Huawei may not be a name you hear much of in the US, but that hasn't stopped the rise of the company across Asia and Europe.
The P30 Pro is a terrific example of what all the fuss is about.
Starting at 5,488 yuan, or approximately $778, the P30 Pro is a beautiful flagship phone with one of the best mobile cameras on the market.
And while it's an absolute stunner in markets like the US (where you can't actually buy it), it faces tough competition in China where it's priced much higher than competitors with similar specifications, like the OnePlus 7 Pro.
Features and Display
On the features front, the P30 Pro feels a little like it's playing a game of catch up with the Mate 20 Pro.
There's Face ID, but it's only a 2D scan instead of the 3D scan on the Mate 20 Pro.
There's a fingerprint sensor, but it's lower down and in a less comfortable position rather than in the middle of the screen.
On a similar note, the phone's 2,340-by-1,080 6.47-inch screen isn't as sharp as the Mate 20 Pro's 3,120-by-1,440 panel.
Huawei says the P series audience is more concerned about creativity than a spec war, and that those who truly want to see their photos at the highest resolution can view them on a color-adjusted monitor.
While that might be true, the phone is priced high enough that you expect top-of-the-line components in every regard.
Compared with the Mate 20 Pro, the P30 Pro's handling of color is slightly less subtle, with skin tones appearing a little richer and fluorescent lights glowing with more aplomb.
But the Mate 20 Pro shows a smidge more detail and texture in images.
The phone measures 6.2 by 2.9 by 0.3 inches and weighs 6.8 ounces.
One thing that Huawei should take credit for is how large the display feels.
Swapping from a Mate 20 Pro to a P30 Pro seems like a significant difference, even though it's not; that teardrop notch at the top of the P30 screen might be small, but it has a major effect on the overall feel.
Hardware and Software
The P30 Pro has a Kirin 980 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB of storage.
Performance is solid, as you would expect from a high-end Android flagship, but not class-leading.
See How We Test Phones
On PCMark, a suite of tests that emulate common smartphone tasks, the P30 Pro scored a humble 7,729—far behind that of the less expensive Xiaomi Mi 9 (8,932) and OnePlus 7 Pro (9,874).
Ludashi results are similar, with the P30 Pro scoring 326,620 to the Mi 9's 349,490 and the OnePlus 7 Pro's 359,913.
Perhaps what's most surprising however is how poorly the P30 Pro scored on AI BenchMark, a suite of tests that requires the phone to identify common images.
With a score of 20,920, the P30 Pro came in behind every other current Chinese flagship we've tested with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 chip.
It did score higher than the Honor Magic 2 (15,587), though it uses the same Kirin 980 chipset as the P30 Pro.
Battery life is excellent, thanks to a huge 4,200mAh cell that powers the phone all day with ease and, if you're conservative, can probably last up to two days between charges.
In our battery test, which streams video overy Wi-Fi at full brightness, the P30 Pro lasted 11 hours and 6 minutes before dying.
It also has the same back-to-back charging ability as the Mate 20 Pro, so you can boost your friend's battery should they run out of juice.
The phone runs Android 9.0 Pie with Huawei's EMUI 9.1 layered on top.
It comes with a bit of bloatware you might want to uninstall.
There's also Huawei's alternatives to Google apps and services baked in.
Overall, they're solid, but don't compare with the apps Google offers on US and world phones.
Camera
The main selling point of the P30 Pro is its camera, made up of four lenses, including a 40MP f/1.6 wide-angle lens, a 20MP f/2.2 ultra-wide lens, and an 8MP f/3.4 telephoto lens.
Huawei has been pushing this camera hard in its marketing (although not always with its own hardware), and for good reason: The introduction of a "periscope" lens for what Huawei claims is a near-lossless zoom at 10x, and a maximum zoom of 50x.
There's also a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor that helps add depth to your images.
Compared with the standard zoom on other smartphone cameras (up to 10x on the iPhone XS Max and Huawei's own Mate 20 Pro), the level of detail the P30 Pro captures is impressive.
From the brickwork on the buildings around London's Tower Bridge to the texture of a coat hanging on the other side of Daxdi UK's spacious London office, the P30 Pro is able to take in more detail than the competition.
Once you get above the 10x zoom, however, controlling the camera gets a little difficult and keeping an object in frame feels like playing one of those labyrinth marble games, and it only gets more challenging the closer you get to 50x.
The maximum zoom feels like more of a gimmick than something you'll use regularly, but it's definitely a fun feature to show off.
When it gets dark, the P30 Pro's talents shine.
In a pitch-black room, where other smartphones fail to capture anything, Huawei's latest camera setup almost turns night into day.
Moreover, while other devices can achieve similar results using a night mode setting (the Google Pixel's Night Sight mode being the most notable), the P30 Pro manages it automatically.
There's no need to toggle settings, or even enable Huawei's AI mode; just point and shoot.
In terms of night photography, it absolutely sets a new standard.
Everyday use is where the P30 Pro falters slightly, at least for new users.
Without any tinkering, photos look a tad too white, and enabling the artificial intelligence (more often than not) tends to overblow blue skies and crush subtle contrasts.
Taking a photo of one of my colleagues, the nuance in his slick hair was lost with AI mode enabled, and his face looked flushed.
Compared with the iPhone XS Max, the P30 Pro doesn't handle color as well as it could.
But it feels closer than Huawei has come before, perhaps due to the RYYB (Red, Yellow, Yellow, Blue) color sensor it uses instead of the standard RGB.
For video, the P30 Pro is capable of recording up to 4K footage and has several filters such as AI Color, Background Blur (a sort of moving bokeh effect), and Vintage.
The most interesting feature, however, is the Dual View mode that captures a wider angle and a close-up of your subject simultaneously.
While we haven't tested it yet—Huawei says it's coming in a future update—it's something smartphone-focused videographers will definitely want to pay close attention to.
Conclusions
The Huawei P30 Pro is a very good phone with a fantastic camera.
After the minimal upgrades Apple and Samsung made with their most recent devices, it's refreshing to see Huawei taking a bold step forward in the photography department.
If image quality is of utmost importance to you, you should definitely consider the P30 Pro.
If you're more focused on power and performance (along with pretty solid image quality), you can save a solid chunk of money by picking up the OnePlus 7 Pro or the Xiaomi Mi 9 instead.
The Bottom Line
The Huawei P30 Pro offers one of the most impressive smartphone camera experiences on the market.
Huawei P30 Pro Specs
| Operating System | Android 9.0 |
| CPU | Kirin 980 |
| Dimensions | 6.22 by 2.89 by 0.33 inches |
| Screen Size | 6.47 inches |
| Screen Resolution | 2,340 by 1,080 pixels |
| Camera Resolution (Rear; Front-Facing) | 40MP, 20MP, 8MP; 32MP |
| Battery Life (As Tested) | 11 hours, 6 minutes |
