Huawei P30 Pro Review: Just Drop Your Jaws And Stare in Amazement

Yes, the future of Huawei in the US is uncertain. Yes, there’s no easy way of buying the phone in the US and as a result, most people won’t even consider it when they’re buying a phone. So, as far as sales in the US is concerned, the Huawei P30 Pro is a complete dud.

But… in every other aspect, the Huawei P30 Pro is a complete beast. In fact, I’d say it’s amongst the top two or three best android phones on the market currently. It’ll put most cameras to shame, the processor is brilliant, the UI is intuitive, battery life is unbelievable and frankly, there’s not a lot of negative points that I can think off the top of my head. So, let’s look at what makes P30 Pro so good.

Hardware and Basic Software

If you’re new to the Huawei world, here’s something to know: they don’t use Snapdragon chips. They have an in house chip called the Kirin. The P30 Pro uses the flagship Kirin 980 processor and you can get it with either 6 GB RAM or 8 GB RAM. The UI isn’t stock Android either. Huawei’s UI is called EMUI (Emotion UI). It’s the exact opposite of stock Android. It has a heavy software on top of Android.

All this, when put together, mean one thing: smooth performance. There are no lags, hitches, or stutters. It’s all one smooth flow. At no point will you want more RAM or better UI optimization from the P30 Pro, because it all works seamlessly together.

Now, some people don’t like EMUI. They say that it’s way too funky or unconventional and that they don’t see the point of it. You’ll also notice that most of the people who say this are reviewers who use the phone temporarily.

I use a Huawei phone as my daily phone and I LOVE it. Yes, there are a few issues. The icons are styled too much and frankly, they could do away with some of the overly gaudy graphics. But then again, stock Android has its own problems too. It’s a balancing game and frankly, Huawei does it better. There’s a theme app and you can choose the sort of UI you want. It doesn’t change the basics of the UI but there’s something everyone in there.

Also, the 6 or 8 GB RAM helps. If you can afford it, go for the 8 GB version. I’ve used the 6 BG version and while there’s no lag even there, the 8 GB version will future-proof your phone quite well. With respect to general use quality, I think it’s fair to say that the Huawei P30 Pro is in no way lesser than even the best iPhone out there.

It’s fast, smooth, and packs a serious punch.

Camera

Simply put, there’s no better camera in a phone than the P30 Pro. The Pixel 3 XL and the P30 Pro can have dogfights all day without no one winning. The image quality is stunning. The P30 Pro uses a 40 MP f/1.6 lens, a 20 MP f/2.2 lens, and an 8 MP f/3.4 lens. There’s optical image stabilization, an AI assistant, a periscope zoom, and a low-light shooting mode.

The zoom and low-light shooting mode are the standout features here. Most people don’t dare to zoom on their phone cameras. The results are shocking. But with the P30 Pro, you can zoom up to 50x. Now, yes, the 50x zoom is digital and the results are garbage there too, but no other phone even has that ability. What’s more important is what happens at 5x. Most phones take garbage photos at 5x. Not the P30 Pro.

First off, 5x zoom is a lot more than you might be imagining at the moment and secondly, for all practical purposes, there’s no loss of quality at 5x zoom. I mean, like 0% loss of quality. If you put these images in a lab, yes, you’ll find some difference. Not in the real world though.

The 10x zoom is quite serviceable as well. It’s a combination of optical and digital zoom. Results start varying here, but more often than not, it’s a hit. Then there’s the low-light picture quality. The fact is very simple here. It’s the best camera for taking low light images and that includes the iPhone and the Google Pixel 3. Rate it on any measure — detail, depth, realism, color accuracy — and the P30 Pro will win.

The front camera is very good. There’s nothing of note, though. It’s a simple 32MP lens that takes pretty good photos most of the time. Sometimes, the photos will turn out to be too soft, but that’s manageable.

If the camera is of grave importance to you, feel free to check out some of the best Android camera apps to improve your experience.

Battery

The Huawei P30 Pro is equipped with a massive 4,200 mAh battery. You get a 40 W wired fast charger and a 15 W wireless charger with the phone. The battery easily lasts for more than one day.

We even included Huawei P30 Pro in our list of the phones with best battery life.

Additionally, EMUI has a few battery-saving measures if you’re really down on power, but again, it’s not likely. Even if you’re a moderate user, you can expect the battery to last for a day and a half. Heavy users will have no problem. It’ll easily last an entire day.

Screen And Audio

The P30 Pro sports a 2,340 x 1,080 Pixel OLED display. The colors are accurate, crisp, and striking. Using it under the sun won’t be a problem. The brightness is mad. However, all this gaudiness comes with a price. While the colors are accurate in normal use, there’s a sacrifice of realism that you’ll see in some places. When you’re playing music videos, for example, you’ll see that the lights are washed out slightly.

The audio is quite good, though. Be it the call speaker (which is now internal) or the sound speaker — they are great. The sound quality with earphones is amazing, thanks to the magic that Dolby Atmos has made. Oh, by the way, there are no headphone jacks here either. It’s all bluetooth now. So, you might want to invest in some quality wireless headphones.

Conclusion

For all the talk about great advancements in technology, the fact of the matter is that most flagship phones are pretty similar. Yes, a few megapixels here and a headphone jack there do change, but technology-wise, they’re quite similar. For a long time, high-end Samsung phones were considered to be the best that Android has to offer, but Huawei has just changed that.

The only real, practical difference that a company can give to a customer, at least today, is battery life and cameras. Huawei has done both. The camera is so good that you can’t really compare to any other in the market and the battery life is a class of its own. Still, it’s quite expensive so if that turns you away from the company, you might want to check our list of the best budget phones on the market.

That being said, buying a Huawei in the US is pretty complicated and thanks to the political situation, we aren’t really sure of what’s in store for the future for Huawei as a company. The company says that all’s fine now and the future holds no problems, but can that be trusted?

I don’t know, to be honest. I have my concerns. But, is that enough for me to reject the company or the phone? Absolutely not… P30 Pro is an amazing phone. It’s so good that yours truly actually went right ahead and bought one. The pros of this phone far outweigh the cons.