 5X zoom is as amazing as it sounds.
I wouldn’t say the P20 Pro’s 5X zoom is significantly more clear than the iPhone X’s shot, but it is a cleaner image. Apple’s image has a bit more grain and noise, making the building look almost dirty. The “Cash Loans” sign is also slightly more legible on the P20 Pro’s image. But I’m not sure the difference is big enough for me to say, “ah so this is why the P20 Pro has a third camera! It’s all worth it!”
We’ll check out one more set of 5X zoom.
Ah, here we go — this shot shows the difference in quality a bit more. Huawei’s image is much more detailed and clear all over, especially the tree stems. However, the iPhone X’s image is more closer to real-life colors. The P20 Pro’s shot feels a bit “processed.”
Speaking of processed, below are two macro shots of a flower and the two phones churned out images with drastically different colors.
iPhone’s cameras have always been known for its color accuracy and that’s true here. I don’t know what the P20 Pro was doing here, altering the colors of the flower this much. In real life, the flower looked like the iPhone X’s shot.
Let’s look a few more sets:
It’s the same story here, when I zoom in, the P20 Pro’s image had noticeably more details.
One of the things Huawei phone have always exceled at is low light photography and the P20 Pro looks to keep that streak going. The phone pulls light information from the 40-megapixel sensor in addition to the monochrome sensor, and the P20 Pro definitely looks like it’s going to outperform the iPhone X in low light performance.
The above shots were taken inside a dark room with no lights on and door almost closed. The difference is noticeable.
But, the P20 Pro isn’t the low light king. Check out the same shot taken by the Galaxy S9+.
The P20 Pro does, however, have a major trick up its sleeve that could help it dethrone the Galaxy S9. The phone can apparently take long exposure shots without a tripod. Huawei says the P20 Pro can accomplish this feat via its machine learning A.I. (remember, this phone has a dedicated neural processing unit that can sort of drive a car...), and in very brief testing situations, it did seem to work (check out the 3:18 mark of the video below to see it in action).
I have to test this feature more, under my own conditions, to believe this. If this feature works as advertised, this is a huge coup on Huawei’s part. Being able to take long exposure shot with a slow shutter speed without a tripod would be a game-changer for mobile photography enthusiasts.
As it stands now, the P20 Pro’s camera is probably indeed better than the iPhone X’s. Is it “much better” like Yu said? Probably not. I’ll have more on the P20 Pro in the coming days.
